Do you exercise?

I hope so... it makes you feel good, keeps you fit, strengthens your bones, improves mental acquity, and helps you live longer

I don't know about you, but my long term goals include being able to chase not just my grandchildren, but my great grand children.

I first started seriously exercising in college. At that point in my life I was already very slender, and so when I started to hit the gym, I slimmed down and toned up very, very quickly. In six weeks or less, I was in the best shape of my life. Of course, that didn't last. For several years I found myself in yo-yo cycle of exercise and laziness... and each time I'd attempt to get back in shape after a prolonged period of inactivity, it got harder and harder to get fit, and weight loss was elusive at best.

Finally, after gaining an astronomical amount of weight during pregnancy (and having gestational diabetes as a result) I made a committment to exercise and eating right. For two years I exercised, doing a combination of running and cross-fit workouts. I did lose some weight, but did not see the results I wanted. I did, however, feel better, stronger and fitter... I just didn't look the part. And I knew that if I lost weight, I'd feel better, and that exercise would be easier and more enjoyable in a lighter body.

In April of 2009, I finally realized that I was going to have to change my exercise routine to get the results I wanted, and that I was going to also have to pay much greater attention to not just what I ate, but to the amounts I was eating. A trainer told me that his recomendation was, "Do something you like." He works at the gym I belong to, and had seen me struggle through cross fit work outs for a year. It was obvious that not only was I not getting the results I wanted, but that I was not enjoying my work outs.

I took his advice. I went back to something that I love doing. That something is running. While I know that there are conflicting schools of thought on what exercise is best, how often to do cardio vascular exercise, how much running is too much, etc., I've found something that, for right now, is working for me.

As of today, I run five miles per day, five days a week. On the weekends I try to do some other form of exercise. Some times I go to the gym and use the eliptical machine, some times I do calisthenics or yoga, sometimes I take a rest day.

Since May 1st, 2009, I've lost almost 20 lbs. My goal is to lose 20, maybe 30 more. But the way I feel is becoming even more important than the way I look. The weightloss is more than welcome, and I do look better... and it's certainly wonderful to pull something out of the closet that's been too tight for years, only to find that it now fits again. But I've also noticed that I sleep better, and that running seems to get easier, even though I've gradually been upping my milage. I know that the more I lose, the easier it will get to run, and more my perfomance will improve. Which brings me to my final goal... to run a full marathon in February, 2010.