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A few years after we were married, my husband and I went on our first European vacation to Italy and Switzerland. They say you can always tell who the Americans are by the shoes they’re wearing. American tourists wear tennis shoes, and we were no exception. We walked and hiked through Zurich, Venice, Bellagio, and more wearing our unfashionable (but comfortable) sneakers, carrying our clothes and necessities in our backpacks.
One day, at beautiful Lake Como in Northern Italy, it poured down rain. We were soaked from head to toe and loved every minute of it (remember we were young). There was a space heater in our hotel room, so my husband placed his tennis shoes on the heater to dry. But his brilliant plan backfired because the heat popped the little air chambers in his Nike Airs. The next morning, instead of touring a glorious cathedral, we were asking directions to the nearest shoe store.
My husband has a strong aversion to flip-flops that was fueled by a train ride in Italy. Sitting in front of us was a teenage girl carrying a backpack that was about as big as she was. She wore flimsy flip-flops, and her feet were bloody, dirty, and all scuffed up. Clearly, those were the wrong shoes for her European vacation.
When you have an active lifestyle, you’ve got to be wearing the right shoes. No one works out at the gym in flip-flops or stilettos. If you’re going to exercise, you’ve got to put on athletic shoes. So, how often do your tennis shoes get worn?
• Every day—I love the comfort.
• Several times a week when I exercise.
• I haven’t laced up a pair of sneakers in weeks.
• I don’t even know if I own tennis shoes.
If you have to go out and buy new tennis shoes because your old ones are worn out, that’s a good sign—as long as it didn’t take you ten years to wear them out. Owning a pair of good athletic shoes is one thing. Using them regularly for exercise is another.
Three times a week, my friend Jane wakes up at 5:00 a.m. to go walking with a friend. They walk outside if the weather permits, and work out indoors if it doesn’t. Because there’s no guesswork involved, they’ve been consistent in their exercise regimen for 18 years.
“I wouldn’t wake up to exercise if there wasn’t a knock on my door at 5:30 a.m.,” Jane says. “It’s a great idea to buddy up for exercise. We love to talk about the Bible while we walk and encourage each other.”
Jane is reaping the numerous benefits of a healthy lifestyle. After she turned 65, she whispered to the receptionist at her doctor’s office, “I have new insurance,” because she didn’t want to broadcast that she was now a card-carrying member of Medicare. Who could blame her—you can’t tell by the way she looks.1
I’m sure there are mornings when Jane doesn’t feel like getting up to welcome her friend. An active lifestyle doesn’t begin with lacing up your tennis shoes; it begins with the decision to lace up those shoes. You must first make the choice to be healthy and active. Once you settle it in your brain—without question marks or excuses—the hard part is over.
Jane and her friend have been so successful with their walking because they treat their exercise time as a nonnegotiable appointment. Why is it that we can show up on time for a meeting, doctor’s appointment, child’s football game, or small group, but we’re anything but prompt when it comes to exercise? Many women think of exercise as something to do during free time, but who has any free time anymore? We have to set aside time for the important matters of life, and exercise definitely qualifies.
If you’re not used to exercising regularly, begin by reserving 30 minutes three times a week for exercise. Do not allow yourself to do anything else during that time. If you have unanswered phone messages or emails, just leave them alone. Your exercise time is not the time to put in a load of laundry or get dinner started. Guard those 30 minutes for exercise and exercise only.
Set a minimum amount of exercise per week and make sure you never dip below that minimum. Let’s say you decide to exercise three times a week for 30 minutes each, and you get to the last day of the week and you haven’t done a blessed thing. Guess that means you’ll be taking a 45-minute walk in the morning and doing a 45-minute workout DVD that night to make up for the minutes you missed. Of course, many weeks you will exceed your minimum, and that’s great.
Walking is a great exercise to begin with. Walk for 30 minutes around your neighborhood in the morning or in the early evening. Use that time to talk with the Lord, or invite a friend to buddy up with you. Walking can also be your default exercise if you can’t think of anything else to do. Other ideas include:
• A home DVD workout
• Weight lifting at home with a pair of five- and ten-pound dumbbells
• Going to the gym—attend a class or make your own circuit
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Tennis
• Golf
• Dancing
My children’s pediatrician is a woman in midlife who has more energy than a 25-year-old. She’s thin, fit, and happy, with bright eyes and a chic haircut. Do you know what she does several times a week? Kickboxing. Just goes to show there are many ways to skin the cat of exercise—you just have to pick something you can enjoy with consistency.
Once you win the battle and move from talking about exercise to actually doing it, something amazing will happen to your attitude. You’ll have a sunnier outlook, more creative ideas, better problem-solving skills, and a calmer response to stressful situations. Exercise will make you feel good. In just a short time, you’ll become addicted to your new exercise routine and feel more tired on the days when you don’t work out. The more you recognize the immediate benefits of exercise, the more you’ll want to exercise each week.
When I was pregnant in my late thirties, I felt blasé and lifeless in my first trimester. I dreamt of crawling under my blanket and staying there for several weeks. I didn’t feel connected or passionate about anything. Because I felt so tired, my regular exercise regimen ceased. No one blamed me for my inactivity since pregnancy, like so many other medical conditions, was a great excuse.
About ten weeks into my pregnancy, I decided to go back to exercise class. I began once a week, riding a stationary bike. I found I was just as tired as before, so the exercise didn’t wear me out further, but I felt so much better. My mood instantly lifted. The more I exercised, the more I felt like myself again. Exercise helped me emerge from my first-trimester funk.
Do you need to get out of an emotional funk? The surprising answer may be in your closet among your shoes.
Thought for Rejuvenation
“I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV).
What are some specific ways you can discipline your body?
Act of eXpression
Take out your tennis shoes and use them at least three times to exercise within a week. If you don’t own a good pair of athletic shoes, shop at an outlet or discount department store for a great deal.