Letters: Jun. 27, 2005

Lose That Spare Tire!

Our guide to everything you need to know about getting in shape garnered personal testimonials from active exercisers, compliments from fitness trainers and appreciation from those who are happily full bodied and still in top form. Some readers, though, would have preferred a pudgier cover girl

Your special report, "How to Get Fitter, Faster," should be read by every American [June 6]. Many of my patients belong to the new breed of pill-popping couch potatoes you wrote about. I have laminated the pages of your magazine's stories and hung them in the reception area of my office. It's a little thing, but the patient has to stand up to read them.

RICHARD KLEIN, D.D.S. -- Warren, Mich.

Thanks to TV, the Internet, and video games, it's no wonder that we have lost even the most basic instinct for staying fit. Exercise should be a daily activity at the top of everyone's list of things to do. It gives a feeling of well-being that cannot be matched by any of our more stationary daily activities. Exercise should not be a chore. It should be a personal requirement that every American feels happy to fulfill.

LEON RAFAILOV -- New York City

How about ballroom dancing for exercise? It's joy, not work. Swing, salsa, tango for blood pressure, balance and alertness--all that while you hear great music and hold someone in your arms.

VERA LEE -- Newton, Mass.

I have some svelte friends who could learn a lot from your article "Can You Be Fat & Healthy?" Unfortunately, they are downtown drinking and chain smoking. Meanwhile, I am enjoying an evening with TIME, resting up from 45 miles of weekend cycling. I may wear larger-size clothes than some, but my blood pressure and cholesterol levels are low. We need much more reporting on the issue of health as opposed to thinness.

STACEY PAUL -- Chicago

Bravo for showing that fitness isn't only for the thin or the strong or even just for adults. As an exercise physiologist, I've spent my career trying to change how people look at exercise. We all need to get back to making fitness activities feel as they did when we were kids--full of fun, movement and creativity--not the drudgery of the same old monotonous 30 minutes on a treadmill.

CATHERINE CRAM -- Middleton, Wis.

With all the hype about the countless fad diets out there, it was nice to read praise for the healthier method of staying in physical shape--getting off one's duff and exercising. It was courageous of TIME to point out Americans' laziness and make the connection between obesity and our passion for convenience. Being healthy takes more than putting down the feedbag. It means getting off the couch and engaging in forward motion. What a novel concept!

JAMES C. NILL -- Detroit

I fell asleep at after reading your fitness articles, and the next morning I bolted out of bed for a 30-minute walk. I had not done that for months.

GAIL KAPLAN -- Albuquerque, N.M.

No Doubt About It