Being in Ireland really got my legs going. All that walking!! After returning to Amurrica, I spent the month of August speed walking and even jogging around the nearby track. I was doing great...until school came along.
Not only does school suck up all my time, but now I have to deal with the weather. As someone who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (diagnosed by myself, of course), every single ounce of motivation to go outside and exercise disappears the second the thermometer drops below 35 and the wind picks up to over 10 mph. Yeah, I'm a wimp.
But I read this article today called "Diabetes a growing threat to young and slim," and it's basically about seemingly healthy girls getting Type II Diabetes because they only focus on diet and don't exercise, creating a "skinny-fat" atmosphere in your body:
"A big skinny-fat risk factor? Neglecting exercise and regulating weight through food choices alone, a behavior plenty of young women in our diet-obsessed, desk-strapped culture are prone to. Turns out, breaking a sweat is key in lowering blood sugar, because even moderate exercise causes muscles to suck up glucose at 20 times the normal rate (regular workouts are also the only way to shed visceral fat)."
Fudgecracker! That's me.
I thought about this for a while and came to the conclusion that if I'm willing to preach to people about eating whole foods, despite the extra time and effort, I should be willing to put more time and effort into my exercise.
But I won't be running. Oh no.
I love cardio. It does feel good. But I only love it if it's in the form of dancing. :) So that's what I do. And that's what I will do now.
This is going to make everyone realize how much of a loser I am, but I love pulling up Just Dance 1/2/3 videos on YouTube and dancing to them. It's incredibly fun. And it's doable, but still challenging. And it requires me to focus on something OTHER than boredom, school, or life. And it has lots of good songs. And it makes me feel talented (as long as I can't see my reflection anywhere).
Oh yeah, and it makes me sweat and stuff. Without having to go outside. Or run.
And the best part? I didn't have to go out and buy a Wii. Thanks, YouTube!
I will update you on how well my exercising is going. I will test things out for a while and then set some specific goals and expectations for how often I'm going to do it. Because I really don't want Diabetes.
P.S. Happy Veteran's Day!
That's a great idea. I tend to respond better to workout videos (aerobics, pilates, yoga, etc.) but after a few months get incredibly bored with the same video when I have all the moves (and the instructor's 'motivating' phrases) memorized. I've found some relief with Hulu's exercise channel, but I love the Just Dance idea. I hadn't thought about being able to do that without the game--fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI hate running too, but I always feel mad accomplished once I've done it. Before classwork picked up, I was doing 2 a day, would you believe it? :P
ReplyDelete^That was me, by the way. Not sure why it got rid of my name.
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