Joanie T
So we’re a few days into the New Year and people have made the usual resolutions. The most common one is losing weight and exercising.
Now understand, I’m a typical American woman. I have “yo-yo” dieted all my life. Lost 40 pounds, but determined lady that I am, found them again...back and forth several times over the years. When I was at my lowest weight I looked great in clothes and felt confident. Confident enough to tell myself eating that hot fudge sundae just “this once” wouldn’t make a difference. Muffin tops don’t look THAT bad.
I was wrong.
I’m not going to go into diet regimes because eating is only one aspect of being healthy. As the title to my entry states “Exercise Your Right to be Healthy.”
Now before you turn off the blog let me tell you right now, this is not going to be a dissertation on all the benefits of exercise, numerous as they are; ok here are a few. (What can I say? It’s the nurse in me :-)
Exercise can:
* Improve your mood. Brain chemicals that are released during exercise reduces stress, relaxes you and can make you feel happier.
* Fights chronic disease. Exercise combats high blood pressure, increases GOOD cholesterol, prevents or limits the effects of Type 2 diabetes, controls osteoporosis and has been shown to be beneficial in preventing some cancers such as colon and breast.
* Controls weight. Did you know that for every extra 10 pounds that you carry, you exert 30-60 pounds of pressure on your knees? Ouch!
* Improves sleep. Being able to sleep better and longer will increase your concentration and mood.
YMCA, my work fitness club and even a membership to the infamous Gold’s gym followed. The thing with gym memberships is that you come for one orientation on ALL the different equipment then when there is no one there to refresh your memory, you fall into “the same ‘ole routine”…which gets boring fast.
I will say that gym memberships can be amusing. Especially the body builder guys. I have NEVER seen a woman preen like these guys do and the NOISE they make while lifting weights! They talk about supplements, and diets and blah blah. At one point I had a young personal trainer guy who had sampled one of their “special” protein shakes prior to my arrival. He was sweating, flushed and his pupils were dilated. He said “Everything looks so much brighter” and then
mumbled something about his libido being enhanced.
What the...?
I quickly informed him that if he went down I wanted the CPR I would have to perform on him to count as my exercise!
But I’ve stuck to some form of this over the years for one reason. To be healthier. It works. I know it does. My joints don’t ache, I move better, I can let the stress of life take a back seat and yes, I look nicer in my clothes and feel better about myself.
You don’t have to officially join a gym. Increasing physical activity in any form (climbing stairs, walking around the neighborhood, chasing smart-alecky brothers with exercise balls) all count as activity. Yep, even Jeanne’s favorite, cleaning house counts on the Weight Watcher plan as activity.
So be good to yourselves Banditas and BB’s. Take a walk. Skip the elevator one time. Park farther away from the mall. Clean my house. As the song says, “You got to move it, move it.”
What is your favorite form of exercise? *Ahem, we know the ONE type is a given. What can you do to increase it in 2009?
PS The picture below shows a tai chi move... I kid you not...called the Golden Rooster! I propose that all Banditas and BB’s use it as a secret signal at conferences.
Source URL: http://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/2009/01/excercise-your-right-to-be-healthy.html
Visit violeta diario for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
So we’re a few days into the New Year and people have made the usual resolutions. The most common one is losing weight and exercising.
Now understand, I’m a typical American woman. I have “yo-yo” dieted all my life. Lost 40 pounds, but determined lady that I am, found them again...back and forth several times over the years. When I was at my lowest weight I looked great in clothes and felt confident. Confident enough to tell myself eating that hot fudge sundae just “this once” wouldn’t make a difference. Muffin tops don’t look THAT bad.I was wrong.
I’m not going to go into diet regimes because eating is only one aspect of being healthy. As the title to my entry states “Exercise Your Right to be Healthy.”
Now before you turn off the blog let me tell you right now, this is not going to be a dissertation on all the benefits of exercise, numerous as they are; ok here are a few. (What can I say? It’s the nurse in me :-)
Exercise can:
* Improve your mood. Brain chemicals that are released during exercise reduces stress, relaxes you and can make you feel happier.
