Sunday, March 21, 2010

I KNOW IT'S NOT SPRING BUT.....

the sun is shining, the few clouds look fluffy, and the breeze is not a gust, so I played hooky and went for a walk this afternoon. Even took the dog. She's trying to behave better. I have discovered that I'm pretty safe walking her if I'm not also walking with a human so I can pay full attention to her. If she sees another dog or something else of interest, she'll bolt away and pull me down (remember the broken wrist a couple years ago??).

So, I took the occasion to make Lizzie's day and walk her at the park. She behaved really well til we were about a block from home on our return trip. Another dog on a leash walked toward us. The 'mom' was not reeling in the dog, so we had to stop. That gives the other 'mom' the cue that I'm not comfortable with the dogs interacting. So few people walk their dogs properly - that is on a short leash to the left of the human's body. If everyone walked their dogs like that, I'd be more comfortable taking Lizzie out more.

At any rate, there is no excuse, NO EXCUSE, for not getting off the sofa and out the door. The new NB shoes are so comfy. Guess it helps that they're the right size.....


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Friday, March 19, 2010

IF YOU EVER NEEDED A REASON....


If you ever needed a reason to convince you to get moving, it might be the NY Times reported effect (March 2, 2010) that regular physical activity has on the ability to "prevent or delay the loss of cognitive functions " (dementia, Alzheimer's). The cited study of almost 3,500 healthy men and women aged 55 and older demonstrated that participants who where physically active three or more times a week were "LEAST LIKELY to become cognitively impaired"(emphasis is mine)!

Maybe this is why my mom, currently age 87, her sister who died several years ago at age 86, and their mother who lived to be 89 years of age did not suffer from dementia - what folks now like to call (incorrectly) Alzheimer's Disease. Dr. Alzheimer's work was with much younger people (like in their 40's) who developed the kinds of cognitive impairments we identify exclusively with the elderly demented - but which can be confirmed only on autopsy.

So, enough of the gloom and doom. The good news here - and it is GREAT news - is that our actions can have a huge amount of effect on how we age - how healthy we remain both physically and mentally.

Given these odds, I'll opt for remaining physically active. Even if/when one can't physically walk, there are activities that can increase health and well being. These include things like chair aerobics, gentle or chair yoga, swimming, and cycling with one of the inexpensive little devices pictured above (widely available. This one happens to be a Gold's Gym product.).

The final 'coup' here is the Australian study with volunteers who reported having memory problems. These volunteers were assigned a 6 month program of physical activity or health education. Eighteen months later, the physically active group showed "a modest improvement in cognition." This and other studies demonstrate the value of exercise, even when started at an advanced age, benefiting short term memory, multitasking, and other cognitive functions.

Sign me up!







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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

NEW YORK TIMES a frame of mind

The March 3, 2010 issue of the NY Times Science Digest contains a couple articles that speak to those of us who walk. And, shouldn't that be everyone?

First, there's a small 'Observatory' article by Henry Fountain about the possibility of using our foot power, captured in a tiny crystal cell, to power our cell phones or music player. Wouldn't that be cool? No more batteries or charging the Ipod. Every step one took would capture enough energy to power your walking entertainment for free. Nothing wrong with that!

Right now, it's in the experimental stages, so don't run out to buy that special pair of shoes or whatever. But, stay tuned. This idea MUST attract the attention of Nike or Adidas and the next thing we know, we'll all have access to this little device.


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Monday, March 8, 2010

I HURT

Joint pain sucks! It interferes with my sleep and bugs me during the day. I've backed off on my Zumba class because the day after a class was when I first had an escalation of joint pain. I've got osteoarthritis, so joint pain is nothing new to me. I've had two knee replacements and have carpal tunnel syndrome.

You know what makes joint pain better? Exercise! No kidding. And, not just for me. Here's why:

I've written before about the release of serotonin in the brain during exercise. That reduces pain.

