WALK IT OFF!! A WALKER'S RAMBLES...

More Science - Walking is Trashy

2012-02-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

Just in case I have not given you enough scientific and medical information about how beneficial walking (and other physical activity) is for you, I've got some more for you.

Today, I read an article in Science Digest about how physical activity assists the body in getting rid of 'trash' on the cellular level. Really! Did you know that? I didn't.

What happens is this - in my not very scientific oversimplification:

Each cell, in the course of the day, has a metabolic process that it goes through many times. Some cells are replaced completely every day - but not all. Every cell undergoes this metabolic process which allows it to release its energy into the body, which is how each cell does its work. So, liver cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells, toe nail cells, all do the same thing, benefiting the organ which is composed of those particular cells.

In the process of cell metabolism, 'trash' is created. Trash here is defined as the by-product of cellular metabolism - the stuff the cell uses then doesn't need anymore.

Anything that facilitates cells getting rid of their trash is good for you. Exercise is one of those things that help each cell in this process.

So, when you're carrying those bags of trash to the curb, you are throwing out the trash in more ways than one. If you drive your trash to the curb - well, that just doesn't count.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Dance Day

2012-02-16T05:50:00.000-06:00

Today is one of my twice weekly Dance Days. I really look forward to them! Alas, Thursday is also the only week day I can walk with my friend Sally. So, Thursday turns into a 'work out' day. I walk my three miles with Sally in the morning then I go to my 90 minute dance at 6 PM.

Today, Sally had a change of schedule, so I had to make a decision. Could I walk in the afternoon AND dance in the evening? Usually, I have the two physical blocs separated by an afternoon of office work during which I can recover from my morning walk.

Today, if I was going to walk, I had to walk at 2 PM. Hmmmm.... Can I do this? I chose to walk then head home for a brief respite before I headed to dance. No office this afternoon. Lucky me.

Glad I walked! I drove the 35 minutes to dance then spent 45 minutes in the parking lot waiting for the guy with the church key who then triggered the security system and set the alarm ringing. Apparently someone changed the passcode without bothering to notify the evening security guy. No one, not even the Pastor with his fairly direct line to that great Line Dancer in the Sky, could get the proper code entered!

We finally gave up and went home. Such a disappointment. But, at least I had gotten a good walk in earlier in the day. If I had forgone the walk, I'd have had to rush home and get on that dratted stationary bike to get in my minimum amount of physical activity for the day.

Moral of the story is Never Miss A Chance To Walk. Got it??

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Bad Dogs - A Valentine Story

2012-02-14T05:30:00.000-06:00

Just outside my subdivision (which is exactly one street long), is the backyard of a house I can seldom avoid when I walk. In that yard reside two quite neglected dogs that bark, snarl, and jump at the chain link fence as Lizzie (my 4-legged walking buddy) and I walk by. Lizzie is intimidated by the loud barks and I'm angry that these dogs are unfriendly and neglected.

One day, I decided to see if I could turn the bad dogs into good ones. So, I began talking nicely to these guys as I walked by. Of course, Lizzie thought I was talking to her, so her ears perked up. She must have been doing something right, right?

After a few days of nice talk, I noticed that the angrier of the two dogs had a collar on which her name was embroidered - Sophie. So, I called her name. She's some sort of lab mix, altho' she's a pretty small dog. Short haired and yellowish - not very pretty. The other looks like a Cavalier Prince Charles Spaniel (I think that's the one. Like Charlotte fell in love with on Sex and the City.) The spaniel is both nameless and timid. But not Sophie.

Both dogs would stop barking and snarling as long as I talked to them. The spaniel would turn away from the fence, having lost interest in us. I decided to take a chance and 'meet' Sophie. So, I stopped, called her, and put my gloved hand for her to smell. She became immediately docile. She turned her side to the fence and pressed against it, clearly wanting to be petted. Now, the Spaniel is interested again.

It took several days before I was sure enough of Sophie's response to reach over the fence to pet her. She must stand up on the fence for me to reach her. She wouldn't do it - but the Spaniel would. So, Spaniel got an ear rub.

A couple days later, Sophie finally figured out what she had to do to get petted. So, she has been petted exactly twice by me.

Now, instead of crossing the street to avoid the snarling bad dogs, I have two friends I look forward to greeting. Tomorrow, I'm going to bring each a small treat.

I want to knock on the door of their house and ask the owners why they don't take care of these sweet dogs. In the almost 8 years I've lived here, these are the third couple of dogs in this house's back yard. Bad odds. I don't know how long these two will survive, but they're no longer bad dogs. Now, they're friends.

My 4-legged Valentines.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

When In Doubt

2012-02-09T21:31:00.003-06:00

If there is ever a doubt if I should walk, the right decision is invariably 'yes'. Yes, I should walk - or dance or bike or do something to get myself moving in the right direction both literally and figuratively.

Do you know about the Itty-Bitty Shi##y Committee? It's the persistent and sometimes overwhelming voice that whispers or shouts inside my head, usually telling me to neglect myself, eat too much, say something mean, or do something negative, leading me down a dark path.

Does such a Committee live in your head? Rent Free?

There are a couple ways to overpower the Committee.

First, you can walk it off - as my friend Kirsten says, 'Walk off the stink of the day.'

Another way is to write it out - put those negative thought, worries, whatever on paper. Download them from your head to paper so you have more room in your head for positive things.

