Laura Varon Brown
Fitting in fitness: Need your help!
Posted at 7:21 PM on 10/27/06

Ok, we've procrastinated enough. Or at least I have. In this week's column I'm asking for your advice for eliminating time-eaters that get in the way of fitness time and your advice on how to restart a healthy routine. Put your tips here for me -- and other readers -- to live by!

Posted by Kristin Ervin | 11/29/06 at 1:05 PM

Instead of sitting around watching TV before the kids catch the bus in the morning, I've decided to walk the kids to school. It's about 2 miles round trip and about 250 calories burned. I am able to do this because I stay at home. However, whenever I can replace running an errand with the car and walk instead, I do.
It doesn't cut into my schedule and once the kids are at school, I walk even further before
going home.

Posted by kelli | 11/27/06 at 1:54 PM

Hello,

Start with something simple like parking farther from the door at work, church, the mall, etc. Also, take the stairs instead of the elevator and escalator. Another idea is to drink a small/tall coffee in the morning without the milk and only one sweetner. The last idea is to do the $10.00 challenge. Challenge yourself to spend only 10.00 a day. This can be fun becasue you actually find yourself trying to stick to the 10.00 rule. Any change automatically bounces over to the next day. I bet you can't do it. I'll buy you an ice cream cone from coldstone creamery if you can do the 10.00 challenge for a week(smile).

Posted by Kelley | 11/27/06 at 1:15 PM

Get a dog!! If you already have one get outside and walk it each day. For goodness of health and character a canine requires at least 45 minutes of out-of-doors time each day (good for humans too)!!

You must prioritize exercise like brushing your teeth: it's something you need to do each day.

Posted by Melanie | 11/20/06 at 3:19 PM

Start slow ... don't make a big "I'm going to exercise for an hour a day" commitment. Instead, walk out your front door and walk 10 minutes away from your house ... then you have to walk the 10 minutes back. Increase this every day by a minute or two and next thing you know, you'll be outside walking for an hour at time. Maybe you don't have an hour that you can do all at one time ... try half in the morning and half after dinner. Walking is cheap and easy ... doesn't require special equipment or training. Everyone can do it ... and should! Make it a daily habit (like brushing your teeth)!

Posted by Sarah | 11/08/06 at 2:01 PM

Find an event, sign up, tell everyone you know that you are going to participate - that will keep you motivated. Another suggestion is to try and combine family time and a physically challenging activity that is fun for all. Also, there are so many different ways to get cardio, resistance training and flexibility work - try and find one that you find interesting and challenging. Schedule it in your PDA - and have a good time. The journey should be enjoyed.

Posted by Christie | 11/07/06 at 3:01 PM

Do an activity WITH the kids. Go Rollerskating! There are several skating rinks in the area, so you can go anytime of the year. Skating/blading is a complete aerobic workout using all 640-plus muscles and burns several hundred calories an hour. This is an activity for the whole family, so everyone can be together and have fun! Make time every Saturday or Sunday to go to a session for a few hours and feel the burn. This is a fun activity with lights and good music, so you don't realize your actually working out!

Posted by garyk | 11/04/06 at 12:04 PM

ok so you only have time in the afternoon. so you could put many exercise pieces of equipment all around you. I am a truck driver so i have the stretch bands I use ,even in traffic jams, and i use hand springs and a jump rope. You could uses a small stationary bike and a mini gym in your office. Don't let the force of gravity discourge you.

Posted by Laura | 11/01/06 at 2:19 PM

I really like the suggestion to keep it simple. That we don't have to change everything to make a difference. I usually set a deadline and then change everything. Not good. And I know for certain I don't get enough sleep. A main problem for me is food. I love it and it's a stress reliever. I need to find food that I love but that is better for me and a healthier lifestyle.

Posted by DRACULA | 11/01/06 at 12:13 PM

GET ENOUGH SLEEP!!! Without sleep, excercise drains the energy right out of you, and your body cannot recover properly. I used to wonder why I'd always get sick after 2 weeks of good excercise. It was a vicious cycle. Excercise, sick, excercise, sick, etc. Then it dawned on me that 5 hours of sleep just wasn't enough to keep up with the physical demands I was putting on my body.

Posted by LBF | 11/01/06 at 11:46 AM

keep it simple.

sometimes people make things overcomplicated when first starting to live a healthier lifestyle. they read the disagreements between low carb proponents and high carb proponents and then simply decide to eat a candy bar while waiting for the "experts" to come to a conclusion while if the person just followed something they would be better off.

when you start off, with both exercise and eating, changing something is better than not changing anything, then modify and progress from there. healthy living and fitness is a marathon, not a sprint.

