On Exercise. Part One

Without a doubt, this past week's exercise has been the hardest I have ever worked my body. I hate it. I love it. It feels wonderful. It's challenging.

I joined a gym. I was kind of tricked into it, when I was asked to join a team for one of the radio stations where I work. Silly me, I should have asked more questions. I didn't realize I was going to be part of a two-station promotional competition with a local gym, with two teams vying to lose the most weight in an eight week period. But I'm very grateful that I kept my mouth shut and blundered into this opportunity.

Our trainer is brutal. Oh, he looks like a cute little pixie, sweet, polite, soft-spoken. Patient, even. But he doesn't even have to say a word to let you know you're not working hard enough to suit him. He just gives you that steely look of incredulity, and you say "Ok, ok, I'll incline the arc machine." I told him I was getting him a whip for Christmas.

But I'm loving it, and I can't wait to see the differences it makes in my body, mind and soul. And I'll write all about it, here.

Yes, exercise is essential. I've come to realize the truth in that, and I have made peace with the fact that I will exercise for the rest of my life. I want to look and feel great, and to get those things, it's like you have to make a pact with yourself to change your life.

I started exercising in earnest three years ago. I'd read that the rebounder was a nearly perfect exercise, low impact, aerobic, easy, and I could work out while I watched TV, distracting myself from what I was actually doing. For me, it made the transition from couch potato to person-who-exercises a little easier; it cushioned the blow of leaving the old me behind. At first I could only do it for ten minutes, but I worked up to half an hour while holding free weights.

The rebounder is a great little health investment. It's inexpensive, a good exercise, and an easy way to get in a half hour work out. I'll probably always have one around.

Yoga always mystified me. It still does. But I've noticed a lot of people who do yoga have beautiful, lithe bodies, and faces that glow. So this summer I decided to try kundalini yoga. I love the way it makes me feel, but it didn't make a big impact on changing my body after three months. I'm still doing it on the days I don't go to the gym, because there are other benefits to yoga.

Exercise...to be continued...