I have received information and materials from JOHNSON & JOHNSON CONSUMER, Inc., McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division, LLC. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post. #PositivelyPrepared #BacktoSchool #CollectiveBias
I knew that if I wanted to achieve my goal of being healthy and getting fit at 40, I would have to suck it up and hire a professional.
This June marked my 40th birthday and to celebrate, I asked my husband if I could have a personal trainer for a year. For a long time, I’ve wanted to become more toned, but between me and you, I stink at working out from home. I knew that if I wanted to achieve my goal of being healthy and getting fit at 40, I would have to suck it up and hire a professional.
So I reached out to my former boxing coach and lucked out. She had an opening and would happily fit me in, but this meant that I would have to be at the gym at 5:30am one morning and 6:00am the other morning. Yikes! That was super early for me, but I was determined to get toned, so I took the two available weekly spots.
I’ve been going for a few months now and I can finally say that I am the proud owner of two baby biceps! For someone who hasn’t seen my biceps since before my kids were born, this is quite an amazing victory for me. It’s an important one too because I have two young children at home and I want them to know that this has nothing to do with getting skinny. But it has everything to do with getting strong, fit and healthy – both inside and out.
Forty is still very young, but I have to be realistic. I know my body is starting to slow down a bit – even if I don’t want to admit it. I know my body gets hurt more easily – even if I don’t want to admit it. And I know that my emotions are getting out of whack a bit more often – even though I don’t want to admit it. (Yes, an early menopause has been predicted for me by my doctors. Yay!)
Since I try my best to lead by example with my children, forty meant that I needed to kick my body back into shape. It also meant that if I was not feeling at my best and my smooshy parts were making me unhappy, I had to show the kids that I was willing to physically change them. By getting up when the sun comes up and limping home from the gym twice a week, I am able to show them that I am willing to do whatever it takes to make ME happy. And I hope that this example stays with them and that they are able to apply it to any type of change that they would like to see in their own lives too.
With this in mind, I also try to balance any whining about my aches and pains along with a lot of excitement about how my body is changing (especially when little listening ears are nearby). I want the kids to know that although I may be sore, I’m really happy because it means that my muscles are working. I also like to annoyingly shout, “No pain, no gain!” as they watch me get out the BENGAY® and take some TYLENOL® 8 HR Muscle Aches & Pain to relieve any muscle soreness that I may have.
I think it’s really important for my kids to know that a few aches and pains are perfectly normal after you’ve tried a new physical activity. They got to experience this firsthand on our recent trip to Lake Placid. After a long day of tubing on the lake and paddleboarding afterwards, the kids were shot.
As the muscle soreness set in from them being bounced around the lake all day, they started to get cranky. I knew their little muscles were achy, but I also knew that they had an amazing day, so I asked them if they had fun. They looked at me confused and said, “Yes! We were screaming our heads off all day, Mom! Of course, we had fun!” With that, I smiled and annoyingly said, “No pain, no gain, right?” 😉
Needless to say, I was incredibly happy that I remembered to pick up two bottles of Children’s TYLENOL® and Children’s MOTRIN® from Target before we left just in case we needed it to relieve any of their minor aches and pains!
And in case you were curious about how you, too, could have some fun on your next lake vacation, we have 3 fun Kid-tested, Mom-approved activities for you to try!
1.) Go Tubing.
Nothing beats renting a boat and going tubing. Our kids had so much stinking fun flying behind the boat at lightning speeds while safely attached to a rope with a tube on the end of it. This was a great way for them to step outside of their comfort zone and try something new. Plus, it was a super way to get them to work on their upper body strength; you need a lot of muscles to hold on to those tubes!
2.) Go Kayaking.
Our kids still prefer tandem kayaking, which suits us just fine. We love being able to carry on a conversation with them while they gaze out at the beautiful scenery beyond. Since they are still learning the ropes, we put them up front and we steer from the back. I also think they like the additional security of having us nearby. Plus, it’s a great way to sneak in an upper body aerobic workout while on vacation!
3.) Go Paddle Boarding.
This was our first-time paddle boarding and I can honestly say, we fell in love with the sport. It’s one of the coolest things we’ve ever done together as a family. It allows you to get really up close to the shoreline without needing to get off your board, which is perfect for little ones with a fear of mucky lake bottoms. Plus, Paddle boarding is a great upper body workout and an amazing core body strength activity for kids and adults!
With our family still trying to cram in as many new experiences as possible before it’s time to go Back To School, we’re curious about what’s on YOUR list?
Get positively prepared with the right pain relief for you and your family at Target.com.
Here’s to new experiences,
Denine
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