Am I crazy, or what?  The answer is yes, I must be crazy!  As a 62-year-old grandmother with Type II diabetes, I just spent the day at our local mall with three of my grandchildren; a 16-year-old grandson, and 10-year-old and 4-year-old granddaughters.  You have to understand that our local mall is a destination, entertainment mall.  In other words, it is a haven for children.  Features include a 30 screen (I believe) cinema, a Rainforest Cafe with a fake alligator who growls and eats your change for charity, Glow-in-the-Dark miniature golf, large carousel, etc.  Among the stores are a toy store, large bookstore with a children’s play area, a Disney store, etc.  Yes, I am crazy!  While taking a brief respite on a bench while the 4-year-old and her 16-year-old cousin rode in a miniature ice cream truck and the 10-year-old had an imaginary flight into space, I thought about our day and all the beneficial activity I had been able to work in.

I figured I should make this tiring, rather expensive day work somewhat to my advantage.  At the movies, we sat at the top of the theatre.  This sent me up and down the stairs three times (restroom trips) besides the initial walk up and the end of the movie down.  Our mall is built as an oval and it is half  a mile one time around.  I figure I got at least a mile of walking in today.  Probably a mile and a half.  As a diabetic, that was important.  There are so many easy ways to work exercise into the things we do without making exercise seem like work.  Think about your daily routine and I am sure you will find many ways in which you can add some painless exercise.  I am pretty sure I got enough exercise today to work off the delicious bite I had of my granddaughter’s wonderful Starbuck’s lemon bar!