Don't Break The Chain

Burkeman's final advise on using the calendar is a doozy!

DON'T BREAK THE CHAIN OF X'S

Look at the X's on your calendar and when they become regular, routine, part of your daily life, keep 'em coming.  Don't break the chain.

To read the full article from which I have drawn the information in this post and the previous two days, read Newsweek December 24, 2012, pages 46-49, 'The New Year's Resolutions That Won't Fail You'.  Some of the article can be read online here.



*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Marking Your X

The yesterday I wrote about Oliver Burkeman and his idea of junking New Year's Resolutions and starting really small - 15 minutes of walking.

In that same article, Burkeman also states that we should track change by marking an X on a calendar each day you do the new activity.

Well, do you think he's been reading my blog?  I wrote about that here.

This is not about what you're gonna do - it's completely about what you HAVE ACCOMPLISHED.  Every X on your calendar is a day of SUCCESS!

It works perfectly to track your progress.  Day One is listed on your calendar, then an X for each day you do your tiny step in the right direction.  You can go farther and note how many seconds/minutes/steps/miles you've done each day.

How cool will it be when you see that on Day One you put in say FIVE minutes of walking.  Then there is a row of X's on your calendar with minutes by each one.  Pretty soon, by adding maybe ONE minute per week to your program, you'll see that in a couple of months of X's on your calendar, you are now walking TEN minutes per session.

That is REAL PROGRESS - and no one can take that away from you.  It's something that YOU have done for yourself.

Even if you plateau - stay at a certain level of activity for months - that's fine.  Before long, you'll want to add a minute to your daily program.  Or, you might have to decrease a minute or two for a few days due to increased hours at work or whatever.  You'll regain those minutes - but you won't know when you did unless you've marked it on your calendar.

So, here's your homework.  BUY A CALENDAR AND A PRETTY MARKER IN YOUR FAVORITE COLOR.  Hang it on the kitchen door.  Mark an X on each day that you walk - and be kind to yourself by adding the time each day.  You'll give yourself such a boost!



*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Resolutions? Don't Make 'Em!

That's me you see jumping up and down, screaming with joy.  I've been totally vindicated by true science!!!  Tiny changes - like exercising for FIFTEEN SECONDS a day - lead to far better results than larger ranging changes attempted when one makes 'serious' changes in one's life.

FIFTEEN SECONDS!!  Well, I've asked you for fifteen minutes - but that's not too much either.  Here's why:

Who (not you, of course) can resist the notion of doing FIFTEEN SECONDS of walking - today.  Then TWENTY SECONDS tomorrow.  Laugh you might.  But, if you've been sedentary, sick, in pain, or just outta the mood, starting with a teeny tiny change can make you a winner!

Oliver Burkeman, author of "The Antidote:Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking" is the guy who has come up with this idea.  Well, ahem, after I did.  And, after digesting a lot of research over a lot of years of researching why things like New Year's Resolutions don't work.

I also recently read an interesting article that flies in the face of everything I've read on the subject of goal setting before - that writing down goals is not the path to success.  Oh My!!  Mental Goals can work too!!  Thank you very much.  That was MY idea too.  Although, I will admit (since I'm not one who often writes down goals) that having a To Do List and checking off each activity has a positive impact on me when I'm trying to gear up to clean the house and entertain, for instance.

Still, long range goals - like resolutions - are often just opportunities for failure.  Who needs help failing?  I don't.

Neither do you.  So, make it your New Year's Resolution to make no resolutions.  Instead, decide what will make you happier in your life - feeling better, looking better, gaining physical endurance, getting healthier (and another list that you can discuss elsewhere like making more money or leaving your spouse) - then take one tiny step in that direction TODAY.  Don't wait for January 1 of any year.  Do it TODAY.

Then, tomorrow, do it for one tiny bit longer.

If you'd like, go back and read some of my earlier articles on the subject of getting off the sofa and walking your way to betterness.  Yes, let's just call it BETTERNESS.  Whatever 'it' is in your life (within my list - feeling better, looking better, gaining physical endurance, getting healthier and not those other things).  Do IT one teeny tiny bit at a time.

DO FIFTEEN SECONDS TODAY!

This is my new mantra.  You'll see it again.

Note:  You can get back to those earlier articles by scrolling down and looking on the right side of your screen to the archives for 2008.

This is my Christmas/Chanukkah/Kwanzaa/Holiday gift to you!


*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

MALL-TERNATIVES

It's winter here - although barely seems like it since we haven't had snow or ice.  But, with the sun going down so early, I find that the only time I have to go for my walk is after dark.  Even with my fearless four-legged walking buddy, the sweet gum balls can still get me.  So, if the track is unavailable, I have to come up with alternatives.

The most likely alternative is  -  the Mall.  I have several within a reasonable distance from my home.  One even has heated, covered parking and hardwood floors.  But, walking at the mall becomes quite boring.  So, I look for Mall-ternatives.

When it's not the PreChristmas season, I can easily walk at the mall or Walmart.  But, there are few other inside venues that are free and nearby.  We have two of those Big Box hardware stores nearby.  Normally, I don't enjoy going into a hardware store - but, there's not much that can keep me from my walks.  So, my friend Kris and I head for the hardware store.

What Mall-ternatives can you recommend?



*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

More From The Scientists

An article in the December 13, 2012 St. Louis Post-Dispatch reveals more evidence that you and I are on the right path - the walking path!

