Sixteen hours. That's how much time we have to work with if we're getting a proper amount of sleep every day. How do you divide your time up?
Most of us start with our list of "to-do's" and go from there, but what if you are trying to live a healthy, balanced life?
Do you have time for exercise, the kind that gets your heart pumping?
Do you have time to walk to the store instead of hopping in the car?
Do you have time to prepare meals from scratch and eat them around the table with your family?
Do you have time to alternate physical labor with desk work?
Do you have time for stretching, yoga, and massage?
Why not?
I should have time, but I don't seem to be able to do all of those things every day. I'm in my car way too much these days, for one thing. I do make all my meals from scratch and eat with my family daily, but physical work? Not often. As for stretching....it's the first thing to fall off the list.
I have high hopes that someday I'll be the ultimate serene, healthy, glowing individual that will have it all together. Maybe when I'm 70.
How about you? Have you found serenity? Are you living a healthy life?
Showing posts with label Doubling Your Exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doubling Your Exercise. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Cheapest High
I jogged this morning.
Never in my adult life did I think I would write those words on a page. I have always hated running and I've never done it as a voluntary activity. Last year, however, I noticed a trend on a message board I frequent: More and more women were talking about a "Couch to 5K" program that was really working for them.
I remained skeptical for a long time and I can't remember now what made me decide to try it. I think it was mostly the combination of all the threads I read that went something like, "I'm 45 and I've never run before and today I ran my first 5K race!" I guess it was just my competitive streak coming out - if they could do it at 45 then I could surely do it, too.
I started slowly. Stopped. Started again. Stopped. Then one day last summer I went for a run with my husband and we did a mile. I was shocked. It wasn't even that hard. And I was hooked.
Well, hooked is maybe too strong a word. The truth is I run for awhile and then I stop and then I pick it up again and quit for a few weeks. I don't think I'm ever going to be a die-hard fan. But when I need it - it's there for me.
I'm needing it right now. The weather is bleak, money feels tight, the whole world is in a slump.... In times like these a good shot of oxygen to the brain can be a real pick-me-up.
If you've never tried jogging, think about it. Even a short (very short!) run can get you breathing hard and your adrenaline flowing. As always, check with your doctor before doing anything drastic, and go slow to start. In fact, that's the key to jogging, really: run slow. Shuffle along, even. You'll be surprised at how far you can go.
The best part, of course, is that it's free and doesn't take fancy equipment. It can take as short or long a time as you want. And you'll feel instantly better. Trust me. Get out there and get moving. January will look completely different when you're done.
Never in my adult life did I think I would write those words on a page. I have always hated running and I've never done it as a voluntary activity. Last year, however, I noticed a trend on a message board I frequent: More and more women were talking about a "Couch to 5K" program that was really working for them.
I remained skeptical for a long time and I can't remember now what made me decide to try it. I think it was mostly the combination of all the threads I read that went something like, "I'm 45 and I've never run before and today I ran my first 5K race!" I guess it was just my competitive streak coming out - if they could do it at 45 then I could surely do it, too.
I started slowly. Stopped. Started again. Stopped. Then one day last summer I went for a run with my husband and we did a mile. I was shocked. It wasn't even that hard. And I was hooked.
Well, hooked is maybe too strong a word. The truth is I run for awhile and then I stop and then I pick it up again and quit for a few weeks. I don't think I'm ever going to be a die-hard fan. But when I need it - it's there for me.
I'm needing it right now. The weather is bleak, money feels tight, the whole world is in a slump.... In times like these a good shot of oxygen to the brain can be a real pick-me-up.
If you've never tried jogging, think about it. Even a short (very short!) run can get you breathing hard and your adrenaline flowing. As always, check with your doctor before doing anything drastic, and go slow to start. In fact, that's the key to jogging, really: run slow. Shuffle along, even. You'll be surprised at how far you can go.
The best part, of course, is that it's free and doesn't take fancy equipment. It can take as short or long a time as you want. And you'll feel instantly better. Trust me. Get out there and get moving. January will look completely different when you're done.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
How Do You Spend Your Time?
Remember what I said when I started out? I'm trying to halve my stuff and bills so I can double my time and fun?
I went on a long walk this morning - it's a four mile loop. I stopped along the way to do my banking and grocery shopping and lugged the groceries the last mile home. It was all great, actually, until I got home and saw the time.
Panic!
The whole morning was gone. Wasn't I supposed to exercise, go to the bank, do the shopping and....?
Oh yeah.
The weird thing about setting your life up so that you get to spend your time the way you want to is that then you actually do get to spend your time the way you want to.
But...isn't life supposed to be hard? Aren't you supposed to spend large parts of it wracked with guilt and resentment? I always thought so.
Turns out I was wrong. That's not to say there aren't still icky parts. There are always toilets to clean. And snow to shovel. But I love the fact that taking a four mile walk is something I'm supposed to do - not just something I might get to do once in awhile.
I went on a long walk this morning - it's a four mile loop. I stopped along the way to do my banking and grocery shopping and lugged the groceries the last mile home. It was all great, actually, until I got home and saw the time.
Panic!
The whole morning was gone. Wasn't I supposed to exercise, go to the bank, do the shopping and....?
Oh yeah.
