Category Archives: #exercise

What is all this crap

#exercise, Accountability Elephant, cryptoquip, Living with Depression, The Joy in the Journey

Haha. It’s not crap at all. Just sounded better than “Look at my Cool Stuff.”

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

img_7864I got super tired yesterday, and sometimes I can be a little under the weather the day after a big day. So I was debating this morning whether or not to go out for my walk/run. Finally, from the security of my warm blankets, my Accountability Elephant agreed that it would be preferable to err on the side of being sorry I went rather than being sorry I stayed under the covers.

The Things People Leave Behind

Note the crumpled up page of comics from the newspaper. I had the good fortune the other day of discovering a delivered newspaper that was not delivered to anyone. It was just in the grass on the side of the road. I brought it home and enjoyed it immensely. The best part, honestly, was the comics page. They now print that on a stiffer card stock, and the entire other side is the puzzles; the basic and advanced crossword puzzles, the cryptoquip, sudoku, and the jumble. I really miss those puzzles! Of course most of them are available in one form or another online or via an app, but I have wonderful memories of doing all those puzzles back in the day.

The comic page was on the driveway at the entrance to one of the local schools. Maybe a teacher brought it along to do during recess? But, like my random newspaper the other day, this was clearly abandoned and therefore I was not being a stealing thief by picking it up. (NB: the original owner actually did do the cryptoquip, so I’m out of luck on that one, but the rest of the page is clear and ready to be filled in!

ROTW (Right on the Way)

Moving clockwise in the photo, you will see a small piles of glasses cleaning cloths. They’re pretty small, so I might have to use one per lens, but since there are four people living here who wear glasses, one can never have enough cleaning cloths. I stopped into an eye doctor’s office near me this morning to inquire about these cloths. I don’t know where all of mine have gone, but I can never seem to find one when I need it.

Next, you will see two screws. (Isn’t this exciting?) I took one to the hardware store to buy a matching one. 12 cents for that shiny new screw.

Lastly, a total impulse buy at the chiropractor’s office. A Standard Process Cocoa Cherry protein bar. That one gets a thumbs down from me. The package looks much prettier than the bar, which looks rather like brown play dough and is about the same consistency.

Bottom left hand of the photo you will see the back side of Pepper, our cat. She was very curious when I emptied my pockets.

Something Needed, Something New

Not shown is the new thermometer I got so I don’t have to keep telling the doctor that I don’t know whether or not Kepler has a temperature. It’s one of those that you just place on the forehead. I took my own temperature. Easy peasy. It even says the temperature our loud, in case I’m too weak and feeble to be able to read the numbers on the screen.

And The Moral of the Story

The moral of the story here is that it is most often the better choice to get up and go exercise. At least for me. And even though it’s a mostly gray day here, again, being outside gives me all kinds of great stuff – both tangibly and physically, and that makes me want to write and share it all with you.

 

 

Reach Out and Touch Someone

#c25k, #communication, #connection, #daughters, #exercise, #reachoutandtouchsomeone

There was a day when long-distance phone calls were few and far between. They were special, costly, and often reserved for special occasions. Unlike college students today, who can communicate via talk, text, tweet, Instagram, Facebook, vlog, blog, FaceTime, Skype, and write the occasional snail mail letter, we were only able to call and write snail mail. Making a regular weekly call home was a special thing for me. My two sisters were still at home, and I loved catching up with my family.

During my college years (and beyond), AT&T had a great ad campaign called “Reach Out and Touch Someone.” Several of the commercials featured college students who called home to talk to their families. Not only was the ad campaign effective overall, it resonated deeply with me, because I was the exact demographic they were featuring.

I found a fascinating video of Chuck Blore, who was responsible for that campaign, on the danoday.com website. The video is just under six minutes long. I think you’ll enjoy it:

This commercial jingle came to mind as I reflected yesterday on the experience of exercising with my daughter. She is away at college, but through the wonder of technology, we got to share a 30-minute phone call while we walked/jogged. The tagline for the commercials: When a faraway voice sounds as close as you feel. Yes. She is 350 miles away, but it was like she was right there with me.

I’ve lived a long way from home for quite a few of my years. I’ve missed weddings, births and funerals because we were too far away to be there. There were times, though, that we drove huge distances to be there for someone, and those memories are qualitatively different than the ones we acknowledged with a card or gift. I wonder if an actual telephone call is becoming these days what “being there” used to be.

