What I would tell my teenager self about – sport and exercise

I have been thinking a lot lately about what kind of person I was when I was younger – character traits that have changed beyond recognition, things about me that have been constant throughout my life and this has got me thinking about what I would say to myself, if I met “teenager me” in a parallel universe.

Me being me, I would want to say quite a lot about several things, so much so “teenage me” would be bored stiff! But the subject that leapt into my head was sport and exercise. I would say, “Don’t skip sports lessons or pretend you’re ill so you don’t have to join in.

”When I was teenager I didn’t really engage in any sort of sporting activity. I was in fact “Queen of bunking off games”. I am quite ashamed of that now. I guess I could blame my upbringing, sport was not prevalent, but I think it is far too easy to do that and I am not a fan of the blame game. I was quite wayward and mischievous – but is that really an excuse either?

The reality is I wasn’t naturally very good at any sports, so I didn’t try, so over time I accumulated absolutely no ability for anything sporty whatsoever!

What is interesting is I look to my kids, who perhaps wouldn’t thank me for saying, but before the ages of 10/11 they weren’t great at sport – but they had a love for it and wanted to be active.

As soon as they hit their teens - well - their sporting lives became very important and found their running legs spectacularly. Both of them have run for their schools competitively and are incredible. Proud mother – right here – and I can’t pretend these genes have come from me!

Through my kids I have learned about the excitement, camaraderie and competitive spirit that comes from playing team sports and representing your school in a vital match.

I wish "teenage me" could see what they are like and felt how they feel. Training sessions are non negotiable for my son and my daughter clears her head by going for a run at the end of the day. I understand the merits of all this now – but it didn’t enter my head to do it when I was younger.

I train quite hard these days 5-6 days a week for 8 weeks then I have a rest week when I concentrate on yoga and flexibility. But I am very late to the party. I only really got into exercise in my 20s when I was pregnant and then trying to shift pregnancy weight. In fact, at the time we used to live in Sydney, I used to feed my daughter at about 6am and go for a run along a path near Sydney Harbour - I know don’t fall over in shock!

I think the reason I started thinking about this, is sometimes I find it so hard to motivate myself and I’m not sure it any of it comes naturally to me. And whilst I am very accepting of how I am and look, I wonder if I had started getting into exercise at a younger age if there would now be a difference to my strength, aerobic fitness, physique and health – undoubtedly yes.

So what do you think? And what are your experiences? I love to know…  

Do you have a “magic number” for your size and weight, and what do you do to get there?

Mine is 54kg. I have been 49kg; which didn’t suit me, mentally or physically and I have been close to 60kg. People didn’t really notice, but some of my clothes felt a little snug and I had to do this crazy wriggling dance to get into my jeans.

Now the sky is blue and the sun feels warm I tend to jump on the scales. I have weaned myself off this habit over the years, as it can be counterproductive. I know it is just a number and in isolation it doesn’t mean a great deal. But that number can hold a lot of momentary power – when it goes down I’m delighted, when it goes up I am temporarily dejected.

It seems most of my mates (women) are similar. When we turn our attention to health and vanity goals, most of us have our own “magic number”. A number plucked from youth, or the slimmest time of your life or because you think you “should” be a particular weight.

We all know that there are many factors affecting “weight” including sleep, stress, illness and hormones but still we obsess about the “magic number”.

We know that eating healthily is the way to go so for the most part I do, but anyone who knows me knows my love for cake and pudding - I just don’t want to look like a pudding! So I exercise five times a week.

I can get to and maintain 52kg, but it takes a LOT of discipline. And I’m not sure that level of self-restraint is very fun, for me, or the people around me.

What I have learned over the years is that bodies change and I am learning to accept this, for the most part. I was bigger at university, but after each child, I went down a dress size. Right now I am about 1.5kgs off my “magic number”. Yep, it’s still in my head…I read an article years ago about the gorgeous model Iman Abdulmajid who said as a woman hits her thirties she should add 5lbs to the weight she thinks she would like to be, to guard against looking older than her years. Whilst the lovely Iman can probably afford a few pounds here and there, I think she has a point. We all want to look good and be healthy, but not at the cost of looking gaunt or aged.

The reality is that this “issue” is a subjective one. When we look at ourselves we focus on our flaws and imperfections. We compare ourselves to friends with completely different body shapes. We long to regain how we were at our youth or perceived best and fixate on what has changed “negatively”. For me, all I ever see is my stomach - which after two children is the polar opposite of washboard! But maybe others just see the whole picture. I know do when I look my friends or people walking down the street.

So I guess moderation is the key, and being kind to yourself. With the media flooded with super foods, nutritional advice and new ways of training they are many ways to attain whatever goals you have or reaching your “magic number”.

I try to be balanced, but that “magic number” can be an elusive wotsit, so I’m off for a run…what do you do to get to your “magic number”? Do you have one, or are you happy as you are?