How EssentialSteps Helped Mary Lou
“I took EssentialSteps when I was 57 years old in 1997. I have never liked to sweat, and because I wore glasses as a child I wasn’t into sports. Before participating in EssentialSteps, my physical activity was in short spurts of yoga with long pauses in between. I decided to take EssentialSteps because I never seemed to have time to exercise; I wanted to find out if the program could help me get over this consistent excuse I had.“
Mary Lou finds a walking partner
“During the program, we spent time TALKING about exercise. This helped me wrap my head around the ideas Michelle and EssentialSteps presented: can exercise really be fun? Talking helped me understand what my mental barriers really were and what I could do about them. I figured out what would work best to keep me physically active, and as a result I decided to get my dog Bently because he would give me a compelling reason to walk every day. “
Exercise like brushing teeth
“After working with Michelle, I no longer think of exercise as work. Although I still do not describe exercise as fun, it is now something I just do like brushing my teeth or taking my vitamins. I now exercise before work, get it out of the way, and I’m good to go. I have kept the EssentialSteps workbook for ten years so I can reread it when I need to. Exercise is like brushing my teeth now, and when I can’t do it, it is irritating to me.“
