174.4 The Entertainer Within!

I just got out of the pool after doing my water dancing and singing, as I like to think of it. It is so much more fun when I think of it that way than as aquatic therapy. Because of my back, I really can't dance for very long anymore, but I can jog in the water and sing along with my Mamma Mia songs, and pretend I'm entertaining thousands of people at a concert! Who could ask for anything more?

Oh, I know! The reviews are going to be absolutely terrific! If I hadn't had all of my back issues I would never have discovered this entertainer within!

I am getting back into the exercise mode with more energy and enthusiasm than I have had over the past few months. My walking friends are here, the weather is beautiful, and our pool is warm enough for me to get in and love it. I'm filled with gratitude!

168.4 Backing Off, Starting Over

This is turning into a blog about popcorn and leg cramps! Nothing about popcorn today, but I did see my PT today and she did have some thoughts about the leg cramp connection to water therapy. Why yes, they are connected, obviously, and for the time being she wants me to back off and start over with maybe 10 reps with each leg for each exercise. But I was so proud of doing 3 to 4 minutes (one song from Mamma Mia) for each exercise, and jogging in place in the water for up to ten minutes. No jogging at all for now is the way it stands. Yes, I'm a little disheartened, but I need to do what the doctor ordered so will follow her dictate. (Yes, she has earned her doctorate in PT.)

And without the flurry of so much exercise, my weight is staying pretty steady! Last night we went to Picasso's Pizza, a small Arizona chain that serves pizza made with organic, very healthy ingredients if you choose that route. The very thin, very delicious pizza crust that I had last night was made with quinoa, amaranth, wheat germ bulgur wheat, flax seed meal, psyllium husks, rolled oats, fennel seed, ginger powder, seaweed kelp and sea salt. No wonder I didn't gain any weight, and the spinach and mushroom topping with red sauce was delicious. Even doubting Jeff liked it!

168.4 The Leg Cramp Connection

We are having friends over later today to play a little bridge and then go out to eat. Guess what we are offering to munch on while we play! You got it! Popcorn!

Yesterday I finally got back in the pool to do my water therapy and during the night leg cramps drove me nuts. Because it has been pretty cold out here (comparatively speaking), I hadn't been doing my water exercise for about three weeks. And, I hadn't been bothered by leg cramps at night. After yesterday's foray into the water I'm sad to say that they are back. I have a hunch that my physical therapist will be able to help me with this. Even though it's a beautiful day, I'm not getting in the pool today. Maybe playing bridge will be my exercise for the day. It definitely exercises my brain!

168.2 Back To The Future

It's warming back up out here so today I was able to go to our community center pool and do my water therapy. I wore one of my water jackets that cut the wind and help to keep my upper body warm and that really helped.

I am seeing a new physical therapist about my cock-eyed pelvis and so had to modify some of my workout. What she's found that really surprised me and kind of bothers me is how weak my left leg is. I think I have more to work on than just getting my pelvis in alignment.

I may as well confess, last night I had my first hamburger in about 3 years. It came with cheese and bacon - no, it wasn't a Whopper from Burger King - we went to Flemings (a rather high end restaurant in the area), sat at the bar and paid $6 rather than the $12 they normally charge since we were there before 7 pm. No, I didn't eat all the meat, I asked for no bacon, and I ate about 1/4 of the bread. Yes, it was good, but somehow not as great as I thought it might taste. I think my "clean, healthy living/eating" has really changed what I want to eat. But what I really liked is that my weight didn't shoot up. I hope this trend continues as I venture back into carefully eating some of the old favorites.

170.8 Compassion and Honesty, Hmm...

Yesterday I went over to our community pool to do my workout. A very nice guy was there who hadn't seen me in a long time. As we were chatting, he interrupted himself and said, "You've lost weight!" And, then he asked me how I did it. I was beginning to tell him about how I had made changes in my eating habits, etc., when he said that he could never change his eating habits, in light of his love of butter. And then he shared that his cholesterol was very high and that he was trying to decide if he should start taking drugs to treat that. When I suggested that he could start by eating just half the amount of butter he usually does, you would have thought I had suggested that he eat that food that you find most repulsive! And then he continued to tell me more about his love of butter, and that he had been a nutrition major in college, but now that he was older, he just didn't want to deal with any of the health/weight issues.

In spite of the fact that one of my personal goals is to be more compassionate, I heard myself, in all my compassion :), blurt out, "Do you want to eat butter or die?" I've been where this man is. I've been in that mental place where I believed that making change seemed highly undesirable and was probably not possible.

