In my last post we learned that Bella could teach me about the importance (and utter JOY) of breakfast. In this post we will examine what Rocky could teach me about exercise....
WHAT I SHOULD LEARN FROM ROCKY - The Joy of Physical Activity in the Morning
Dogs are creatures of habit and routine and that in and of itself --I suspect-- would solve half my weight management issues if I could just embrace even the idea of a routine.... I hate mornings (unless I am on my way to the airport for the start of travel somewhere, but that is the subject of a future blog), and I have decided I really don't like structure or routine much either --my status of working from home for the past 18 months has certainly helped nourish that view and lifestyle! Rocky's daily routine, like Bella's, starts with breakfast, but then he takes it a step further and begins his "exercise plan" for the day almost immediately.... He searches out his "Sweet Tart ball" -- a hard rubber ball in pastel colors with an annoying jingle bell at its core. As soon as he finds it, he jumps up onto the bed -- yes, I am still usually in bed --and shoves the ball against my hand enthusiastically...
If you don't know my dogs personally, I need to tell you that Rocky loves the game of fetch, BUT he also wants every round to include a game of tug o'war at the start. So he jams the ball against my hand, then pulls away, I ignore him, he does it again, I ignore him, and finally after several rounds of this, he drops the jingling ball next to me and waits for me to throw it out the bedroom door. He bounds off the bed, grabs the ball --often in mid-bounce-- and bounds back to me, jumping over the 3'+ plus footboard of the bed with ease, and starts the whole process all over again...
He will repeat this seemingly endlessly if I stay awake and in bed and keep doing my part. If I do get out of bed before he has deemed the exercise session over, he follows me --into the bathroom, the kitchen, the laundry room, with the darn Sweet Tart ball jingling away, just to prove we aren't done yet. I suspect that by the time we finish the morning fetch routine, he has already burned off his breakfast calories and then some, and completely revved up his metabolism for the whole day ahead.
I, on the other hand, haven't managed to sustain a regular morning exercise routine since I was in college -- before I had kids, dogs, and a full-time job. If I had a dollar for every time I have written out a plan that INCLUDES morning exercise, well then I could probably afford a personal trainer that would come drag my lazy ass out of bed and MAKE me exercise in the morning. But since I don't have that luxury, I suspect that consistent morning exercise will elude me, at least until this stupid long cold snowy winter ends, and then I can go back to walking the dogs on a regular basis, which sometimes does manage to occur in the morning! Stay tuned for any progress in this area, and comments/suggestions are certainly welcome.
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