Pace Yourself

I've started week 3 today!! I did manage to jog a whole quarter mile without stopping! After that it was same old, same old. But I'm in for the long run, so to speak.

When starting a fitness program, you should have several goals. One is improved health, another may be just getting back in shape. A necessary goal is a lifelong commitment to fitness.

Why do so many people fall off the fitness wagon? Why do they spend hundreds of dollars getting ready to be fit - on equipment, on memberships- only to let their fitness goals fall aside, equipment unused and memberships lapsed.

Perhaps it's too much too soon. Exercise is something to make you feel GOOD. After a while, you need it, you want it, and you'll find ways to get it.

I've seen too many people with pained looks on their faces. They start out their program making their bodies hurt. Hurt! No wonder they don't go back. Pain isn't fun at all.

If it's been awhile since your last fitness foray, please don't push yourself too far. Take it slow. Walk for a few weeks. Then every quarter of mile or so, try a gentle jog. If you are lifting weights, try a lighter load that you can do more repetitions on rather than one set of giant grunts and sore muscles.

Do stretch. It's like flossing teeth, after a while it's so relaxing.

And do breathe. Years ago, I took a Tai Chi class. We did a lot of breathing. For the best chi, the teacher had us curl our tongues up to the center of our mouths and breathe deep. Very deep. Like for an 8 count. Then sloooowly release it, also for an 8 count. The oxygen goes farther into your lungs than with shallow breathing. If you do the Eastern breathing like with Tai Chi or Yoga, you will feel so energized.

I haven't been a steady exerciser for a few years now. I find it much harder now that I am older to get back into the swing of things. But I know I'll cross that hurdle eventually.

I walk, I breathe, I stretch and in between all that I make my legs work hard. But not so hard that I feel sore the next day. Sometimes I could use going to bed early, but I don't hurt.

Listen to your body. It doesn't like pain anymore than your head does. So cool it down a few notches. Any exercise is good exercise. Have a little fun, enjoy the movement, don't be in pain, and you'll be back the next day for more. You'll reach those goals, don't worry.

My Stats for the day:

Walk/run 2.5 miles. All aerobic today.

I noticed the Chimney Swift birds are back, and that can only mean that autumn is right around the corner. You see them in great clouds of speckled black, like sprinkling pepper out.