Exercise

Before I expound on the exercise DVD's I use, here's a tip...

I usually workout for a minimum of 30 minutes, but more typically an hour at a time. Today I'm playing "hurry up and weight" with the FedEx pick-up person and can't be unavailable for any length of time and I have no idea when FedEx will arrive so I'd been fretting about how I'd get my workout in. Then the lightbulb went off - I can climb stairs. It's a tough workout and I can only go for about 10 minutes at a time. So - I strapped on my heart rate monitor, put on some groovin' tunes and started climbing up and down for 10 minutes. I stopped about midway through to do some knee-lifts, which are good for the abs. I burned about 63 calories in 10 minutes. I'll do two more sessions and I'll have my cardio in for the day - and still be around for when FedEx comes calling.

The tip is to be creative when it comes to getting your workouts in. The cliche "when there's a will, there's a way" really is true

When I first started OPTIFAST, I could walk and that's about it. At first, I got my exercise by 'power walking' for about 10 minutes at a time, 2-3x per day. When the weather permitted, I'd go to the park at lunch and walk for about a half an hour. But as I got stronger I wanted and needed more of a challenge, but not TOO much of a challenge lest I became discouraged.

That's when I discovered Leslie Sansone's In Home Walking programs. I started out with a combo DVD - Walk Away the Pounds 1,2 & 3 mile program. I loved the program. Leslie Sansone is fairly perky, but so much I get irritated. But what makes her programs so good is that can be done without rearranging your living room and all you really need is a pair of light hand weights and good walking shoes. If you can march in place, you can do her program - it consists of basically 4 steps - marching, side steps, forward kicks, and knee-lifts. She does have some arm movements, but they are not complicated. If you are new to exercise or even in great shape, Leslie Sansone has a program that will work for you. Can't recommend highly enough!

This year, I discovered strength training and right now I'm using Jari Love's Get Ripped: Slim and Lean and Get Ripped: To The Core. These are long, total body workouts that emphasize repetition to get results. And in a month, my body really did show a huge difference.

The main thing about exercise is that I had to make up my mind that exercise is not an option most days. I'm short and in fairly good shape - I don't get to eat a lot (healthy or not) of food and exercising does two things for me: keeps my body strong and fit and allows me to eat a little bit more.

Back to my tip - get creative. If you have roadblocks against exercise, exercise your creativity to remove those roadblocks. If you are serious about maintaining your weight loss, then you must find a way to exercise.

Off my soapbox.... it's almost time for another 10 minutes of stair climbing.