Working at Home

Today I decided to work at home. Not necessarily WORK OUT, but do some much needed stuff at home. I might be able to get in a swim, a bike ride, or a walk on the treadmill later today. Last week was a regular exercise week for me- spinning on Thursday and FF on Friday. I did not do any exercise this weekend. I did go for a small bike ride on Friday to practice on my new bike- since I had a bike wreck just getting off of it in my driveway. I clipped my right side out of my pedal and leaned to my left with my left foot still clipped in. Yeah... pretty smart. So I really don't want to ride alone too far right now in case I do something else stupid. I am so looking forward to my trip and this weekend, after the 4th, I hope to hit some sales to get some new Tshirts to take with me. I hope you all are doing something everyday to keep yourself fit. I see so many inactive people here in east Texas. I keep telling my kids to stay active all their life. Make time for exercise. You only get one body and you better do all you can to take care of it. I cannot look back and regret this or that, I just have to move forward with what I have now. Okay, I better get going and get my work done.

Spark People

Okay, I told you all last week about the new website I found called www.sparkpeople.com It has been great for me. I don't know how long I will be able to do this because it does require some time for me to log in everything that I eat. But I am happy to report my success after one week. I lost 3 lbs.!! Yea!!! That is something for me since I have such a difficult time losing weight. I have had such a feeling of "confidence" by this new discipline in my eating. Now maybe I would not feel so great if there was no weight loss, which I am sure some weeks may not show up. But even without the weight loss, I just have such a good feeling about how I have disciplined myself this week. I had already pretty much conquered that with the exercise part of healthy living, but as I have often said, the nuitritional aspect has been more of a problem for me. I am encouraging all my friends to try this. There is no having to look up how many points, calories, carbs, fats, or proteins. I find that many days I eat the same thing- oatmeal for breakfast with a banana, mixed green salad, salad dressing, etc. I can type these in my favorites and it takes me less time to get them entered. Any of you that have regular access to a computer will truly love this program. You can track your fitness and know how much exercise you have done. You can post a special note for a reminder to yourself. They have recipes. There is a forum you can learn from other likewise people on this journey of fitness, health, and weight loss. Sometimes I tend to be gungho and then fizzle out. I hope that I can stay focused with this like I have my exercise. You check it out, and wish me luck!!

Master Swimmers

Today I showed up for the master swimmers. They meet each weekday at 5:30 a.m. Yes, that is very early. That means I must leave my house a little after 5:00. I was kinda late when I arrived, and I also had trouble with my goggles so I was even later getting started. Master swimmers is a group that is nationwide. I don't know much about it as far as who sets up the curriculum. I don't know if other groups give swim critiquing or if they are like the one I went to today. Calvin, the instructor, had a poster board and it told all the laps you were supposed to do. I needed instruction. I want to know if I am doing all the strokes properly. Ugh.... But I did what Calvin had written down. I did 8 laps of warm up, followed by 8 laps of kicking without using my arms, then I did 4 laps of pulling with my arms. The next 8 laps were supposed to be alternating flys with free-style. I don't know how to do the butterfly stroke, so I substituted the breast stroke whenever I was supposed to do the fly. I was almost out of time, but I did manage to do 2 more laps of breast stroke. There was much more to be done, but like I said, I ran out of time. The pool was closing for lap swimmers at 7:00 to make way for the swim team. I am going to try and do this again when I can fit it in. I want to be a better swimmer, but I need more help. I made it at 7:15 for FF, but I only stayed 30 minutes because I needed to dry my hair before work. So... I had a great workout today.

Another Southwest Adventure

Remember my adventure trip last fall? I took an 8-day trip to NM and CO all by myself staying in KOA campgrounds, hiking at Palo Duro Canyon, riding the narrow gauge railroad from Durango to Silverton, exploring the Enchanted Circle, touring the museums of Santa Fe. I thought that I would not be going back to NM for awhile. Well... I am so excited!!! I have a friend who needs to attend to some family business in CO and I am going with her to CO. This time I hope to see the play called "Texas" at Palo Duro Canyon. We will travel on to CO and make some short stops until we get to her family's place which is near Salida. We hope to whitewater raft ( which I did not get to do last time) and also do some hiking. Coming back we plan to see Carlsbad Caverns. I have never been there before either. I have to get some hiking boots in a hurry and get them broken in before I go. I need to be incline walking on the treadmill so I will not be struggling hiking in the higher altitude. I leave on July 10th, so I better get busy. Instead of sending out my email to everyone like I did before I will probably just post it on my blog. You can leave your comments there. My last adventure trip was a true spiritual experience. I am anxious to see what God has for me on this one!

