Hoops!

A few days ago I wrote about my, uh, flabby tummy, and how I needed to buy new shirts. Someone left a comment about how I should look into hooping--as in hula hooping--as a way to deal with my midsection. (Thanks, Julie!) She mentioned that another mom-on-the-road hoops all the time and has a blog about it (both about hooping and living on the road). Julie didn't say which blog it is, but I'm pretty sure I know the one she's talking about. I had seen that blogger mention hooping before but never gave it much thought until Julie brought it up.

Then I realized: My gosh! What a fantastic way to exercise on the road (or anywhere, for that matter). A hula hoop is relatively light, it's flat, it's something the kids can do with me, and I can probably even convince myself it's not really exercise.

So I looked into it. Turns out that the cheap-o hoops from Toys R Us aren't a good choice. It's better to have something wider and with more heft. I found some tutorials on how to make your own hoop. It actually looked pretty easy. You just need some irrigation tubing and electrical tape, both of which my husband probably has lying around (if he hasn't already bequeathed them to the neighbors). But Steve is at work and I'm impatient, so I checked craigslist to see if anyone local had some hoops for sale.

Lo and behold, there were several listings, including a woman in my city selling adult and kid hoops. Perfect! I dropped her an email and she was free to meet at a park this afternoon so I could try them out.

I looked like a complete dork at first, but after she gave me some pointers (move your hips side-to-side, NOT in a circle!) I actually started to get the hang of it. So Elias and I walked away the owners of new hula hoops.

As an aside, for a long time a friend of mine has been updating her Facebook statuses with mentions of hooping. I always thought she was talking about basketball, but now I'm not so sure. (Becky, if you're reading this: Which is it?)