Posted by Alice | 11/01/06 at 9:29 AM

Try to fit exercise into your everyday life. Instead of going to the fridge during commercials do some crunches, push-ups, bicep curls, squats, run up and down the stairs. Park far away and walk, take the stairs instead of the elevator...the possibilities are endless

Posted by Carol Snodgrass | 10/31/06 at 6:49 PM

Hi Laura
1) If I pay money and leave the house I will go.
I have participated in Fitness Factory and Jazzercise for 12 years twice a week. I love the dancing & music.
2) Walking is free and is great in the fall & winter because it is natually cooler outside. I walk the dog every day.
3) Sometimes is is good to have an exercise or walking partner but not always good to rely on them to get out.
Just get going!

Posted by Laura | 10/31/06 at 11:02 AM

I have to say that with all the Halloween candy floating around, this is NOT the best week for me to restart, but I'm trying!

Posted by Marion Mc Carthy | 10/30/06 at 4:59 PM

One of the greatest benefits exercising the body derives is how much it helps our brain. The brain utilizes 20% of the oxygen in the body. When we exercise we generate more oxygen which then helps nourish the brainmwhich is so important for keeping sharp as well as keeping fit. Remember the brain is a muscle also.!!!

Posted by Laura | 10/30/06 at 2:31 PM

These are such great suggestions and all along the same disciplinary lines. I am really going to try some of these. My favorite is daily farming! Fresh air and some down home manual labor sounds good right now.

Posted by Pam | 10/30/06 at 12:43 PM

Quit your office job and become a dairy goat farmer. That's what I did 9 years ago. These days I walk at least three miles just going back and forth between the house and the milk barn - never empty-handed. Hauling hay, grain, and water out to the girls in the goat pen gives me weight-bearing exercise that not only tones muscles, but also builds bone strength to fight osteoporosis. Doing farm chores first thing in the morning and then again in the evening gives me a complete workout that not only revs up my energy level but also makes me tired enough by the end of the day to get a good night's sleep.

Posted by Jackie Jones | 10/30/06 at 11:03 AM

Get going in the morning, you will feel better! You have to decide if 30 minutes of extra sleep will give you the boost you need or the 30 minutes of exercise. I choose exercise everytime. I don't have time to go to a fittness center or class, I always exercise at home in the morning and have done this for over 30 years - It can be done! The article on page 12 said don't exercise at home. I do not beleive in that. I know many people who exercise at home and have for years. I do vary my exercise so I do not get bored, but I love running the most and preferrabley outside weather permitting. I also do Billy Banks - he is very energizing and keeps me going.

Posted by Tara | 10/29/06 at 6:48 PM

I do everything 15 minutes at a time now with Flylady.net. I have lots more time since I have given up perfection for completion. Start with a 7.5 minute walk away from home and a 7.5 minute walk back home. Soon you will be using all that exercize equipment you have been collecting over the years.

Posted by Cathy W | 10/29/06 at 8:03 AM

You have to make time for fitness; just put it in your planner & treat your workout sessions as an appointment. It's important that you have FUN - I have a 2 hr. tennis clinic with 3 friends plus a pro 2 nights/wk, and then run the other 4 days (20 miles/wk). I work full-time, have 2 teenage boys, husband, dog, yadda yadda, and manage to fit my sessions in. Ok, so the house isn't as clean and tidy as it should be, but I think my health and frame of mind is more important! Hope that helps...

Posted by garyk | 10/28/06 at 3:09 PM

EXERCISE is resistance training not resistance to training. Get up, eat breakfast go to the gym and you will feel the results later in the day. Do not let the force of gravity get you down. Your body out weighs your brain so just do it and exercise no more excuses.

Posted by layner | 10/28/06 at 11:07 AM

3 names? how important you must be. i'm sure vernon adds growth and richness to your being.

Posted by Judy Gwozdek | 10/28/06 at 8:43 AM

Put it in your calendar to get up 30 minutes earlier and most important is to set your active clothing where you see it first and must put it on first. It also helps tremendously to have a standing appointment to walk with a friend, neighbor or dog. You would not want to let them down. It is a gift of time and good health I give myself daily. A good pair of walking shoes, flashlight, umbrella, warm clothing and Yaktrax will help you deal with any weather. I've been walking for 16 years this way and recently was told I will need a hip replacement in the next 1-2 years due to a congenital hip defect problem. I turn 48 years young tommorrow. Each step I can take now is more important to me than ever.

Post a comment