When I said I had to move on and start my workout, he smiled and said,"You have changed! You should start a class about weight loss here at the community center". I told him that I was thinking about doing just that, with compassion. I know I am making fun of myself and my need to be more compassionate, but for me it's serious business. So now my goal is to be compassionately honest. I think that's possible, just like losing weight. I'm working on it.

171.0 Whoa!

I think I may have used that title before but it is very appropos for today's weight. I'm working hard today to stay positive and not get all in a snit about it. I did walk for a half hour, very briskly to my favorite walking music, and then I went over to our community pool and did my water therapy workout.

It's cold here! I just told a friend who was calling from Massachusetts about it being cold here and she just laughed. But it is cold here! I have a swim jacket that I wear now that cuts the wind and it does help, but I long for the 100 degree days when getting into the pool was pure heaven.

So I'm paying attention to the exercise and drinking lots of water, and returning to some of my very care full habits. This maintenance may be almost as tricky as losing the weight!

173.0 Three More Pounds!

(This photo was taken at a "sunset cocktail party". Ah, Arizona!)


First of all, the Stevia that I had in coffee this morning tasted just like Splenda, so what's not to like? And, I could just switch to real sugar as long as I use it sparingly. But I think for right now, I'll take the step to Stevia and then maybe move into real sugar. We'll see.

Now about the water I designed yesterday and started drinking today...too many cucumber slices, not enough citrus, but oh so healthy! :)

And, I am laughing at myself about the fact I have never, in all 77 pounds of this weight loss, totally skipped a number on the scale. Recently I thought I was going to skip 173 all together, but that obviously is not going to be the case. In fact, after the last few days I was delighted to see the 173 appear this morning. So, onward and downward, and I am headed out to the pool to do my water therapy. It's a beautiful day here and I feel blessed to be able to live in this gorgeous place with the opportunity to do my water workout right in my back yard.

Three more pounds....!

182.4 Chico's Withdrawal

Pictures of beautiful, green New Hampshire taken by Scott.




I'm sitting in Chico's (and writing this on my iPhone) waiting for my friend Loretta while she is trying on some clothes. I've decided to not even look at the clothes because I don't want to be tempted. It's fun to keep needing a smaller size, but it has been getting very expensive. In fact, I've decided not to buy any new clothes until I reach my weight goal, since I've got only 12 pounds to go.

I got the go ahead today from my back doctor to start doing my water therapy and the elliptical, so tomorrow I'll be back at the gym. I did try to work out while on vacation but after falling (did I write about that?), and then hurting my back trying to escape the attack of the killer wasp in New Hampshire, I lost momentum and really want to get back to exercising. Loretta is a good role model for me. She exercises 2 to 3 hours everyday, 6 days a week and she has lost a lot of weight as a result. I've never thought of doing that much exercise in one day, and I'm not sure how my back would like it, but upping the amount of exercise I do is certainly on my screen now.

185.4 The Lure of a Nap

I just woke up from a very delicious nap! I slept for about an hour and a half. I should have written that I woke up from a very long, delicious nap. I always feel a little guilty when I take a nap, and so I rarely do... now. I used to suffer from severe depression and I devoted every afternoon to sleeping for long periods of time. Ever since that time (which was a long time ago now), I have connected naps with depression and guilt, and weight gain!

But today I was tired. I lifted weights and then did the elliptical for 25 minutes and then was just plain tired. I could write a long list of reasons why today it was okay to nap, but I won't. It doesn't matter, really. So, I've decided that I can take a nap now and then and just let it go. I won't go back to napping everyday. I've got too much to do and napping draws me away from staying aware, present and ALIVE! And, there is the matter of not burning very many calories while napping.

So now it's time for my water workout. That makes me feel very much alive!

189.8 I'm Engaged!

I'm engaged! No, I don't have a new boyfriend. I have been happily married for almost 46 years! But today I went over to our community center workout room and got on the elliptical for the first time in about a month. (During that month we traveled to Memphis and I developed a respiratory infection that loved living with me and didn't want to leave!) So, because I hadn't been on it recently, I was very fearful that I would experience a difficult return. (See Climbing Mt. Everest 11/20/09.) To further complicate the decision to give it a try was that this morning as I was trying to put a leg into my jeans, I lost my balance and twisted my rather temperamental back.

So I started listening to the Mamma Mia soundtrack, climbed on the elliptical and it was as if I had never been away from it. I had decided to aim for 15 minutes and then I kept extending my time on it. I ended up doing it for almost 25 minutes and it was easy, fun, and engaging.

More good news...today I get to return to my pool and my water therapy. The pool heat pump has been repaired, the sun is shining and I can hardly wait to re-engage with my water exercises. Maybe that dream of playing golf again is going to become a reality sooner than I thought.

I'm also smiling because I am back in the "80s"!