This is where Do It The Hard Way gets Hard! The food is tasty, you may even find that it's becoming  fun to prepare. But this is where the work starts . . . EXERCISE.

Yes, you really have to do it.

• It does not have to be that hard

• It does not have to be boring

• You don't have to hate it

• BUT - you do have to do it!!

It really is just that simple!

The first, and most important, thing to do is choose something that you like to do. It can be biking, walking, hiking, jogging, dancing, aerobics, ...use your imagination. If you have not been exercising recently, you are going to need to start slow.

We'll use walking as an example (it's very easy and you don't need any special equipment). Start with five minutes. How do you feel after five minutes? Feeling wiped out? Pain anywhere? Having trouble catching your breath? If those answers are NO, then keep going for another five minutes. Then stop. That's plenty of walking for the first day.

Now let's sit down on the floor and stretch a little. We all know how to stretch, just take it slow, don't bounce, and don't stretch to the point of pain.

That's a great start for the first day. Now here's the key....do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next - you get the idea. Aim for six days in a row and then take one day off. Continue with ten minutes per day for the first week.

Once ten minutes is not a problem, you can try adding a second ten minute session at a different time of day or you can start increasing the initial session. How much you increase it is up to you and how you feel. Think of this: if you added just ONE MINUTE per week - by the end of the year you would be doing an hour a day!

This is not a race or competition of any kind, this is your life and your health. Make it consistent and make it permanent!

Also, to be truly fit, you need three basic elements in your regular routine:

1. Cardio
2. Resistance
3. Flexibility

Cardio:

• Walking, Running, Biking, Hiking, Dancing, Roller Blading...the list goes on
• Cardio is any "aerobic" exercise - aerobic means = Involving or improving oxygen consumption by the body

Resistance:

• Resistance training increases muscle strength by pitting the muscles against a weight, such as a dumbbell, barbell, pulley, resistance band or even your own body weight.

• Here are some of the benefits of resistance training:

  • Increased muscle strength, endurance and size

  • Increased bone density and strength

  • Reduced body fat

  • Increased muscle to fat ratio

  • Increased metabolism

  • Lowered resting heart rate and blood pressure

  • Improvement of balance

Flexibility:

• Flexibility is a joint's ability to move through a full range of motion.
• Some of the benefits of flexibility training:
  • Decreased risk of injury
  • Reduced muscle soreness
  • Improved posture
  • Reduced risk of low back pain

Some people enjoy working out with exercise videos. I have found them to be a great tool in learning new techniques, reducing boredom, and finding new challenges.

One draw back, I have found, with exercise videos is that once you buy one - you are stuck with it. In the past I have purchased many videos that turned out to be useless for me. So I have found two tricks that worked for me.

1. Sign up for a Blockbuster or Netflicks free trial. Both companies offer between a two week and a one month free trial. Once you sign up you can choose from hundreds of exercise videos (VHS and DVD) and you are allowed to keep up to three at a time. This way you can try out a new workout almost every day and possibly find a couple that you would like to own.

2. A website called Collage Video has over 700 workout videos. They have very reasonable prices, each video description has a 60 second video clip of the workout, and best of all they offer a 30 day money back guarantee (even on opened videos).