Dance it off. Bike it off.

I CANNOT eat it off, worry if away, or beg it to disappear. Just doesn't work

For me, physical activity is the best. After that comes an enjoyable activity like reading or crocheting. Writing helps. Calling a positive friend works too.

Don't fall victim to the Committee. Walk it off!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Backing Off

2012-02-06T01:40:00.000-06:00

What do you do if you find that you've just overdone your new (or not so new) workout regimen? You must back off.

I discovered this last week when I walked 3 miles in the morning then danced 2 full hours the same evening. My bionic knees were hurting. Is that even possible? Well, the bionic knees have living muscles and tendons attached to hold them in place and I had stressed at least one of those. Turns out it was two - the one(s) that lift the knee and the one(s) that lower the knee - the motion of going up and down stairs. Not fun.

I did walk the next day, but avoided the stairs that my friend and I usually climb at both ends of the mall during our 4 rounds of those corridors. I also, sadly, stayed away from my Thursday night dance. That was a hard sacrifice for me ;-( I also iced the knee several times when it was achy.

But, it worked! After sticking to walking only , avoiding stairs, and abstaining from dancing for a full week, I was able to dance 1.5 hours tonight. I purposely did not walk this morning and I did not dance the full 2 hours. Better to get to dance for most of the time than not at all. I didn't want to reinjure whatever parts of the anatomy had been displeased with last week's activities.

So, there you have it. Backing off is hard for an enthusiastic overachiever like me. I don't tend to do things half way. But I have learned that I need to pay attention to what my body is telling me so that I can continue to do as much as I can/want rather than becoming overwhelmed with pain and losing my motivation. Works for me.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Good News!

2012-02-03T04:18:00.000-06:00

I found a pedometer with a readout large enough for me to see without my glasses! So, I ordered it and when it arrived my husband took his life into his hands and liberated the pedometer from it's almost impregnable plastic packaging. He set if for me - a mere finger punch - and I clipped it on my waistband.

That was at 3:00 PM. I had a walking date scheduled for 3:30, so off I flew, driving to the mall. Our usual walk is about 45 minutes - not quite 3 miles. After we had made our normal circuits of the mall, navigating our way around stragglers, strollers, and shoppers (why are THEY at the mall??), I checked my mileage (actually steps). It read 6579!

I headed home and went about the rest of the days activities. About 8:30, I thought to check the pedometer. It had cylced past the 10,000 mark and read 00079! Wow! I still had a couple hours to go, but I clipped it to my purse strap so I could find it the next day (and not wash it with those pants!).

So, if I can do it, so can you. I'm so pleased that 10,000 steps doesn't feel much harder than 6,000 steps. That might be different on a different day, but I was thrilled!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

NEED ORGANIZATION?

2012-02-01T18:00:00.003-06:00

Need organization? I do! As my friends and family can tell you, I'm a genetically disorganized person. I know I'd have more time to do the better things in life (like walking more) if I was just more organized and didn't have to spend extra minutes and sometimes hours trying to find things I know I own.

If you're like me, you'll want to check out this blog - and enter the contest there.

Would love to win the book they're doing the Giveaway for!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Each One Teach One

2012-01-31T11:01:00.000-06:00

It's still January - the start of a new year and the end of the month when most of us have abandoned any resolutions we have made.

Now, consider making a resolution for the rest of this year. If you are a walker - get someone else who is not a walker up and moving. Make it your business to cajole, prod, but mostly encourage a friend or family member to take his/her first steps toward better health and a better mental attitude.

Even if you've only been at this for a few weeks yourself, you can still be the vehicle for change. Your activities will model the best way for others to follow you on the trail to better health.

Even if it's something as simple as parking at the FARTHEST spot at the grocery store, it's a move in the right direction. Even if you only succeed in getting another person to walk for 5 minutes a day, you've helped them a great deal - and help yourself in the process.

What you do for others, you do for yourself. Each One Teach One. You be the teacher.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

While I Was Walking ...

2012-01-29T10:49:00.000-06:00

While I was walking at a nearby high school today, I was struck by the amount of litter on the grounds. This is an upper middle class community. The school district is AAA rated. The grounds not so much. I'd give them a D- .

Why, I wondered does it cost a gazillion dollars a year to support these huge high schools and another gazillion to maintain the grounds? Why is keeping their school looking clean and tidy not a priority for the students and their families? Why do we pay others (an entire grounds crew) to maintain the grounds when every class in high school has a required service project? Why is the school not its own service project?

What, you are asking about now, does this have to do with walking? Well, the kids do precious little physical activity during a school day. In many areas, there is no longer a P.E. class and some schools don't even allow outdoor recess. What do they think all that sitting around is doing to our kids?

First, the kids get on a school bus or are driven to school. Only a tiny percent walk to school every day. Then, other than walking a few yards between classrooms, they sit all day long. When they get home, the sit doing (we hope) homework for a bit - the it's off to sit in front of the TV or computer. Sit, Sit, Sit.

What you get from growing kids that sit most of the day is:
Boredom
ADD/ADHD - or something that looks remarkably like that
Depression
Anxiety
Obesity
Substance Abuse
Mischief

What results from getting kids to move for 20-40 minutes every day (ok, the schools only have them 5 days a week) is the release of endorphins in the brain - actual changes in brain chemistry - that result in a sense of wellness. You also get less obesity and mischief, better behavior in the classroom, and far less depression/anxiety/substance abuse.

