Ever since I realized the general population of my family considered me chubby, I have endeavored to shrink the chub. As a youngster, my dad eagerly supplied me with a plan tailored to my specific talents as a country bumpkin: I cleaned the crap out of barns, coops, and pigpens and also fed the animals by carrying buckets of grain and bales of hay, plus an untold number of pails of water. During the grueling marathon of daily chores, I would grunt and groan in the self-taught language of the pigs. Sometimes I would snort if a forkful of manure turned out to be heavier than assumed. Before long, I realized this wasn’t an enjoyable physical activity at all—I had been put on nature’s vicious treadmill. I fed the animals, they crapped, I cleaned, I fed the animals, they crapped, and on and on… it would never end. I was a slave to the farm animals existence. Stress took hold, and my brownie and cookie intake went way, way up. My dad’s exercise plan failed.
These days, I use a rebounder and hand weights to exercise. However, I don’t engage in both activities together. I’m not exactly graceful. I constantly worry about taking a violent bounce and ending up in the middle of the TV screen or going headfirst into the coffee table; never mind doing it with weights in my hands. Someone is bound to gain a black eye or a broken earlobe. I do, however, accept the risk of simple bouncing; the benefits of using the rebounder are tremendous. It’s great for your lymph nodes, and it strengthens the vagus nerve, which is especially beneficial for mine because it was previously strained from being a slave to animals. Did you know that tight vagus nerve can cause neck pain? I always assumed it was my husband’s fault. Anyway, I digress; I truly enjoy rebounding and if you have any interest in trying too, I would suggest you purchase a quality rebounder. My rebounder cheap and now, after only two months the tags stitched into the bounce pad are beginning to loosen. Oh boy, I just had a demoralizing thought, what if it’s due to excess chub? Well, I suppose I better ask the general population of my family what they think.
Happy exercising, walking, hiking or pedal biking, just do whatever floats your boat.
Sharpenedink 