Most of us talk about "getting into shape" as often as we talk about "going on a diet!" But too few of us do much about either.
Dig out your running shoes and shake out your exercise togs. Carol Dannhauser and Sandra Warren have written a book geared to get you moving and feeling better in no time!
I Need to Get in Shape, Now What?! – an offering from the Now What?! series from Silver Lining Books – is an easy-to-navigate and extremely readable guide to exercise and healthful living.
The authors, both experienced health writers, link exercise and diet, explaining that teaming the two results in the best success. You can lose weight just by exercising, they say, but if you also cut the number of calories you consume, you will lose it faster and keep it off better.
Even if weight loss is not a motivator, exercise is the best path to improved health and looking and feeling your best. You will sleep better, ache less, and have a more positive outlook on life, they claim.
To motivate even the most rooted couch potato, the book is full of useful tips and strategies for the reluctant athlete. For the fallen athlete – those of us who used to participate in sports – the authors are equally supportive.
For readers who are already devoted to exercise but are bored with their current workout, the authors offer good ideas, too. Try cross training, they say, or take up biking or kick-boxing. Just keep moving!
There are chapters devoted to eating right and managing your weight as well chapters on finding exercise activities that suit you to a tee.
The authors explain the fitness options at gyms, such as step aerobics, spinning, and swimming. They also discuss the benefits of in-line skating, jump roping, road biking, and running.
Sections on walking, stretching, and cross-training segue effortlessly into others on designing your own program, fitting your workout into your daily schedule, and encouraging your family to stay fit.
Never are the authors too demanding. They understand that not everyone strives to be a marathon runner or rock climber. But if you do, they offer plenty of encouragement!
This is the right book to read as the weather warms up and we all yearn to be spend time outdoors. Why not combine time outside with some good exercise? It need not be overly strenuous, the authors explain, but it should be regular. Soon, they say, you will look forward to exercising.
And best of all, you will look and feel so much better. Heard that before? It's true!