DISCLAIMER:

live with physical challenges.
I am NOT a DOCTOR!!! I don't even play one on TV!!! It is my goal to live a more healthy lifestyle. Living well and being happy is what this blog is all about.

"Nothing,' wrote Tolstoy, 'can make our life, or the lives of other people, more
beautiful than perpetual kindness."

- Gretchen Rubin




I write about my own experiences and what works (or does not) for me. Nothing I write is to be taken as medical advice.

Only your health care provider, personal physician,Disclaimer:
I am not a doctor - I don't even play one on TV! This
or pharmacist can provide you with advice on what is safe and effective for your unique needs.








Monday, February 4, 2013

Wellness A-Z: V=Vary your Workout Routine

If you want the time to go by faster... 
exercise with a friend!
V=Vary your Workout Routine
No matter what fitness level you are at, this is sound advice.  If a routine gets boring or if you've reached a plateau, it's time to change it up.  That doesn't necessarily mean you have to increase the intensity, although you may end up doing that just by choosing another way to exercise.

Grab some friends to suffer with you!  It's sort of a mean thought, but there's something about knowing that you are not "suffering" through the workout all alone - it helps!  I used to workout with a friend who made the time go so quickly because she would talk about her (soap opera-like) life while we were exercising - and the time just flew by!  That kind of friend is priceless!

Any activity is good - and any activity is better than nothing at all, to be sure.  If you are doing some form of exercise for 1/2 hour every day and breaking a sweat - then you are doing a good job.  You don't have to spend your entire day at a gym to see results.  If you want to be the world's poster child for bodybuilding - then yes, more is required.  If your goal is just to regain your health and be a happier individual, then the 1/2 hour every day will do the trick.

Do you have to workout for the entire 30 minutes at once?  No.  When I first began exercising, I hate to admit this, but I could not do anything for more than about 10 minutes!  I was terribly out of shape!  I decided to do something for 10 minutes in the morning - then again at noon - and again in the evening.  It worked just as well as hitting something for 30 minutes straight.  I still got results and eventually got to where I could do my entire workout all at once.

Just as Rome was not built in a day, my out of shape body was not built in a day either.  Too many hours spend in front of a computer trying to make a living were taking a toll on my quality of life!  I did not get up and go walk around the parking lot like many of my friends did.  I certainly could have, but chose to stay at my desk and talk on the phone with my mother.  I don't regret that decision and I am certainly not blaming my mother for my choice.  Now that my mom is gone, I don't regret talking with her twice a day every day from my desk at work.

Once you begin a workout, it's fresh and new and you are enthusiastic.  Then as time passes, you get bored with it, or you don't see the drastic results you did at first.  The honeymoon is over - so you just have to spice it up a bit.  I began using some free weights for upper body strength as well as riding my bike.  Sometimes if the weather is nice, I like to take a walk instead of riding the bike.  I have a treadmill, but it's not my favorite piece of equipment.  If the weather is good, a nice walk outdoors appeals to me. 

The most important thing to remember is - do something!  If one day you choose to dance around your house - then by all means...  dance!  I do that quite often if I'm alone in the house.  Just put on some music that speaks to you and dance like no one's watching - 'cuz they aren't!

Have fun with exercise.  I think a lot of people just fail to see the fun in fitness.  They see it too much like a chore - or work.  If you can change your mindset towards fitness and make it more fun and games than a chore and work, then you are halfway to the place you need to be to develop a new and healthy habit!  It takes 21 days to develop a habit.  Once exercise becomes part of your daily routine, then it begins to get easier to stay on track.

Fitness can be FUN!

http://youtu.be/AbRpdQMDWBs



Today is THANK A MAILMAN DAY!!!!!!!!!!   Today I'm going to thank my mailman for not going postal in front of my house.  I also appreciate it when I get my mail and not all my neighbor's mail as well.  I'm doing good to pay my own bills, I really don't want to pay theirs too!


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