Time to work off that turkey
LOLITA HARPER
Get up. Get up off the couch and go do something active.
(Wait.... Wait until you are finished reading this, then go.)
If you are anything like me, Thanksgiving Day included at least
five hours of football, a wonderful spread of delicious foods and
desserts, concluded with the time-honored, ceremonial act: the
un-buttoning of the pants.
Ah, the joys of doing nothing, while your stomach gleefully
processes five times its normal daily allowance.
But today it has hit you. Your waist feels a bit thicker, your
seat a little softer -- there’s a little more love to handle.
You might do what too many people do around this time of year and
throw in the towel. You could succumb to the seduction of the holiday
season -- with all its silky eggnog, sweet candy, comforting baked
goodies and warm pies -- and tack on another 10 pounds to be lost
starting Jan. 1.
Or, you can get a head start by making a proactive effort to not
only ward off those looming, holiday pounds but get a jump on
shedding the weight that mysteriously reappeared after last year’s
resolution to lose five pounds.
It’s not hard.
Let’s start with today.
Feeling a little heavy?
Need a boost?
Do something.
Go walk around the Back Bay. Play tag with your kids. Walk to the
dog. Rake the leaves. Mow the lawn. Toss the football around,
reenacting glorious moments in the Detroit-Green Bay game.
Run, jump, hop, skip, play, lift, leap. Pick a verb, any verb, and
just do it.
That’s what people like Alana Stein and her cohorts at the VERB
organization suggest.
VERB is a national campaign to get people to move and is managed
the national Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. The
five-year campaign encourages people to find a verb, or several
verbs, that fit their personalities and interests and to use them as
a launching pad to better health, she said.
Cool. I picked out my top three verbs: shop, shop and shop. I’m
feeling healthier already. But seriously, even shopping is better
than sitting around on your tuckus all day, VERB officials say.
Yeah, and the way we shop at this time of year just adds to the
exponential caloric burn. The long walk from your parking space, from
which you can barely make out the name of the store you are heading
for. The inherent muscle toning that comes from dragging 15 bags
through the mall. Having that last minute dash for the very last
bottle of lavender exfoliating body scrub. And -- if you are really
trying to burn some calories -- the ensuing brawl that could follow.
Oh, yeah, um, where was I?
Anyways, the point is to get up and get a move on. Trust me,
you’ll thank me when New Year’s Day rolls around and you save your
resolutions for more important things, such as finding a good lawyer
to defend you against that silly assault and battery charge at Bath &
Body Works.
* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or by e-mail at
lolita.harper@latimes.com.
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