Two Favorite Types of Exercise

First and most importantly, I found an exercise that I liked and stuck to it. Or I could switch, and add something else if I got bored. But I didn’t give up. So I tell others; try it for a month. If you still are doing it after a month, you can make it a habit. After 3 months it becomes part of your routine and easier to keep doing. Most exercisers stop exercising after 3 months. I pushed through the desire to quit. When you stop exercising you set yourself up to weight gain. SO I KEEP EXERCISING! Once you pass the one month mark, it became easier to find time to exercise. I was lucky enough that the “feel good” endorphins kicked in. Then I wanted to exercise and started to miss it if I skipped workouts. I don’t have to spend a lot of money to do it either. I found activities to do that don’t cost a lot of money. If I can exercise, almost anyone can.

These are some my favorite exercises/activities to do.

Yoga Practice

I used yoga video workouts to start out. I rented a lot and then bought the ones I liked the best. I was not ready for any jumping around and I still do not much like to do it. I started with beginner videos and had to make myself do as much as I could. I am not very flexible and never was. I am quite a bit more flexible now however, but still need to work on it. After practicing yoga for close to 3 years I can see the difference in my ability, flexibility, thought process and body. Yoga may not be for everyone, but it has done a lot for me. Yoga has taught me to breathe better and given me more mental clarity, mindfulness and resolve.

If you are interested in starting a yoga practice there are lots of different DVDs that you can find at your local library, video store, or rent by mail services like Netflix. You may want to look for a yoga studio in your area to participate in a live class with an instructor. Please talk to your doctor before you start doing any kind of exercise.

I practice 20 to 40 minutes of yoga 3 to 5 times a week except for the summer when I do a lot of gardening and some swimming. With yoga you need very little to get started. Wear comfortable clothing that stretches and moves with your body. Don’t wear anything too lose though that will get in the way. I tripped on something quite a bit, until I learned better. You don’t wear shoes, because you use a mat, and you get a better connection in the poses. I love the part about not wearing shoes and its one of the things that I love about yoga. That also saves money, by not having to buy special shoes and I love the feeling of bare feet. I spend a lot of time at home in my bare feet.

I use a sticky mat and might add blocks for some poses. You may want to get a yoga strap and bolsters or pillows to sit on for some poses and meditation. I will talk more about meditation another time. Make sure you buy a mat that is for yoga. You don’t want to slip in the poses and it will support you in the poses. You can practice on a carpeted floor, but a sticky mat is best. There are some good mats for under $20.

Please don’t be intimidated by yoga if you are overweight like me. If your doctor approves of you doing it, go for it. You will have to modify the poses however, but with time they will become easier. Yoga is a process of the body and the mind. This is one of the best ways to learn patience, mindfulness, and breathing. The poses and breathing you learn help to aide in digestion. Yoga and mediation will help to calm you, help you deal better with stress and help you to eat healthier and eat less. Yoga helps to curb cravings and makes you think more about what you eat. Seriously, I saw the difference. But if you stop practicing, you will start to loose that ability. It’s probably the only form of exercise that does that for you to the extent it does. I looked up various forms of exercise and couldn’t find information quite like yoga for curbing cravings and making you more aware of what you put into your body.

Over time I have come to love doing particular poses because they make me feel so good. As I lost weight, and with practicing yoga, I noticed that my backaches virtually disappeared. I believe it was the combination of loosing weight and yoga that helped relieve my almost constant dull back ache. (I was involved in an accident over 10 years ago while I was stopped at a construction site. My car was rear ended and totaled. Afterwards my back ached everyday.) I originally started yoga to help relieve the pain. Less than a year later my back no longer hurt everyday. In fact, I almost never have any pain, ever. Yoga feels so good and helps to relieve my stiffness too. There are lots of benefits to exercise! You still benefit from the practice, even if you can’t do all of the poses or hold them.

Yoga gives me something no other exercise ever has. It gives me a sense of serenity, healing and spirituality. It gives me the ability to be more aware of what food really tastes like. It’s heightened my desire to eat healthier and care more for my body. It helps me control my diabetes; reduce my blood pressure, weight, cholesterol and increase awareness. It’s helped me to reduce the use of salt and sweeteners. I now use sea salt, but less of it than table salt and I switched to Agave as a sweetener at home. Yoga helps you to become more patient and stronger both physically and mentally.

I find that I can handle life’s disappointments with more patience, and I am calmer in a crisis. It gives me more inner strength and resolve to be healthier. This resolve helped me to break years of bad eating habits. I hope that if you practice yoga, it helps you as well.

Yoga is the only type of exercise where I can do the same workouts over and over again without getting bored. Yoga is a process that takes time to learn and see your progress. The more you do the poses, the more you get better at doing them. This is why it is called a “practice”. In the process of practicing, you become better able to do the poses and benefit by toning your body and your mind. Yoga isn’t a competitive sport, it’s a learning process.

Walking

You can start your exercise program by walking. Walking is the best free exercise. It is a weight bearing exercise, which helps your bones and burns calories. You can do it almost anywhere, in most weather. Just dress properly for the weather. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes that are comfortable and supportive to avoid injuries. I am addicted to it and now want to go walking on my days off. I prefer to walk in the morning. I’ve heard that morning walking is best, because it benefits carry over for most of the day.

Start out slowly. Walk for 15 minutes if you can. Build your time to at least 30 minutes and try to walk every day if you can. I try to walk at least 3 days a week. I wear my watch so that I can time myself. Start slowly to warm up and then get into a faster pace. If you can walk longer, even better. Some days I walk for about an hour. I walk most of the year now, so I am always dressed for the weather. Read my post “Walking a Love Story”.