I need to exercise more, more steps in my day, more use of muscles that are or have turned to jello, like those on the underside of my upper arm. I know I need all this and yet, year after year, birthday after birthday...I haven't changed my habits much. Scheesh!
Over time I have made concessions with myself that have made me feel a little better about things. Where possible, I do take the stairs over the elevator. Of course, there aren't either in my day-to-day world, so that one is kinda wimpy...
I do walk...while I talk on the phone. I have a path I walk inside my house that traverses the entire length of my house. To change it up some, I walk circles around the coffee table and/or kitchen island a few times every so often. Just to have an idea of how much walking I was getting in, I kept a written record on random days. It ranged from 30 minutes on a slow day to nearly 2 1/2 hrs another. That's a good average! And this is not some ambling stroll I'm talking about here, oh no! I walk at a clip, doesn't really help much if I don't. I can look my cardiologist in the eye and say in all honesty..."Yes, sir, I walk every day!"
Being at the computer for long stretches at a time has taken it's toll on most of my body. I find I need to stretch more often, especially my shoulders and back. Sometimes I take 'computer breaks' and get in some 'walking time'...wink, wink...to catch up with my friends. Still, I've noticed that is no longer taking care of the needs of either working out or resting my shoulders. I realized I was pulling my arms behind my back or stretching them up and down behind my head with my hands clasped.
One day while washing up in the bathroom room I stood in the mirror and stretched like that and I decided I needed to add some weight in my hands for a more effective stretch. Looking around, I grabbed the large & almost full bottle of mouthwash and held it behind my head as I did the up & down thing with my arms. It was wonderful. It helped and was free!!! I'm not going to pay good money to buy some marketed gadget I probably wouldn't use much anyway, but the mouthwash bottle is just enough extra weight to be helpful and always handy. I made a game of it for my inner child and now I take the time to do 25 repetitions every time I go the to bathroom! On a hunch, I looked under the sink in the 'other' bathroom and sure enough, there was an almost empty bottle the same size. I filled it with water and 'presto' my exercise equipment was ready to go!
Living a Simple Life is all about getting back to the basics and freeing up our time and money. Recycling and re-purposing the mouthwash bottle keeps the plastic out of the landfill, too...a bonus! The shape of this bottle is just right for my small hands to wrap around without strain, so you might think about that next time you're buying mouthwash and your underarm jiggles as you reach up to the top shelf. LOL
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