Of course, maybe that’s just me. Phone calls these days are often inconvenient to receive, probably because our phones are with us everywhere from the library to the bathroom to the theater to church, and we are so often multi-tasking as well. But as sweet as texting with my daughter is, there’s nothing quite like talking to her to feel connected. I think I’ll do it more often.

Do you enjoy phone calls? Are they becoming more infrequent for you these days?

Keep it Scientific, Sweetie (The OTHER KISS Principle)

#exercise, #KISS, #stress, #strongfit

Stress is always with us.

Fellow blogger, K.G. Heath posted recently about STRESS. KG had three excellent points about changing our attitude and circumstances to address stressful situations. Honestly, I have found significant success in changing my attitude about many stressful situations.

I’m in one situation, however, that continues to elude the peace that comes from attitude adjustments. For this situation, what I sometimes find even more helpful is the hard work of physical exercise and weight lifting.

Exercise and Stress

WebMD’s page on exercise indicates that physical exertion creates endorphins in the brain that are proven to trigger a positive feeling in the body. Source after source lists the considerable benefits from exercise, from the “runner’s high” that comes from jogging, to the simple changes in attitude that come from the tiniest bit of exercise, even walking into another room. There must be literally hundreds or thousands of books and websites that address the subjects of stress and exercise.

When I went to see my personal trainer, Joe Policastro, this morning at his business StrongFit, I was in an anxious state owing to circumstances I cannot control and seemingly cannot even influence. After lunges, goblet squats, presses, leg raises, and 2000 meters of rowing, I felt much more positive about the situation, even though not one single thing about it had changed. The only thing that had changed was me.

The Benefits of Facts to support Experience

The recent internet discussions about vaccinations are a good example of the fact that FACTS very often do not change peoples’ minds. The facts about exercise are often not enough to convince someone to get moving. I think the facts are extra helpful when our experience shows us something like the benefits of exercise and we can then see the scientific why behind those benefits.

Feeling stressed? Work on the attitude, and then give exercise a KISS.

How LOW can you GO?

#exercise, health and wellness, recommendations



Glycemically and hydratedly speaking, apparently too low. I found this out the hard way yesterday as I found myself looking up into a circle of concerned faces who were saying, “Siouxsie, do you know where you are?” My first answer to that was, “mmmghj.” You see, although I thought I was taking into consideration the fact that I had just worked out and was now giving blood, apparently, I put myself into a deficit situation, and after I perkily gave blood and jauntily answered the “How are you feeling?” question before I got out of the chair, my body had other ideas. As I sat at the table and tried to get some juice and cookies into me, I knew it was going to be too little too late and I croaked out, “I’m not feeling too good!” Next thing I knew, I woke up looking at this circle of faces wondering WHERE in the world I could possibly be.

Well, I’ll spare you the gory details of the whole process of getting back on my feet. Let’s just say part of it involved a bucket with a red bag in it. I would guess it took about an hour to feel good enough to leave. My blood pressure was fine, start to finish, at least when they were taking it. I suppose it must have gotten a little wonky during the fainting.

I spent the rest of the day resting and feeling pretty shaky and sleepy and weak. I abandoned the low-glycemic eating for the day because I just wanted to make sure I got to feeling better.

So, I’ll share my learning with you:

1. Do NOT workout and then go give blood.
2. Do NOT think a protein shake is a “good meal” to have before you give blood.
3. Do NOT workout, forget to drink much water afterward, and then give blood. This leads to dehydration.
4. DO drink water if you faint from dehydration — it makes you feel much better than nasty old Sierra Mist.
5. Do NOT think you can never give blood again just because you spend an hour of your afternoon on the floor of the Donation Center.
6. DO put a cold cloth on your stomach if you are nauseated — it helps the nausea settle.
7. DO make sure that if you decide to change your eating style, you still get enough to eat.

Last, but not least, I know this post has been an excellent time for me to exhort all my readers to give blood. It really is an important service and does save lives. So, if you don’t give blood currently, just re-read the list of do’s and don’t’s above, and get out there and save some lives!

I am a Happy Girl

#exercise



I am losing weight.

I am losing weight.

I am losing weight.

I am losing weight!

There must be a million blog posts on this subject, so I’ll keep this one short. Working out and eating low-glycemic has pushed the right buttons and I am seeing a lower number on the scale every day. And I am psyched.