Active Living For Everyone - No Excuses*
Active Living encourages everyone, not just people who are young and fit, to make enjoyable physical activity a part of their everyday life. Active Living includes just about anything, from gardening and walking to badminton and golf.
Excuses, excuses
Check off the excuses you've given for not exercising:
- "I hate the idea of exercise." Try it, you'll like it (though maybe not the first time out).
- "I'm too tired to exercise." Start out by doing
just a little bit, then gradually build it up, you'll end up feeling less tired. - "A person my age would look ridiculous jogging." Who said you have to jog? Would you look ridiculous walking? (Anyway, people of all ages jog.)
- "I feel fine, I don't need to exercise." You may not be ill, but that's not the same as being positively fit and well. And if you don't exercise, your heart and circulatory system cannot be in tip top shape.
- "I'm too heavy to exercise." That's an excellent reason to start.
- "I don't have time." There are exercises you can do while shopping, reading and watching television., sit-ups and stretching, for example. enjoy eating well, being active and feeling good about yourself. That's Active Living!
- "Exercise will make me hungrier. I'll eat more and put on weight, not lose it." Exercise doesn't have to increase your appetite. Moderate exercise before a meal can even curb an appetite. Add any other excuses you've made for not being active, as well as good reasons for being active.
* Adapted from "The Exercise Book," Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, California, 1986, in The Healthy Weight Program, Nutrition Services, Halton Regional Health Department, 1994. [link]