If you participated in our January 1st challenge, thank you! The challenge was to guess how many times I exercised in 2010. A package of Catalyst products for permanent weight loss valued at $350 is on its way to Deborah Phillipi!

Deborah guessed 355 exercise sessions for my activity output last year. My actual total was

351!

This was up from last year (2009) when I recorded 346 sessions. To clarify, an activity session for me is a minimum of a 30-minute walk. Even on the busiest of days, I feel that is do-able and logical. I noticed, when I was tallying my logs, a day when I only had a 20-minute walk noted – nope, that day didn’t count!

Several days contained 2 sessions, but only when they were distinct sessions at least 4 hours apart – for instance an hour walk in the morning and a yoga class in the evening. Walking to/from yoga, even if it is another hour, is still part of the “yoga session.”

Although a part of me would love to see a 365-exercise year (I have to admit that!), there are a number of things I was pleased with this year:

1. Only one day on the log said “under the weather.” I wouldn’t even categorize that as being sick – just low energy and the possibility that I needed rest.

2. This was my 11th year of maintaining weight loss. I lost 1 pound. With the busyness of my life (a) managing a teenager and family, (b) being on the road giving seminars and speeches, (c) a heightened vacation schedule (three this year – lucky me!), and (d) taking my (advancing!) age into consideration – that is successful to me.

I was really pleased and amused by the wonderful comments and encouragement I received.

And a few people sent me their excuses, which was OK too!

From Dana: “I’d like to exercise that much but I hurt my shoulder.”

Sorry Dana, unless you are in a full body cast, you get no pass from me. A hurt arm, back or shoulder means you exercise your legs more. Banged-up legs allow you to emphasize your upper body. Certainly, no one has to exercise as much as I do if you don’t enjoy it or enjoy the results(!), but making an excuse to avoid it entirely isn’t positive, productive or healthy.

From Lou: “You must love exercise. I don’t.”

Sorry Lou, I had the “I hate exercise” excuse once too. I came to realize I couldn’t hate something I never did. I actually didn’t KNOW if I hated it or not because I’d never done it enough to have an opinion, and I certainly had not explored all the types of exercise out there. I still haven’t. But I’ll get to them.

From Kelli: “I can’t seem to make a habit of it.”

Well, Kelli, you’ve got one thing right. It does have to be a habit. Is there something you would NOT DREAM of NOT DOING? Like brushing your teeth? That’s how automatic it has to be.

For the record, I don’t want anyone hurting themselves if they have an injury but let’s be realistic. I have NO meniscus cartilage so one of my knees is bone-on-bone. It hurts, yeah. But I’m told it’s not getting fixed until I have knee replacement surgery, which I’m not anxious to do. So I work my personal situation and don’t complain too much. I take that approach because I know what I’m capable of and I have no tolerance for excuses in my life anymore.

Where would a “no excuses” attitude take you?