Health and Fitness, March 2013

[Nancy]

So on the 7th I have 70 mi. on the ex. bike and have done an average of 10 mi. a day on it this month!

[Harriet]

Woo Hoo, Nancy, you are really movin'!

Ivy, I hear good things about the Tapp Core DVD. I've seen it once. Others of TTapp DVDs suit me better for time and my usual plans, but I know it is good. Ugh, sit-down hoe-downs will wear you out! Hydrate well before those! The plan sounds smart. I didn't even know there was a book on Zumba - I'm out of that loop!

I have done extensive housework today, vacuuming, mopping, turning mattress, etc. Also grocery shopped. Really worn out, with achy leg muscles. In all honesty, I should call this my exercise and not strain my leg muscles further. I will probably do either the T-Tapp primary stretch or maybe 5 mins on elliptical and call it a day. I could do the Amazon.com T-Tapp video for 5 mins, now that I think of it - that's for arms.

editing - I found the exercise name "scrubbing floors" in my online health journaling site, the only housework I could find. So I put in 20 minutes (have been putting in 20 minutes every day of something), which is certainly conservative, and it says 91 calories burned. That's about the same estimate they give the elliptical, half what they give Zumba, and a third what they give T-Tapp. I don't find the elliptical to be that tame.

HRH continues to enjoy experimenting with vegetarian entrees. His stir-fries are excellent, although he could cut back on the ginger a little, lol. He loves the stuff. He has been trying to perfect "sloppy joes" that are not really sloppy joes, but taste good.

[Ivy]

I walked 1 hour today, then got a fever, took something and slept 45 min., waking up to no fever!

Tomorrow the hardcover book on beginning Zumba and the beginner's Zumba DVD comes. I'll read on the book first, before I start the Zumba beginner's DVD.

Plan to walk again tomorrow, too.

My diet's been fine today and I'm down another 1.1 Lbs.

[Nancy]

I have 110 mi. on the ex. bike did mine today yea!

[Harriet]

Considering it a SUCCESS that I spent 3 weeks straight with 14 healthy habits checked off every day. Water, veggies/fruits, vitamins, exercise, mostly God Made foods. But the Sunday of the bridal shower at a distance in an unfamiliar home really did me in. I just refused to eat while traveling, knowing the odds against eating right, and although I did get what I'd consider a serving of veggie sticks at the shower, there just wasn't time in the rest of the day to get in many more, or enough water. Oh well, starting over again.

Got my proactive medical thing done - dr's visit with Gen Practitioner, plus blood work.

[Nancy]

Did have some good news got on a prog. that will save me $ on my most expensive Rx filled it today for like $100 less than last time yea! The hospital has a program for folks w/ out med. ins. so glad I got on that. I can check in to getting test strips as well. Yea!

Now for the bad news all the ex. has failed at helping me to loose any wt.! Boo! Hiss! Humpf! Did not do any today except walking while shopping.

[Ivy]

Today I ate Chobani Greek yogurt and a banana for breakfast and I ate clam chowder and applesauce for lunch. I have not had an afternoon snack yet, but I'm craving a cheddar cheese stick. I might have a few mini Quaker Rice Cakes with it.

Since the doctor told the nurse, my immune system's compromised, I went on-line to read what that meant and how to rectify it. I cannot go out, until April 25, when I see my eye specialist again, for my regular adhesion and macular degeneration check-up and also, he'll check if I still have an eye infection. I must use the antibiotic ointment in my eyes 3 times daily, until April 25. So, after my research, I realized how it's a good thing to drink plenty of water, to disinfect knobs, etc.. Which I did for the 2nd time today, wash hands a lot, use anti-bacterial pump hand stuff, which I am, and eat healthier. So I'm trying to build my body's immune system up for the 6-weeks I'll be at home. I even had to cancel 2 appt.'s with my therapist. Their office was GLAD! Because they don't want this eye bug there!

Also, today I walked for 15 min., I biked for 9 minutes, and will try to walk 15 min. again. My new book, by Beto Perez and Maggie Greenwood-Robinson, PHD came today. It's called, "Zumba - Ditch the Workout, Join the Party! The Zumba Weight Loss Program." I'm planning on reading the book, before trying the Zumba DVD beginner's workout inside an attached DVD envelope in back of the book. When I get to the Zumba diet section, I'll decide if it's for "me" or not, depending on how many foods it lists, which I cannot eat.

