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Everyone has to start somewhere. I've heard every kind of excuse from people about why they can't exercise. I have a bad back. I have bad knees. My mother told me not to because I have asthma. My husband says it'll make my legs too big and bulky. I'm totally uncoordinated. I don't feel like it. It's boring. The shoes are ugly. Let me tell you about Amanda, whom I met when she was nearly eighty pounds overweight. Slowly, she began to eat more healthy food, took daily walks, and went to a support group. After a few weeks she happily reported two experiences that proved to her how quickly her fitness level was changing. First of all, she was able to reach down to her feet and tie her shoes, something we all take for granted but a simple, necessary gesture she'd been unable to do for years because of the fat around her middle. The second event was being able to walk easily all the way up a long flight of stairs at a stadium when she went to root for her hometown baseball team. She used to have to rest at least four or five times on her way up. These were major achievements for her, and her pleasure in her accomplishments helped keep her going. She soon started Callanetics classes and has transformed her body—and her self-image. You can learn to be active. This means you take the stairs instead of the elevator. This means you park your car a block away from where you have to be, or at the far end of a parking lot and walk a little bit farther than you did the day before. This means you get up and walk around when you're talking on the telephone. This means you mow the lawn with an old-fashioned powerless mower, or you rake the leaves in the fall with a rake and not a leaf blower, that you till the soil in your garden by yourself. The more active we are, the more calories we burn. The more passive we are, the more exhausted we become ... and the more unlikely we are to exercise.
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