Monday, August 27, 2012

Not-So-Simple Fitness

For the past year, I’ve been working hard at losing some of this middle-age weight, and I’ve been somewhat successful. It hasn’t been easy, though. I’ve always enjoyed working out, so I thought my 2-mile-per-day walk would be enough. Apparently, that wasn’t the case because I put 30 pounds on over a couple of years. That should have been enough motivation to do something about it, but it wasn’t until my cholesterol followed in the same direction that fear kicked in.

I joined a health club and cut way back on some of the foods I suspected might be a problem. It has taken me a full year, some denial of things I enjoy, and a lot of hard work to get my cholesterol down to a healthy level, but I managed to do it without drugs. The side benefit is that I’ve taken off most of that 30 pounds I’ve gained, and I’m back to the size I wore several years ago. I've gone back to my daily walk, but instead of 2 miles, I walk 4 miles, and I've added more strength training and stretches to my program.

People often ask me how I did it, and I’m not sure I have a good answer that will work for anyone else. I also hesitate to recommend anyone go to the extreme measures I have because it’s hard to sustain, which is why I take it one day at a time.




Photo courtesy of A1bargain at Morguefile.com

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