I'm very frustrated about being "HOUSEBOUND" for 6 weeks, but just think! I can work on stinkin' thinkin', declutter, exercise, read, clean, and do all sorts of things. So I guess instead of lemons, make some lemonade.

[Harriet]

Nancy, that doesn't matter. Are your clothes fitting better? So often if you didn't lose, it's because you shaped up. If I could wear all my clothes, I wouldn't care what the scale said, since the scale only talks to itself.

Ivy, hope these weeks go by quickly for you and you thoroughly enjoy your walks.

[Nancy]

Thanks Harriet I was just really discouraged. The jeans are longer & legs are fitting better; but waist line is still tight. Yesterday dgd said I had a fat tummy & she's right! More water and fiber had raisin bran for breakfast today. Only did 5 mi. yesterday on ex. bike. Eating slipped a bit but I'm trying to get back on track today. Sigh

[Harriet]

Ramblings as I sit after a half-hour of T-Tapp.

Ivy, let us know if it is a good book. I'm surprised it has a recipe section. Glad to hear the fever went away quickly.

((Nancy)) Look around the boat you are in, because I am sitting in it waving to you. Waistline - there is my problem. I really feel that I am a healthy person, and I am pleased with my eating most of the time. I am pleased with my exercise, although I realize it is not the "lifestyle of exercise" dr talked to me about yesterday. He recalled to me the women of yesteryear who were so active all day long, keeping a garden, push-mowing, cleaning mostly with elbow-grease. I heard him, respectfully, because I know he is being honest in his thoughts, and only made it about women because I am one. Still, I watched my mother (40 years older than me) stay quite small even though she did "public work" teaching and could hardly have kept a garden, there was no time. My hard-gardening farmer's market-selling aunt on ddad's side was always plump - go figure. I think the foods we have now and the toxins are affecting us. He did tell me that he has about 8 women patients who could each be my "twin" as far as how we express our hard-to-conquer waistline/weight concerns.

Nancy, that's great that the jeans seem longer because something has to slim down, 3-dimensionally, for that to happen!

HRH's brother, the organic butcher, talked about hormones in meat yesterday, saying of course it contributes to weight, and everyone should eat grass-fed beef and free-range chicken. I know that's his business, but he makes a good point, however difficult to afford. I mentioned "pink slime" in hamburger and he said don't even get him started on that, and liquids added to chicken, because he could preach a sermon.

Dr. did make me remember my one-time ambition of again buying a personal little push-mower with some easy-start mechanism, but being honest with myself, do I dare take time to move other responsibilities over and take that responsibility back away from the menfolk? Again the question comes : who's going to stay with my ddad while I go out to mow and can't hear anything ... ... lots to consider. If I wait until dd is home, who helps her with all the things she needs? Oh, she would love time without Mom nagging, of course, but it's not what's best for her. I'm obsessing, hum? There are compromises.

Thinking of my mother, I wish I could remember her usual breakfasts during her own 50s. Maybe All-bran cereal sometimes, which was only considered a healthy cereal back then as opposed to Sugar Pops and Frosted Flakes, etc., not particularly for constipation. I do know her daily lunch at school was a tuna-fish sandwich, about 8,000 of them. (200 days times 40 years) I guess there was some benefit in never being allowed to eat anything but the fastest lunch for the entire school day, no breaks. I know she came straight home - there were no drive-throughs, either.

The scale at the doctor's office weighed me about 2 pounds higher than ours, even accounting for the clothing sending it upward, and for some reason that depressed me! I know that is just the least little thing, but I've tried hard to stay close to goal range, so to "test" above it while the doctor was taking notes just didn't seem fair! I guess that shows how difficult it is for me to hold my weight - it is constantly in the back of my mind.

Assuming I will believe our scales, I am 1.5 pounds away from righting the Manually Operated Scale Flag and getting back into my goal weight range.

Nurse says the only thing the dr noted on yesterday's blood work was my LDL. So although I won't know until I see all the paperwork and compare with last time, that does sound reasonably good. At least I know none of the other things made him pick up his pencil to fuss.