| Exercising Let's face it - exercise can be downright boring. There are plenty of
exercises that I simply hate doing. A few years ago, I bought a
treadmill. I figured I would watch some TV and walk or jog on the
treadmill. It worked for a while. But, you know what... I really hate my
treadmill. It sits in the corner of my dining room collecting dust (update:
I gave my treadmill to my mother for Christmas of 2004. She has been
making good use of it!) Now, there are some types of exercise that I
really enjoy. I love to ride my bike outdoors. Over the summer, I spent
countless hours biking. I hit the roads, the bike trails, you name it.
Unfortunately, I live in Western New York, so once November hits, it's
really hard to get a lot of outdoor biking in. Yes, I have a stationary
bike in my living room - and I use it for a 5- to 10-minute warmup before
my workouts - but it's just not the same. The key is to find exercise
that you enjoy. If you don't like doing it, you're probably not
going to stick with it. What do I do over the summer? Well, I like to jog,
although not as much as I like to bike, but it's a good substitute. I also
love to swim laps. Fortunately, I live near the State University at
Buffalo (Amherst Campus). For less than $200 a year, I purchased a
non-student membership that gives me access to all of their facilities,
including the indoor jogging track and pool. They also have a weight room,
but I have a weight set at home, so I don't use that. However, this is my
way of staying active a few days a week during the cold winter months when
I can't get outdoors to bike. I also love to play softball. Over the
summer, I play four or five nights a week. Now, softball is one of those
activities that really is not exercise. I mean, sure, you're
running around the bases when you hit the ball, but for the most part, I
don't count softball as exercise. The amount of running you actually do in
a game is negligible. Softball is one of those games that you should
exercise in order to play better. In fact, next to preventing
myself from dropping dead at 40 from a heart attack, improving my softball
game was one of my top motivations for losing weight. Again... you need to
find your own motivations. I like to get to the game at least half an hour
early, however, to run some laps around the field, warm up my muscles, do
some stretches, etc. This is good quality exercise time. I usually burn
more calories off before the game starts than during the game itself. I
usually play 1st base, so there's not a lot of movement for me on the
field. So, pick some activity that you enjoy doing and do it. The key is
to start slow and progress a little bit each week. Walking is always a
great activity. Indoor or outdoor you can always walk. Start by walking 10
or 15 minutes a day for a week. When you can do that, move up to half an
hour. Eventually, you can progress to a light jog.
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