I am not an exercising type of person really. I do not enjoy exercising and I sometimes wonder if the people who say they enjoy it are lying to themselves or just nuts (no offense intended.) This book, however says that some people are genetically predisposed to enjoy exercise more than others and some of us are more genetically predisposed to be couch potatoes. I believe that I fall into the latter category. About 30 percent of our ability to be fit and healthy is genetic and there is not much we can do it, but the other 70 percent is up to us. Since I began this blog a month ago I have lost 8 pounds. That is due to changes in both diet and exercise. I started out walking 15 – 20 minutes a few evenings a week, which increased to longer evening walks – around 25 to 30 minutes. Then it got too hot to walk so much in the evenings and I switched to morning walks, then morning and evenings when it is not too hot. I now walk for 35-45 minutes in the mornings and 20 to 25 minutes in the evenings. I am not a morning person either. I sometimes see other people out walking and jogging or running in the morning and they look all energetic and happy and I am often just trudging along forcing myself to go step by step, trying to wake up.
I also follow what I call my stairmaster plan – I always walk up one more flight of stairs than I need to any time I am near any flight of stairs and park my car as far away as possible except when there is a shaded spot available closer. Dr. Fuhrman recommends weight bearing exercise and says that walking up and down stairs counts for that. He suggests that if you have stairs in your house you walk up and down them 10 times in a row three times a day. I did that once yesterday evening.
The book The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can: Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer, suggests that short intervals or bursts of speed can be very beneficial so I jogged 3 times during my walk this morning. I can jog past 2 or 3 houses. That is rather pitiful. I think I need a sports bra. I also attended my first yoga class this week. I plan to purchase some yoga pants to wear to it instead of loose shorts and wear a tighter shirt and a sports bra if I get one the next time I do yoga. At this point, I plan to go to the beginner yoga class once a week and other classes when I can fit them in.
If Books Could Make Me Thin and Healthy 