Exercise - Not Fun, But Neccesary!

Exercise - Not Fun, But Neccesary!

When I first retired, I knew that I would need to keep busy doing stuff, either around the house or with myself, to keep from going 'stir-crazy'.  Well, I started doing exercises.  It first became a real causal thing.  I would start off doing some stretching.  Now that was easy, but I knew I need to do more.  So I did some twists and turns that I saw on an infomercial, and just copied those movements.  I felt a lot better too.  Who would have 'thunk' that watching those infomercials, would make me feel good!

I knew I needed to get more advanced in my progress of exercising, so I combined the stretches with the twists and turns and boy I was on to something, even though it wasn't on a consistent basis.  I would do it once every other day, if that often, and maybe for a few minutes, but I felt like anything was better than nothing at all. 

Now, you have to understand that what I was really doing was avoiding a true workout.   I felt good about the little accomplishments, but I knew I needed more.  As we get older, the need to exercise is very important to our health and well-being. (Ok, I heard that on the news, one day).  So, I wanted to do my part.  Since I have been retired, I had gained 10 pounds in one year.  It really isn't a lot, because to me I still looked good, but trying to convince my husband that I looked good, was another thing! I think he knew, he was just getting a little insecure (but that's a whole another story).

So, I got serious and made up my mind that I would get in better shape.  I was getting a little gut, and I actually had hips, wow!  I wasn't trying to get rid of my hips, shoot, I felt really sexy, but I wanted to tone up some stuff. 

My husband, had started doing push-ups, about a year before I retired and I thought to myself, "self, you can do those"!  Well, I did, without telling my husband I was doing them and good thing I didn't tell him, because it just made my 'behind' get small or smaller and I wasn't about to let that happen, oh no!  I'm not a big person, so any extra thickness I have on me was much appreciated, so to almost lose my 'butt', was not an option!

I had to do something else!  Now, in my back bedroom, which is also my office, we have an exercise machine.  Funny, I overlooked that! Well, I decided to utilize that machine, and I started rather slowly, I only did 10 to 15 stokes, at first.  (It was a cardio-machine).  Then I progressed to 25, then I moved up to 50.  Well now I am doing 100 a day.  I feel so much better, I look better and now I have "Angela Bassett" arms. (You have to see one of her movies, where her arms are exposed, to understand).

Getting to this point in my life, where I can say I enjoy exercising, is incredible! No, it's not always fun, but it really is necessary for me now!

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7/18/08 - RETIRED w/ 30 YEARS OF SERVICE FROM CITY OF DETROIT - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & WELLNESS PROMOTION - WIC DIVISION (Women, Infant, Children).