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.