The weird thing about setting your life up so that you get to spend your time the way you want to is that then you actually do get to spend your time the way you want to.
But...isn't life supposed to be hard? Aren't you supposed to spend large parts of it wracked with guilt and resentment? I always thought so.
Turns out I was wrong. That's not to say there aren't still icky parts. There are always toilets to clean. And snow to shovel. But I love the fact that taking a four mile walk is something I'm supposed to do - not just something I might get to do once in awhile.
Friday, January 2, 2009
What's Bellydancing Got To Do With It?
Hello, my name is Jennifer, and I can't shimmy.
There. My big secret is out. I've been to belly dance classes here and there and have done bellydance video workouts now and then over the past....oh...decade. But I still suck at shimmying. I'm not very good at any of it.
That's going to change this year. One of the experiences I'm making time for is dancing. I cleared a space for it (see my home gym post below), I cleared time in my schedule for it. Now I'm doing it.
I take classes twice a week - they start up again next week, Yay! - from a wonderful woman named Krystina. But that's just not enough. Remember the stack of bellydance videos I got a month or two ago? Well, I'm finally using them.
I keep hearing that if you just do something for 10,000 hours you will be come an expert at it. So I figure if I dance about 8 hours a week, that's 416 a year....
So in twenty-four years....
I'm going to rock as a bellydancer when I'm 63!!!! Go granny! Shake those hips! Whooo!!!!
Seriously, though. I'll see an improvement before the year is out, don't you think? And no, I won't traumatize the neighbors by dancing in public, but you have to understand. I'm a WASP. I'm as uptight as they come. I walk with my hips straight up and down, and I'm paying for my rigidity in all sorts of ways - back pain, muscle aches, you name it. So really what this is all about is learning how to be at home in my body finally. And how to crawl out of my mind and inhabit my body at all, 'cause I tend to stay up here with my daydreams rather than getting out there and moving.
I did a half-hour of dancing yesterday and an hour today. I never thought I had this much time for exercise. I'm loving it now that I do.
There. My big secret is out. I've been to belly dance classes here and there and have done bellydance video workouts now and then over the past....oh...decade. But I still suck at shimmying. I'm not very good at any of it.
That's going to change this year. One of the experiences I'm making time for is dancing. I cleared a space for it (see my home gym post below), I cleared time in my schedule for it. Now I'm doing it.
I take classes twice a week - they start up again next week, Yay! - from a wonderful woman named Krystina. But that's just not enough. Remember the stack of bellydance videos I got a month or two ago? Well, I'm finally using them.
I keep hearing that if you just do something for 10,000 hours you will be come an expert at it. So I figure if I dance about 8 hours a week, that's 416 a year....
So in twenty-four years....
I'm going to rock as a bellydancer when I'm 63!!!! Go granny! Shake those hips! Whooo!!!!
Seriously, though. I'll see an improvement before the year is out, don't you think? And no, I won't traumatize the neighbors by dancing in public, but you have to understand. I'm a WASP. I'm as uptight as they come. I walk with my hips straight up and down, and I'm paying for my rigidity in all sorts of ways - back pain, muscle aches, you name it. So really what this is all about is learning how to be at home in my body finally. And how to crawl out of my mind and inhabit my body at all, 'cause I tend to stay up here with my daydreams rather than getting out there and moving.
I did a half-hour of dancing yesterday and an hour today. I never thought I had this much time for exercise. I'm loving it now that I do.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
My Home Gym
Here's a cool thing about halving your possessions. You end up with extra space. In some cases, lots of extra space. So I moved the furniture in my bedroom around to create a home gym for myself.
My home gym is very simple. It consists of a rug, a mirror (the mirrored doors of my closet - how "80s"! How wonderful!!!), two sets of handweights (5 lb and 7 lb), the book Om Yoga by Cyndi Lee, the book Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom by Minna Lessig, ten workout videos, a small television and DVD player.
That's it! It's a personal, private, comfortable place to do yoga, exercises, meditation and dance. Just what I always dreamed of!
My daily exercise regimen includes one yoga routine (about 20 minutes), either a weights routing plus a one mile jog (30-45 minutes) or an exercise video or two (30 - 45 minutes), plus a walk (45 minutes - an hour). The walk gets plugged into my regular day - taking kids to activities, going grocery shopping, etc.
Will I be able to maintain this? We'll see. But one of the reasons I've worked so hard at "halving" was to have enough time for a healthy amount of exercise in my life.
I'll keep you posted.
My home gym is very simple. It consists of a rug, a mirror (the mirrored doors of my closet - how "80s"! How wonderful!!!), two sets of handweights (5 lb and 7 lb), the book Om Yoga by Cyndi Lee, the book Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom by Minna Lessig, ten workout videos, a small television and DVD player.
That's it! It's a personal, private, comfortable place to do yoga, exercises, meditation and dance. Just what I always dreamed of!
My daily exercise regimen includes one yoga routine (about 20 minutes), either a weights routing plus a one mile jog (30-45 minutes) or an exercise video or two (30 - 45 minutes), plus a walk (45 minutes - an hour). The walk gets plugged into my regular day - taking kids to activities, going grocery shopping, etc.
Will I be able to maintain this? We'll see. But one of the reasons I've worked so hard at "halving" was to have enough time for a healthy amount of exercise in my life.
I'll keep you posted.
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