So what is up with the failure of my body? (that is not me by the way but she is in great shape...good to aspire to!) I walk more than a few miles and find myself pushing off the couch with both arms. Did I groan? I think I actually made that noise only my grandmother made when rising up. Great! I do twenty minutes of exercise...I highly recommend that Jillian woman from the TV show the Biggest Loser. She does some great work outs. Anyway I do this twenty minutes of exercise and wake up the next day in pain...everywhere. What is up with that? There was a day that only a 10 mile run would have left me, a little bit sore. That was in my thirties and early forties not a billion years ago. Here I sit at a mere 51 dragging from a 20 minute video. My goodness that is just pathetic.
So here is Tuesday morning and already I am negotiating with myself; the long work out or the short one, the hard one or the easy one, wait how about the ten minute one? Maybe I should do my work out this afternoon. I am not sure why I bother with this because I absolutely know that I must do this in the morning...the chance of success if I plan an afternoon workout is slim...very slim (unlike my body). But look the time is running out...what makes me hit the snooze...again and again....then sit with my cup of my coffee and lap top feeling ---oh so good. Exercise, yes I will but today I will do the easier guy with a much longer cool down!
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I still enjoy getting down on my hands and knees to wash the kitchen floor. The satisfaction knowing that I got all the corners and scrubbed those stubborn black heel marks makes me feel good. BUT, getting back up from that position after a 30 minute scrub is a very different story. I look for the nearest SECURE object to hold onto to pull up this body that no longer pops up from that position. A friend once called me "poppy" as I always have popped out of bed and hit the day running(kinda)I am still a morning person and find that is my best energy time. I now value my reflection time more now than pushing this body to do things that it easily did and now does not do so easily. I guess I have grown to accept the aging process over the past few years and that my dears is a "good thing"
ReplyDeleteI also get down on y hands and creaky knees to scrub the floor. Quite often, as I have 6 little doggies running all over the house. I actually tell myself that it is my warm up exercise, but that is about as far as I get! I, too, am a morning person. I love the mornings! I don't really desire to be skinny again, but I would love to have more energy and less pain! Most of the time, I "feel" a lot younger in my heart and in my mind, but the body doesn't lie! I'm busy, I do a lot of physical things, but I had better do them before 6 pm, because after that, my real age catches up with my illusion of youth. But it's okay! I often say, "If you feel the pain, it means you're still here!"
ReplyDeleteI've tried to be kinder to my body this year (oh, wait, I AM my body -- okay, I'm being kinder this year). No strenuous walks in bitter cold weather. Tibetan medicine says that people should take it easy in cold weather. They seem pretty healthy. Except when the Chinese get hold of them. Yoga does a lot for my sense of well being.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness...I am laughing! First Laurie glad you got your computer working...except when the Chinese get a hold of them that is too funny...Terry I hear the climbing up a sturdy item...I had a good laugh about that one. Kathy ...yes the "ride" turns into a pumpkin after 6pm...ah life is good huh? Love it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sitting here thinking OMG my jeans must have shrunk... NOT must be up 2 sizes from last summer when I did get to thin. (normally gain one size in the winter)
ReplyDeleteLast summer days are gone – better be for good, know not healthy, need to find someone to take the clothing I bought when I was so thin.
Hide it but now I feel like a sausage…. Oh, maybe that’s because it’s what I had for dinner… and thus the weight gain :) Winter comfort food!
Wish we all lived on the same street. Years back my friend next door and I would exercise together every morning at 5am. Total accountability
No kidding...it works for me to have someone waiting for me to workout. The jeans are a problem, how to keep at least two if not three sizes on hand at all times. How bad do those big ones really look? Ugh.
ReplyDeleteWearing my big jeans now :)
ReplyDeleteOK, I give, please the exact titles of your "hard" and "easy" tapes. Admitting I need to something and all my "10 minute" routines are on VHS and no longer have VCR hooked... what a great excuse huh? Except it's only been gone a couple of weeks.
Spring PLEASE come!!!
Go to exercise tv and downloads..Jillian Michaels tapes (biggest loser) are good. They also have a bunch of ten minute ones...you can preview them..many are only like 1.99 or 4.99 Jillian's you have to order. At home in Eliot Maine on Comcast I can get them on demand on exercise tv...I have not been able to burn the cds.
