Raise my heart rate 30 minutes or more each day.
It has been awhile since I worked out regularly. That is really the crux of it. Sure, I can list the excuses, each of them legitimate: I work 60-70 hours a week, the negotiations team on which I serve has been logging a lot of hours recently to secure a teaching contract, speech season just began and it is all consuming in many ways, there is a enormously long list of books I need and/or really want to read, many evenings there are some truly fabulous television shows that need watching... But, what it really comes down to is that I need to stop telling myself, "You work so hard, Heather--you deserve some time to sit down and relax/watch TV/read a book" and get off my butt.
Despite the fact that it's true (I DO work hard. I DO deserve an opportunity to relax), I need to carve time out of each of my busy days and break a sweat. For many reasons, I hate working out. For one, I hate the tickling sensation that sweat creates when it rolls down my forehead and the middle of my back. Secondly, I detest the smell of myself after I have completed level 1 of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred or an hour jog on the treadmill. Additionally, I dislike how I have sneak into my day yet another shower, further drying out my skin and wasting water. Mainly, however, I loath the exhaustion I feel once I am done. I realize that there is supposedly a "runner's high" that most feel after an intense workout, but for those who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as I do, "fatigue may worsen with physical or mental activity." Nevertheless, even if I do find myself no more energized than before I began, I recognize that raising my heart rate--burning calories--is key to staying healthy.
According to many sources, including the Harvard School of Public Health, an adult needs 150 minutes of physical activity a week. Therefore, if I get my heart rate up for 30 minutes a day, every day, I will actually come out ahead by 6o minutes. That said, I will not declare that I will "workout" each day--at least not the way as most would define the word. Rather, my focus this week is to simply get active. For this reason, I am counting the 2 1/2 hours I spent cleaning today toward my 30 minutes or more per day of being active: I most defiantly got my heart beating today while I took down the Christmas tree, carried storage boxes up and down the stairs, made three beds, and did a few loads of laundry. In fact, the calorie burning calculator on Self Magazines' website claims that my cleaning today resulted in my burning 840 calories! By focusing on being active, rather than on working out per say, I am confident that I will better be able to find time in each of my busy days to be healthier.
Over the course of this week, I will track three things: (1) what activity(s) I did, (2) the amount of time I spent being active, and (3) my total calories burned.
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