Don't take my word for it. Read a bit. Research this on your own. Find out what moving your own body for 20-40 minutes a day does for you. Does it do ANYTHING negative??? Nope!

If it must be an activity that is institutionalized by the schools, so be it. Make it a service project to move for 20-40 minutes a day. Walk the grounds, pick up litter, plant flowers, sweep walks, shovel snow, spread sand and salt, paint stripes on the football field. Do whatever light physical labor needs to be done at the schools. Take pride in it. Own it!

There is no downside to this! It will benefit the community and each individual student in every one of our schools, from PreK to 12th grade.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Lemon Aid

2012-01-26T10:42:00.000-06:00

You know the saying, when life gives you lemons you make lemonade.

Sometimes you need Lemon Aid.

I had a bad two weeks recently. Mom was sick. I wasn't feeling chipper. Work was difficult. January is a bad month for income in my husband's business. I was unmotivated. I had a couple of 'command performances'.

You know about command performances, don't you. Those family or social events that you simply MUST attend for fear of suffering dire consequences. The consequences might fall in the category of making your family angry if you do (or don't) do whatever. The consequences might be that you'll make a friend angry or disappoint someone - or your boss.

So, you suck it up and just do it.

Then, you have to live with the consequences in your own head. The 'Itty Bitty Shitty Committee' begins its banging, living rent free in your head while rearranging the furniture. Not fun, to say the least. And, it goes on as long as you let it. Just that long and no longer,

How to evict the Committee? Walk it off! Dance it away! Work it out - at the gym or on the basketball court. Move yourself and the Committee moves on.

Really! It works! I promise.

We will all have command performances - many times in our lives. We can either live with the consequences we impose on ourselves - or we can choose to turn those sour lemons into sweet lemonade. Lemon Aid.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Weather Or Not.....

2012-01-23T22:31:00.002-06:00

I'm fortunate to have a few walking friends who are of a like mind when it comes to making walking a priority despite the weather conditions.

Today, I was fortunate to leave work pretty early. Had a couple important stops to make ont he way home, including the bank and Whole Foods to pick up some of my husband's favorite crackers. When I left Whole Foods, the sun had peeped out from behind the persistent cloud cover. I was so tempted to run home, leash the dog, and hit the trail.

But....I had plans to walk with KE and she was still at work. I texted her to be sure she was going to be able to walk after work - OR ELSE. So, instead of giving in to my baser instincts, I waited for KE and we walked about 6 PM at a track between our homes.

Here's the bottom line that I told KE this evening. I'm a walking 'slut'. I walk no matter what! If the weather is great now but is predicted to turn nasty in 3 hours, I'll ditch her like yesterday's laundry and walk right then!

Fortunately, she laughed! She understands - and approves. That's the kind of support we need to give each other on this walking journey. I know I sometimes nag my friends, calling them week after week to entice them to walk when I get the chance. They're good walking buddies. They understand, sometimes dropping what they're in the middle of to take advantage of a brief window of opportunity to get all hot and sweaty.

Tomorrow's weather is predicted to turn nasty at evening rush hour when I'm supposed to be on the drive to dance. I'll be cursing the whole way there - and may arrive there only to find the teacher (with her boombox and appropriate music) has cancelled. I'll curse her too! But in a nice way - cuz she's a good teacher and loves to dance and I know she'd be there if she could.

So, don't use bad weather as an excuse to slump on the sofa. If you can't get to dance, or the gym, or to the mall, march in place right in front of the television. Get all hot and sweaty by yourself. You'll feel so much better.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

Legs and Things

2012-01-17T06:28:00.000-06:00

Right now, my legs hurt. I danced for two solid hours last night, didn't get more than three hours of sleep last night, worked most of the day, then went for a two mile walk. I'm aching!

But, it was worth it! I'm IN LOVE with linedancing! I'm not any good at it - but getting better. Fortunately there are none of those full length mirrors like you find at a lot of dance studios since we dance in church basements and a library meeting room.

I think I'd probably be less enamored of linedancing if I had to watch myself do it! I'm not shy and do not suffer from stage fright or any performance fear. I'm pretty brazen. But, I am definitely NOT GRACEFUL!

Fortunately, if anyone cares that I'm not graceful, they are kind enough not to share their feelings with me. Remember, their opinion of me is none of my business!

Things work out much better for me when I remember that!

So, aching or not, I'll continue to walk and dance. Join me!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

MY 'TAKE' ON DE-STRESSING

2012-01-15T05:30:00.000-06:00

In a recent issue of a throw-away journal (as the freebies are called in the medical community) St. Louis Women's Journal, I ran across an article with ten ways for managing stress. What does this have to do with walking? Pay attention and walk right this way. I hope it's fun.

1. talk with family and friends - I'll willingly talk to my friends, but do I really have to speak to family members I only see once a year? There is a reason I only see them once a year.....

2. engage in daily physical activity - have you been reading my blog???

3. accept the things you cannot change - well, that's 99% of everything in my life. How about you? Acceptance is the gold-standard of learning to be happy/contented;

4. remember to laugh. Why is it that I cannot tell a joke to save my life. But, I heard this one today. Bob (the guy who claims to have invented this joke) has Pomegranate-itis. What is that, you ask? Kinda like Lyme Disease, only seedier. Did you hear me laugh? I did!

