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Sure, it’s more difficult to get back into an exercise routine after a long layoff–or even start one when you’ve never worked out regularly before. Once working out is a regular part of your life, it’s easy to stay in the habit of keeping fit and healthy. But the battle’s not over. Even the most diehard fitness buffs occasionally fight workout burnout and boredom.
Picture this scenario: It’s lunchtime, and you’re taking a brisk walk with a coworker. You know the exercise will help you think more clearly and concentrate better when you get back to work.
Do you give your yard a lick and a promise once a month purely out of respect for the neighbors? Do you enjoy gardening, but seldom take time to dig in the dirt? Maybe you need a new perspective on gardening to motivate you.
Gardening affords you access to the fresh air and exercise you need. It’s a wonderful, creative outlet. To many people, gardening is also therapeutic. One friend says, “When I’m angry or upset about something, I go out and pull weeds. When I’m depressed or sad, I putter with the plants. To me, gardening is comforting, and I always leave my garden feeling better.”
Mary is a cancer patient and an avid gardener. She says, “My garden is my therapy. It’s constant renewal. Working in my garden or just walking through it after work slows me down and helps me to refocus my thoughts.”
If last names had anything to do with predisposing one to a sport, I guess this would be mine. Although swimming, bicycling, snowshoeing, roller skating, ice skating, and cross-country skiing also fall under the “volkssport” heading, walking is the main event, and the majority of volkssporting events are organized walks (the walking segment is sometimes referred to as volksmarching).
Read more about Volkssporting: A Whole New Kind of Walk …
Water provides true refreshment for the thirsty, but most people don’t know that it also plays a vital role in all bodily processes. Unfortunately, most people don’t drink enough water, perhaps because they don’t realize just how important it is. The fact is, not drinking enough water affects every aspect of your body, right out to your skin.
One of the toughest things anyone can do is start a fitness program after not being active for some time. Once you make the commitment to yourself, where do you go and what do you do? You know that aerobic exercise is good for your heart and burns extra calories, but the last time you went running, it was painful. And you only want to tone up, not have big giant muscles like something on an ESPN workout program.
Motivation is the key to maintaining a lifelong exercise commitment. What will it take for you to make a permanent lifestyle change?
Start by taking a good, long look in the mirror. Do you see the weight of everyone else’s problems? Your spouse’s job-related stress pads your thighs, juggling the daily day care and work commute jiggles under your arms, or possibly the pressure of your own career thickens your waistline. Maybe losing a few pounds would boost your self-image. Perhaps the weight you bear can’t be measured in pounds, but in the heavy expectations of being the woman you think you should be–bright, successful, self-sufficient, and at all times beautiful. Take time to focus on how you feel. Perhaps your stress is entirely your own, visible as the perpetual purple rings under your eyes and the tension you feel throughout your body. Now close your eyes, and imagine the ideal you–a woman who is physically and emotionally fit.
Winter is coming, and we are packing on the pounds. But surely our bodies are physiologically preprogrammed to pad on added insulation in the winter, right? Sorry, but no… not unless you are a hibernating bear.
While cold winter weather does produce a slowing of our body’s metabolism to compensate for the dramatic shift in temperatures, it is not nearly as profound as in other mammals, such as woodchucks or bears. Interestingly, recent clinical studies do suggest that we have “circannual cycles,” meaning cyclical changes in blood chemistry, hormone secretion, brain activity, and appetite. These circannual rhythms appear to relate to changes in the length of daylight and darkness, causing seasonal deviations.
Week after week I write to you about health. And although I try to mix it up a little bit, I always find myself coming back to exercising. That’s probably because this is where my own personal success lies in my quest toward better health.
So, this week instead of reading an article about exercise, I thought you might like to join me at the gym for a workout. You’re invited to come with me on one of my personal training sessions. Check out some of the exercises I’m doing, and incorporate them into your own workout. Or if you’re not currently in an exercise program, hopefully this will inspire you to start.
Here’s the scene: Sunday morning, heading to the gym in my “grubbies” (which translates to a baggy T-shirt, old pair of workout pants, and of course, freshly un-showered). On the treadmill getting ready for my morning jog; ipod’s all set to go and I’m off. I caught a glimpse of my trainer, Brad, coming out […]