E-Tools

A year ago if you told me that my top priority each day would be to exercise I'd laugh and laugh and knock you off your seat. I remember my co-worker (a young girl of 23 who grew up in an athletic household) saying to me, "I feel like crap. I only ran three miles this morning." At 5 am. In the dark. In January.

While I'm not yet getting up at 5am in January to walk, I definitely feel great after a good 60-minute brisk walk with weights. And it's a great way to burn 500 calories.

My tools:

Enell Sports Bra
Good walking shoes & socks from Fleet Feet
Ipod with a jaunty playlist
Reebok 2 & 3-lb handweights
Polar F6 Heart Rate Monitor Watch

I love the heart rate monitor watch, which I received for Christmas. I can set the range where I want to keep my heart rate (usually between 125-144 for maximum fat burn), and I can keep track of how I'm doing. When I start to flag and slowdown, the alarm lets me know that I need to step it up.

The weights are great for upper body cardio. There are days when my knee bothers me so I can't walk as fast as I'd like, so I "pump" my weights, which really boosts my heart rate. In fact, I don't think I'd get nearly as good a workout without them.

Of course, I look cRAzY...but I'd rather look like a screwball when I exercise than die when I'm 45 from a heart attack.