Pumpkin pie weighing you down? Get moving

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Picture this: You and a dozen other people are gathered on couches somewhere during the holidays, watching the Civil War game on the big screen and consuming a ridiculously fattening selection of snacks after an enormous and even more fattening meal.

You lean toward your favorite hors d'oeuvre and, with just a trace of smugness, say: "Well, I guess I can have one more, after that fast 10K/really hard spin class/two hours of yoga I did this morning." And with that, you eat the last deviled egg.

C'mon, does it get any better than that?

If overindulgence is in your holiday plans, exercise should be, too. The list of choices available in the Rogue Valley is almost as vast as the menu at Aunt Marge's house.

You'll feel slightly better about that second slice of pecan pie and you may spend a little extra quality time with family or friends.

Bi-ped locomotion

In plain English, it means putting one foot in front of the other while standing upright and going from here to there. If both feet stay in contact with the earth as you do it, it's often called walking. If your strides are longer it may turn into what's known as running. If you do it on dirt you might call it hiking. You can swing your arms and suck fresh air as you locomotivate, turning your cheeks rosy and dilating your airways. And if you do it long enough or fast enough you might detoxify your lymph system with a process called sweating. You outta try it.

Break out the leather

Baseball season may be over, but that doesn't mean you can't break out the gloves and play some catch. It's such a simple activity that adults don't often think of it as exercise. But the fact is, throwing and catching a baseball is a deceptively complex activity that tests depth perception and utilizes motor-muscular skills that most adults never use. Plus you'll get to jump for bad throws and run after the ball when you miss it. Great fun.

Gyms

Your local fitness center is almost certainly open during the holidays, because they know all about celebrational overindulgence ... which is one reason they all start their membership drives this time of year. Take a yoga class, roll on an exercise ball, swim some laps, pump some iron, jump on an elliptical and enjoy a sauna.

Touch football

You'll have to organize this on your own, but it's well worth the effort. These anarchic affairs are dominated by swift teenagers, but they proceed with an unspoken ethos that allows the very young, the very old and the very sedentary to take part and enjoy. Plus, you'll feel like a Kennedy for an hour.

Just be prepared for seldom-used muscles to be very sore the next day.

Pick-up basketball

You can do this at the gym, at one of the outdoor courts around the valley, or in your buddy's driveway. You can play full-court or half-court, three-on-three or one-on-one, Around the World or Horse ... it doesn't matter. Just play.

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