I have nothing against folks who enjoy the gym, or some other routine physical workout – as a basketball junkie I played ball 3 or 4 times a week for 30 years. But, I got out of that a few years ago in my mid 40’s, before I suffered any debilitating injuries (and I didn’t like 25 year olds dunking over me) and while I could still play “okay.” Slipping into the Empty Nest years for me also meant a vocational shift, and decreased physical routines within work and everyday life. Lots of stuff I used to do in my 20’s and 30’s, like repairs and projects, had become simply too time consuming with all the demands at this point in life. Since we can also afford to pay to have many of these things done now, my Empty Nest shift in lifestyle also came with a price – a “heavy” price. Last summer I began to make some changes to deal with this heaviness, and it’s continued all the way throughout the past year.
This summer as last, I’m eagerly moving moving ahead with my personal goal of fitness & exercise by projects. What in the world is that? Well, about a year ago, I finally faced the fact that other than mowing the lawn or carrying in groceries, my life had become so sedentary, so non-physically active, that I had added about 35 unwanted pounds. Welcome to Empty Nest living! At any rate, after being motivated by a talk on nutrition & fitness, I decided to implement my own plan of daily (or as often as possible) activity that involved physical work on various projects. That, and trying to eat more carefully. I hate diets, but I did adjust my eating routines just a little bit also…
So, what kinds of projects have I done in the past year? Big stuff and little stuff. I dug out the lawn next to our driveway and put in a brick sidewalk & edging (big) and repainted the doors on our shed (little). I have worked on retaining walls, trimmed trees & bushes, installed a garage ceiling, fixed cars & motorcycles (I like to tinker) cleaned storage areas, planted stuff, and repainted 3 or 4 rooms. I’ve kept busy with a lot of other stuff too, but the main thing is that when I look around and see something that needs to be fixed, or that I’d like to improve – I add it to my project fitness routine. My wife Ginger also noticed that I have spent less time on the computer or watching TV this past year, and that’s not a bad thing.
I’ve also taken this approach with helping others on their projects, and doing some physical work activities to serve different folks. Overall, these changes have helped me to stay more active, more productive, and in the long run, it’s increased my energy level and my metabolism. (My own self-analysis – so don’t challenge me with scientific or physiological questions). But what about the weight? Well, it wasn’t really noticeable at first, but slowly, and over the past 12 months I’ve dropped those 35 pounds. I’ve also found a healthy physical release from the normal tension & stress that comes with the issues of life and work as an Empty Nester.
Now before I get myself in trouble with all those guys out there with wives shoving my comments in their face, hoping to add some guilt to a neglected honey-do list, I have to add the disclaimer that my wife Ginger never suggested or encouraged me to do any of this. Although she’s very happy to have some things done around the house, she never imagined or suggested that I implement some goofy “project” weight loss or fitness program.
I’m not recommending this idea for everyone, but if you are feeling the “weight” of the Empty Nest transition, and don’t know where to start in dealing with it, maybe you ought to give my experiment a try – pick a project that will require some physical work & go for it, then keep going! If your own living environment doesn’t have any apparent physical work needs or projects, look for a neighbor, or someone in the community who might have an area that needs to be cleaned, fixed up, or painted. One of our new LifeGroups here at Berean (with some Empty Nesters on board) is focused primarily on community impact service – and they’re doing yard work & clean-up projects together to serve people in the community, all the while getting to know each other as friends.
At the worst, you’ll endure something really nasty dirty, like blowing insulation (a project I will never repeat!) but at the best, you won’t be so heavy, your spouse will appreciate what you’ve done, and you’ll have the satisfaction of seeing some neglected things finally get done.
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