Exercise is Your Top Age Eraser

So, here goes!  Blog #1.  I hope I can help motivate at least one person each time I write a post.  And, I'm looking forward to being motivated by many of you, from your blogs, and your feedback.

I subscribe to three wonderful health magazines.  Each time I go through a magazine, I tear out articles, sayings, recipes and ideas that I want to refer back to, and glue them into a blank composition book that I have decorated wtih magazine pictures and phrases.  I was just looking at the cover of one of these "Good Stuff to Know" composition books of mine, and saw that I'd glued down this saying- "Exercise is Your Top Age Eraser".

Amen to that, don't you think?  Think about the people you know who work out.  Aren't they just vibrant and happy?  Don't they just have a healthy glow about them?  A positive outlook?  Good posture?  I don't have any statistics to share, but I don't know very many people who exercise frequently that use many of their sick days.  I do think people who exercise frequently tend to appear more youthful.

Now, I'm sure many of you would agree with me that it takes awhile to be in the zone with exercise, and that it's tough to get motivated when you are just starting an exercise program.  It takes probably about six weeks of working out at least 3-4 times a week, for at least thirty minutes at a time, for you to get that extra bounce in your step, and not feel like it's pure drudgery to get up and get moving.  When I say "thiry minutes at a time", I mean non-stop movement, using the large leg muscles--biking, swimming, walking, your choice.  Find what works for you.  Do you prefer to be inside?  Outside?  Alone at home with an exercise DVD?  Out walking with a buddy?  Are you someone who prefers to be at the gym very late at night, so that you are not around the large crowds?  Or, do you enjoy being in a large class with others?  Do you have a dog that needs a daily walk?

One thing that has worked for me is a little rule I've made for myself:  I may not go more than two days in a row without exercise.  If life gets too hectic, I have to at least put in a few fifteen minute exercise sessions on that third day, even if that means just a short dog walk and lifting a few weights at home.  Seems to work for me.  It's good to make healthy rules for yourself, as long as they are reasonable.

I will close for now, hoping that you might consider starting an exercise program, if you have not yet done so.   If you are someone who exercises, good on ya!  Think about trying something new and please let me know how that goes for you.  I tried a spinning class at the gym the other day.  Yeow-sah!  Guess I haven't been sweating much in my other workouts, compared to what I went through with that workout.  It was a reminder to push myself to 60-80% of my maximum heart rate.  That is the level one must work at in order to improve the strength of the heart muscle, and to burn fat.

Happy Exercising!

Mary
The Fit Optimist