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Become a Healthier You Series: Exercise Your Body

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It is not only important for you to eat a healthy diet, but it is very important that you have an exercise routine.  Do you find that your butt is often glued to the sofa or your computer desk chair?  Well, it is time that you make a change.  Decide today that you will get your butt unglued and get moving.

I am working on being dedicated to working out daily.  It is a challenge!  I’ve learned that I must exercise everyday, because if I focus on exercising 3 times a week,  I end up not exercising at all.  Exercising and moving the body is the best gift you can give yourself.

Let’s take a look at what physical exercise and fitness mean.  There is a difference!

Physical exercise is any bodily movement that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health or wellness.

Physical fitness comprises two related concepts:  general fitness (a state of health and well-being) and specific fitness (ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations).

In order for you to obtain a certain level of physical fitness, you must first begin moving your body.  If you don’t move your body, you will find yourself getting stiff and old before your time.  You don’t want that to happen!

Do you think that you don’t have time for exercise?   Here are a few things you can do that won’t take much of your time or money.

Don’t become a couch potato, get out there and move your buns.

  • Walk as much as you can.  It is not hard to do and plus it won’t cost you a dime.  Don’t worry about finding a parking space that is closer.  Decide that you it will walk and that will not kill you.
  • Take the stairs whenever possible.  This will not only give your legs a good workout, but it will also get some cardio in.
  • Dance and have fun.  If you enjoy dancing, then dance to your heart’s content.  You will find every part of your body will get a workout from  dancing.
  • Do some push-ups and sit-ups.  Whenever you’re sitting around, do a few push-ups and sit-ups.  You will grow to love doing push-ups and sit-ups and soon you will be able to do more and more reps.
  • Lift 2-5 pound dumbbells.  Grab your weights and do a few reps.  You will be amazed that after doing this on a consistent basis that you will begin to develop some definition in your arms.  And ladies you know how nice it feels to show off your toned arms.

Have fun everyday.  Make everyday a day that you move your body.

Don’t sit around and let your body rust and get old.  Always remember that you are the only one who can control how old you feel.  Get out there and have some fun!

A few quotes to keep in mind

Always tell yourself, “I will stay youthful, active, happy and healthy.”

“To ensure youthful arteries, exercise is very essential.”

It’s never too late to get into shape, but it does take daily perseverance. – Dr. Thomas K. Cureton – Physical Fitness Pioneer, University of Illinois.

Every man is the builder of a temple called his body…We are all sculptors and painters and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones.  Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features and meanness or sensuality to imbrute them. – Henry David Thoreau

You only get one body, so make the most of it!

I enjoy walking, lifting dumbbells, and rebounding.  How about you?  What exercises do you enjoy?

Sources:  Wikipedia

Apple Cider Vinegar

Image: br3akthru

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I’m a big fan of the stairs! We’ve got an elevator here in the office but I think I’ve only taken it twice … when clients chose the easy way out 😉

  2. I know this is going to sound completely out of the ordinary, Evelyn, but clubbing and music festivals have actually helped me trim down by a lot.

    When you’re out there, dancing up a storm to some electronic music for hours on end, that certainly sheds of the pounds haha. Plus, you’re having fun while doing it 🙂

    • Hey Murlu,

      Welcome to my blog and thanks for commenting.

      I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary. When I was in my college…we use to party and I loved dancing. I’m a pretty good dancer. I found this to be a good way to keep the weight off myself. 🙂

      I agree…shedding the pounds, having fun and getting your dance is a great combination! 😉

      Take care!

      Evelyn

  3. Evelyn,

    I liked your comment on walking. People think all exercise is long runs or workouts. I think those have their place and are important, but daily exercise can be simply walking that 1/2 mile to the store, or (as you say) parking on the FAR side of the lot or taking the stairs rather than the elevator.

    All the little things can add up over time!

  5. Hi Evelyn

    I walk every day and soon as I can afford to; will be buying a bicycle as I know that is great exercise too. For awhile I did some dance but that’s on the backburner while I establish my blog and home business. Walking is easy to do every day, as I don’t have a car so to get from A to B I usually walk or sometimes take a bus.

    Patricia Perth Australia

    • Hi Patricia,

      Walking is natural and one of the easiest exercises we can do. Bicycling is also a good exercise.

      Thanks for sharing and chiming in!

      Evelyn

  6. Great series Evelyn. I could use some motivation in the exercise department. I was running regularly in the summer but it seemed to get forgotten in the back to school schedule changes.

  7. I’m hooked on Callanetics as taught by Callan Pinckney! 😀

    “I’ve come up with just a little guideline. I don’t fitness train every day. I only train on the days when I intend to eat.” Dr. Doug Graham, Perfect Health/foodnsport.com

    Doc Graham recommends that individuals commit to being active at least 30 minutes every day. Remember, it doesn’t have to be all at once! He also suggests writing down a list of fitness activities that you enjoy doing. Use the Five Facets of Fitness as a guideline:

    Cardio (Heart ♥ Healthy!)
    Muscular Strength (6 Reps Max to Failure)
    Muscular Endurance (Challenging the Muscles over Time)
    Flexibility Training (Stretching, etc., after Workout)
    Neurological Training (Play!)

  8. Hi Evelyn,

    I perform similar exercises with walking being my number 1 activity.

    I walk from 45 minutes to 1 hour daily, no exceptions. Once you make it a habit walking becomes addictive. Stick with it!

    I also like stealing a few push-ups and sit-ups here and there…and toss in a few 5 lb dumbbell exercises to boot.

    Great advice! Thanks for sharing.

    Ryan

  9. Right on Evelyn! I agree that exercise should be pursued everyday instead of 3 times a week. I’ve been guily of putting it off and then I run out of week:) Great work Evelyn!

  10. Hey Evelyn, very important topic here. We all sit too much. Our jobs stick us in front of the computer or riding in the car for much of the day. We are all starting to take on the shape of a chair! Setting your goals high like you do with exercising daily does increase the chances you will get enough in during the week. Aim low and you end up failing. I will say that sit ups should never be done. They do more harm for the back than they do to strengthen your core and you can’t get rid of belly fat by doing them. So, I suggest total body ab exercises such as planks and side planks for people to do while they are watching tv. At least you can make the most of the time you are usually sitting on your butt!

    • Hi Susan,

      Yeah, I agree.

      I don’t know why I mentioned sit-ups, because I don’t do sit-ups…I’ll do crunches because I do find that it will bother my back.

      I appreciate the information about doing planks. 😉

      Take care,

      Evelyn

      P.S. I’ve got to hurry over to read your post. The title has definitely caught my attention.

Trackbacks

  1. […] to energize you “just a little bit”.  Evelyn goes over some very basic ideas on how to lightly exercise.  The truth is you do not need to work yourself to exhaustion to get some benefit.  Sometimes […]

  2. […] Exercise Your Body – I have pretty much followed everything of this article, starting from reducing the hours in front of the Tv which I was working on anyway, and then taking stairs which I try but the elevator is damn tempting… I have worked it out finally though. And about the parking space, I got no luck with it for good; always have to walk a mile anyway. The things that I have seriously followed from this post is increasing my walking and using those free lazy moments by doing some quick exercises here and there. […]