Exercise is not on my to do list

I wish it was, but to me there is nothing more boring than exercising purely for the sake of exercising. It's great when people enjoy running outside or on a piece of gym equipment for hours a week but it's not for me. I do make an exception for group classes though, those are fun.

There are three times in my adult life when I was in the best shape:

1. Undergraduate college when I lived on campus and spent all day walking from dorm to class to class to class, up (outdoor) stairs and down with a backpack full of books.

2. My first post-college job when I biked 1.5 miles one way to get there. Biking 3 miles a day, 5 days a week, even though the route was flat, was great exercise and my body was happy.

3. After finishing graduate school my husband and I bought our first house in the city center. I walked to work, I walked Pepper, I walked to yoga class, we walked to restaurants and festivals. Walking as my primary mode of transportation was great. I didn't have a backpack on my back anymore, though eventually I did have Big Bro strapped to me in his Baby Bjorn. With cute, human-scale, grid networked streets I could do any combination of loops. It was easy and noncommittal (unlike a long, straight country road), with new things to see every block and I was under the protection of street trees and sidewalks.

I think having exercise built into your lifestyle is the best way to go. 

The lifestyle piece is hard right now. Getting out to a group class isn't easy because of bedtime routines and evening meeting obligations, not to mention the drive. Working out with a video in the living room means kids climbing on me or crying to be picked up. Stroller walks are difficult on country roads with 65 pounds of kids overloading the stroller. Biking/walking as a mode of transportation is impractical in our town.

What is a mom of young kids to do? Just screw it until the kids are older? No? Bad idea?

Hmm...

I guess I'll have to put exercise on my to-do list and run on a treadmill when the kids are in bed.