5. Give up the bad habits - but then I'd have no habits at all!

6. Slow Down - I have two speeds - very fast and stop. Pacing is not something I do well. Can you spell 'i-m-p-u-l-s-i-v-e'?

7. get enough sleep. This is a joke, right? How???

8. get organized. I take back #7. This is the real joke. Do you know me??

9. practice giving back. See my 100% Guarantee below. If you don't walk 5 days out of each week, you'll get back all the good things you gained when you DID walk that much. I promise!

10. try not to worry. Here is the actual text from the journal article:
"The world won't end if your grass isn't mowed or your kitchen isn't cleaned. You may need to do these things, but today might not be the right time." Yaaaaa! I win. I've been telling you to put yourself first!! Now, go for a walk.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

THE WISDOM OF AGE

2012-01-13T06:20:00.000-06:00

I'll be writing more about this, but there's an article in the January 10, 2012 issue of the New York Times Science Times about the kinds of advice that people in the last third of their lives would give to people in their 20's and 30's. Now, since I have no properly functioning crystal ball, I don't know when the last third of my (or your) life will begin. So, I'm drawing a line, stating that by age 50, we all have accrued enough knowledge and experience (and heartbreak and hell) to pass along some good advice to those youngsters.

One of the questions asks if you've learned ways to retain good health. Well, have you?

I have! I'd tell my 20 year old self to get walking every single day. Had I done that in my 20's and 30's, I'd likely not have had the weight issues I've fought for years and the resultant adverse effect of osteoarthritis (well, not as much of it) and probably 10 other things.

Walking has certainly improved my disposition. I was a very angry 20-something (working in a pink-collar field that was jam packed with women with whom I had no clue how to interact) then carried that anger into my 40's while I was being double and triple-teamed with teenagers. How about you? Were your kids' teen years your best years? They are NOT the best years of the teens' lives and certainly not the best years of their parents. LOL.

Give me toddlers or give me Meth! Well, I probably don't need the meth and would never try it. But, if you've raised kids past the age of 12, you know what I'm talkin' about.

So, I want to hear from you. What wisdom do you have to share about your health? I'll ask some of the other questions later.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

CONSUMER REPORTS

2012-01-11T17:22:00.000-06:00

The latest issue of Consumer Reports Magazine has reviews of home gym equipment. They detail stair steppers, elipticals, stationary bikes, and pedometers. I own a stationary bike, a modified recumbent which is a nice tool to have. It wasn't terribly expensive and is a nice 'fall back' when I can't get out of the house and just want to bike 'away' for a half hour or so in front of the TV. I'm fortunate to have a master bedroom suite with room for the bike. It doesn't fold up, so when it's there, it's there.

Stair steppers are wildly popular at the gym, but they are hell on knees. So, if you are tempted to try them, check with your doctor first. Or, just go climb some stairs and save the price of gym membership!

Elipticals are the newest machines in the game. They combine the motion of walking with a modified climbing like the stair steppers. I find them difficult to work efficiently, probably because I haven't spent enough time on them and I have really short legs while the machines appear to be designed for folks with a longer inseam than 28.5 inches.

The pedometer is your friend. They range in price from a couple of bucks (at Walgreen) up to the GPS type which will set you back hundreds of dollars. Stick to the cheap ones and throw them out when the battery dies since the battery costs as much as the device. Your goal with the pedometer is to assure that you get in your minimum number of steps each day. If you can get to 7,000 steps in the course of your day's activities, that's great. 10,000 steps is now the goal the exercise physiologists want us to aim for.

So, if you can get to 7,000 steps, you now have a new goal - and a New Year - in which to get there. Take your time. Check your pedometer a couple hours before you fold up your tent for the evening to see how many steps you've walked. Then, make it a point to add 25 more steps every day for a week. That's not hard. 25 steps is not very far! But if you add 25 extra steps each day for a week, you'll soon be able to add another 25! Then, you'll be at 10,000 steps before you know it.

I'm on the way tomorrow to buy myself a new pedometer. Going for the 10,000. Wanna join me?

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT DANCING?

2012-01-07T05:31:00.000-06:00

Have I told you about linedancing? I think I have. Were you paying attention? I LOVE it. I would dance every single day if:
a) I didn't have a job to go to;
b) My husband didn't want to have a few minutes of conversation with me every day;
3) My feet would hold out;
4) I could find a place that would have me every day!

Now, my husband is very supportive of all of my craziness. He actually seeks out yarn for my yarn addiction in various stores. He used to come home after a very long day of work and 'sit on the kids' so I could go to quilting bees with my friends. He's never complained about a single cent I've spent on a hobby or anything else for that matter. And, he's completely supportive of my dancing. I just know that he hates eating alone so I hate to leave him to eat alone every evening.

That said, I think the gals I dance with are actually creating my addiction. Oh, yeah, I love moving to that music and learn the dance steps pretty quickly. I have no 'performance anxiety' and am almost impossible to embarrass even when I know I dance with all the grace of a drunken grizzly bear. But, these ladies all tell me how GOOD I am! Really? I can't even imagine that I'm good. I think they are all suffering from heat exhaustion after a 4 minute fast dance and confuse enthusiasm with competence. Really!

There's no way I'm good at dancing when I've never danced a lick til the past 5 years and I'm no Spring Chicken. I'm happy when I dance and the buzz stays with me for hours. I so look forward to my Tuesday and Thursday evening dances that I'll pretty much plow down anyone who gets in my way.

