The Conical Glass: A Cry For Self-Help: Day 5: Plan for an active weekend

Friday, March 20, 2009

A Cry For Self-Help: Day 5: Plan for an active weekend

I feel I should acknowledge that A Cry For Self-Help is the title of a mystery by Jaki Girdner. I have always loved that title.

Day 5, and I'm still trying to get more movement in my life. So far, I've managed the three 20-minute walks a day; on Monday (23rd), I'm supposed to bump one of those walks up to 30 minutes. Eventually it goes up to three 30-minute walks. That's a serious time commitment; the idea is to do productive things while you're walking, like talk on the phone, write to-do lists, or hold walking meetings. None of those things really work for me, so lately I've been listening to episodes of Marketplace Money. I can definitely see how getting a treadmill desk and walking while working (or at least reading blogs!) would be useful... if your entire job depends on being in front of a computer, time spent in the fresh air and sunshine is time away from work. Of course, if the economy keeps tanking, I suppose I could have lots of time for walks.

The Friday assignment is to "write down five things you can do to increase your NEAT on weekends." My typical weekend to-do list is usually something along the lines of (1) sleep; (2) catch up on work; (3) watch all the shows I TiVo'd during the week; (4) read my book for Tuesday night's book group. In other words: lots of sitting. And lying down.

Let's see... I could go see a movie. That sounds like another sedentary activity, but the movie theater is a 20-minute walk from my house so it involves exercise. You just have to hope they're showing something better than "Race to Witch Mountain."

I'd like to visit some of the outdoor attractions of the Bay Area that I've never been to, like Muir Woods and Mt. Diablo. I mean, it's kind of lame that I've lived here for over 10 years and never been to Muir Woods. So I could visit the web sites and get hiking maps for the easier routes.

I want to see that Nordic Craft Art exhibit at the Yerba Buena Center before it closes on April 12. Going to San Francisco always involves lots of walking.

There's always laundry. It kind of gets the blood pumping, since my clothes, bedding and towels are upstairs and the washing machine is downstairs. The washer had been out of commission because of a leak (now repaired), so there's quite a backlog.

That's four. Suggestions, anyone? Too bad I'm not into sports, or I could put down something like, "Play more tennis!" or "Join a bowling league!"

Incidentally, the Sunset Photo day I mentioned is this Sunday. The forecast calls for morning rain showers. The book doesn't say anything about a contingency plan in case it's gray and rainy. I guess I get up early and take a picture of the rain.

posted by 125records @ 11:17 PM

1 Comments:

At 6:38 PM, yellojkt said…

I listen to podcasts while walking. That way I feel like I'm not wasting my time. And I went to the Muir Woods last time I was in the Bay area. It's very dark. The trees keep blocking the view.