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How Water Aerobics Saved My Life
How Water Aerobics Saved My Life
It is not very often you see the word “water” and the phrase “saved my life” in the same sentence with a happy ending.

How Water Aerobics Saved My Life

It is not very often you see the word “water” and the phrase “saved my life” in the same sentence with a happy ending. Although, before I continue you need to know that what caused my significant weight gain is a very sad story. A story way too many parents are familiar with – the loss of a child. When I was 26 years old, my son died suddenly and unexpectedly. I used food as a way to hide my grief and comfort myself. I could eat and often did an entire one-pound bag of M&Ms in one sitting. After I finished them off, I raided the refrigerator and cupboards anything I could get my hands on cookies, chips, ice cream, and candy were my favorite foods. I skipped the traditional breakfast and eat three or four cold pieces of pizza instead. In fact for a few years I did not even sit down at the dinner table with my family at mealtimes, my mealtime was the same as my awake time.  I drank at least a six-pack of soda and three or four pots of coffee a day – each cup of coffee contained 8 large tablespoons of sugar and about a quarter cup of French vanilla flavored creamer.

It took me a few years before I hit rock bottom my once 5-foot 110-pound body was 5 foot and 220 pounds. I wore 4X sweatpants and shirts and refused to leave the house. I missed my other children’s school activities and despite the fact, I tried to be a good mom I was not because mentally and emotionally I was not present. Sure, I went through the motions, I made meals, bathed, helped with homework, did laundry, read bedtime stories, and interacted with my children the way any mother does except there was a lot more kissed and “I Love Yous.” Not that there was not enough before but now there could never be enough. One day after walking from one end of the house to the other I realized that a woman of my age (under 30) should not be short of breathe, have an aching back, knees and feet from walking a short distance. At that very moment, I realized how much weight I had gained and that if I did not do something about it my surviving children would grow up without their brother and their mother. The self-induced pity party was over! Being so overweight, I had no idea what type of exercise I could even do. I tried walking, I got about two blocks and had to sit down and rest for a half an hour before I could get back home.

I made an appointment with my doctor who I had not seen in a few years. She was shocked by weight gain, to say the least. Of course, she knew the reason behind it. She suggested surgery, which was not something I was interested in so after seeing a nutritionist, I got on a good eating plan and lost about 15 pounds my doctor suggested water aerobics. She explained to me that it was one of the best types of exercise for people of my size – morbidly obese. She further explained that I was very unlikely to injure myself doing the water aerobics, as it was very gentle on the body. I questioned how moving in place in the water could possibly help me lose weight, it sounded absurd! She further explained that it took more work to move in the water than it does outside of the water, yet it was easier and very gentle on the joints and muscles.

The best part was while I was waving my arms and legs in the water I was not hot or sweating, I did not feel like I was exercising. The first week I went for 3 days and lost 2 pounds. The second week I went for 5 days and lost 4 pounds. I continued to go 5 days a week, in fact, I looked forward to it. It was really the first thing I had looked forward to doing since my son died. Within a year I had lost 60 pounds, I was thrilled! Several years later, I still attend my water aerobics class at least 3 days a week to maintain my weight. If it had not been for water aerobics I would have continued to gain weight and most likely would not be here today telling you my story!

Author Bio:

Dipali is an enthusiastic health blogger and the founder of lifecares.org. She likes to share herthoughts to make people inspired about their fitness. She is an experiencedwriter and author on highly authoritative health blogs.