Keeping Track of What You Eat

You know the only time I have been successful with a large quantity weight loss was with Weight
watchers. I do like how WW has you eat from all the food groups, and you are not allowed to starve yourself. You start out eating more and then when you lose, you eat less. And WW also will give you extra points (meaning extra food) for doing more exercise. But I had a hard time at WW for how they rewarded participants. But then again I guess it was called Weight Watchers and not Fat watchers. What I am trying to say is this... the whole gauge of what WW used was totally based on the scales. Never mind that that person may have lost water and muscle. Hence; this is what I mean about being called weight watchers and not fat watchers. Weighing less on the scales is definitely a goal for me, but not at the expense of losing muscle instead of fat. And unless you are exercising, that is what you will be losing. Having said all of that, I want to tell about a great website where I can keep track of what I eat without going to WW, without having to compute what I have eaten. This site is called www.sparkpeople.com You can type in what you eat along with the quantity and it will compute your calories, carbs, fat, and protein. I gave them my weight, my height, my waist and hip measurements, and they gave me the amount I should lose based on all of this and getting me to a proper BMI. They have exercise goals, personal goals and nuitition notes you can make. They have forums to suit just about any interest you have. Yes, it does take some time to type this in and figure out what all is on this site, but WW takes so much time. This site will add up how many calories you have eaten that day and it will divide it out and show you if you are in your target range for carbs, fats, and proteins. And the best part- IT IS FREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blogging

I guess I have a new hobby now- blogging. Now I know I have had this blog for about 5 months, but I have not been "blogging". I consider the activity of blogging where you go on other people's blogs that you don't know and leave messages. I am finding some very motivating blogs about exercise, diet, and aging, and I wanted to share one in particular with you. As I was doing my search for different physical activities, I came across this blog- http://www.maturefitness.blogspot.com/ This man is incredible! He has done about 40 marithons, countless triathlons, and is so good to share some of his experience with the rest of us. Go check him out. I will post other blogs from time to time.

Lunch with Friends

Yesterday I did not make it to FF. Long boring story but I did not make it because I was having lunch with my dear unome friends. This is certainly not all of them, but a small group of us were able to meet for lunch. All three of them are teachers, and I must say they are great teachers. One of the best criterias I use for being a great teacher is loving children. They all have a heart for children, and they want to see them excel in the classroom and in their own thinking about themselves. I truly believe that God called all of them to teach. They have wonderful stories to tell- some are falling on the floor laughing stories and others are tears running down your face stories. These friends are considered the more seasoned teachers ( they are in their 50's), but they still have the passion and the drive to help their students. They discuss teacher issues sometimes when we are at lunch and I am more enlightened by their conversations. But they always are sensitive to the fact that I am not a teacher. (Well except for when I taught my own children for 5 years). But UNOME, I am one that will enter the conversation anyway and give my opinion. We had a great lunch, and we had the daughter of one of my friends join us. We called it a session of "Unome in Training." We have all been friends for along time. One of them went to kindergarten with me. But..... as I said I missed my exercise yesterday, and I thought I would get to it later. NOT. So.... I must do my exercise early in the morning- this is the best time for me.

Swimming Today, No Spinning

Today I decided to skip my spinning and do my swimming. I went about 24 laps which was about 40-45 minutes. The water felt good. I did not get an earache. I did put some mineral oil in my ear before I began, and I used alcohol afterward. I am getting a new habit- blogging. I have gone to several blogs with "bike riding" as the common denominator. I then went on to read other active people's blogs and this lead me to a really cool website www.sparkpeople.com You can set up your nuitrition goals, fitness goals, and personal goals. Now I don't know if I will have time to do all of this, but it was very informative. Check it out.

