's motd Friday Feb 12, 2010

[Guest guest]

"OH, I EXERCISE!"

Friday, 12 February 2010

I get to talk to a lot of people as I'm traveling all over the country. I meet hundreds of people at airports, on airplanes, at convention centers...everywhere! Many of them ask to have a photo taken with me or get an autograph from me. Of course, I'm always happy to oblige. Hey, you know me, I'd sign toilet paper! (Okay, but I haven't!) Sometimes I fall asleep with a pen in my hand after having drawn an illustration that would remind you of the frescoes on the Sistine Chapel.

Now I've got to tell you something. See, sometimes I'll get into a conversation with some of the people I meet. We'll talk about their food and exercise habits and here's a line of responses I often get from them..."Oh, , I work out! I go to the gym. I'm in a walking club. I just bought a new piece of exercise equipment from an infomercial I saw on TV. I own some of your workout DVDs."And you know what? I look at these people and hug them but I know they're not exercising as much as they'd have me believe. Oh sure, they may very well own a gym membership and a new piece of exercise equipment but...they're not using them. They can't be walking everyday, two, three or four miles a day. And I'm sure there's probably dust on the covers of those DVDs of mine they own. I'm always nice and say to them, "I'm very proud of you for working out."

In my mind, I try to figure out why these people tell me all of those little "aerobic lies." See, I can tell when a body's been exercising regularly and when it hasn't. And how do I know? Well, I can tell by a person's posture, by their energy level and by the way their lips quiver when they're telling me what they think I want to hear.Oh sure, they may have worked out years ago but they're not working out now. I try to visualize them if they were working out and what their bodies would look like if they were.

I've got to tell you, most people go on and off their exercise routines all the time. Think about it. You have a few seconds before you get your workout going. And in those few seconds leading into your workout time, you can talk yourself right out of doing anything involving sweat that day. And if you do it once, the danger is that you can talk yourself into not working out again tomorrow or the next day. And, if you're not careful, in the next several months, you've put on 20 pounds!

Listen, if you stop the exercising, it's almost as if you've cursed your body. I mean, not only will your lack of exercise lead to a weight gain but it can also lead to serious medical problems. So my advice to you, if you see me in the airport, is to just tell me the truth! LOL.Okay, I've got a challenge for you. I want you to exercise everyday from this Friday to next Friday. You don't have to write and tell me whether you did or not. I just want you to be honest with yourself about your workouts.

And by the way, today is the most perfect day for you to be honest, too. Why? Well, do you know who's birthday it is today? Abraham Lincoln's! So let Honest Abe be your motivation today to get your body moving for the next seven days!Love,