Living In Las Cruces- Spring/Summer 2008

HEALTH & FITNESS

By Jeff Becker

I'm not here to hassle you. We have enough on our mind, and really, you don't need me to scare you with a bunch of talk about chest pains and shortness of breath. You are wondering what vile diseases are lurking on the dark corners of your interior, and that little spot on your arm just isn't going away, is it? This makes you sweat a little bit. You probably already know that according to the Center for Disease Control 66.5% of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight or obese. 1.7 trillion dollars will be spent on health care this year. And a lot of people are having heart attacks and others are getting sick right now while you are reading this. I am not telling you anything you don't already know and I'm not your doctor.

But what we often forget is that regular exercise makes our lives better. Define "better" you say? Exercise has proven to boost the immune system, keeping one healthy, and lessening the symptoms of sicknesses when they do strike. But exercise has marked advantages in maintaining our mental well-being as well. In fact, through a number of physiological chemical processes, exercise makes us feel better about ourselves. It releases tension, serves as a respite from the grind of our daily life and eases depression. In the end, our grandfathers were right, a little hard work doesn't hurt. In fact, breaking a sweat every day will help extend your life and improve its quality. That, to me, is "better."

But it is so hard to stay fit these days, isn't it? We all have cars. It's windy today, and too hot. Look at that stair machine, look at it, would you want to let it chew you to pieces for thirty minutes? We work in chairs in front of computers and we don't take lunch breaks. That is our life, and we can't really change it. When we do finally get home, we have to make dinner, feed our children. We juggle a million little dilemmas with one hand, braid our daughter's hair with the other. It is who we are. And then its dark, and we're tired, and all we want to sit and put our feet up and watch a little television with our loved one's head resting on our shoulder. Who can blame us?

This is the truth: fitting a little exercise into this life of ours isn't that difficult. Exercise doesn't have to be life-altering (like learning to become a basketball player or a superstar swimmer). Instead, there are ways that you can modify your lifestyle, meaning slight changes you can and should build into your daily routine that will make you more active. Here are five ideas adapted from the National Institute of Health, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports you cam use to make your life here in Las Cruces livelier.

1. Find fun activities you already like to do that involve physical exercise. Like dancing. Or walking to the corner store. Make this a part of your daily or weekly schedule and don't skip it. It is important that you enjoy these activities because if you don't like it, you won't do it. Add music to make it more entertaining.

2. In general, walk more. That dog in your backyard is getting growlie and bored. Take the poor guy for a walk. Park farther away from your office, from the mall, from the grocery store, and never, ever, take your car if you are just going down the street. Take a ten minute walk after lunch and after dinner. Instead of calling your buddy at the other end of the office, walk down there and pop in to say hello.

3. Go outside more often. Turn off your television when it isn't dark outside. Play outside with your children. They grow up fast and need to burn off that kid-energy anyway. Be the alltime quarterback. Garden. Plants will never be too busy for you, they won't say mean things behind your back and in the end you can eat them. Homegrown tomatoes taste really, really good. When your television is on, lift some hand weights or ride your exercise machine.

4. Find a buddy. Most exercise routines are much more successful if you do it with a friend.

5. Resist self-defeat. Don't find any excuses. Make time for yourself. If staying fit is important to you, give it the time it deserves.

An increase in physical activity, paired with decreased caloric intake (the fancy way of saying "EAT LESS"), can have an impact on your health. Your goal for each of these is to get your heart rate up so you are breathing hard, but not panting. You should sweat a little bit. It's okay. These minor alterations to your life will help make you more active, and more healthy. But remember, this is just a step in the right direction. At some point you will need to ramp up the amount of exercise you get.