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Health October 2014

Senior Moments

Couch Potatoes Need ‘Exercise Carrots’

By Edward A. Joseph

This was my pattern for exercising on a regular basis. I would last a few weeks, or months, and then slowly my good intentions would dissipate and ennui would set in, leaving me disgruntled and sitting on my couch eating a donut.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. -Walt Disney

I am sure Walt followed his own advice, and more power to him, but for most of us, the “and begin doing” part is the problem — especially exercising on a regular basis.

It’s no great revelation that exercise is critical for maintaining physical, mental, and emotional health. For example, recent studies have confirmed the benefits of aerobic exercise, i.e., an activity that increases the heartbeat and the supply of oxygen to the body, for mental acuity.

The difficulty with being human, of course, is that even when we know something is good for our health, and we have the best intentions of implementing what we know, we start a healthy regimen with enthusiasm and then loose our spunk and slowly peter out.

This was my pattern for exercising on a regular basis. I would last a few weeks, or months, and then slowly my good intentions would dissipate and ennui would set in, leaving me disgruntled and sitting on my couch eating a donut.

One morning after years of not doing any regular exercise, I decided for my health I needed to get off that couch and put down that donut. But how to avoid Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?”

After thinking about it, I realized that an important change from my previous exercise efforts would be to start with a small goal, e.g., walking to my corner mailbox and back — a total of five minutes. The thought of that goal assuaged my dread of starting to exercise. I could easily do five minutes. “Besides,” I told myself, “I can mail any letters I might have.”

Next step, how often? “Well,” I again told myself, “if it’s only five minutes, why not five days a week and take the weekend off?” I love my weekends off.

I knew in my bones, however, that the issue I needed the most help with was how to STICK WITH my new plan. What could I do that was different from all the other times I started an exercise program? How could I avoid insanity? The exercise gods sent me an answer: “Walk for your breakfast.”

I love breakfast, on most days it’s my favorite meal, so I told myself: No breakfast until you walk to the mailbox and back. The “breakfast carrot” worked like I was a rabbit.

It has now been over six months since I started walking for my breakfast and I have rarely missed a day, and when I have it has generally been because of severe weather. The first day I only walked to the mailbox and back, but gradually I increased the distance, and almost every day since I have walked at least 15 minutes or more. But getting to that mailbox is always my primary goal — while images of breakfast dance in my head.

My exercise carrot will not work for everyone; for many, eating before exercising is a necessity. But the premise of not doing something you enjoy unless you exercise first can be a game changer. So if you are a couch potato and are thinking of retiring, why not come up with your own exercise carrot?

Final note: Even though I am sure your lawyer is a fine person, I would prefer not hearing from him or her, so please check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.

 

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