* Fights chronic disease. Exercise combats high blood pressure, increases GOOD cholesterol, prevents or limits the effects of Type 2 diabetes, controls osteoporosis and has been shown to be beneficial in preventing some cancers such as colon and breast.
* Controls weight. Did you know that for every extra 10 pounds that you carry, you exert 30-60 pounds of pressure on your knees? Ouch!
* Improves sleep. Being able to sleep better and longer will increase your concentration and mood.
So, do I practice what I preach?
I try.
You’d think as a nurse that I would be svelte and toned just from running like a mad woman up and down the hospital halls day in and day out (and day in and day out) but nope. Not enough sustained momentum (plus swinging by the lounge to nibble on cookies because dangit, I’m tired and deserve it does not help).
I’ve tried multiple things over the years; jazzercise, aerobics class, a home exercise routine and multiple gym memberships. The classes were ok but if you come into them in the middle with more experienced participants you stand out like a sore thumb. My last attempt at a step class ended with me rolling around on my mat LMAO (if only we COULD laugh our a** off)because I looked and felt ridiculous. My instructor raced back to see if I was having a heart attack.
The home exercise thing waxes and wanes. For a period of time I had one of those exercise balls. That got thrown into the Goodwill the day my brother was over and I had lain on my back over it and…couldn’t get up. Did he help? Nope HE laughed HIS a** off as I struggled like a beached whale to get up.
I try.
You’d think as a nurse that I would be svelte and toned just from running like a mad woman up and down the hospital halls day in and day out (and day in and day out) but nope. Not enough sustained momentum (plus swinging by the lounge to nibble on cookies because dangit, I’m tired and deserve it does not help).
I’ve tried multiple things over the years; jazzercise, aerobics class, a home exercise routine and multiple gym memberships. The classes were ok but if you come into them in the middle with more experienced participants you stand out like a sore thumb. My last attempt at a step class ended with me rolling around on my mat LMAO (if only we COULD laugh our a** off)because I looked and felt ridiculous. My instructor raced back to see if I was having a heart attack.
The home exercise thing waxes and wanes. For a period of time I had one of those exercise balls. That got thrown into the Goodwill the day my brother was over and I had lain on my back over it and…couldn’t get up. Did he help? Nope HE laughed HIS a** off as I struggled like a beached whale to get up.
YMCA, my work fitness club and even a membership to the infamous Gold’s gym followed. The thing with gym memberships is that you come for one orientation on ALL the different equipment then when there is no one there to refresh your memory, you fall into “the same ‘ole routine”…which gets boring fast.I will say that gym memberships can be amusing. Especially the body builder guys. I have NEVER seen a woman preen like these guys do and the NOISE they make while lifting weights! They talk about supplements, and diets and blah blah. At one point I had a young personal trainer guy who had sampled one of their “special” protein shakes prior to my arrival. He was sweating, flushed and his pupils were dilated. He said “Everything looks so much brighter” and then
mumbled something about his libido being enhanced.What the...?
I quickly informed him that if he went down I wanted the CPR I would have to perform on him to count as my exercise!
But I’ve stuck to some form of this over the years for one reason. To be healthier. It works. I know it does. My joints don’t ache, I move better, I can let the stress of life take a back seat and yes, I look nicer in my clothes and feel better about myself.
You don’t have to officially join a gym. Increasing physical activity in any form (climbing stairs, walking around the neighborhood, chasing smart-alecky brothers with exercise balls) all count as activity. Yep, even Jeanne’s favorite, cleaning house counts on the Weight Watcher plan as activity.
So be good to yourselves Banditas and BB’s. Take a walk. Skip the elevator one time. Park farther away from the mall. Clean my house. As the song says, “You got to move it, move it.”
What is your favorite form of exercise? *Ahem, we know the ONE type is a given. What can you do to increase it in 2009?
PS The picture below shows a tai chi move... I kid you not...called the Golden Rooster! I propose that all Banditas and BB’s use it as a secret signal at conferences.
Source URL: http://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/2009/01/excercise-your-right-to-be-healthy.htmlVisit violeta diario for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
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