My daughter once said the hardest part about exercising is putting on your shoes to do it.  In other words, the hardest part about incorporating daily exercise into one’s life is making the commitment to just do it!  No wonder Nike chose that saying as their slogan.

Laura Moncur over at the Starling Fitness blog found a truly inspiring Nike ad entitled "Someone busier than you is running."  Laura writes:

I have a love-hate relationship with Nike. I hate that they only carry uber-small clothing sizes. I hate their website. I love their watches. I love their advertising. I love Nike+.

She is embracing the "no time is no excuse" mantra for exercise. I am too! 

I am what you might consider as "uber-busy".  In addition to running a successful web development company, I am also launching a new business PLUS I home school my two younger children. I DEFINITELY do NOT have TIME to EXERCISE…. but I do.  Every day I walk 30-45 minutes minimum.  It’s not a lot… it’s not even "enough"…. but it’s as important to my day as my morning pot of coffee is.

We make time for what’s important.  It’s very frustrating to me to hear family members complain that they don’t have TIME to exercise.  Yet somehow, these same family members are very well versed about what’s going on in television land.

It’s been my observation that people who don’t "stick with" exercising are usually exercising for the wrong reasons.  In my family of origin, exercise has one purpose…. it’s to help you lose weight and if walking 2-3 miles a day didn’t accomplish weight loss in 10 days or less… well, the newly founded exercise routine would quickly become a distant memory. 

My exercise routine is 30 months old.  This most recent incarnation is not as extreme as previous exercise routines have been but then again, it’s been easier to maintain.  It hasn’t delivered overnight success… but it has delivered measurable results. 

I think the key to my exercise "success" is that my goal is NOT weight loss but rather wellness.  It puts the whole process in a new perspective.  Instead of jumping on the scales, expecting to see the number fall precipitously, I ignore the scales.  

One evening, I pulled a pair of black yoga pants from the back of my closet to go on an additional evening walk with my family.  I discovered that I hadn’t worn those pants in a while and I learned what changes walking had made in my body about 5 minutes into the walk…. my pants were literally falling off of me!  I spent the rest of the walk holding my pants up so I didn’t give the whole neighborhood a show! 

The scales didn’t show that much movement, but my body has changed significantly.  I think of all those times I started exercising only to quit after a few weeks and wonder how far I could be if I had just stuck with those earlier efforts!

Speaking of walking, great post by KJ on the power of the pedometer!  Using a pedometer is a GREAT way to set walking goals!

Lots of people busier than you are exercising…. regularly…. and feeling better for it.  Unload your excuses…pick up a pedometer and get walking!

Known as "the little gems of the citrus family", kumquats are not really a citrus fruit… they only resemble one!  However, these little gems are a wonderful detour from the familiar!  Just seven of these tiny orange treats supply 80% of your RDA for vitamin C, which could lower your risk for stomach cancer.

If you’ve ever seen these tiny treats on your grocer’s shelves, your first instinct is to call them tiny oranges.    However, they are as unlike oranges as you can get.

According to the Purdue Web Site:

The fruit is oval-oblong or round, 5/8 to 1 1/2 in (1.6-4 cm) wide; peel is golden-yellow to reddish-orange, with large, conspicuous oil glands, fleshy, thick, tightly clinging, edible, the outer layer spicy, the inner layer sweet; the pulp is scant, in 3 to 6 segments, not very juicy, acid to subacid; contains small, pointed seeds or sometimes none; they are green within.

The fruit has a sweet outer skin and a tart inner flesh.  The fruit can be eaten whole or some people prefer eating only the skin.

The NY Times has even more to say about this pint sized fruit:

 The size and shape of a large olive, the kumquat is like an orange in reverse, with a sweet skin and tart pulp. So you don’t have to peel the kumquat; you simply eat the entire fruit. Thus its brilliance.

Need to add some zest to a salad? No more straining your knife skills by segmenting an orange. Just slice a kumquat into thin rounds and toss them in. Need to add acidity to a braise of pork, duck or lamb? Drop kumquats in whole during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Need an easy dessert? Simmer them in sugar syrup until tender, and watch as they become translucent and deflate like tiny tires as they cool; serve the softened kumquats with cheese. Slice them in half horizontally, dip their ends in egg white followed by a mixture of raw sugar and cinnamon and freeze them. They turn into sweet-tart ice cubes. Or just pile them in a bowl and pass them around after dinner.

So if you see these bite sized fruit on the shelves of your local grocer, pick them up and add a bit of variety to your diet!

If you LOVE the taste of french fries but worry about reports of their detrimental effects for your health, take heart!  According to the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture reports that by simply microwaving the fries before frying reduces the levels of acrylamide (a potential carcinogen) by up to 60%!

Acrylamide is the what happens when the naturally ocuring amino acid called asparagine (found in grains and vegetables) is subjected to very high cooking temperatures…. like what happens in a deep fat fryer!  It’s the same phenomenon that makes potato chips bad for you as well.

However, the microwave comes to the rescue.  When potatoes are microwaved for 30 seconds prior to frying, the level of acrylamide drops by an amazing 60%!  

According to Wikipedia, the potential health risks of ingesting acrylamides are:

large doses can cause damage to the male reproductive glands. Direct exposure to pure acrylamide by inhalation, skin absorption, or eye contact irritates the exposed mucous membranes, e.g. the nose, and can also cause sweating, urinary incontinence, nausea, myalgia, speech disorders, numbness, paresthesia, and weakened legs and hands. In addition, the acrylamide monomer is a potent neurotoxin. Ingested acrylamide is metabolised to a chemically reactive epoxide, glycidamide.