Movers & Shakers

I don't know about you but I swear I have a couch potato gene. My idea of a perfect break from work is to sit and read and/or talk on the phone. I start my morning about 5 AM and read The San Diego Union Tribune and the Wall Street Journal as "my time." I am usually at work about 9 AM and spend most of the day behind my desk. Sounds pretty couchy, huh?

Well, I'm now walking every morning between reading the papers and getting to work and I actually look forward to that walk for the first time in my 56 years. Here's the insight that finally got me moving and WANTING to move.

We have two very important bilateral systems in our body that are critical to our good health. One is the circulatory system whose pump is the heart. We all understand about blood pressure and cholesterol yada yada yada. That knowledge never made me want to exercise. The teammate of the circulatory system is the lymph system. It's pump? Our muscles. Oops! If we don't move neither does the lymph. So? The lymph system is rather like a sludge system designed to transport the toxins to the proper organs for processing and removal from our bodies. IF I DON'T MOVE that sludge has no way to reach the proper processing centers! That's why I am walking.

20 minutes a day does the trick! No marathons necessary. Swing your arms and breath deeply through your nose to affect the whole system. 20 minutes is all it takes to know you've given your body the motion it needs to support a healthy long life and you all know I'm aiming for a sweet 120!

Let me know how you become motivated and find time to step out!