Do YOU Sweat or Glisten?

Well, we both definitely SWEAT when we exercise!!! I come from a long line of sweaters....in shape or not, I sweat. And that's OK.  That is how God made me :)   And do we exercise?  Yes, exercise is a regular part of our routines.  Dr. Dukan says that exercise is "the means to increase twofold the effectiveness and permanence of the results you can achieve with my diet program."  In fact, he does not just suggest exercise.  Exercise is prescribed as an essential part of the Dukan diet.  In his book, he does a fabulous job at explaining all the details to answer the "Why exercise?" question....I will not try to rephrase him (if Dave was writing this post, he would do it better)....I say just read that chapter :) 

What type of exercise? Well, Dr. Dukan simply recommends WALKING.  Why?

• Of all human activities, walking is the  most natural.
• Walking is the simplest of all physical activities.
• Walking is the least tiring exercise and is feasible for everyone.
• Walking exercises the greatest number of muscles at the same time
• Walking is the exercise that most helps you lose weight
• Walking is the exercise that best protects against aging
• For the obese, walking is the only risk-free exercise

How much Walking? Minimum Amounts....

• Attack Phase-20 min.
• Cruise Phase-30 -60 min.
• Consolidation Phase-25 min.
• Permanent Stabilization Phase-20 min.

Do we walk?  Yes, we have up to this point been very faithful with our walking.  Currently we have started doing more....meaning running, muscle toning, etc.   If I am honest, when I started adding on to my exercise routine, it was harder for me to follow the food part of this diet.  I found my body craving more carbs.  So, I decided to hold off on the extra exercise till the third phase (when you add in some carbs).  And that works for us. 

My advise is to do the work.  Exercise!  If you want to get through each phase as quickly as possible, do the work and walk, walk, walk.  Find what motivates you the best.  One of my friends will treat herself if she gets motivated to exercise. When I say treat, we can not do chocolate or ice cream.  But she will sit and read a book (avoiding the laundry) or make time for a bubble bath ....just find something that gets you to do it!  Now, my two boys would love this below motivational picture blown up as a poster on our wall.  I can picture them saying, "that's awesome!"

Ok, I also wanted to add 4 optional exercises in the Dukan book focusing on certain problem areas.  Here is the illustration I found.  I am a visual learner :)