I received a suggestion that I write an article about “How To Get a Slug to Exercise.”
Some of the common complaints regarding exercise I’ve heard repeatedly are: “I just don’t like to exercise!” “I don’t like to sweat!” “I don’t like to be all sore after working out.”
Let’s take a look at the common garden slug. I envision those slimy white critters that slowly slink and slither along the ground in our gardens and nibble on our tomatoes and other garden delicacies, getting fatter and juicier with each bite. I remember battling them in the garden with various home remedies to save the fruits of my labor.
We’d sprinkle salt on them and they’d bubble up and die. We’d save empty egg shells, crush them and sprinkle them around the base of the plants. When the slug would slither through the shells, the shells would stick to the slug and they wouldn’t be able to move and they’d die. As a last resort we’d buy diatomaceous earth, a powdered rock substance used as a non-toxic insecticide and sprinkle it around the plants. It would be comparable to us crawling through shards of glass.
Can you see several parallels between your fat loss journey and the journey of the garden slug?
First, when you don’t feel good – lack of energy, feel fat and sloppy, no energy – how do you move? Do you walk confidently with a bounce in your step? Do you hold our head up high? Are you able to keep up with your family and kids or grand kids when they want to do physical activities? Or do you “crawl” around, barely getting through the day? Exercise will increase your energy level, give you confidence and improve your quality of life. Do you want to continue to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else having fun?
Next, what happens when you over indulge in salty foods? Do you bloat up and get puffy? What are those salty foods? Fast food? Potato chips? Sausage? Cheese? Table salt? Cutting back on sodium intake will not only help reduce fluid retention, but it will also help with fat loss when you consider the high sodium content of some of our favorite foods which are laden with calories. Reducing sodium intake will also help to reduce high blood pressure.
The eggshell analogy – when you are feeling fat and sloppy, without energy, bloated and puffy – isn’t it hard to move? You sort of get “stuck” where you are at and it’s hard to get unstuck and get moving. Check out this article from ABC News Health Idling Toward Death: Sitting Linked to Dying Early
As for the diatomaceous earth comparison, I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a single food I would be willing to crawl through broken glass to reach. Maybe that’s the mental image we can stick in our minds when we’re tempted to act and eat like a slug? (Kkat, does that help?)
There are many things in our lives we don’t “like” to do but are necessary for survival and healthy living – work, pay bills, cook, clean house, do laundry, do dishes. Those are just a few of the tasks I’d rather not have to do on a daily basis, but I push through and just get them done.
For your health, can you maybe just look at exercise as one of those things you “have to do”, like paying your bills? Take your exercise one day at a time, just like we do with our food journey and paying bills ~ one day at a time ~ one task at a time ~ one choice at a time. It will help you lose fat quicker and your quality of life will be improved.
Several members have asked for a morning stretching routine. I will post an easy routine in the [Kimkins] Morning Workout thread. Perhaps if you do this simple routine each morning before you get out of bed for the day, you’ll feel better and be more inspired to do more exercise.
Debbie Corey aka “mdsqueen” (yep, that’s me in the photo above)
RN, Certified Personal Trainer
