hungry poodle

Today was my 12th day of consecutive Jazzercise class. Sally, our Jazzercise instructor, has challenged us to attend daily for 21 days. At first I thought it would be unfeasible to work out every single day. After all, sports experts tell us to rest our muscles for at least 24 hours so that they can repair and then build.

I have to admit, I had been using this as an excuse for the last few years. If I went to class on a Tuesday, I told myself I couldn’t go on Wednesday because my muscles needed to rest. While my friend Joyce was attending at least five times a week, I was down to twice a week. And sometimes I didn’t even get there that often!

Well, now I know, and I’m going to tell you something you may not want to hear: you can be active every day so long as you implement certain precautions.

For one, I don’t do high impact every day; I vary between hopping and just stepping on alternate days. And I only use the heavier weights on alternate days as well. Result? After 12 days I feel great: no soreness, no fatigue, just a realization that I can no longer make excuses. And it actually feels good to get out of the house and do something physical every day.

Here’s a brief video that gives an example of a Jazzercise class. I have found that whatever you do, it has to be fun. Otherwise, you’ll drop it at the first opportunity. (Dentist appointment, haircut, you-know-what-I-mean.)

What are you doing to burn calories?

Paula Deen, the Food Network star and doyenne of Southern cooking, has finally ended all the internet and gossip-column speculation and admitted that she has had Type 2 diabetes for the last three years.

Apparently, she waited to make the announcement until she had garnered a paid endorsement deal with major drug company Novo Nordis for their injectable diabetes medication, Victoza.

Paula appeared on the Today Show on Tuesday and completely side-stepped the role of unhealthy eating during her interview with Al Roker, suggesting that diabetes is caused by a multitude of factors, including genetics, age, lifestyle and stress.

Although age may be one factor in the cause of diabetes–the disease was formerly called adult-onset diabetes–they’ve had to change the name to Type 2 diabetes because of the explosion in the last two decades of cases diagnosed in children.

Here’s the deal: being overweight or obese, along with a lack of physical activity, is the most common cause of Type 2 Diabetes and is responsible for nearly 95% of the cases diagnosed in the US. It is not age, it is not stress, it is too much food and not enough exercise. Why doesn’t Paula just say so?

The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine has named her cookbook, “Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible,” one of the five unhealthiest cookbooks of 2011; the term low-fat appears only once in her book of over 450 pages while butter appears 300 times.

The Lady's Brunch Burger, a la Paula Deen

Just take a look at one of her recipes that appeared on the Food Network. It’s called the Lady’s Brunch Burger and it consists of ground beef, fried bacon and an egg sandwiched between TWO GLAZED DONUTS.

Look, I love Paula’s perky, sunny persona as much as the next foodie (although I own none of her cookbooks and I almost never use multiple sticks of butter in one recipe), but I am disappointed that she has decided to endorse a diabetes drug for lots of money instead of standing up and screaming at the top of her lungs, “Don’t do what I did! Don’t eat like me!”

Really. I think it’s that clear-cut. Please let me know if you think I’m being unfair. It won’t change my opinion, but perhaps it will make you feel better, in which case you may want to try the recipe above, which you  can find here!

Don’t thank me. Thank Paula. And then get on a first-name basis with your doctor.

NEWS FLASH: Yesterday Anthony Bourdain tweeted: ”Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later.”

Telephone Booths in Hyde Park, Central London

I’ve done it! I’ve Jazzercised two days in a row! OK, so maybe I’ve got an excess of endorphins flooding my brain, but I am feeling rather invincible and I hope that any of you who have decided to be active every day for the next three weeks (ending February 6) are feeling the same.

Royal London Hospital, Liz's home-away-from-home

Every time I think I’ll be unable to exercise on a daily basis, I remember 2006, when Elizabeth was studying for a semester in London. She suddenly came down with appendicitis; I flew over and arrived just as she was being wheeled out of surgery in one of the oldest hospitals in the city, Royal London Hospital (founded in 1740) on Whitechapel Road (Jack the Ripper’s haunt in the late 1800′s!).

Lizzie’s appendix had ruptured so she was pretty sick and in and out of the hospital for several weeks. Hospital visiting hours were strictly adhered to: absolutely no visitors until 2:00 pm each day. The place was literally on lock-down until then.

Early riser that I am, I had no choice but to walk the streets of London until visiting hours. From early in the morning until the afternoon I walked and walked and walked, stopping occasionally for coffee or a bite to eat. London has lovely parks interspersing busy streets with shops, historic sites and museums, so I was never without interesting sites to explore. I carried a Cadbury Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bar with me at all times and broke off a chunk whenever I felt I needed a bit of fuel.

Lizzie finally was able to return with me to Kansas and when we arrived home, I was shocked to find that I had lost 10 pounds during my three-week stay in London. These weren’t just any pounds but 10 stubborn, seemingly impossible-to-lose menopausal pounds. How was this possible, I thought? I hadn’t even thought about dieting, I had eaten regularly and had even had a glass or two of wine every evening when I arrived back at my hotel.

And then it occurred to me: it was the walking that did it. I had walked every day for hours, along the streets, up and down the stairs to the Underground (like millions of Londoners), through the parks. Although I hadn’t walked fast–indeed I often stopped at shops and museums or sat on park benches and people-watched–I had nonetheless covered what I estimate to be about four-to-six miles a day without even thinking twice about it.

No wonder people who live in big cities weigh less than the rest of us. They have no choice but to do what I did–walk. It isn’t exercise to them–it’s the only way to get from point A to point B.

And so, I’m not going to bail on my commitment to be active every day for three weeks. I know I can do it because I did it before, in London.