How to Make Excercise Fun
The holidays are here; it’s a time of family, friends and a reminder from the spare tire around my waist that my clothes don’t fit. Again. I vaguely remember this from last year but got sidetracked with all the turkey and fruit cake. Instead of diving into the dessert cart like I did last year, I decided to find a way to lose the weight. I read that if you exercise, you’ll not only lose weight but add three years to your life. What I want to know is do I get to pick where I can add my three years? I don’t want to be 101 years old and think, “ManâÂ?¦How many more wrinkles can I get?” However, that question could not be answered to my satisfaction so I decided to concentrate on the more important issue: actually exercising.
I hoped on the internet and found loads of things to get me motivated; which is to say I just checked my spam email. After all the offers of diplomas, performance enhancers and money-making surveys, there is nothing like being reminded everyday of my large behind and the products to make it shrink. The Thighmaster, the Gazelle, those ‘vitamins’ that will help me burn fat faster and a slew of DVDs with aerobics, yoga or Taebo. My eyes glazed over as I thought of using a Thighmaster because what I really wanted to do was smack that chirpy Suzanne Somers over the head with it. The Gazelle? There is no way on God’s green earth that our over-developed friend Tony Little got all that body just using running in place like a wild animal. Taebo? Do I look like an action hero? I’m lucky I can kick the kids’ shoes out of the way in my living room.
Here’s what I did: I got an aerobic dvd, put on my sweatpants, sat on the couch and laughed. Did you know 15 minutes of laughter can burn up to 50 calories a day? That amounts to 4.4 pounds a year and I figured that if I could laugh an hour a day, I’d burn a heck of a lot more. The trick is finding the most ridiculous looking people on the cover. If you really go back, hmâÂ?¦let’s say to the 80’s (yard sales are good for this -VHS only), not only will the legwarmers have you rolling in laughter, but the hair. You know that Aquanet held poof on the front her head is going to flop around making her look like some demented chicken. What made her think that banana clip was going to hold? The guy in the back: stop looking at the jiggling woman in front you! We can’t take you as a serious aerobics nut if you can’t keep your eyes up where they belong. JeezâÂ?¦.See a nose twitch? Someone cut one. The girl who missed a step? Hung over. It can go on and on.
See where I’m going with this? Exercise is all in how you look at it. I prefer to laugh at it.