So, I need to walk the same way, right? I don't really need a fan club to tell me that I'm good at something, altho' it's always nice to get positive feedback. But, I continue to walk, almost daily, because it's a reward in and of itself. It's what I do for me. The fact that it might be seen as beneficial in other ways is just icing on the cake. I do it because it feels good. Not because I want (oh, need) to lose weight. Not because I 'should' do it. Not because I 'need' to do it. Not because it's good for me/my health. All of those things may be true, but bottom line is I do it cuz I like it!

Same for dancing. I will continue to dance like nobody's watching and will continue to be pleased by the mistaken consideration of those around me that I'm good at it. Good or not, it's one of my favorite things to do and I'm gonna dance on!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

EXERCISE AT HOME WITH HELP

2012-01-05T05:12:00.000-06:00

I'm an insomniac, so late at night I can sometimes be found channel surfing for something that will numb my mind to sleep. I run across an awful lot of exercise gurus who are selling all sorts of videos to do at home - some with equipment involved, some not. They are all a bit pricey if you ask me. But, some of them are appealing. Zumba is a good example as you know I like to dance. But, there are workouts for your abs, for belly fat, to jump start your metabolism, to build biceps, triceps and aniceps (ok, I made that one up).

Here's a tip. Before you invest your money in any of those videos, check out the videos on that same subject or something similar on youtube.com. You might not get the full 20 minute workout, but you'll at least get a genuine sampling to see if:
1. it's something you can do
2. it's something you WILL do
3. it's worth doing.

Anyone can make a video and buy some TV time in the middle of the night to separate you from your money. Almost anyone (not me) can have someone video them at home or in a gym going through a routine and upload it to youtube. Only you can determine the value of a video.

If the exercise is something that appeals to you, that you'll do more than once or twice, then the $39.95 is probably a bargain. But, $5 is not a bargain if you don't use it. So, check it out first on youtube.

And, please let us know which, if any, such videos are beneficial for use at home on your own. I am always wanting to find new means to remain motivated and to continue to get in my 20-45 minute exercise every day. I prefer the least expensive methods for doing that as I have a short attention span and don't want to waste a lot of $ on stuff I want return to again and again.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT PATTY

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

I know this blog does not have a gazillion readers, but the readers I have are pretty interesting. Let me tell you about Patty.

I don't know what originally brought Patty to this blog, but she has stuck around, read, learned, and communicated with me on a regular basis. I have another 'walking buddy', one who is dedicated to walking to make her life better.

Patty suffers from several health issues and has led a rather sedentary life until recently. Now, she has incorporated walking into her life. She has started slow and kept at it despite several set backs. She is now the proud owner of some Leslie Sansone walking DVD's so winter's bounty of snow and ice won't derail her walking program.

Further, Patty has let me know how walking has helped her - alleviated some of her pain and improved her sleep and disposition. THREE CHEERS for Patty!

One of the wonders of the internet is that we get to 'meet' people from everywhere. I have learned a great deal from others - on this blog and from other sources. And, I'm really honored to be told that my blog has been a beneficial part of someone else's life. Patty's emailing me to tell me of her successes just makes my day.

Those tiny baby steps we take at the beginning of any new endeavor are the most difficult. But the real work is sticking with it. Patty is sticking with it! I hope she will post a message to all of us - or be a guest blogger here - to share her experiences with all of us.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

TAKING YOUR FIRST STEPS IN 2012

2012-01-01T05:43:00.000-06:00

Have you seen the articles of videos of the crazy folks who jump into frigid ponds on New Year's Day to start off the New Year with a very cold splash?

Not interested? Me either! I'm game for a lot of fun things, but that doesn't sound like fun to me.

My suggestion for you to start off 2012 with a big splash is to take some time out of New Year's Day to go for a walk. Unless it's icy outside, bundle up and walk outside - no matter how cold it is. Remember, you're not jumping in the water!

If it's too icy or you just Can Not Face Outside, plan your route around your house. Walk a way you have not walked before. Walk backward or sideways or take baby steps or double steps. Just do something a bit different.

Remind yourself that you are alive and able to move forward on those fantastic feet you have. Look forward rather than backward. Don't let anything deter you. If the whole family is over for a huge meal and football on TV, that's fine. Walk on by them.

Just do it for a few minutes (oh, about 20 minutes if you can) and ignore their heckling or praise. You aren't doing it for them. You're doing it for YOU AND THERE IS NO ONE MORE IMPORTANT!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

HOW CRAZY AM I?

2011-12-29T05:51:00.000-06:00

In today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch there was an article (a weekly feature) about a walking trail. Accompanying this article was information about a New Year's Eve walk at Columbia Bottoms, a state park on the Mississippi River near its confluence with the Missouri and Illinois Rivers. I've been there during the daytime, but never at night. This would be an escorted tour of the park.

I want to go. However, I think my husband might have other ideas. He's not quite the walking enthusiast that I am, preferring to jog on the treadmill at the gym. I hope I can talk him into taking this walk. I must call to make a reservation although it's free.

If the weather isn't awful, I might be able to convince him that this is a good way to end one year and bring in the next. He can barely stay up til midnight anyway, so maybe, if I play my cards right and tell him that after the walk (about 9:30 PM) he can go home and go to bed without seeing the ball drop.