Four Corners

Okay today in FF we played a game that I think you call four corners. We had a 6 lb medicine ball and there were four of us at a time in our own individual square which was probably about 4 foot square. We had to bounce the ball to one of the other three particpants and they had to catch it or they were out. As people missed the ball, they were out and someone else moved in. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Well it was fun, and I was not about to lose. You know I would just be real sneaky and look at one person but bounce it to the other one and catch them unaware. However..... sometimes when I caught it, it would kinda jerk me, and I cannot, absolutely cannot have my back jerked in any way. One day my son kinda jerked my arm which in turn jerked my body which of course jerked my back. Now I have a backache. No more four corners for me; I don't care how much fun it is!

People

You know I have written before about how I love men and how I love women. I guess you could say that I just love people. I work in a dentist office, and I love to talk to the people whom I serve in this regard. The majority of the people that I see are born and raised in east Texas, and believe me these are great people with big hearts. But I do meet people from other parts of the country and sometimes other parts of the world. I like to hear their stories, their perspective on life, about their families, their advice, their struggles, their accomplishments.... you name it, and I love to hear it. Sometimes I am like a beautician and I hear probably "way too much". But I get to learn from these people. I guess they can sense my ignorance on alot of subjects, and my eagerness to be enlightened. I was just thinking about all of this before going to bed. I am thankful for my job and I am thankful for the people that God brings into my life through my work. I might not have ever met them any other way. What about the people God brings in your life? Don't you know it is not merely by chance, but orchestrated by Him? Start taking advantage of the people that you meet along this journey of life.

I Did It

Well, I did it. I ordered another bike. Am I crazy? This bike is a hybrid, not actually a road bike, but it is very different from the bike I have now. I will still be able to ride it on country roads, but I also will be able to keep up with others who ride on the road. I have explained the kind of riding I plan to do, and the owners of the bike shop felt this was the best to suit my needs (and my budget). I am also branching out..... I ordered some shoes and clips for my bike, no more pedals for me. Actually, I have never ridden with the clips, but I keep hearing that this should give me a good workout because not only are you pushing on the pedal, but with the clip, the opposite foot will be pulling up on the other pedal; thus, enabling you to cover more territory in less time. Today I did make it to FF. We did around the world lunges. I don't know if this is the correct name or not. But we did left leg front lunge, right leg front leg, left leg side squat, right leg side squat, left leg back lunge, right leg back lunge, and then repeat that for four more times. This can get you quite out of breath. I did want to go swim, but I am still kind of worried about that ear pain that I have had. I stopped at the farmer's market today and got some fresh produce- watermelon, speckled butter beans, green tomatoes, and red tomatoes. My dinner this evening will not be low fat. I also had some squash that needed to be eaten, so tonight's dinner is butter beans, squash dressing, sliced tomatoes, and .....fried green tomatoes. I know, I know, but I just could not help myself. I thawed out some chicken breasts and will grill these, but I plan to take mine in my lunch tomorrow with a mixed green salad. My husband can have his tonight if he feels he has to have some meat. I do need to go through my recipe books and begin preparing more low fat meals. Well, it is off with me to the yard to plant some impatiens in my front flowerbed.

Earache

Anyone know anything about an earache? It is really wierd the kind that I have. The pain that I have experienced is not inside my ear but rather is up on top of my ear like where someone would get a second piercing. I got on the internet and typed in "ear pain". What I have deducted is that I have "swimmers' ear" which is just a bacterial infection that causes pain on the outside of the ear. It is not continuous or throbbing pain, but it feels like a shock that comes and goes. The treatment said to put a mixture of vinegar/alcohol in my ear both before swimming and after swimming. And it said to use heat on the ear. I have been doing this, and I seem to have some relief. I cannot understand though why I am being plaqued with this now since I have not been swimming in a couple of weeks. I do remember though that when my daughter was young, she would get swimmers' ear, and it was just from washing her hair. I would like to go swimming tomorrow since it has been awhile, but I really don't want this pain to come back. I did work out on Friday doing FF, and I must say that I was quite sore in my upper body- my rhomboids and deltoids. I did no exercise yesterday or today. So tomorrow is a new week and I hope to start my week out right with working out hard.

