Before I started all of this, I didn't really exercise. I wasn't a total couch potato, mind you. I did little things like take walks with my family, take the stairs....down, but not up, mowed the yard and worked in the garden. Although, heavy, I was pretty strong, but not flexible and my stamina was nearly non-existent.
Before I started having success with weight loss, I had several failed attempts at exercise. I've belonged to a health club for years. A few years ago, I was getting up early and exercising every day. I lost some weight, but when I lost my workout buddy, I lost the motivation to exercise. A little while later, I discovered raqcuetball. I really enjoyed racquetball, but could only get a court when I planned in advance and my raqcuetball partner and I always struggled to find times to play that worked for both of our schedules.
I had been on the Sugar Busters diet for about 3 months when my family and I took a vacation to Washington D.C.. It was a great trip, but one day we decided to walk from the Lincoln memorial, across the Patomac to the subway station at Arlington Cemetary. It was pretty hot and not an extremely short walk. Tempers flared and by the time we made the train station, I had made firm commitment to finding some sort of exercise that would work for me. Up to that point, all my minor successes in exercise had included specific equipment, a specific place and time and someone else's participation. That evening, I headed to the book store to find information on any exercise that would require no special equipment, no specific place, no specific time and no one else's involvement.
For strength, flexibility and balance, I do Yoga
I happened to start my search at the end of the sports section of the book store and started to work my way from
Z to A. It didn't take long before I stumbled across a book called Yoga for Wimps. I bought it and took it back to the hotel. That book sounded right up my alley and met all my requirements: no gear, no place, no time and no one else. That night I did a few poses in the hotel room. I enjoyed it and told my wife that I thought I'd start doing Yoga. She sort of shrugged and dismissed it as the latest in my series of attempts at fitness.
I did more Yoga the following night, and more again the following night. I'm proud to say that it's been about 15 months since I bought that book. I've not missed a single day of practicing yoga.
About 9 months after successfully adding Yoga as a daily part of my new, healthier lifestyle, I decided that, although Yoga was doing great things for my strength, balance and flexibility, I needed to add a cardiovascular component to my routine. I went to a department store and bought a comfort bicycle from the clearance rack for less than $100.00 and started riding it. The first time out, I rode about 1 mile, before long I was riding 12 miles. Two bicycles later and after lots of training, I'm able to tell you that I've finished my first "century" ride, which is a ride of over 100 miles in a single day.
