Yesterday, I was not in a good place. I was frustrated from my lack of exercise (due to an ongoing respiratory illness, which unfortunately turned into pleurisy, lasting 6-8 weeks). Once I stopped purposefully exercising, I began eating more, then not caring what I looked like, then not even wanting to go for evening strolls with my husband and son (which I used to LOVE to do!) because I was tired and wanted ice cream! I began seeing my entire personality change: I was irritable, grumpy, blaming others for my weight gain, exhausted, low energy and just plain miserable.

For legitimate (medical) reasons, I had to stop working out 3 weeks ago. Normally I work out at least 4 days per week, usually 5.

It is said it takes 14 days to create a habit and maybe it's that long to break one?

I got back on the wagon last Thursday, took it slowly and carefully, and felt ok. I haven't exercised since and it's Monday!!

The only thing worse then being sick is having to go to the doctor because you're sick. I hate going to the doctor. Who does?

I know a lot of people who workout on a treadmill which is great. However, I have also heard that an elliptical machine is better because it works the body harder and is better as a cardio exercise.

Any tips on this? Anyone prefer one over the other?

Is there a recommended amount of daily outdoor activity/exercise that children should have every day? With winter just a couple of months off, I try to have my kids outdoors a lot to make up for many days indoors.

My kids play outdoors in winter too, but when it gets too cold (think -15 degrees!) it's safer to stay inside.

Is an hour enough? Two?

Many of us want to know "how much exercise is do I need?" and probably more to the point is, "how little exercise can I get away with doing, to maintain or improve my overall health and fitness?" (well, I'll at least speak for myself!)

Do you use your home to workout? There are many ways to accomplish some aerobic, resistance, strength and stretching exercises without leaving your home, whether you use Wii Fit or follow along to exercise tapes/DVDs...to just including your daily/weekly chores (gardening, vacuuming, lawn mowing, dusting, etc.) as exercise.

I recently read an article in the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter regarding a Do-It-Yourself Home Gym that I thought was great!

Here are the four items you need to create your own Home Gym:

We all know walking is great exercise. It helps the heart and lungs, it builds strong muscle and it's good for our bones!

It's also a good social activity. We can walk with friends, catch up with our lives and if you are like me, walking can lead in just the opposite direction. It can be a time to be alone, with no-one talking, no little fingers tugging at me and no-one asking me what's for dinner! I can smell the air, listen to the geese and feel the breeze. Just me and me.

I can also feel my waist line getter smaller and my legs becoming leaner. And who doesn't want that benefit?

Uh-oh - I guess Empowher might be attracting the wrong crowd!

File this under News of the Weird but a study has shown that most criminals are in great shape!

It was windy. Wizard of Oz windy. I saw a witch go by on her bicycle. Even though she was a witch, there must have been some good in her because she was riding in the Tour de Cure, helping to raise money for diabetes research. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and let her pass me.

It was hot. Africa hot. Every time I inhaled, my nose hairs ignited, like a hundred tiny matches.

On my 40-mile cycling tour through Rochester's southern farmlands I passed: