Getting Off the Sofa

There must be something about having fifty staring one in the face that makes a guy a little more health conscience. Well, the big five-oh doesn't really threaten for another year and a half, but it's only recently that I've taken any sort of interest in my physical health. I guess when one is in one's twenties or thirties, it'd be a waste of time considering such details. In fact, I used to be of the opinion that a human heart only had so many beats in it. I surely wasn't about to waste any of mine on frivolous exercise.

Now that I'm only half way through losing fifty pounds of excess weight, I can see the importance of burning a few calories as well as just consuming fewer. I am still not one who's going to step inside a gym anytime soon. Yet, I have taken to walking a bit.



In this city, just walking uptown is cardio lite. It makes all the more sense now that I pack some useful podcasts into my Zen and grab my camera. The podcasts keep my brain involved in learning about new topics. My camera forces me to really pay attention to my surroundings. Finding something to shoot inside the ordinary and familiar keeps me involved in looking at the form, colour, and composition. The results can be pleasing but as I tell my classes, "It's the process, not the product, that really counts."