Exercise

I probably should be ashamed to admit this here in my blog, but…I am what I am. I have a plaque hanging, of all places, on my refrigerator that proudly professes:  “If God would have wanted me to touch my toes he would have put them on my knees.”

Yep.  That is pretty much how I feel about exercise!  I didn’t always feel that way.  I was not blessed with a high metabolism, so I have always had to watch my weight.  When I was younger, I have to admit, though my diet was very poor and I had to starve myself to lose weight, exercising came easy to me.  I was always joining this or that aerobic class, Jazzercise class or walking for miles and miles all over the place with my friends…anything that would keep me slender and fit.  I didn’t really care too much about being “healthy,” I just wanted to make sure I could keep the inches off my waist and thighs and look good in bathing suits and jeans.

I also would like to share this observation with you: have you ever seen a man or woman over the age of 40 in any of the many diet and exercise commercials?  No.  Why?  Probably because there are very few men or women over 40 that would look good enough to sell their product!

So fast forward 30 years and here I sit, now watching meticulously what I eat, worrying about my health and yet I am constantly battling the notorious bulge.  And, ironically, I struggle with even the idea of taking a 30 minute walk every day, let alone going to any kind of exercise class!  Why is it when we age and need that strong determination to stay fit our bodies seem to shift into low gear, causing a slow metabolism to be an almost non-existent metabolism, which then affects our brains into convincing us to just “take it easy.”

Exercise is so wasted on youth.