Kickin It With the Kindle

The BEST Christmas gift I received this past Holiday was the Amazon Kindle that my hubby, Matt bought me.  I am addicted.  I absolutely love to read and over the past few years I started becoming a book hoarder. I am not a clutter-bug except when it comes to books.  I have a book "shrine" in my family room.  Every book I have read is neatly categorized and displayed proudly (even the Twilight series). I was uncertain about the Kindle at first.  I love the feel and smell of a new book.  I was not sure if I would be able to give up my physical addiction to owning a variety of books.  All I have to say is that the habit was VERY easy to break.  My favorite part of owning my new Kindle though is incorporating the Kindle into my workouts.  My Kindle is actually a huge part of my 2011 "A 5K a Day Keeps the Fat Away" plan.  I usually do NOT condone reading or watching TV while working out.  I believe that being distracted from your workout can really hinder your calorie burning.  However, I also know that many of my clients would not workout between Boot Camp Challenge classes unless they could go for 45 minutes on the elliptical while watching their favorite TV show.  With that said, I encourage my clients to work a little extra hard or increase the resistance during the commercial breaks.  This helps them to stay focused.  So, what does this have to do with my Kindle?  Well, let me start off first by saying, when I run my 5K every day, I can do NOTHING except listen to music and face forward. If I turn my head a millimeter, I will most likely take a header. So far, I have lived up to my goal and commitment to a 5K per day and let me tell you...along with my strength training it has made a HUGE difference.  I am shedding fat and I have loads of energy and I no longer feel like 10 lbs of taters in a 5lb sack when I put on my favorite skinny jeans.  One thing though that is helping me get through it is my Kindle.  After my strength training and 5K each day, I grab my Kindle and ride the stationary bike for 20 minutes.  I pedal away and get lost in the latest novel that I downloaded.  Lately, it's been the novels of Kristin Hannah.  I love her books...Anyway, I get on the bike, put it on moderate resistance and go, go, go, read, read read, burning an additional 250 calories.  Sometimes, reading on the bike is the only "Kindle time" I get that day so I really look forward to it. There is no page turning. I just hit a button and the page turns.  It rests right on the machine and doesn't bounce up and down while I'm pedaling.  I love it so much and highly recommend it while you are on the elliptical, bike, or even treadmill if you can manage it.  Remember though...no slacking.  Keep your eye on the prize of health and wellness!!!!