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Don't Just Laugh Everything Off, Try Exercise

Posted on: Tuesday, 31 May 2005, 15:00 CDT

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 now and we don't know where the heck she is.

"Exercise" is one of those words that makes a lot of us cringe. We wish we could do more, know we should do more, feel bad because we don't do more, beat ourselves up because ...well, you know.

If God meant for us to touch our toes, he would have put them further up on our body.

Health professionals recommend that adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity on most days for better health, while children should strive for an hour (for those of you who watch too much TV, that's two reruns of "Friends" or "Seinfeld" -- three if you TiVo it and skip the commercials).

This is a challenge for many of my slacker friends, who if given an extra 30 minutes every day likely would choose to spend it sleeping.

Every time I get the urge to exercise, I lay down until the feeling passes.

There is science behind these recommendations. As a speaker at a recent health conference put it, "Diseases such as diabetes have more than one cause, but [adult onset] diabetes is primarily a disease of inactivity."

Indeed, exercising for 30 minutes on most days is associated with a decreased risk of diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and some types of cancer, and it's never too late to start.

I get lots of exercise. Jumping to conclusions and pushing my luck are two of my favorites.

One barrier is the notion that the recommended 30 minutes must be in a row. If weight loss is your goal, the idea is to burn additional calories, and therefore any combination of minutes can be beneficial. New federal guidelines suggest 60 minutes on most days to prevent weight gain as we get older, but just a few minutes each day is a great place to start.

Add a few minutes each day, with the goal of reaching 30 minutes on most days to stay healthy for the long haul. Your 30 minutes could include three minutes of jumping jacks in the morning, a 15- minute walk during lunch, followed by a 12-minute romp in the park with the dog after work.

We're not talking about high-impact step aerobics here. It doesn't have to be hard.

I quit jogging a long time ago. It made the ice jump right out of my glass.

If the goal is to improve your health in general (which may include weight loss for some), your workouts need to be a little more consistent. You will know that you are getting good exercise when you begin to breathe harder, your pulse quickens, and you break a sweat.

If walking is your thing, a nice leisurely stroll isn't enough. A comfortable, slow walk can ease stress and burn some extra calories, but to reap the benefits related to disease prevention, you've got to pick up the pace and make your body work a little.

Cardiovascular benefits begin at the 10-minute mark, so going for 10 minutes at a time is a good thing. But every additional activity, no matter how long, burns calories.

I'm in shape. After all, ROUND is a shape.

The idea is to find something you love to do and stick with it. If your chosen activity seems like "exercise" to you, try others such as taking the kids to the park, walking along the beach, power- walking in the mall or cleaning up the back yard.

Aside from eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, exercise is the one thing we can all do to improve our health. That, and staying off the computer.

Take it from me, anything is healthier than wasting time on the Internet looking for stupid exercise jokes.

I knew I was exercising too hard when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting my pantyhose on fire.

OK, that was one too many.

Steve Baldwin, MS, RD, is a nutrition network project director with the Hawthorne School District's Nutrition Network Center. He can be reached at stbaldwin@hawthorne.k12.ca.us.

Source: Daily Breeze

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