Two Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Exercise. The word all dieters dread. You can get addicted to the endorphins but generally, the thought of exercise is not a pleasant one. Some choose to take their pill early in the morning, rising before the Canadian geese lift off from the swamps, and lacing up tennis shoes to hit the trails or cement paths. Others hit the gym straight after work, running miles on a treadmill or lifting weights. I walk at home.

I'm actually quite pleased with my exercise routine, but it didn't come easy. I choose to do 2 miles of low-impact aerobics every day with a Leslie Sansone Walk-at-Home DVD. The first time I ever even heard of Leslie was when my sister bought me a DVD at the Salvation Army store. She knew I was trying to find a good exercise DVD for those days when it was cold and raining and dark outside, or those days when I just didn't feel like seeing a zillion exercise enthusiasts on the Loop and saying hi every single time we passed. The DVDs I'd borrowed at the public library weren't much good. They were all about 20 years out of date, with everyone wearing those leopard-print leg warmers, frizzy-hair-in-a-headband and jumping up and down behind someone who would say "now plie" and everyone would suddenly put one leg behind their head and stand on their other toe!

One day, I decided to pop in the DVD and try it out. Now I own three additional DVDs and absolutely love the workout! There's different levels of intensity, you can do a mile in 15 minutes or in 12, and it's all low-impact. You walk in place, you do some kicks and knee-lifts, you step to the side, and you add some slight variations to it all. Easy to follow along, quick to learn the steps, and no fancy equipment required. All you need is a DVD player/laptop, some space to move about, and comfortable exercise clothes, and walk away!!!

When I first started walking at home, I was rather dubious about it all, plus I struggled with doing it on a regular basis. But I've made exercise a priority in my life and every day when I come home from work, I pop in the DVD and walk away. There are days I absolutely don't feel like walking at all. All I want to do is sit down and veg out in front of the TV, eating brownie bites and potato chips by the handful. But on those days, I know that if I exercise I'll feel even better than the days I want to exercise, so I push myself to do "just two miles." The time flies by, Leslie's encouraging words keep me smiling, and before I know it, those miles have gone by and I've accomplished my goal for that day.