But, in addition, exercise, when done properly, gets joint fluids to better lubricate the bone surfaces and cartilage. Every normal joint has what's called a 'joint space'. Normal joints have a good amount of joint space so that there is a 'cushion' when you use that joint, especially with higher impact activity. To get the lubricants moving around, you need activity, movement - that's exercise. Plus, activity warms up tendons (which are often the real cause of what people think is joint or bone pain) and muscles. Strong tendons and muscles protect joints.

Strong ligaments around the knee keep the knee from any lateral (sideways) movement. Knees are NOT designed for lateral movement. Lateral movement damages the joint - the bone, cartilage, ligaments and muscles. Just ask a football player.

Some people have a hereditary predisposition to the loss of joint space and osteoarthritis (see me raising my hand?) and other people have jobs or hobbies (say, racquetball - that's me raising my hand again) that add further wear and tear on the joints causing more osteoarthritis. Being overweight also adds to the wear and tear (darn, raising my hand again).

So, osteoarthritis sucks. Joints hurt. Sometimes it's worse with damp, cold weather. Sometimes it's worse just cuz.

What makes it better is simple exercises, properly performed. Kinda' hard to mess up walking, isn't it? I've never particularly found relief with stretching, but many people swear by yoga and tai chi.

Here's my best advice for pain. Take some Tylenol (or whatever pain reliever you take) about 30-60 minutes before you tie on your shoes and go for a walk. It really does help. Have I said this before? Let me know if I'm repeating myself.........



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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

OPTIONS

We all have options, even if we don't know it. We have the option to remain entrenched on the sofa with our bag of chips watching reality TV. We have the option to blame our aches and pains and failing health and widening waist line on genes, age, and metabolism. We have the option to get up on our feet and do something to make ourselves feel better.

Here's a sad story with an important message. About 10 years ago, I met a brilliant guy, married to a nice woman. The guy, I'll call 'R' weighed about 350 lbs. He used one of those scooters you see advertised on TV all the time. He refused not only to diet or exercise, he refused to walk farther than from his bed to the toilet or kitchen. He refused the advise of his physician (reluctant tho' the doc was) to go to Barnes Hospital to have bariatric (weight loss) surgery.

Over the years, he grew progressively more obese, more dependent on the scooter, and more dependent on his wife to walk (they have no car) to the grocery store to buy the enormous amount of food he must consume each day to maintain his weight. His wife had no insight. She was dependent on him for most decision making - a whole other blog somewhere on the internet.

Last week, R became bedridden because he could no longer make it to the toilet. His wife left him. She had finally figured out that she was part of the problem. Within 3 days of R's inability to get to the toilet and less than 24 hours after his wife left him, sobbing the entire day as she called me and several other friends to inform us of her departure, R was found dead in his bed.

He was 50 years old. He spent all of his adult life addicted to food and blaming doctors and others for the bad outcome of his mother's health, naming that the reason he would not seek medical or psychiatric attention for his own health issues which included legs that weeped serous fluid constantly, breathing difficulties, and finally the tremendous burden his heart had to bear to pump the blood throughout his body.

R was a very intelligent guy. He had a trade in which he was a true expert. He was a great conversationalist. He let himself die in a horrible way. His wife, siblings, nieces, and nephews mourn the loss of their beloved R who was always generous with his time and skills. He was generous with everyone except himself. He never gave himself a chance at a normal, healthy life.

At any time, at any age, at any weight, at any level of debility, we can make a single decision that will improve our quality of life - and perhaps give us back our health and wellbeing. AT ANY TIME. No one has an expiration date. No one is ever beyond the point where s/he can't make a decision, ask for help, turn the page.

I hope that anyone who reads this will take away my message. R didn't have to die at the relatively young age of 50. He didn't have cancer or even high cholestrol. His blood pressure was slightly elevated. His biggest obstacle was his inability to decide to take care of himself in the most basic way.

Step One - Admit there's a problem.
Step Two - Seek a solution.
Step Three - Put yourself into action.

No one else can do this for us. No one else can make us feel worth the effort. No one else can do the exercise for us or change our eating habits or make the decisions we need to make to improve our lives.

Take the steps. Do the work. Enjoy Life. Life is GOOD.





