Daily Activity Pays Future Dividends

Being active now could help you live a more independent life in your twilight years. It is like "investing or saving a Dime to make a Dollar"...like a good Insurance policy...

In a study of older women, the ones who were consistently the most active during the 14-year study were the least likely to have difficulty performing daily activities down the road. Inject action into your day with these simple strategies: take stairs instead of using elevators, go for walks at lunchtime, and do some house or yard work each day. Of course, these benefits are not limited to "older women".

RealAge Benefit: A physical activity program that builds stamina, strength, and flexibility can extend your lifespan by as much as 8.1 years, tell us the Experts.

For those of you who "hate exercising"...are couch potatoes, and the like: I urge you to peruse and start practicing my post on "Self-Discipline". Then, start slow.

Taking a healthy WALK is, and becomes gradually more pleasant and enjoyable WHILE you are actually doing it: Walking… So:, just take those first few steps... (Remember what Aristotle said: ‘Well begun is half done!)...then a few more... build up to walking around the block...then further...then increase your mini-excursions to 20-30 minutes, non-stop...put in some bounce and vigor into your step…and wave your arms back and forth to further increase your circulation...the flow of blood and life-giving oxygen throughout your entire body and brain…You will actually feel happier...more cheerful and optimistic...a bit euphoric…added rewards!...

Most importantly: learn to ENJOY walking…turn it into a freeing experience... look around...notice new things... buildings...trees... shops...people....(you’ll be amazed at how many friendly people with smiling faces you will meet along the way…eager and happy to meet and befriend you… perhaps even fellow-mild exercisers…)...

‘The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.’ (Erma Bombeck) :o)

Out on the Trail

Choose the open trails over the open road for your walks and jogs whenever possible.

An exercise plan that minimizes your risk of injury or accident is best for your RealAge. Choosing designated walking trails over congested roads can help protect you from accidents, traffic debris, as well as car emissions. Grass or dirt trails also will be gentler on your joints than pavement or cement.

DO anything and everything to make walking FUN...anything but ‘work’ !...Use your imagination… fantasize…make believe that you were being confined... imprisoned in a tiny space by some crack-pot (in Psychology, we call this type ‘psycho-ceramic’: cracked pot.) :o)…and...at long last...you are FREE!...and able to walk around... discover new things...people...animals… vegetation...and, generally: celebrate your newly gained Independence!...

...And, if you enjoy listening to music or world news...an inexpensive ‘Walkman’ radio/cassette or CD player could be good company and give you ‘rhythm’….A reliable pedometer would further motivate you when its reading shows you how you are steadily progressing in ‘how many steps you just took’...especially when you also appreciate how ‘painless’...but rather how much fun it actually was…

So, DO IT!...get off your 'burro'...take those first few steps…and you’re on your way!...This is NOT a ‘backbreaking exercise, is it?...ENJOY!...

Later on, should you decide to participate in our S.L.I.M. For Life © Program, during your Modulations (our exclusive proprietary deep self-hypnotic exercises), you will be given gentle, mild, motivating stimulators to enthuse you automatically and voluntarily to feel like... yes! to want to get up and love moving around!... :o)


A bit of ‘good news’ for you ‘sedentary types’...

In a recent series of extensive studies of sedentary people who decided to start exercising in order to help control their high blood pressure (in many cases, the latter was ‘over the roof’)…every single one of them experienced remarkable improvements in their blood pressure readings, regardless of how much they exercised…

Amazingly enough: even those who mildly exercised, such as: walked for as little as thirty minutes a week gained improved results !…Shucks!...they just won’t leave us couch potatoes any more excuses, will they? :o)

…To reinforce this last remark of mine, THIS just came across my desk (Read and Reap!) :

Couch Potato Alert

Calling all couch potatoes! Research shows that sedentary people are 2 1/2 times more likely than regular exercisers to develop dementia. So just start moving: lift weights, take walks, go swimming, ride a bike, weed the garden, go for a run, or do whatever you enjoy. And keep at it.

Speaking of ‘taking walks’, Fred Allen just had to put his two cents in:
‘I like long walks, especially when are taken by people who annoy me!’ :o)

…Then I found THIS little gem to share with you, dear friends:
‘Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you’ll find it there.'(Robb Sagendorph)

Also, remember to 'Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.'
(Mark Twain)

And finally: "Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside." (Norman Cousins)...Science also found that five minutes of sustained "Belly Laughter" (the kind that leaves your belly sore for a while) can actually burn as many calories as does 4-1/2 miles of jogging! SO: LAUGH!...LAUGH!...LAUGH!