What I've Learned About Exercise

I've been exercising regularly for 23 years, so I've gone through and ridden out all of the phases, from straight aerobics classes, to cardio kickboxing (still one of my favorites) to Bosu and everything in between. Last year, I started running, which is still amazing to me because I NEVER was a runner. Here's how it started: My husband and I started walking in our neighborhood regularly on the weekends. We used to huff and puff up the hills--and there are many of them where we live--but after several months, we noticed the hills were getting easier. As we lost weight, we were able to walk for longer stretches and take the hills even more easily. Once I had lost about 20 lbs., I was craving more of a challenge to get my heart rate and calorie burn up, so I began to add running intervals halfway up the "big hill" near our house. I'd run to the top, do a little loop until my husband caught up with me, and then we'd continue to walk home.

A few months into this routine, we started taking our daughters out for bike rides--they on the bikes, us on foot since we were teaching our youngest to ride. Well, one of us had to keep up with our older daughter, so that turned out to be me. I found myself running to keep up with her, which made me think, "Hey, I'm running! And I'm not getting tired!" I told this to a good friend, who asked me if I'd be interested in running with her on occasion, since she was training for a 5K. Before long, she had me signed up for the 5K, which I loved doing so much that I did another one a few months ago and am toying with the idea of doing a half marathon in November. Last Saturday, we ran over 8 miles, which astonishes me. Another five and we'd have run the half!

My point is that you shouldn't count yourself out of any goal that you really want. If you take small steps to get there and don't give up, you'll eventually make it. Stick to your smart eating plan, stick to your exercise, and you'll get there--I promise!

Next post: Fine-turning your exercise program