How Do You Spell Fitness?

Virtually every time I turn on the radio I hear at least one advertisement for gym memberships or weight loss programs. It is true that our grandparents had active life styles out of sheer necessity to survive. My grandmother did not have an automatic wash machine, dishwasher or a microwave. In fact she never owned an automobile. Isn’t it amazing how far we have come?  We live in the day and age of fast, convenient and easy. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would see the day of a public service announcement telling children to go outside and play.  Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the comfort and convenience of our modern life style. But we have to face the facts that now that our lives are less active we must find another way to stay physically healthy. The wonderful thing is that we don’t necessarily have to go to a gym.  I did a search online for “gardening calorie calculator.”  I found several sites that allow you to type in your height, current weight, age, and gender. The calculator then tells the approximate amount of calories burned for various gardening work. For instance, weeding and cultivating a garden can burn up to 200 calories/hour! I have found my work out how about you?

Like any other exercise I always do some stretches and a few core exercises to keep my back strong. Then it’s outside I go. The only personal trainer I need is the birds in the trees encouraging me to keep digging. I have traded dumb bells for a shovel and rake and running shoes for garden clogs.

This gal spells fitness:   G-A-R-D-E-N-I-N-G!