{"id":268,"date":"2012-03-02T22:51:23","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T22:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/2012-03-02-pe-failed-me\/"},"modified":"2012-03-02T22:51:23","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T22:51:23","slug":"2012-03-02-pe-failed-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/02\/2012-03-02-pe-failed-me\/","title":{"rendered":"PE Failed Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, to confirm, a bone density test had recently indicated that I’m approaching a low enough density to have osteoporosis. This is not good at all.
\nGuilt is an immediate response. Why haven’t I exercised more? Yes, I should have. But I’m not a complete lump. Reading more about factors associated with it<\/a> removes some of the negative energy I was feeling about it. I’m small, don’t weigh a lot, and it runs in my family.<\/p>\n

Plus, as I was reading somewhere else. bone density drops when you’re breastfeeding (though it goes back up within a few months of stopping). So, while I’m still taking this seriously, at least it might not be quite as bad as suggested.<\/p>\n

Aside from mean kids and no friends (for a while, anyways), PE in high school was worst. A teacher who liked the jocks, which I wasn’t. The 12 minute run, which was AWFUL. Assorted sports which I couldn’t do well. My grades were saved by the meaningless written tests: memorize the mundane rules of yet another sport. Admittedly, I did enjoy soccer, even though my glasses broke when I caught a ball on my nose, and high jump, gymnastics and occasionally sprinting (100 m., who knows why??). Outside of school I was passionate about, first, ballet and then gymnastics (obsessed would be a better word).<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, none of this transferred into fitness for life.\u00a0If anything, PE left me with a severe distaste for anything athletic. It was uncomfortable, socially awkward, served no purpose but to torture me, and held me back from doing more important things. Nowhere in my 3 required years of PE did I internalize the health benefits of fitness, or participate in any activities that could have formed an ongoing fitness habit. The course was all about being a “course” – an old, dated curriculum requiring participation in standardized activities with no concern for their relevance beyond gaining course credits.<\/p>\n

I look back on my 20s. Aside from walking and dancing at dances, I had no other fitness outlets. Work out at a gym?? Are you crazy? incredibly awkward, uncomfortable environment; I would have no idea what to do there. I did try a few yoga classes and a bit of Aikido, but nothing really caught on. I did walk, a lot, though. My 2nd year of grad school I walked to and from campus every day, 40 min. each way. Poverty has hidden benefits.<\/p>\n

My 30s I lived in Virginia and had some fun opportunities for exercise. Being in a warmer climate kept me outdoors more. I took dance classes at the university and danced and choreographed on the side with some friends. Once in a while I even tried running – shocking! And then there was the ocean, where I learned how to body surf. After that was Mississippi where I took a few yoga classes at work, and walked a fair bit around the neighbourhood. Back in my hometown, I sometimes did not much and other times went dancing quite a bit.<\/p>\n

Now, I’m nearly 40. My 40s are going to have to be about fitness. I’m integrating 1 or 2 yoga classes a week at work. I plan to go for walks at lunch pretty often. Walks with baby on my days off are a definite priority. And I hope to find something more – possibly a dance class or something else – that will keep me active and ward off physical decline. Or, more positively, build my strength, flexibility and ability to engage with the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, to confirm, a bone density test had recently indicated that I’m approaching a low enough density to have osteoporosis. This is not good at all. Guilt is an immediate response. Why haven’t I exercised more? Yes, I should have. But I’m not a complete lump. Reading more about factors associated with it removes some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[80],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-body","tag-exercise"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kamillamilligan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}