It's taken me a few days to get past the shock and disappointment of learning that bariatric surgery is years away. Now I'm left with serious concerns about my health.
The RD in our local health centre showed me that the best way to reduce my blood sugar levels is to increase my exercise. And of course increasing exercise is good for so many other reasons. I'm 58 years old, overweight, and there's cardiovascular disease in my family. Enough said.
The habit itself is not the issue. An exercise routine had always been part of my life, until about 10 years ago. I'm motivated and ready to change that.
The issue is what and how.
One of my goals or desires has been to spend more time outdoors, which is not always easy when you're a bookworm and completely non-athletic like me. I love to walk and hike, and I've been trying to maximize that.
But walking is so weather dependent! I thought I would buy good rain gear and walk in all weather, but that just hasn't worked out. I just really don't like being out in the rain. Plus, for a good portion of the year, at my preferred time to exercise, it's dark outside.
I'm swimming again, but until/unless the pool in our tiny town opens early in the morning, that's only once or twice a week, at best -- and many weeks, not at all.
There is a gym in town, so that's an option.
Right now I think getting some exercise equipment for our own home is the best option. In the past, at different times we've had a cross-country machine, and a manual treadmill, which I used to rotate with swimming. I'm going to start investigating.
As far as writing this blog... I'm not sure what I'll do.
We bought a quite reasonably priced exercise bike (under $200) that works well for us. No fancy bells and whistles, but I ride it in front of a smart tv and watch reruns of old shows, and the times goes by rather painlessly. It folds up and can be pushed out of the way when not in use, but we rarely do it since it's in a room that is almost exclusively used for that purpose except when our grandsons visit.
ReplyDeleteNice. I did that for a while, too, with a used bike I found on Craigslist. This time I'm going full strength with something big and new.
ReplyDeleteI love my elliptical machine; I admit that it would be much more expensive than the stationary bikes mentioned above but well worth it to improve your health. It has the advantages of being a weight-bearing exercise (to promote bone density, which a bicycle does not do), is not traumatic to the joints, and can increase your heart rate, limited only by your motivation and fitness. I watch a variety of fun shows and movies on Netflix, and the time goes by painlessly. It is so much more convenient to have equipment at home, so you don't have to go somewhere else to exercise, and, of course, it is not weather-dependent. However, just like anything else, you need to remain committed. If you fall off the wagon, as I sometimes do, you just need to focus on today and tomorrow, without regretting yesterday.
ReplyDeleteFor all of us, the best form of exercise is the one that we'll do. I always prefer a treadmill to any other gym machine, whether home or at the gym.
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