This article, "Six Simple Steps To Help You Age Healthfully" has a subtitle that makes me laugh:
Not everyone has good genes, so lifestyle choices, outside influences are important.

Really!?  My husband always says 'You have to pick your parents carefully.'  This article supports his humorous but accurate statement.  Not that we can really do the picking.

I come from a long line of long-lived women.  The men haven't faired as well.  I think maybe the women are just too stubborn to let a little thing like age hold us back!  My grandmother died three months after the birth of my third child 27 years ago.  My mother is still alive and healthy at age 90.  So is my mother in law.

This article reinforces the things we've all read before - adding some of the scientific support.  I'm not so much into the science of it.  As you know if you've read a few of my articles, I just want to feel good.  But, to recap this article, I'll simply list the key points of the article:

Bake Don't Broil - eat less fat
Skip A Meal - take in fewer calories (they don't really want us to skip meals)
Take 10 - exercise a moderate amount, even if it's only 10 minutes each day
Sleep Seven - good luck with that!
Stress Less - really good luck with that, especially this time of year.  Do you think this article was written by a mother??
Have A Lobby - that's what the article says - but it's a typo.  They urge the importance of having a HOBBY. 

About the Take 10 part.  The paragraph about that indicates that walking 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week leads to an increased life span of more than SEVEN years.  Need I say more?


*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Is Christmas an Excuse Not To....

I don't even actually celebrate a traditional Christmas, but I find myself using the season as an excuse for not doing things - and for doing other things (like eating some of that box of chocolates that was delivered to the office yesterday!).

So, colder weather in these parts, more things on my 'To Do' list, year end work to complete are some of the things that come to mind.  Are these reasons to take myself off my own To Do list?  No!!  I have to find a way to keep myself on the list.

I am as important as the gift buying, the house cleaning, the cooking, and all the other things.  Ae you?




*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

What's In It For Me/You?

So, what's in this for me?  What's in it for you?

If you've read many of my blog posts here, you'll know the answer to these questions.  But, let's go over them again.

I want to feel better, to have more energy, to sleep better.  How about you?

I have determined a direct connection between my daily walks and my energy level, the quality of my sleep, and my overall sense of wellbeing.  To me, there is no downside here.

The most difficult part for the beginner is taking those first steps, choosing a time, and making the commitment to one's self to embark upon a regimen that will result in positive changes - but which might, on occasion, inconvenience others in our lives.

Inconvenience them?  Well, tough!!  I try to be flexible so that I can schedule my walks each day at a time when I'm not needed for other activities.  That's being thoughtful and practical.  But, if I wait each day for the time to magically appear when I have nothing else to do so I can finally take a walk - well, that time just won't ever happen!

So, what's in it for me?  Taking care of myself in a way that makes me feel better, sleep better, and have more energy.  What about you??





*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

The Gym

Yesterday while I was out running errands, I ducked into Planet Fitness, the gym my daughter belongs to.  I have been receiving lots of mail offers from them and they advertise heavily on radio here.  The gym is certainly reasonably priced - $10/month for full gym use and personal trainer included.  I suspected that this gym would be small, dark, and have few machines, requiring long waits.

I am especially interested in joining a gym for the winter so I won't have to go to the mall to walk with my friend Kris since we typically can't walk til 5:30 PM at the earliest on weekdays - and it's dark around here by then.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Planet Fitness is a large, very clean facility with a huge number of machines - treadmills and elipticals as well as resistance machines.  The idea is that Kris and I would join and go there together to force ourselves to do some weight training then walk our miles on treadmills next to each other so we can chat.

My husband's gym which is just across the street costs a bit more, but he's content with it.  I know from his experience that the gym clears out by 6:30 on weekdays, so there should be little competition for the treadmills.

So, I may take the plunge and join a gym...... maybe.....



*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

A Challenge For You - That Can Win You A Prize!

I have a challenge for you.  If you read this blog, you're probably part of the 15% or the 2% I recently wrote about.  So....... can you drag someone else you know and care about into your percentage zone?

Tis the Season - for bad weather, too many cookies, too much housework, more money going out than coming in, shopping for the 'perfect' item(s) that may well end up in June's first garage sale, high expectations and often low success.  So, we gotta walk right on through all of this.  We have to remain tough and determined to take care of ourselves.

So, the very best gift you can give someone else that you know and care about may well be to initiate that person into our 15-2% Club.

Help a friend or family member - your new walking buddy - to find room in his/her schedule to take a walk with you.  If the person is not generally healthy, start really slow.  But, make sure that your new walking buddy knows that s/he is important to you and that you really want to assist in the successful initiation into our Club.  Help with a few chores if that's what it takes.  Drive him or her to the mall if the weather is rotten.  Remind your new walking buddy with regular encouraging phone calls or sweet notes that you are pleased with the progress being made.

See how easy that is?  And, you'll have a new walking buddy to count on to motivate you, too, on days when you might want to slack off.

In addition, if your new walking buddy signs up to follow this blog, that will be a plus.  The reader who gets the most people to sign up here during the month of December, 2012 will receive a nice prize from me.  Not sure yet what it will be, but I guarantee that it will be worth your effort.  Should there be a tie - say two readers each get three people to sign up (I can dream, can't I?), then I'll draw a name of those who are 'tied' from a hat to determine the winner.

So, be sure to have your new walking buddy sign up here - and identify YOU as having encouraged them to join our Club.




*************************** Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.