Day 23 - of 30 Days to a Simplier Life

A simple way to exercise

There are a million different exercise plans, sites and suggestions on the web and in books and many are great, but I have found that unless you are a real fitness driven person, and I am not, you have to come up with some simple ways to get exercise into your life for it to be consistent.

First let's look at why it is important to exercise in case your not convinced you need to:

• Helps Prevent Diseases Our bodies were meant to move -- they actually crave exercise. Regular exercise is necessary for physical fitness and good health. It reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. It can improve your appearance and delay the aging process.
• Improves Stamina: When you exercise, your body uses energy to keep going.
• Strengthens and Tones: Your posture can be improved, and your muscles become more firm and toned. You not only feel better, but you look better, too!
• Enhances Flexibility: Stretching exercises are also important for good posture. They keep your body limber so that you can bend, reach and twist. Improving your flexibility through exercise reduces the chance of injury and improves balance and coordination.
• Controls Weight: Exercise is also a key to weight control because it burns calories. If you burn off more calories than you take in, you lose weight.
• Improves Quality of Life: Once you begin to exercise regularly, you will discover many more reasons why exercise is so important to improving the quality of your life. Exercise reduces stress, lifts moods, and helps you sleep better. It can keep you looking and feeling younger throughout your entire life.

Ok, so if I have now convinced you to exercise here are some simple ways to do it. I am not a personal trainer or have any education in health so these are just things that have worked for me

1. Take any opportunity during the day to walk instead of drive: Park further away from store entrance and walk, walk up stairs instead of taking elevator...I think you get the idea.

2. Start walking 20 minute at least 3 times a week and gradually increase as it gets easier, work your way up to at least 30 minutes.

3. Wear a pedometer and see how many steps you are going each day - it may be only 100 or so. The goal it to get up to 10,000. That is the recommended daily amount of steps an active adult should walk each day.

4. Find someone to walk with or do some form of exercise with. I have recently started to do this with a good friend of mine. We used to meet for lunch or coffee and now instead we meet to walk on the trail. We walk for one hour, talk the whole time and at the end we have connected, talked, gotten our exercise for the day and not eaten something we didn't need. She takes it a step further and has another friend she bikes with and one that she plays tennis with. So in a week she has exercised 3 different times in 3 different ways and connected with friends that normally it would take weeks to arrange time with.

5. Find things you love to do that keep you active: gardening, running, playing an active game, hiking, and list goes on and on.

There are much more ways than these but I was trying to keep it simple and doable for everyone. So if you are sitting there reading this blog, get up and walk around the house for a few minutes and get started today!