A Playout Instead of a Workout

One of my favorite bloggers, the every wonderful MizFit encourages her readers to think of exercise as playout rather than workouts.  By terming this way, the focus shifts to the fun of challenging your body not the boredom that can sometime accompany a workout.  On Wednesday, my husband had to work late, which meant I would be solo parenting for the evening and I decided to change my scheduled workout into a playout with my daughter.

The first item on our playout agenda was a trip to the local grocery store so that my daughter could ride the mini-carousel.  Hoisting a 30 pound two year old on and off the various horses was a great workout for my arms. Then Joycie wanted me to run as she rode, so I ran in circles outside the grocery store. I am sure the shoppers thought that this Mama had lost her sanity – but it made my daughter laugh and that is all that matter.

When we returned home, Joycie and I cranked up the radio and proceeded to have a dance party in our living room. For more than 40 minutes, we danced, hopped, jumped, twisted, and chased each other to the music. I was drenched in sweat and begging for a brief rest, but she just kept going and going. If I could bottle her boundless energy and sell it, I’d be a millionaire.

The key to any good workout is to refuel properly afterwards. The same is true for playouts. Joycie and I dined al fresco with a tea party on our porch.

My playout did  not burn as many calories as a run, build my muscles like a heavy lifting session would but it did something even better. It cleared my mind, lightened my soul, and created special memories with my daughter. And I will take that over a smaller size any day!