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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

My Expensive Shoes

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I wear two kinds of shoes - New Balance and Birkenstock. That's about it. I also wear the pressure relief (memory foam) insoles that NB makes. They're wonderful.

About two years ago, at the encouragement of my orthopedist, I went to the NB store for my first pair of their shoes. The doc told me they would assure me of a proper fit. I normally wear a 9.5 A or B width (pretty narrow by today's standards) and the folks at NB put me in a size 10. Fine with me. The shoes were great, but later my doc wanted me to add the metarsal relief (pressure relief memory foam) insoles. So, back I went to the NB store. The shoes and insoles combo cost just under $150.

Now, this is expensive, but not excessively so, considering I don't have to pay a gym membership, the shoes last a good long time, and they're COMFORTABLE! However, I decided to go online to find a better buy on the NB shoes. I wanted another pair to trade off so the shoes would last longer. I found some great buys at various online sources. In the past two years, I've bought 4 pairs of walking shoes and a pair of cross-trainers for Zumba.

Imagine my utter surprise, when I searched online for another pair of insoles and found that I'VE BEEN ORDERING AND WEARING the wrong size NB shoes. I've been wearing size 9.5!
No wonder I'm having toe problems! I had scheduled a visit to the podiatrist and imagined having to order those $700 orthotics to get relief. Now, I think I'll wait til my newly purchased, PROPERLY FITTING shoes come in the mail.

Moral of the story - at least KNOW WHAT SIZE SHOE YOU WEAR! Now, you can all laugh at me at once........



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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

MORE NY TIMES INFO

The March 2, 2010 NY Times Science Digest had a couple good articles in it for walkers. Here's a synopsis of the second one. If you want to read the whole thing, google that issue of the paper. The article "Even More Reasons to Get a Move On" is on Page D7, written by regular columnist Jane E. Brody.

This article speaks to the important and measurable positive effects that movement have on people as they age. Beginning exercise at ANY AGE gains improvements in health and well being for all participants. Most of the people discussed in this article are in their 80's. We'll all get there if we keep moving - but who wants to get there without quality of life? Not me.

Jane Brody writes, 'At the risk of sounding like a broken record, a new series of studies prompts me to again review the myriad benefits to body, mind and longevity of regular physical activity for people of all ages." There! It's in print, so it must be true!

Specifics are discussed (as we ALL know that just because it's in print doesn't mean it's true). Higher levels of physical activity have a beneficial effect on numerous conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteopenia and osteoporosis and bone fractures, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. More important, 'exercise produces "a significantly reduced risk of cognitive impairment..." for those who were 55 or older when the study began. This effect crosses gender and race boundaries, too. No losers here!

More specifics soon. Stay tuned. Gotta go dance!


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

WHERE HAVE I BEEN SINCE JANUARY?

Where have I been since January when I last posted here? I've been working AND walking, dodging the bad weather we've had in St. Louis. We lost the part time person in my office, so I had to fill in. Just hired a new part time person, so, with the coming of Spring, I'll be hitting the trails as in days of old.

In the meantime, I've been walking, dancing, and riding my stationary bike - AND losing about a pound a week. This blog is NOT about dieting or weight loss - it's about getting and staying healthy. For me, that means losing the 20 or so pounds I gained with my knee replacements. To that end, I needed to do more than my exercise regime. So, I decided to cut out sugar. Not all the white foods that Atkins has you eliminate - but sweets. I've been fairly successful with that but I have NOT been obsessive about it. I have a history of disordered eating and have suffered from anorexia long ago, so I work hard at not obsessing. Being fat (moderately so) is lots healthier than being anorexic!

But, I have to tell you about my shoe issues. Tune in to the next blog article for a good laugh at my expense. And, don't give up on your walks even in the bad weather. Use the malls, big box stores, grocery stores - any place that has aisles where you can walk reasonably unobstructed. That usually means you must go there (except for the mall) in off peak hours. Most stores don't mind. Remember (or did you know) that Loew's will allow you dog inside, so you can even walk the dog - but be sure to keep things clean!


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.