It's too hot, cold, wet, dry for that

It's raining again. Doesn't this make healthy living impossible? Even though I should be exercising every day...I can't if it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. If it's not nice out, that's an excuse. If it is beautiful day out, shouldn't I do something more enjoyable than exercising?

The weather is a ready-made excuse for not exercising. Unless it's 70 degrees sunny with a ocean breeze, how can we expected to get out and do anything? According to this principle, only residents of Santa Barbara, California, should be biking or walking on a regular basis.

I own a raincoat. Actually I have a few of them. I even have snow pants, hats, and gloves. I am equipped for just about anything Mother Nature can dole out in New England. Just look in my garage. I have bikes, hiking boots, ice skates, snowshoes, and skis. But aren't those things just for vacations...to be harnessed to the roof exclusively for use two and a half hours from home?

Our bodies are meant to move. Our brains prefer to stay put. If I listen to my brain, it will manufacture excuse after excuse for not exercising. It might even convince me to do laundry or vaccuum instead. The key is to listen to my body.

My body likes to move. It smiles from the inside out. My heart pumps blood to warm my aging joints. My muscles applaud the chance to tighten and tone. My lungs celebrate the deep rhythmn of breathing faster. I get in touch with my with body as a whole and its individual parts.

The inbox at work seems a little shorter. The dirty kitchen floor a little less irritating. My criticizing sister a little further away. Those are rewards worth reaping.

I'm breaking out a noisy track suit, my iPod, and a bike helmet. I've got a date with a hill and it is not weather permitting.