Others just exercise on their own by running laps around the high school track or by taking a brisk walk through the neighborhood. And still others have a treadmill set up at home, right in front of the TV.

I have one, too. It's right there in the family room where I can walk up a good sweat and not miss a minute of ESPN.

But I don't use it anymore. The gym? Don't need it. And as cold as it's turned in the past few days I certainly don't need to run the track.

Nope, I get all the exercise I need just by doing my shopping at the grocery store every Saturday afternoon.

Sure, I know what my buddies are saying—"You wimp, how much exercise can you get at the grocery store?" Well, all I can say is don't knock it 'til you've tried it!

Grocery shopping is hard work. And I never really knew it until this past year.

You see, I've just never had much practice when it comes to going to the grocery store. My wife used to do all of the real shopping—I just went along when I was hungry and wanted to throw some junk food into the cart. But when she passed away last fall, I had no choice. It was either starve, or add shopping to my new list of household chores (and it's amazing how long that list is—dishes, laundry, vacuuming ... I guess I just thought that everything magically got done while I sat watching college football!).

I suppose I just never understood that old saying, "A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done." Never understood? More like never appreciated.

But I do now ... now that all of the chores fall on my shoulders.

Anyway, I never thought much about the shopping part. It sounded easy enough ... how tough could it really be? And, after all, food gathering used to be the man's job. It's just now, instead of arming myself with a musket to go hunting for bear, I'm armed with my ATM card to go hunting for frozen chicken.

Turns out, though, this is really hard work!

I don't know what it is, but I always seem to get the shopping cart with the bad wheels. For some reason, I always get that cart that pulls hard to the right. Well, not always ... sometimes I get the one that pulls hard to the left. Don't any of them roll straight?

And believe me, if you're looking for a workout, pushing a cart that's wheels don't turn is a brutal one—especially after loading it up with a couple of gallons of milk, a sack of dog food and a case of Diet Pepsi. Hey, it was easier pushing around the seven-man sled at high school football practice than it is moving a loaded grocery cart with locked wheels.

Of course, that's my strength program. But there's also the distance work.

You'd think that I'd learn, but I must walk a couple of miles every time I do the shopping. Maybe it's a guy thing, but I never make a list. (A list? Guys don't need no stickin' lists!)

So I find myself wandering from the watermelon all the way across the store to the bread, back to the green beans, across the store again to the cereal ... wait, I think I forgot the eggs.

Heck, who needs a gym when there's a Safeway right down the street? And they don't even charge for membership—but watch out for that ice cream aisle ... it can ruin the entire workout.

Anyone interested in buying a slightly used treadmill?

Want to talk? Call me at 408.354.3110, ext. 31, or drop me a note at dsparrer@svcn.com.