The next parts of the equation might be more important depending on the weather. It's a long drive to that part of the St. Louis area - and - what exactly will we be looking for or at in the dark on New Year's Eve? If I'm gonna lobby for this way to spend New Year's Eve, I better get do my homework, huh?

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WALKING MAGAZINE

2011-12-28T05:29:00.000-06:00

No, the magazine doesn't walk! But, it's about walking. Who knew? Why didn't I know there was such a magazine. I've looked online for any related topic but never found any. In a thrift store, I found a copy of this magazine - but it was published in 2005, so I'm not sure it's even still in publication. I'll check on that and get back to you.

In this particular issue, featuring Suzanne Sommers on the cover, there is an article entitled, "Beat Stress", that is about a 25 minute stress busting walk. No problem with that. Except that the article includes far more than walking. There is the Hara Twist, Mindful Walking, Rag Doll roll, and more. Nothing that can't be accomplished by most people whether or not they're wearing comfortable walking shoes.

Accompanying the article is an inset box with these tips for stress busting:
Get a hobby - any hobby (hmmm. Does eating count?);
Walk outside on nature trails;
Journal so you can write down your feelings (always a good idea);
Keep your mind sharp by working the crossword puzzle in the newspaper everyday (well, that WAS 2005 when there were newspapers in print);
Do good to feel good (service work).

There are no secrets in these tips, but they are all good reminders that it is fairly simple to keep ourselves calm and motivated by taking care of ourselves and offering service to others. Charity (which I define as doing something beneficial anonymously with no expectation of return) has been known forever as being good for the human spirit.

While you're walking this week, think of a couple of things you can do for your neighbors, in your community, for your spouse, for the local nursing home that will put a smile on someone's face. Then, go do it! You'll feel delightful when you're done.

Here are a few simple ideas:
Take a bunch of bananas or a stack of old magazines to the nursing home;
Leave a wonderful paperback on a table at a restaurant with a note on it saying 'Free for the Reading';
Bake a loaf of bread, put it in a pretty bag, and leave it hanging on your neighbor's door;
Pick up the litter along your walk;
Leave a love note for your spouse taped to the bathroom mirror;
Find 10 things in your house you no longer use and drop them off at a thrift store or shelter.

Okay. Now, doesn't that feel better? PLEASE do me the honor of suggesting other Pay It Forward ideas here to motivate all of us.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

PLANNING ON TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF FOR THE NEW YEAR?

2011-12-26T05:21:00.000-06:00

I am not a fan of New Year's Resolutions. If they work for you, great! I find that the expectations I might put on myself by making a resolution are unreasonable and unlikely to be fulfilled, possibly leading to a hit on my self esteem. Not worth it to me.

New Year's Day is just another day on the calendar. I feel much more like making a fresh start in Spring when the promise of warmer weather and sunshine boost my mood and motivate me to get outside and move more.

So, if it works for you, make a resolution to create positive change in your life. If making resolutions works no better for you than for me, stick to your slow and steady plan of walking a bit more every day til you reach 20 minutes at least 4 days a week. The pay-off is tremendous!

Read the guarantee that accompanies each post of mine. I guarantee that if you do not move your body at least those 20 minutes most days of the week, you will continue to feel achy and miserable, you'll tend to slack on the couch, and stand a very good chance of letting your life pass you by. Why do that when there is this very easy, natural, and free way to improve most things in your life. Just walk it off!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

MY GROWN UP CHRISTMAS LIST FOR YOU!

2011-12-24T00:52:00.000-06:00

Cheery Christmas! Chappy Chanukkah! Keen Kwanzaa!

My Grown Up Christmas List for all of you is this:

Good Health
Great Walking Shoes
Happy Trails

May all the gifts of this Season be bestowed on you with Love and Grace. May you give more than you receive.

After you have your large holiday feast, go for a walk!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

USE YOUTUBE

2011-12-21T05:05:00.000-06:00

I have found a couple of uses for youtube.com that might appeal to you, especially as winter makes it difficult for some of us to get out of doors.

First, there are lots of Leslie Sansone videos on youtube. They aren't the full length videos like you'd buy in DVD form, but they'll give you an idea of what's on the DVD's and they just might get you moving if nothing else will.

Second, linedancing. I was using the music I had downloaded to my Ipod to strut around my family room when I couldn't get outside. Better yet, and for free, I can pull up a particular linedance on youtube - cuz they're all there - and wiggle along with it. One day last week when it was rainy, cold, windy, and miserable outside, I pulled up 5 different dances and moved along with those folks on the little screen. There is a way I can view them on my big screen TV, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Maybe over the holidays when I have my sons and bonus kids here - all of whom are far more technically gifted than I am - someone will get me up to speed with that technology.

This second use for youtube has a distinct advantage for me. It's homework! When I've been taught a new dance on Tuesday or Thursday, I get to practice it at home with the help of youtube.

And, music is uplifting! Walking or dancing, the music really helps. Try it and see if it works for you.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

I'M STILL HERE...

2011-12-18T21:07:00.002-06:00

and still walking most days. Between work, weather, and my newest 'love', linedancing, I walk only 5 to 6 days each week. I dance at least twice, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and most Thursday mornings, I also walk with a friend for about three miles. I only work a half day that day of the week, but I am realllllly tired at the end of that day!

