Villager logo

Be Fit Fit: The terrible Catch-22 of ‘kitchen mama’

Over the summer months, somehow, my can opener broke. Without my help. You know, one of those moments when you want to open a can of organic chicken soup, and you realize that the opener gave up on you. I believe that its life span ended because of the kitchen-based operations of my visiting daughter, but I digress. No questions asked!

As you know, I am in a perpetual pursuit of a happy and better life. I decided that investing in a brand new, hands-free, electric can opener, amply named “Kitchen Mama” would clearly make my life happier, better and more fulfilled.

Man, what could go wrong with spending a moment on Amazon.com, clicking “BUY NOW” and receiving a neat package of instantaneous reward a few days later?

The day came. I opened the front door. My front door mat reads “We Hope You Brought Wine,” but the little package contained the “Kitchen Mama.” I was excited beyond comprehension! The flyer inside reassuringly said: “Solve ALL your can opening problems with just a push of a button. YES, YOU CAN!”

Wow, exactly what I needed, I thought!

Couple of days forward, I was ready to try this baby on a can of no-salt-added organic pinto beans.

I closely followed the instruction manual by placing the device on the lid and pressing the big red button. The can started spinning around the opener and at the end, “Kitchen Mama” got the lid out of its place with help of a tiny magnet. No more of those dirty can lids sunken in my canned food fare! My life was getting truly better! YES, I COULD! They were right!

Opening my beans resulted in a surge of self-pride, which only single and recently liberated females like myself understand: no man muscle in the whole household, yet I still could open that can! Without even getting married again. Magic.

But then, it hit me. I blame the delivery dude who failed to bring wine. Whatever it was, it hit me. I realized that using the superior opener device is not conductive to my future wellbeing at all.

See, if I had any issues with my wrist and was to use it temporarily – fine! But the last time I suffered from the Collins fracture and had my hand in a bright magenta cast was 15 years ago. And I rebounded quick, thanks to my fitness and willingness to mobilize the hand muscles as soon as I dropped the magenta cast. So, truly, by using “Kitchen Mama” I was not contributing to the health of my hand muscles, joints, tendons, and the dexterity and fine motor skills. I was just contributing to getting lazy!

It was as “good” as circling around the grocery store parking lot in a pursuit of getting that “closest to the entrance” spot, while my mobility and walking capability are just fine. By sitting in the car those few minutes longer and hunting for the “convenient” parking spot, we get a bit stressed and annoyed and the blood pressure might go a bit up.

In fact, parking spots which are far from the entrance should be the coveted ones. They would force us to walk further, push that cart further, then walk back to the store to return the cart… Little, natural motions which accumulate over the day and keep us mobile and healthy.

“Facilitating” our life in every way possible is counterproductive to the healthy lifestyle. So, let’s watch out for those tiny “traps” which seem to be God-sent to us, but truly, they do not result in anything good for our bodies.

In the end, I still might use my “Kitchen Mama” for some cans ... but now open a few more bottles of wine a week by hand!

Magdalena Romanska, Ph.D., is a certified wellness coach and fitness specialist. She is the owner of the Be Fit Fit Personal Training Studio and the Top 5% Chairman’s Board Realtor at the Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International in Sedona. To contact Romanska or to visit her blog, befitfit.biz/blogs.html.


Donate Report a Typo Contact
Most Read
Event Calendar
Event Calendar link
Submit Event