Progress Report

I’m building my exercise up one little step at a time. Here is my new schedule.

1 minute of knee lifts, touching knees with opposite hands
1 minute of walking in place
1 lower body exercise
1 upper body exercise
1 core exercise
1 stretch/flexibility exercise
Aim for 12 reps
Use a 10 lb when weights are needed
Walk dog 3-4 times a day for a total of 30-45 minutes

Progress Report

It’s nice to see my weight come down after it went up last month. At this rate it will take 50 to 69 months to get back to a healthy weight. Considering that it took years of creeping weight gain to get where I am, that doesn’t seem so bad.

Here is my current daily exercise program. To a more fit person, it may not seem like much. To someone out of shape it may seem like a lot. Don’t be discouraged. At the beginning of the year, I started with just 10 pushups a day. The current program is a result of taking many small steps, increasing in increments that seemed very small and easy to me at the time.

standing spinal twist 1 stretch each side
side bend 1 stretch each side
Squats 25 reps

mad cat arch 1 stretch
hip extensions 15 reps each side
push ups 20 reps
Crunches 20 reps
Squirms 10 reps each side, alternating
lower back isolate (bridging) 10 reps
crossed leg 1 stretch each side
Curls 20 reps each side with 10# barbell

walk dog 30-45 min over 3-4 walks a day

Thanks to those who’ve submitted something to the blog. This blog is a part-time effort, so it may take a while to respond.

Progress Report

I don’t have a lot to report this month. I decided to do five more of each of my exercises, now 15 each of pushups, crunches and squats. Its and example of how one small step can lead to another.

I feel I’m having some success increasing my activity level. To really improve my health, I’ll need to address my eating habits, too, more than I already have. So I’m making a small step commitment to come up with an idea for a small step to improve my eating habits. I’d like to have one idea that I feel is small enough for me to do by the end of the month.

More Things of Which I Can Do 10

I started this blog by making the small step commitment of doing 10 pushups a day. With the exception of when I had the flu, and more recently a cold, I’ve kept that commitment and seem to be getting some results.

I’ve been thinking about other small steps I can take to improve my health. Since increasing my activity feels manageable to me (as compared to tackling my eating habits), I’ve thought of some other small steps I can take. I can do 10 squats and 10 crunches. I’m adding this to my daily 10 pushups.

This commitment still amounts to less than a minute of exercise a day. The idea is that I am, and you are, more likely to stick to a very small change, and those changes, expanded and added to, consciously and unconsciously, over time, will bring about big results.

One Slice of Tomato at a Time

I’m committing to eat the tomato that comes on my sandwich or salad. When I was a kid, I didn’t like tomatoes. I picked them off anything that had them. I kept up the habit long after my palette had matured. Now I’m committing to eat them. I can handle a few extra ounces of vegetable matter.

My Small Step Commitment

I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about how small changes can bring about big results. It’s getting a lot of attention now that New Year’s Day is approaching.

Like a lot of people, I have a health goal. I’m 5’11”, weigh 270 lbs and have a 46” waist, i.e. I’m overweight. (I’ve included a chart showing my measurements at different times over the last year. I plan to update it from time to time to show what I hope will be great progress.)

So, instead of making a huge goal and in all likelihood failing, like some many other resolution makers, I’ve decided I’ll start with the smallest thing I can think of. It may be small, but at least I’ll be able to do it and stick to it.

My small step commitment is to do 10 pushups a day. I know I can easily do this. I takes very little time. That is the idea.

I’ll be setting up system in which you can contribute your small step commitments, big changes results and experiences. I hope to hear from you and wish you success.