I have a new-ish walking buddy, Kiersten, with whom I walk most Sunday mornings. She lives nearby and is flexible enough to accommodate my often very busy Sunday schedule. We have a couple really good place to walk, the highschool track and a paved trail along the Meramec River. Lizzie, our four-legged walking buddy, loves the river trail.

I've got some more posts coming soon, so please stay tuned.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

BIGGEST LOSER?? Not.

2011-11-01T09:39:00.002-05:00

Just a couple of moments ago, the latest person boosted from The Greatest Loser TV show was on the Today Show. I've never seen The Greatest Loser, but I've seen the promos for it, so I kinda know how it works. This woman had continued to lose but was still voted off.

She has lost a lot of weight, but the key, she said, was the changes in her lifestyle. One thing she said struck a cord with me. "I make myself important" by making exercise a priority. She works out at the gym and walks.

Yep! She makes herself important.

How many of us do not do this? Many I think. Other things always crop up to get between us and the things we should do for ourselves.

Putting on my walking shoes is not the first step in making myself important. It's an early step, but not the first. The first step is giving myself permission to put other things on hold so I can make myself important.

This is how the Twelve Steps work in my life. I have to make this selfish program a priority in my life - not working it for anyone else. I attended my first meetings because of others in my life. But 14 years later, I return again and again - usually twice a week - for myself. It's not about them.

When I first began walking - really making it a habit where everyone around me knew it was going to happen every day - it was because of some external cues. My weight, my arthritis, my inability to continue playing racquetball. Those were all things about me - but my motivation was to 'cure' things.

Walking won't cure arthritis, won't make me lose weight by itself, didn't take away my longing for racquetball. But, it did force me to become my own 'Life Coach'. I no longer had the structure in my life of having to be at the racquet club by 9:30 most mornings. For a disorganized person like me, that structure was helpful.

The very day I determined that my daily walk was more important than the laundry, or my kid's lost book, or bills to pay was the day I made myself important. Wish I could recall the actual date. I would celebrate it every year as a sort of birthday. It was the birth of my self-awareness that if I don't take care of me:
a) no one else will
b) i won't have the physical or emotional resources to take care of those around me.

Every step is a tiny part of keeping me important. Are you important?

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

DAMN SWEET GUM BALLS

2011-10-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

I HATE sweet gum balls. I had a beautiful tree full of them growing in my front yard and I had the tree cut down - a healthy tree at that. That was hard for me to do. I love trees (even as I hate raking their ever-falling leaves). I love trees but those balls they drop.

Last week, when I was about as far away from home on a walk in the neighborhood as I can get, in broad daylight, I stepped on one of the darn things and twisted my ankle. I gingerly stepped forward and everything seemed alright. Thought I had gotten lucky. Walked on home - a little over a mile - without difficulty.

The next morning, I discovered I had not been so lucky. The first step out of bed proved extremely painful. What I think is the Medial Collateral Ligament hurts like crazy. This is the same area that hurt for about a year after my knee replacement. At that time, I figured it was because the knee prosthesis had been implanted a bit off the alignment originally given me by nature. I had always toed-in. Now, I toe-out a slight bit. So, it took a year for that ligament to stop protesting. Now, it's protesting like crazy.

I didn't dance Thursday as I usually do. I had walked that morning, so I had my exercise for the day. And, the Cardinals were playing in town, so the traffic flow was especially heavy in the direction I would have been traveling. Instead, I sat and iced my knee.

This afternoon, I walked a bit, but it hurt. So, I headed home. It got worse as I walked the half mile or so home. By the time I arrived home, my knee was squealing! So, more ice. It's calmed down a bit, but the first two to three steps every time I get up are killers.

Will try again tomorrow. But, first, I'll bust out a new pair of shoes. The ones I'm wearing have a bunch of miles on them so I'll see if a new pair offers any relief. Usually, I know when to replace my shoes because an old pair of shoes will result in low back pain for me. Switching to a new pair of shoes eliminates that. Since I know that my New Balance shoes are the right size and style and require no 'breaking in', I should be able to tell if they'll help my knee.

BTW - never buy a pair of shoes that requires 'breaking in'. They are not the right shoes for you if they need to be stretched or loosened. The right shoes will feel right from the very first step.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

I LIKE THIS ARTICLE

2011-10-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

I just ran across this article.

Good read.

Check it out!

http://optimisticpsychologist.com/walking/

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

MORE GOOD NEWS!

2011-10-10T05:24:00.000-05:00

I read a couple articles recently that reinforce how good walking is for us.

First was a study of exercise, especially walking, in patients with osteoarthritis and obesity. Obesity is defined in different ways by different people, but we all know who we are. We're not talking about those people who continue to struggle to lose that 'last 5 pounds'. Typically, an obese person is defined as anyone who is 20 or more pounds above his/her ideal weight. That's most of us, especially if we suffer from osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the 'wear and tear' variety without the positive Rheumatoid Factor. We're fortunate to not suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis. Wear and tear arthritis is what most people over the age of 40 suffer from. For those people, men and women, moderate exercise actually lessens joint pain!

Have you been reading my blog for a while? If you have, you already know my stance on this. Yep! It hasn't changed. Walking will make you feel better - in every case, all the time, no matter what your diagnosis is. Now, we have more scientific proof that this is true. So there! Keep walking - or START walking if you haven't been. Start slow, go steady, increase as you can.

The second article discussed the role of exercise in increasing wellness. Duh! Read the above paragraphs and get moving!