Finally writing

Well, I am finally writing on my blog. I have had a busy week. Last weekend was busy with my daughter and her husband being in town. We had a great time running errands and attending a wedding. There was no exercise for me over the weekend. I made it to FF on Monday, and then I spent the entire day cleaning out my garage and working in my flower beds. By the end of the day, I was pretty tired. I woke up early (3:45) on Tuesday morning, went back to sleep and got up at 4:45 so I could make it to my spinning class. Needless to say, by the end of the day I was very tired. I was sound asleep by 8:30. I made it to FF on Wednesday. But today... well.... I just smack-dab turned that alarm off and got up later and drank my coffee and read the paper and did a Sudoku and watched my week 5 of my Bible study and did not get in a hurry. In other words, I missed doing swimming or spinning. I did; however, go over to my son't house and did a small amount of yardwork for him while he is out of town. I also got some flowers to put out. I hope that maybe later today I can make it on a bike ride. It is funny, when you skip your exercise, and you make it a habit, then when you miss, you feel sooooooooooooooo GUILTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also went by the bike shop today because I really do want to get a road bike. I am looking at a Fuji Absolute. They think that for my needs that this would be a good selection for me. Of course, I also know that this is a "want", and not necessarily a "need". Do any of you have trouble with treating yourself? I am really a pretty low maintainance kinda gal. And I can certainly justify the more I save from going to the pharmacy or the doctor, the more I can spend on exercise. Hmmm... makes sense to me. So tonight, I hope to get a good night's sleep and be going strong tomorrow either at FF or at swimming or both. What about you, are you getting to that stage where you feel guilty if you don't do something physical, are you going from thinking about exercise to getting up and doing it? Wherever you are, start now and get going. You will feel better and know that you are doing your body good. Get going!!!!!

Friday

The beginning of another weekend. Gosh, time is speeding by. The weeks turn into months, the months turn into years... I must say, I continue to thank God for the day he gave me that revelation about getting fit. I will say it again. Five years ago, when I was 49 years old, I said to myself, " You know, this is as good as it is going to get. This is as good as you will look, as good as you will feel, and as healthy as you will be.... unless you make some changes." Thus began my new venture into changing my lifestyle. I had always been active, but maybe only exercising here and there- not consistantly, only sporadically. So I first began walking- and I mean lots of walking- 6-7 miles per day. Then I switched to weight-lifting, and doing cardio on the eliptical or the treadmill or walking the 6 miles. Last year I began swimming and bike riding. And then this January, I began fitness fusion ( consisting of light weight lifting, lunging, planking and core exercises) and spinning. Also, since January, I now exercise at least 5 days a week. I try to do something on the weekend too. My weight loss is minimal, but my inch loss is more noticeable, and I do have more energy and I am much stronger. I do know that I am better than when I began 5 years ago. So I just say, " Start now. Start where you are. Don't compare yourself with others. Just use yourself as your guide. Know that you are going to do more today than you did last year. Know that you are going to bean active participant in control of your health(not just allowing the doctor to control it). You are going to make a difference in the way you look and feel." Believe me, you will not only gain strength and stamina, but your mental health will improve by your new confidence. Be all that God created you to be.

Chipper

Today was a difficult today. My dog of eleven years, Chipper, had to be put to sleep. It is truly amazing that we have had Chipper for this long. You see ... I live out in the country on a farm/market road, and most of our pets have been run over. And also, when Chipper was a pup he was poisoned and he survived. The main damage to Chipper resulted in him never being one to stray after female dogs. He stayed close to home. Chipper proved to be a great watchdog. He let me know whenever anyone came down my driveway, and I am sure he has thwarted would-be thieves from entering our home. Whenever I would go out of town, I could always count on Chipper to greet me when I got out of my car. Chipper was suffering from heartworms and congestive heart failure. Because I cared so much for Chipper, I could not allow him to suffer. Yes, Chipper was a great pet, and I'm sure gonna miss him.

This Week

This week's exercise has not been my normal routine. I spent Monday cleaning, cleaning, cleaning our camphouse. I missed my fitness fusion, but not my exercise. I used a lot of the exercises that we do in class while I was cleaning- lifting, stretching, lunging, squatting, bending, curling- all those things we do in everyday life. My trainers are always equating the exercises that we do with the movements we make each day. Tuesday I missed spinning so that I could make it to swimming. I swam 28 laps, and the water felt great. Wednesday was fitness fusion with lots of legwork. Today was my spinning class. Tomorrow is probably going to be circuit training at FF. It has been another great week of working out.