EXERCISE

For the most part, I hate exercise. The only exercise I have ever actually enjoyed is walking with an mp3 player, and doing "Dance Dance Revolution" on the Playstation.

In 2004, I exercised EVERY day, for an hour each day, with DDR. I never lost a pound, so I gave up. What was the point of spending all of that time exercising, if I never lost any weight??? So I gave it up, and promptly gained about 15 pounds. Obviously, the exercise kept the pounds away.

In September of 2005, when my Dad died, I started getting daily headaches. Not migraines, just bad headaches. Four Advil and a quick nap would take care of them, but I got so sick of having a headache I actually had my eyes checked. They were fine. (I do have a freckle on one eye, though!) In January of 2006, I started to exercise again, and the headaches went away. Dwane even bought me one of those fancy, metal dance pads, because I was going through so many of the soft mats.

Then, in the fall of 2006, it was almost my worst nightmare. We bought a Playstation 3!!!! My dance pads were not compatible!!! Gone was the only exercise that I actually did religiously.

Now, my headaches are coming back (though not as bad), and my blood pressure is up. It was time to really start doing some exercise again. On Thursday, my prayers were answered. I found a DDR game for the WII!!! Hallelujah!!! It came with a dance pad, and since it is for the Wii, your arms are also used. On Friday, Saturday, and today, I exercised for an hour. This morning, I burned 424 calories in an hour!!!

My blood pressure check is tomorrow. I'm sure that I'm too late with the exercise to make a difference, but I'm on the right track. I have also cut my caffeine down to one caffeinated diet soda (Tab) a day. I am watching my salt intake, and while I know I can cut back some more of the salt, I'm really trying to pay attention to it. If I have a "salty" lunch, I try to balance it out for supper, or vice versa. I guess it's all in baby steps--slow and steady--but progress is progress.