Fitness: One Step at a Time

Most of us understand and accept the concept of fitness. As teenagers and young adults keeping fit was almost automatic. We were on the go. We were chasing each other, our dreams, and then our children.

Life settled into a routine. Over the years the routine evolved into something else. It was a gradual change. At one point in time we were spending the evenings chasing kids in the park, and the next we studying the TV Guide or popping a movie into the DVD player.

The decision to become a couch potato wasn't a conscious one. It's like waking up one day and realizing you've become your mother. It happens to the best of us.

I rarely if ever watch TV so I can officially deny couch potato status. I'm not a couch potato but I spend hours and hours in front of the computer. Consequently I have a caboose that would put the best American Flyer to shame.

I know I need to exercise more. I think about it all the time, but thinking about it and doing it are two different things. I drive by a fitness center on my way home from work every day. I look through those huge glass windows and see all those beautiful people lifting weights and doing aerobics, and then I picture myself in pink spandex and reach for the comfort of chocolate. The thought of donning spandex and exposing this overweight, aging body to public ridicule is enough to give me heart palpitations.

I can't do it! I won't do it!

I am going to share with you some of the information I've uncovered. But bear in mind, I am not an expert.

If you
have been sedentary (couch potato) for more than a year,
don't currently exercise and are over the age of 65,
are diabetic,
pregnant,
have high blood pressure, or any other medical condition that walking would aggravate, please talk to your doctor before starting any walking program.

The idea is to improve your health, not jeopardize it.

According to the experts, losing one to two pounds a week is an excellent goal. A combination of decreasing your caloric intake and increasing the number of calories burned will put you on the right path.


When I decide to diet and exercise, the wrong path with its quick results appeals to me. I want to sprint instead of amble along.
I want results. Now!

Sometimes walking out the door (making a committment,) is the hardest part. Take it slow and easy. If ten minutes is all you can handle on your first trek, don't fret. Add a few minutes each day. Before you know it you'll be cruising around your neighborhood for an hour or more.

Goals to Shoot For:

Walk every day.
Consistently add time to your total.

Commit to walking every evening (at least five days a week,) for the next twelve weeks. Getting off your duff and out the door will be worth the trouble in the long run.

I used to walk, but over the last year I've slipped out of the habit. It will become a habit again. I walked last night. Admittedly it wasn't as far as I used to walk, but it's a start.

It will be worth it in the end.