Do you like walking in the parking lot at work during your lunch hour? The thing I have learned about activity is that I have to do something that I like, something I find fun. Bowling is a fun activity, swimming, riding your bicycle, playing with your child or grandchildren; walking up and down stairs, walking the dog, throwing Frisbee with someone or with your pet. The trick is, it has to be fun or else you won't continue to do it. Once I figured that out, I started to look at activity in a whole new way. I love to walk with my dogs, but they are both white and we don't have sidewalks where I live, they get filthy when I walk them in the road. So I am saving that for the summer when it dries up around here, Michigan winters are cold, so bikes have to wait too. I have found Wii Fit Plus, that is so much fun, you can usually find an open swim at the local high school or YMCA, go bowling, golfing. There are so many ways to treat yourself and get in exercise at the same time. We just don't think of those things as exercise but any movement at all is good. Walking in place while you are brushing your teeth or doing dishes. Making several trips to put one load of laundry away. Change up what you do, and be creative in finding new ways to get in movement every single day. Think of it as a game and I'm telling you, you won't detest it after 6 days of doing it. Any movement at all counts. Even if it is only for 5 mins or 10 mins. That is more movement that what I was doing when I started. If you do something for 10 mins. 3 times in a day, that is 30 minutes of working out. It counts. It is burning calories. And when I began to accomplish 5 minute workouts in my chair at work, I felt really good about myself. My self-esteem started to build. Start out slow and don’t do too much. You don't need to feel pain, in fact, you shouldn't. Just get off the couch and start moving. And most important, do what you CAN, and don't worry about what you can't. No one cares about what you can't do. They care about what you can. Your brain hears that negative talk too. So say positive things to yourself about activity. I promise it gets so much easier. And then you start seeing your body getting toned, your clothes starting to fit better and before you know it they are falling off you. Losing those inches is a beautiful feeling. That is some great motivation. Be kind to yourself too, give yourself some positive reinforcement. Go Me!!! I did it! I started! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. I'm looking slim today. It's ok to be nice to yourself and to say nice things to the person looking back in the mirror. Go ahead and try looking in the mirror and telling the person you see, how proud you are of all of the efforts you have made, and how worth it you are to spend a little time each day taking care of yourself. Just thinking about eating right and exercising is a positive thing. Pat yourself on the back.


I hope no one minds this long "lecture", it is just that when I got the vision of walking around a parking lot on my lunch hour, I cringed, our parking lot it very ugly. To me lunch hours are for eating lunch, and for taking time for yourself to relax and regroup so that you can make it through the rest of the afternoon and be productive on your job. A little walk is fine if it is to clear your head and pamper yourself. So if you are going to love taking that walk around the parking lot, then go for it. But keep looking for other things to do so when you get bored doing that you can switch it up. Linda

On the breakfast topic: I know when I switched from cold cereal/milk to a small container of fat free yogurt and banana, I lost 10 lbs.

just a thought. every calorie counts.

Rose

I am so excited today!! My dh bought me an elliptical :D :D Right now I can barely do 2min because it's a killer on the legs. I know I will increase sooner or later so I am being patient with myself. Hope everyone is having some great weight losses this month :-D :-D

Rose Hall, I'm sure there is something to what we eat. I feel more hungry when I eat too many carbs and more full when I eat more protien.

And I absolutely hate exercise.

:oops: Like I said before, I need someone with a cattle prod to make me get on that treadmill each day. I did lose a pound this week though, so I will try again this week. Each day is a new day, right?

Lucky you. You will be doing 10 mins in no time. by the end of the month you will be doing even more than that. DH keeps saying we need one. Let us know how you like it.

I hate exercise also but it really does get better after you get going. I started just walking on the treadmill 15 mins every other day for a week then slowly increased the amount of time and the amount of days. When everyone says you can do it, YOU CAN DO IT. Every try tracking on a map how far you have walked? You would be amazed how fun it is. "Everyone makes mistakes - the only people who never fail are those who never even try."

I love walking... and I'm thinking of taking up running... still. I've had to run the last couple of times to catch the bus... and I don't get as tired as I did when I wasn't walking as much... so I wonder if it would be a good idea to start running... It would be cool to be able to run each morning... I have now till summer to get to a point where I can run with out stopping... I'll lose some weight too in the long run... I think I'll get some running stuff this weekend... maybe... depends on cost... Old Navy here I come! lol

Congrats on that treadmill workout. I love the idea of tracking on a map. I think I will try that. I am going to start out walking from my house to the Detroit area where my grandkids live. It is just under 100 miles from our door to theirs. It is great to learn that you CAN exercise even when you think you hate it. But there must be one thing that each of us loves to do. I got a Just Dance game for my Wii game system. Now let me tell you, that is some fun. Old and new music, great dance routines. Start out slow and master the dance. There are so many different activities (exercise) out there that are FUN that we CAN do.

Love your quote.

That is so funny. You can train for those days when you are running late and need to catch your bus. When I lived in the Detroit area, I caught a bus and took it downtown to work each day, there were plenty of days when I had to run to keep from missing it. I was in much better shape back then. Today, I may have to wait for the next bus. I think you should start running if that is what you like, and it is a great excuse to get something new to wear. Go find those great sales that Old Navy offers.

Has anyone tried the drug "Alli" that I see advertisements for? Please do not send me hate mail--I'm not asking for myself!!! Just curious. I would never DREAM of taking something like that while pregnant (or nursing!). I am just asking, honest!!!

Rose