There Is No Excuse for Not Working Out
Today marks the debut of a monthly column in Health by internationally known health and fitness expert Kathy Smith.
Early Sunday morning, while the kids still sleep, my husband and I sneak off to the track at UCLA to get in a quick workout. I love this time, exercising in the company of men and women--all ages, shapes, and sizes--walking, jogging and running as the sun comes up.
There’s no competition, just a quiet understanding that we’re all there with a purpose, re-energizing our bodies and preparing for the week ahead.
With all the headlines about what to eat and the benefits of exercise, you would think America must be the healthiest place on Earth. Sunday mornings at UCLA look and feel that way. But I know it’s not so.
Despite a wealth of information on nutrition and studies that show exercise is a key to longevity and good health, we seem to be losing ground and gaining weight.
A recent study on what is killing Americans really hit home. Our poor eating habits, combined with our sedentary lifestyle, contribute to more than 300,000 deaths a year--more than sexually transmitted diseases, firearms, infectious diseases and toxic agents combined. We’re dying early from issues firmly within our control.
And yet, as a nation, we still can’t find the motivation to exercise. I know the painful truth of how lifestyle and exercise go hand in hand.
My father died of a heart attack at 42. I was 17 and stunned by his death. He was at risk because of his lifestyle, and our family paid the price. Two years later my mom died in a plane crash. I felt at risk, alone and afraid.
What I learned was that exercise worked--to lift me out of the depression from losing my parents, and to focus my mind at a time when thinking clearly was not an easy task.
Exercise literally saved my life and became my passion.
So what’s your excuse for not exercising?
The No. 1 answer I hear is: “Kathy, I’ve got no time.”
It is easy to understand why so many of us feel this way. We’re working harder, playing less and getting more stressed out. The last thing most of us think about is taking care of ourselves. Trust me, I can relate to how life’s many pressures can stop you in your tracks--business meetings, soccer practice, dinner preparations. There’s barely time to breathe.
At the same time, I’m also dramatically aware of the benefits of exercise, that if you don’t take care of yourself, everything and everyone around you pays the price. I’m a better person to be around when I exercise. So I wake up early. It’s not so bad at 6 a.m., considering the air is the cleanest it’ll be all day.
“But Kathy, I can’t think of anything that even remotely resembles exercise that I like to do.”
If you’re like so many people who feel this way, how about walking? That’s right: Left, right, left, right, walking. All it takes is a sidewalk, a park or even a shopping mall. No expense, no expertise, no excuse. In the morning, at lunch, during a break from work, in the evening, walking works.
I discovered walking as a great workout during my first pregnancy. It kept me active and vigorous, brought my husband and me closer together and to this day ranks as one of my favorite forms of activity. I don’t limit it to walking in the neighborhood. Weekend hikes get my family up and outside.
Summer vacations are now planned around being active. The three-day camping trip we took this summer with our two kids to the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho would not have happened without a gentle immersion into the fun and camaraderie of those Saturday hikes.
When I hear people tell me they don’t have reason to exercise, I think of my dad and how his life would have been different, how he missed out on my life, my career, his grandchildren and a vibrant old age.
The feeling I get from exercise is how I measure the quality of my life--not by money, possessions or status, but by having time to give back to myself, to go to the well and not just empty it again, but fill it up.
Please don’t wait for a life crisis--the doctor delivering bad news, a work injury resulting from poor muscle tone, an emotional crisis of the kind I experienced.
There is no good excuse not to exercise.
* Kathy Smith’s fitness column appears in Health on the first Monday of the month. Reader questions are welcome and can be sent to Kathy Smith, Health, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. If your question is selected, you will receive a free copy of her video “Functionally Fit Peak Fat Burning.” Please include your name, address and a daytime phone number with your question.