Watching my toddler and her BFF (yes, apparently you can have besties that young) bounce around our flat this evening, I had a moment of inspiration. We don’t need to pay thousands of rupees for gym memberships we never use, or sign up for the latest neo-hippie fad workout in the city in a desperate effort to lose weight. No. All we need to do is to the incorporate the Toddler Exercise Regimen (TER) into our daily lives, and we’ll be burning off calories even as they’re ingested right through the day. Much like your average, live-wire two or three year old does.
Allow me to elaborate on some of the ways you can make the TER part of your life:
1) Wake up in the morning and bounce on the bed 10-15 times. Singing/yelling at the top of your voice is optional.
2) Finish breakfast and promptly run round and round in circles around your dining room/kitchen.
3) Hop like a frog/kangaroo/rabbit all the way to the car and again from the car to the office/store/miscellaneous destination. Animal sound effects optional.
4) While taking a break during the workday, climb onto your desk/chair and jump down. Repeat 10-15 times. Yelling “wheeeeeeee” is optional.
5) Instead of chatting on the phone or posting on Facebook or gossiping at the watercooler, zoom up and down office or apartment building corridors playing tag with friends/colleagues. Alternatively, if you’re feeling kinda anti-social, just zoom around by yourself, pretending to be an aeroplane or a superhero.
6) Instead of vegging out in front of the TV in the evening, jump up and down squealing (it might actually make whatever braindead TV show you’re watching seem more interesting).
7) Before you sleep at night, bounce on your bed another 10-15 times. Having a tickle-fight with a loved one is optional.
Easy as that. With these few simple steps, you can keep your weight down, your heart healthy and still eat pretty much anything you want to. If you ever find yourself slipping, just go around and spend time with the toddler closest to you. He or she will be happy to keep you on your toes. Literally.
Divya Kumar 