How to Keep Fit la?

So the government's trying to ban fast food advertisements. I'd wager a guess that they're trying to get Malaysians to eat healthily and therefore be more healthy. I shouldn't be so sure about winning the bet - this IS the government we're talking about - but that line of reasoning may have just crossed their minds.

Personally, I think it would be easier to encourage people to do some exercise and focus on 'everything in moderation' rather than do a blanket ban. After all, so-called fast food isn't the only unhealthy food in town, so why punish them?

Education is key - and for those who would like some tips on keeping fit by incorporating some simple exercises into their daily routine, read on. There's nothing like being a full time or stay-at-home mom to keep you on your toes.

1. Playground Sprints

This can be done at the playground or your own garden if you have one. It's quite simple. Just let your 3-year old child push your 1-year old baby in the latter's stroller. Make sure you are far enough away, so that when the stroller is, let's say, pushed faster than you (or the baby) would like, you can sprint really fast towards them and prevent any mishaps.

A variation to this could be to let your older son pull your younger son who is sitting on the bicycle straight into the banana trees. That should get you running real quick and the heart pumping just that little bit faster.

Alternatively, just run up and down the garden with your cats. If you can climb the tree to continue chasing your cats, great, otherwise no penalty if you stop at the bottom of the tree to catch your breath.

2. Use Your Baby as Weights

Now, I'm not suggesting you hold your newborn baby by the scruff of the neck and do 1-2-lift, 1-2-lift. No, no, no... I just remember when Abang was a baby, about 5 or 6 months old, he started to get mobile. He couldn't really crawl per se, but he could move commando style on his tummy and get from A to B. That posed a slight problem for me, that I couldn't just leave him playing downstairs by himself if I needed to, say, run upstairs for a bit.

So everytime I had to go somewhere he wasn't, I had to carry him with me. By that time, I think he was about 8kg maybe?

"It's going to rain. Better close the windows upstairs." And off we'd both go, me carrying Abang on my hips up the stairs, then close all the windows then back down again.

"Dang. Left my handphone upstairs." Repeat.

See? As a regular occurrence, going up and down the stairs, carrying 8kg of baby fat, you really do start to get pretty fit. Forget buying a stairmaster - after awhile, I became the stair-master!

3. Go for Gold

When the said-baby has become a pre-schooler and weighs almost twice as much, take him (preferably "him" since they are usually more active) to buy bulky household items and don't bring the stroller.

This is based on very recent, very real experience. I had to go and buy a new kitchen tap and a new water heater because our plumber diagnosed both of them as "sudah rosak wor". Abang was very tired and clearly in need of a nap, and unfortunately for me, these days the only way I can get a 'touchdown' is when he's strapped in to his booster seat in the car. In the haste to go, I forgot to bring his stroller. By the time we were done, Abang was very, very tired and I had to carry him with my right arm and lug a water heater and kitchen tap on the left hand. (It used to be that we only worked one arm's muscle - the one used to carry the baby. Today I worked both arms! My personal trainer, if I had one, would be so proud.)

To make matters worse, on the way to the car there was an announcement over the PA system. Something about a fire drill "anytime after this". Aiiieeee!! Must ... leave ... now...! I certainly did not want to get stuck in the department store going through a fire drill.

So I - we - sprinted back to the car. Or I tried to, anyway, with a 15kg boy on one arm and my purchases on another.

Now where are those fries...?