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Two sisters (neither of us dreadfully obese, but both wanting to look better and feel better) have decided to post our private confessions. Feel free to comment and encourage us on or even to request sidebar space of your own to track your weekly or monthly progress with us!
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Tuesday 1 January 2008

New Year's Resolutions!

EXERCISE!

I have made progress in two of my three goals, eating less and drinking more water. Now for the third one: Exercise. Carol-Ann wants to see what I am going to do about exercise, so I went to my best resource first, my husband. He graduated from college with a degree in physical education and the training to teach it to children in kindergarten through high school. Surely my ability level fits in there somewhere (probably leaning to the kindergarten side!) We also have a treadmill, a Total Gym, and a set of free weights. Today I asked Barry to consider my abilities, my time, and our equipment and help me come up with an exercise program. We discussed starting with something easy that I enjoy. This is my current plan beginning on Monday when hopefully we will all be back on our usual schedules:

1. Time: Exercise for 30 to 45 minutes before getting Coral up for the day. Mid-afternoon is my alternate workable exercise time. It might work best to do one kind of exercise in the morning and take a break mid-afternoon for the other.

2. Exercises: Start with 20 to 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill working up on speed and incline, as well as 10 to 15 minutes of free weights concentrating on upper body strength (3- to 5-pound weights to start, depending on the specific exercise).

I want to increase strength, flexibility, and overall health with no joint damage. I may have a bigger reason for this, too, in that doing this will help me care for Coral at home longer.

Okay, Carol-Ann! What is your plan? I would love to hear any suggestions from others in the comments and also figure out a way to help me stick to this right from the start.

2 comments:

Amrita said...

Hi Jeanette i used to do aerobics, but like walking more. carrying goceries all the way back from the shops is a part of weight lifting.

Jeanette said...

Hi Amrita! Thanks for the suggestions. You are right about carrying the groceries. I like walking better than aerobics, too.

A friend told me that she heard someone say that 100 years ago we did so many things that took more energy, like beating cakes by hand, kneading bread, carrying wood and water to the house, walking to the next farm to get eggs, etc. Now we use modern conveniences that take away the work from our muscles. A year ago she started using the restroom farther away from her desk, parking farther from the store so she has to walk more, and trying to think about using her muscles more in everyday life. I don't think she lost any weight (and doesn't need to), but she told me she notices that she is more toned and her clothes fit better.

Thanks for reminding me about this way of incorporating exercise into my day. I'm going to look for ways to do that.