Most people believe in exercise. They know they should do it. But the average person is not into pain, no matter what the gain. Few people can afford to join a gym, let alone to hire a personal trainer. Most of us over fifty have no desire to become athletes. Suggestions that we should run a few miles every day give us nothing more than a good laugh. In fact, as age increases so does the risk of injury, and older folks need to be careful what exercise they choose. Finally, there is a lesser but equally negative aspect of exercise: it can be a dreadful bore. Some doctors tell patients to consider exercise as part of their prescriptions, but they never offer a spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down.

Weight and Age Creep Up on You

As a child, I was skinny as a rail. But in those days, I took dance. I loved my tap and ballet lessons. In fact, twice a week I rode my bicycle several miles to get to class. As a teenager, besides dancing, I rode horses and did a bit of swimming. I attended a college that sprawled across a network of hills so that just going to school was a workout. Keeping fit was a breeze.

In my thirties and forties, I was a single mother with very little money, raising three sons by myself. Luckily, we lived on an acreage in the country, and I came from hearty farming stock. We grew much of our own food. We even kept dairy goats, milking them and raising hay for their feed. With all the chores, my waistline was never a problem.

But as my nest emptied out, and my computer skills grew, my life took a turn. By forty-nine, I earned my living sitting at a computer all day. No, I didn't intend to let my health go, but eight years and fifty pounds later, I developed type 2 diabetes.

I am extremely insulin resistant, and routine treatment doesn’t work. A medication that curbs liver glucose production played havoc with my digestive tract. Another drug reduced my resistance, but it gave me upper respiratory distress. For months, I took a string of medications to counteract my diabetes and my diabetes medication. I felt like a rat in a maze with every turn leading to a dead end.

Overcoming Exercise Phobia

My doctor says exercise is the best way to overcome insulin resistance. She nagged me to start a program. I said I had tried, but, in fact, I was holding back. Why? Because I dreaded the pain. I was pathetically puny. Even fixing dinner could make me sweat like a race horse. Having danced for years, I knew getting into shape would be a major endeavor. Coward that I have become in my middle years, I simply did not want to hurt. If I did, I knew I would quit whatever program I began. So I stalled.

Then, one bright spring day, my phone rang. It was my mother. Always a high energy person, Mom views her eighty-four years as merely a minor stumbling block to achievement. She and my dad recently bought a house. She called to say, with justifiable pride, that she had just finished painting three bedrooms and a hallway. Embarrassment curling my toes, I congratulated my mother and knew, pain or no pain, it was time to get off my duff.

I checked out supposedly "gentle" exercises like yoga and tai chi, or popular programs like Pilates. I quickly learned that not only was there equal potential for pain, those things can cost serious money. Memberships. Lessons. Equipment. $100 for a costume to wear? $60 for an exercise mat? No, thanks!

Dancing With the Stars

Like millions of people, I watched this lively summer TV series. While I indulged my fondness for dance, I saw actor/contestant John O'Hurley drop 20 pounds. Not that this silver fox had a weight problem to begin with. But he proved that people can trim down and, literally, have a ball doing it.

I was hooked. Yes, I studied tap and ballet, but I had the most fun with Twist, the Watusi, and all those gyrations that kids did in the 60s. Well, that was exercise, wasn’t it? More to the point, did I ever come home from a party with a twinge of pain?

I dug into my old records and tapes or tuned my radio to "That Old Time Rock and Roll." Considering my crummy physical condition, I started with just ten minutes a day, alternating slow songs with fast ones. The movement was remarkably easy, and time absolutely flew by. The sight of their chubby mother prancing around the house brought some snickers from my sons, but I was undaunted. When they laughed, I just grabbed them and made them dance with me.

At the end of the third week, I began to add five minutes per day per week. I am now up to 30 minutes per day. I haven't had one bit of pain, I haven't spent a dime, and I feel great. I breezed through my three month diabetes checkup. Moreover, my blood pressure is down, and my cholesterol levels are normal.

Weight loss? Only seven pounds, but I have lost a dress size. I don't expect anything drastic to happen with my weight. It took eight years for me to get fat, and it will take awhile to lose it. The good news is that gradually I am trading fat for muscle. If I watch what I eat and keep moving, I know the transformation will occur.

Putting It All Together

You say you can't find an activity that you like to do? Okay, make it something you need to do. Housework may not be delightful, but you can turn it to your advantage. Dust, vacuum, scrub the floors. Turn on the radio and work to music. Improve your body and your environment at the same time.

What about maintaining your home? Do you have three bedrooms and a hall that need painting? Paint a few walls per day! If you wish, get a companion with whom you can visit while you work. Important jobs will get done, and you will exercise.

Set yourself up for activity. When you go to work or have an appointment, park your car far enough from your destination that you have to walk a few blocks there and back. Often just a bit of thought can motivate you.

Of course, you should be careful and take the following steps:

1. Consult your doctor before starting any kind of exercise program.

2. Know your current physical state and stay within reasonable limits. If ten minutes a day is too much, try five. Just keep at it. When you feel comfortable with the time limit you choose, add a bit more time each day.

3. Be realistic. There’s TV commercial in which a man gets on a scale, runs around a gym once and steps on the scale again, only to discover he hasn’t lost an ounce. We laugh, but a lot of people think if it doesn’t work right now, it never will. In fact, patience and persistence pay.

4. Understand that exercise is one part of your overall plan. You also need a sensible diet, and, if you need medication, you must take it.

If I can use this approach, I think anyone can. The secret is to find some activity that will get you up and moving. For most people walking is the easiest activity, but simply becoming active at something will open the door to better health.