ReplyDeleteYeah I am going to put on my bigger ones today...snow always makes me want to cook and eat :)
I’ve reached the age where jeans and slacks with elastic waistbands are some of my best friends. When I was married I weighed barely 100 pounds and was about 5’10” tall. I’m now nearly twice that in weight and have shrunk at least 2”. I used to exercise. I was very active, liked to garden, liked to walk, and we went dancing most weekends. What happened to me? I look at some of the pictures of a very skinny me and wonder who that person is. She looks familiar but I just can’t seem to recognize her. If I hadn’t had so many surgeries and arthritis in places I didn’t know you could get it, then maybe, just maybe, I’d be back to what I consider an acceptable weight and I wouldn’t be buying clothes made by Omar the Tent Maker. Do I like carrying around the extra weight? No. Can I do something about it? Probably. Will I do something about it and shed some of the extra bulk? I don’t know. I’d like to but that takes will power and determination, two things I don’t have as much of as I used to. I guess my level of fitness will be whatever I can achieve by staying at home and using my Wii Fit. I really like that idea. The thought of going out in public to an exercise class and huff and puff while trying to put my old tired body in positions it was never meant to be put in is painful. I’d like to think that the handle on my recliner is a form of exercise machine but I really know better….I just don’t want to admit it. Wait a minute! Aren’t grandmothers and great-grandmothers supposed to be plump? Gee, maybe elastic waists aren’t such a bad thing after all. I know, it’s a poor excuse but it’s the one I’m sticking to. And yes, I always have 2 sizes of jeans on hand at all times. I think we are all alike in that respect no matter how old we are or what shape or size we may be.
ReplyDeleteTerry, I’m sorry but I laughed when I read about your hard time getting up from scrubbing the floor. Believe me, I know exactly what you mean. Some of you at work may have witnessed my dilemma when trying to retrieve something from the bottom draw of a file cabinet. It’s funny to watch but very painful for me. Nancy, I must be using the same make washing machine as my clothes also have a habit of shrinking….often!
We’re all joking about our body challenges.. me at the top of the list :) Deb obviously wins the contest with exercise!
ReplyDeleteNow I’m going to sound like doom and gloom - I am concerned about health.
I’ve gained weight and could probably gain another 10 lbs and look OK and most folks would still consider me thin with my wardrobe tricks. And I was way too thin last summer because stress makes me not eat… no other reason. Total nutrition deprivation; not healthy at all.
But I see my mother in myself. The thickening in places which makes my body type a candidate for early heart disease. Mom was overweight (6 kids took the toll) She ended up type 2 diabetic and totally sedentary. Her aches and pains over the last couple of years were attributed to symptoms from diabetes and her weight. They totally missed melanoma which is what resulted in her death at age 69.
IMO, we should challenge each other to try to get some sort of aerobic exercise. Focusing on health, not looks (although I would not mind the looks part…)
Even if how we look or what we weigh has no impact on much we enjoy life or how our true friends perceive us (as Deb says, our friends see our souls, not the shell.) Not staying healthy will eventually have an impact on how we enjoy life… And, how the people close to us enjoy life… (my dad has gone through hell since Mom left us.)
Not saying we should stop kidding and complaining about what age is doing do us - we cannot stop the aging process and it sucks.
BUT, I accept any reciprocating challenge to put a personal plan into effect which will result in us being healthier!
I hear that. I just spoke with the local fitness center in South Paris to see if we can get a corporate membership. I think that some type of peer to peer goal and support works wonders. I really think I can commit to finding an hour a day to care for me...I really do. How can we keep each other on task...Anyone up for the challenge of reporting such. I think I could start a thread here for us to check in. What do you all think??
ReplyDeleteCount me in. I know that I could not tolerate an hour to start with but will do what I can. Peer pressure works wonders. It's also easier if you aren't doing it alone.
