I lost 40 pounds last year. Most people would think that its the vegetables in vegetable gardening that helped me lose weight. In fact, it wasn’t eating the vegetables that helped me lose weight, it was the exercise I got from the gardening process.

Believe me when I tell you, I hate exercising simply for exercising’s sake. I was told that if I were to spend money for a gym membership, I would be more apt to stick with it. All that got me was lighter in the bank account. A friend of mine got a stationary bike and put it in her living room. It turned out to be just one more thing to dust. I decided to learn from her mistake and not purchase one myself. I tried watching videos at home. I would do a couple days of exercise and then find excuses not to continue.

Then COVID hit and I started my vegetable garden. I was out of work, so I spent my days working in the garden. Every night I would fall into bed exhausted from all the time I spent there. By the end of the season, I not only had fresh vegetables to show how I spent my time, but I also lost 40 pounds! All because I decided to spend my time gardening. Here’s some of the exercise I get from gardening.

Start with Yoga-like Stretching

I learned early on that I avoided injury in the garden if I did some stretching before getting down to the work of gardening. Stretching warms up the muscles and prevents injury. I began each day of gardening…