BeachReady

Cold rainy beach day

Have you ever gone to the beach on a rainy day?  If you're dressed for it, it can be awesome. Everything looks and feels so different. 

Here we are on a very rainy, cold day.  I'm trying to convince myself to put on layers of warm waterproofing and go out the door.  (The hardest part is moving out of this chair.) I remember when I didn't have the option.  After I injured my back, I couldn't walk at all.  Eventually, I made myself go a few steps, adding more each day, until, eventually, I could go all the way down the driveway and back.  I don't want to lose that ability. So, here we go! 

Ah, it's changing to snow.  Much easier to walk in the snow, don't you think? (I wish it were sand on a beach.)  ~ Louise

Indoor walking

I know a lot of people manage to walk indoors on cold or rainy days.  They get access to schools early in the morning and walk the empty hallways.  Or, they join a group of mall-walkers.  I recently read about people who go up and down stairs in their office buildings.  Of course, there's always treadmills.  Any other ideas?  ~ George

10,000 Steps

We need to walk 10,000 steps a day to reduce the risk of chronic disease, according to Mark Fenton, author of The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness.  That's five miles.  It's a 90 minute walk.  But, of course, we don't have to do it all at once.  If you sit at a desk all day like I do, and drive to and from work, you already walk about 3,000 steps a day.  Just by adding a 10 minute walk at lunch time, you walk another 1,000 steps.  That's a great start.  By adding 10 minutes a week, you'll be up to 10,000 steps in no time.  You could buy a pedometer and actually count your steps, but I think it's easier to count minutes.  That's how I started.  When I wanted to talk to someone at work, I suggested doing it on a walk around the parking lot.  A mind-clearing exercise!  ~ George 

P.S.  Now a lot of people are doing it and enjoying the chance to get some fresh air.

Baby Steps

The other night, we watched an old favorite, "What about Bob?"  It's a very funny movie about Bob, a therapy patient (played by Bill Murray), who fears everything.  His psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss), introduces Bob to the concept of using small baby steps to get over his phobias.

That’s for me.  I use Baby Steps to get me off the couch and out the door. I figure a 5 or 10 minute walk is better than none.  So, out I go, promising I will come back in almost immediately.   Of course, then I notice how fresh the air is, or how beautiful the sky, and my five minutes turns into ten.  And ten often turns into twenty, and so on.  But, it’s the five-minute bargain I strike with myself that gets me out the door.  ~~ Louise