I had a hard time deciding what to blog about this week because Robin’s blog from last week is so beautiful, and about such an important and personal issue, there is no other topic that could follow it. It truly stands on its own in the long list of issues that face us as we grow older.

But, to keep this blog rolling (no pun intended), I needed to find another topic on that list. So I came up with something that is near and dear to both Robin’s and my heart, is discussed nonstop throughout our book, and is relevant, to me at least, to this past holiday weekend.

Well, it’s certainly not what I would’ve said 20 or more years ago, or even 10 years ago for some of you readers, that is, labor – you know the kind that you do in the Delivery Room?! No, most of us are well past that kind of labor. I’m talking about another kind of labor; at least it’s labor to me, and I’m sure is to some of you out there, though it isn’t to Robin and those like her. Curious?

It’s exercise. Or working out or physical activity or whatever you want to call it. To me, exercise is labor. For those of you who have already read our book, you’ll know that the importance of it is discussed throughout the entire book. You may have even been surprised, as we were, that these days the necessity of regular exercise is not just a nice thing to do, it’s a “must-do.” We include many research studies that prove that people who do regular exercise as they get older stay healthier than those who don’t. And we also include our individual exercise regimens in the book. (Robin’s, at least, is truly a regimen.)

You also know if you’ve read our book, that there are different types of exercise that are important, each of which works in different ways, that we must do to stay healthy. These are: cardio (or aerobic), strength training, balance, and flexibility exercises. Of these, the one I truly hate, the one I consider to be hard labor, is the cardio type of exercise. Even though I say in the book that I’ve found some tricks to make me keep doing it regularly, I intermittently still have trouble.

I’m in one of those “having-trouble-sticking-to-it” phases right now. This Labor Day, cardio exercise for me is really a labor. Instead of just going outside and walking, or getting on my stationary bicycle and pedaling, or turning on some music and dancing around, I am currently spending all my time dreading those things.

Followed by talking myself out of doing them. “It’s going to rain in a few minutes, so why go outside now” OR “I just washed my hair, so why do I need to get all sweaty now” OR, best of all, “Oh dear, I’m so behind in my mopping/checking emails/brushing the dogs/exfoliating my skin that I just can’t spare the time now” Any, or all, of these sound familiar to you?

And, no, I don’t want a pep talk from those of you who are exercise machines (this means you, Robin). I would to love hear if any of you out with this same problem have come up with a permanent way to prevent this phase, this cycle of allowing the negative tape about exercise to play constantly in our brains. I haven’t. Not in all these years of trying to exercise regularly, probably since my 20’s, have I come up with a permanent solution. (I’m actually hoping that writing this now will pull me out of the phase this time – embarrass me out of it, in fact!)

So, until I hear from one of you out there with this issue who has found a way to beat it, I’ll continue cycling through these phases (and I don’t mean on the exercycle), spending more time making excuses to avoid it, and beating myself up about why I’m not doing it, than I would if I just did it. (Nike is right on.)

And, I’ll let you know if writing this blog about my problem actually helps to solve it.