Monday, May 4, 2009

Yo-Yo Excercising

With summer rapidly approaching, I engaged in the annual pre-season ritual of taking a good look in the mirror. I have to be honest, I typically don't spend much time checking myself out because frankly, it's just too depressing. But I'm going to be wearing my favorite summer togs - jean skirts and tank tops - so an evaluation was needed.

Let me just say, the winter was not kind to me. It's time to pack away the excuses along with my winter sweaters and make some lifestyle changes. I came across an article in O, The Oprah Magazine that describes an exercise program I think I can manage. Read it here. The 10-minute, quick workouts featured in this article are very doable.

The words that surprised me like a slap in the head, though, were, "Repeatedly starting and stopping a workout routine makes weight gain likely and weight loss more challenging." They termed it yo-yo exercising. I always thought any exercise was a good thing but apparently, it's only truly helpful if you keep at it consistently. Don't you just hate that?

So I'm going to commit to getting myself up off the couch and exercising more than my elbow and jaw. I can do 10 minutes today... can't you?