Sunday, July 23, 2006

This is How You Do It

I'm often asked "How do you find the time to exercise?" Well, first of all I do not watch TV or shop as a leisure activity. According to Nielsen Media Research in 2005 the average American family had the TV on 8 hours/11 minutes daily. Now I know many use the TV as background noise but if just one hour of that time each day was used for exercise...Ok, I think I made my point. Anyway, today my husband and I were scheduled to work together - he was scheduled 12 hours and I was 8. I decided to throw my gym bag in the car trunk and walk the 5 mile greenway loop adjacent to the hospital alongside the river. I figured I would walk during that 4 hour time he would be working after my shift would be completed. I was dressed and walking by 5p and listening to NPR on my nano. (The greenway is vehicle free so I feel safe with the earpieces in.) I try to schedule evening run/walks at 5p so I can listen to the news and enjoy the somewhat coooler temperatures. I finished by 6:30, picked him up in front of the hospital and drove home. Exercise completed, work frustrations dissolved, and one less vehicle adding exhaust emissions to the atmosphere - that seems just about perfect to me!