ReplyDeleteI know I am in a room with lots of STRONG, WILLFUL, SMART, OPINIONATED women so I'm leery about the response this may elicit...Have any of you thought that we have helped to create the mess we find ourselves in? I will only speak for myself, but can't help wondering if it applies to many more than me. I fondly remember Sunday dinners at my Gram's house. I'm positive she was up at the crack of dawn to feed us so well. I can recall times where the men would catch and behead the chicken(sorry if you are squeamish or vegan)then leave it for my gram to pluck and get ready to turn into a wonderful, healthy full-course meal. I don't know about you guys, but Wal-Mart precooked family sized chicken is about all I can manage these days. Who knows how many antibiotics and unnatural, unhealthy things the poor bird endured to make my life easier? The list just goes on and on....I used to be the remote "back in the day". Fond memories of numerous trips up the stairs from my room in the basement to change channels for my dad. I laugh to myself now watching my kids on a 10 minute scavenger hunt for our remote, when all they have to do is manually change the channel(I realize it takes awhile to get to the desired channel when there are 100's to choose from, maybe 6,8,10, and 13 were all we ever needed!)Hours spent outside playing, using our imagination, breathing in good clean air...todays kids have no idea. I'm expecting anyday now to hear this on the evening news, "the newest epidemic to hit the country is gamers thumb, caused by untold hours of overuse of the thumbs , caused by playing video games and texting. For severe cases the treatment is amputation of the thumbs." Imagine, a whole generation of people that lose the ability to tie their shoes! I could go on and on but I think I've made my point(I blame this rant on the Nyquil delerium I have been in for 2 days now, damn you cold! Guess the antibiotics in the chicken are useless afterall!)The bigger question is would any of us go back to the kinder, simpler days of our youths? To give up on all we've gained and become accustomed to in the name of progress? I just don't know what the answer is....
ReplyDeleteDeb – I agree 100% and think it’s a great idea for your staff if you can health club membership… wish I lived closer so I could sneak in on it. I’m ready to be held accountable, even next week on vacation.
ReplyDeleteDad has a long list of restaurants he wants to try (including Paula Deen’s) so I am going to ensure I walk at least 2 miles a day next week (and not the kind of walk where I bring my coffee cup)
Pricilla – IMO time spent or what we do does not matter. It’s taking our current lifestyle as a starting point and consciously trying to improve it. Could range from drinking more water…. stairs vs the elevator…. a walk at lunch…. all the way to a full exercise and diet routine.
Stacy – you are so right! I think back to childhood where we always played outside, were not allowed to watch TV on weeknights, had a home cooked meal every day, spent Sunday’s going to church and then home with the family…. with the highlight being all 8 of us watching “Wonderful World of Disney.”
The change in our lifestyles was gradual and I don’t think we saw it coming… even my 70 year old dad cannot tolerate not being on-line or not answering his cell phone. If our power goes down for more than 10 minutes I’m begging Arnie to hook up the generator.
I have the luxury of much more free time than you…. so, am determined to go back to a simpler life which for me means TV off if I’m alone…. baking bread, donating all the unhealthy pre packaged food in the pantry (except for Kraft Mac and Cheese… cannot give that up yet)
I challenge you to ONE find relatively painless simple change you can make to be more like Gram!!!
I am up for the gym and all the sweat and pain that comes with it. I used to be a gym rat, a long time ago. I loved working out and pushing myself. Let's see if I can get some of that enthusiasm back! I wanna try!
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ReplyDeleteSo, Priscilla, Kathy, and I are committed (and obviously Deb.) If Deb sets the blog part, I’m be willing to track :)
ReplyDeleteHey, count me in! I just got another yoga DVD -- Stephen Cope from Kriapala Institute (really interesting workshops held there -- in MA -- long weekend doing yoga and getting generally revitalized, anyone?) which had some challenging sequences. Good breathing work, too. I've been reading about ayurvedic principles -- the different doshas (body types, temperaments, energies) (vata, pitta, kapha) and how to keep them balanced (food, mainly). It's interesting to me how this Indian system of medicine (that's what ayurvedic is, basically) dovetails with other cultures' observations about the human body and nature. I not so excited about the medicines/herbal cures associated with it (some use of metals that freaks me out) but I have to say, a lot of it makes good sense to me.
ReplyDeleteStacy you are funny! I sure do remember the three channels, I also agree we have to start somewhere. I have committed Saturdays in my life to cooking. One, I like cooking so it is fun for me, Two I have the time, Three it feeds the family I am away from during the week. I have gotten Gabe, my 15 year old step son, to join me and he is getting pretty good. Yesterday he made vegetarian lasagna, I made turkey meatloaf, and baked beans. Today we are tacking bread. Nancy you are correct, taking one small thing at a time can help. Okay off to start our work out thread!
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