In designing programs for companies, I was researching what is currently the most impacting for sedentary clients. The program I am most impressed with is the pedometer 10,000 step challenge. Studies have shown that it is beneficial to have 10,000 steps per day, approximately 5 miles.  Most of us do not come close to this in our everyday routine, but it is eye-opening to buy a pedometer, wear it for a few weeks, and just observe how many steps we truly take.

In working with so many people that lead sedentary lives, this can be a real change. But the health benefits of getting physical, starting with 30 minutes per day of moving, in any way, can be greatly beneficial to our health.

Here are a few suggestions to getting started:

• Purchase a basic pedometer (see sidebar). For it to work accurately, you will need to clip it to your waist.
• Wear a good pair of running or walking shoes.
• Observe your normal routine, then set a goal of increase each week, based on your tolerance, and work it up slowly. You do not want to injure yourself so consult your doctor if you have any concerns for your joints.
• As we age, we contain less lubrication in our joints. Anti-aging specialists highly recommend taking a joint lubricant like glucosamine and condroitin, (if over 40)
• If you are trying to compare with running on a Precor or stationary bike, 2,000 steps is the equivalent to burning 100 calories.
• Keep a written log of your progress
• If you get bored, find a buddy. Get creative with a more comprehensive program.
• Hire a coach to hold you accountable.
• Above all, make it FUN!

The two recent speaking engagements that I had here in Jacksonville, also featured my friend, Becky, the dietician, as their feature. The Women’s connections each have a secular feature, and then a christian based message.

I have heard Becky teach before, and assume that I already know most of the basics, But sometimes we get so busy and distracted with life, we forget the basic eating (and exercise) habits that were so ingrained before. 

I guess that I take for granted that we have great nutrients and superfoods in our business, but I really need to be better about my portions, well, and the waffle bowl late-night runs to Dairy Queen. May has been such a hectic month and we had several hard drive crashes, and and and….

Well summer is here, I am so re-motivated and empowered to take control of my schedule and develop new lifestyle habits. I learned some new things about reading the labels at the grocery store, and portioning my meals. Check her out at www.beckybydesign.com

I have found that a month out of my FLEXX IT class has greatly affected my tone. Muscle mass is so KEY for aging and stamina. So tomorrow starts my summer YMCA routine!!  Hope I will see some of you there!!

I said I would post something about my cycling. I really love it, but it was not always that way. I used to be very introverted in the gym and liked the flexibility (and unaccountability) of jumping on a Precor climber by myself. But after Rob had his ruptured disc and then healed from it, (with supplements), he became completely consumed with physical health and nutrition. Enough for the both of us. He has been my dietician and trainer and all around coach for quite awhile. and BOY have we learned what an integral role our physical health can play in our spiritual and emotional well-being! it is vitally important and KEY to your family’s success as a unit.

So my husband gets very obsessed with cycling, has our friends cycling, and then buys me these unneccesary clip-on shoes, and encourages me to try it as well. I thought i would hate it, and must admit the first few times I was sore in a most pivotal place. The crowd there seemed like fanatical biking professionals, screaming hoorahs to the LOUD rocknroll music, with their heart monitors and spandex and little towels.
But then I learned that the monitors were important to know and control our heart rate and that we could actually improve it. The pivotal-place soreness went away after about the third time, and the little towels were completely necessary or we would be slinging sweat onto our neighbor. It was a horrible site on the few days that I forgot a towel. Even the shoes that intimidated me..I am the only person to ever fall off of a stationary bike (when they came un-clipped) and I would spend 15 minutes or so of the class trying to get them clipped properly, but now they seem second-nature to me. They are very neccesary to increase speed. I usually always listen to christian music and LOVE Third Day and Casting Crowns, which the instructors sometimes play. But then occasionally they play something from the 80s like BonJovi, and I am 18 again and ready to rule the world. That can make for a great workout!
My husband has now moved onto the road (preferably off road trails) and is still encouraging me. But all I can think of (too vividly) is my last experience on a regular bike.
When we were newlyweds, and had no kids, I went for a bike ride with a friend. We were on a side road, and a car came by. The windstream blew my front tire into a drainage ditch which fit nicely, while my body remained at a high speed flying about 10 feet into a patch of briars and woods. It must have been a shocking site, to see my legs up over my head flailing into the woods, because the car actually pulled off up the road and came back to check on me. They asked if I was ok, and I played it off and got back up on my bike, but of course anybody really looking could see that i was NOT ok and my EGO would not be for about..oh, 17 yrs or so. It still has damaged my perspective on biking. We sometimes have a bad memory of something and it does affect us and inhibit us from being quite as open to new things as we should be.
It also does not help that I always have a lady next to me telling me how her husband was cycling just the other day and a car did not see him then he had to get his jaw reconstructed in ER. Rob knows I am concerned for he and his back, and we have to say a little prayer anytime he tells me he will be near a road.
We all know the old saying,”Its like riding a bicycle”. It should be a get-over-it-and-get-back-on-the-bike situation, but I guess, getting into the Y class was a new step for me. I am so totally fine with my spinning clip-on shoes, and my little towel and the competitiveness of my rocknroll class that I do not think I will be hitting the road anytime soon.
I can be 18 again in the gym, but in a drainage ditch, flying through the air, I am…not.

So thank you God for stationary bikes.

The diet change and cold weather have helped me slow down and reflect. I would say “hibernate”, but I am getting a litle exercise in there as well. Especially with help from the bugs.

I just decided to get some fresh air and go walking. I got to the back of my neighborhood and then inhaled a bug! I started coughing and could not stop! I was so inspired to get home that I ran instead of walking (which I should have been doing anyway!!)
So I got a good jog in whether I wanted to or NOT!
My kids are always asking me what is the PURPOSE for bugs**. Now i know….

**well, speaking of knats and not the valuable bees and bugs of purpose.
I realize that we ALL have divine purpose but now have found a new one!!!