No, really. This is not to dismiss those with serious medical conditions, people in wheelchairs, those so debilitated by physical or mental conditions that they are unable to walk. Those people will improve their physical and mental wellbeing by other forms of physical exercise - chair aerobics, swimming, passive physical therapy, or other activities prescribed by their medical professionals.

For the rest of us, when we're not feeling 100%, when we have a 'blue' day, when we know what we have and that it's not likely to improve over time (like arthritis, for instance), walking and other forms of non- or low-impact exercise will improve things. Every time, all the time, in every case. Check my guarantee below. Remember, it's gonna hurt anyway, right? So, ignore the immediate pain (or take Tylenol or whatever pain meds are prescribed for you) and get your walk on!

Case in point: I've been suffering from migrating facial pain. Sinuses? Dental infection? Migraine? I've had the teeth checked out. No infection, cavities, or other dental issues. That leaves sinuses and migraines - unless we want to think about scarier things. Since I've suffered from migraines since age 9, it's the opinion of two physicians and one dentist that this is likely a migraine variant. There are medications for this sort of thing - and I've taken them in the past for more debilitating episodes. I'd like to avoid that now.

Yesterday, it occurred to me that I hadn't had my usual amount of liquids at work. My face hurt. So, when I got home from work, I chugged 16 ounces of water, put on my walking shoes, and hit the trail. Not a magic bullet - but my pain lessened greatly and I was able to continue with my normal activities without taking migraine meds. Remember - its' gonna hurt anyway. Today, pretty much the same. I'm taking care of myself in the way that works best for me.

I'll see how long this condition continues and how I tolerate the pain. So far, I'm treating myself with Tylenol, water, and walking and getting by.

Note: A headache is the FIRST sign of dehydration. While I'm not a physician and can't (and won't) offer medical advice, I strongly suggest that, if you have a headache, increase your fluid intake (with water or another uncaffeinated beverage) before you reach for another treatment.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

KATHY'S GOOD IDEA

2011-10-08T05:01:00.000-05:00

Check this out! My friend and walking buddy, Kathy, has written a nice article about a recent walk she took. An idea I probably wouldn't have come up with.

http://kathys-second-half.blogspot.com/2011/09/mall-walking-with-twist.html

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

LONG VIEW FARM

2011-10-05T05:47:00.001-05:00

I've decided that Long Meadow Farm is my new favorite place to walk. It takes me just under an hour to walk the exterior trail (sidewalk along the streets that border the park) and the interior trail (a beautiful paved trail through beautiful trees that funnel to a lovely pool).

This former estate was gifted to the area for use as a park. On the property is the original house which is now a museum (I haven't been inside), a play ground, a couple tennis courts, and a barn that houses up to 5 horses I believe. The horse paddock is still there and a stand for mounting the horses that can be used by special needs kids.

Last week when the crisp, clear, sunny Fall day drew me outside, I put Lizzie on her leash, jumped in the car and drove the 15 minutes to Long Meadow Farm. When I was first there, my husband was with me and he didn't want to walk the outer trail. I wondered how long it was and how long it would take me. So, off I went.

There were several other walkers and joggers about, other dogs on leashes, and quite a few kids in the playground. Still, the small parking lot was not full. Few people have discovered this fairly new park. Lizzie and I walked the exterior, 90% of which is street-side sidewalk back to the parking lot, then trudged over to the head of the interior trail. I was really looking forward to seeing the small pond again. The sound of running water (so long as it's not in my house!) is music to my ears.

This is almost a perfect spot to walk. It's not too far from home. It's shady on the hottest of days. It is not overrun with people (altho' that may well change), it's free, and it's beautiful.

I'll be walking there again soon. Find a place you love to walk and use it to motivate you on a day when you'd just as soon stay glued to the sofa. I promise you'll feel better!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

CHECK THIS OUT!

2011-10-01T05:30:00.000-05:00

For some higher-tech walking information, you might want to check out this walking site that originates in New Zealand. New Zealand is a country of walkers. There are actually rural paths that are what we in the U.S. would call Public Access that cross private property. I believe in most countries of the U.K, this is the case. Their concept of private property is a bit different than ours. Their notion is that fields, whether agricultural or dormant, will not be harmed by having people walk across them.

I know people here who are passionately opposed to anyone walking on their front lawn! I have never understood that. I like my privacy as well as the next American, but if lawns are not for walking on and are just for appearance, someone has his/her priorities mixed up. Further, my privacy is seldom affected by the neighbor kid playing a game of tag that includes my front lawn. Now, if you've seen my front lawn, you know it's not a high priority in my life. LOL. It's pretty but it's not manicured nor will it ever be. If the stuff growing there is green, I'm happy even if it's Lamb's Quarters instead of fescue.

But, back to the site I mentioned above. There is a lot of good information there. I hope that you'll have already read most of it here over the articles I've written in the past. If you are new to this blog, please go back and read the first year's articles in order. I do have a point to make. I try to make it in every article I write. You may feel like I'm a record stuck on the same track! That's okay. My goal here is to keep you walking, to garner interest in walking and other easy and accessible physical activities, and to hear inspirational stories from my readers. And, I do. I'm so happy when people email me to let me know of a small or large success. How cool is that!?!

So, check out the other website. And, keep moving.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

NO NAME CHANGE

2011-09-27T17:04:00.002-05:00

A friend who reads my blog suggested I change the name of the blog to 'Your Walking Coach' or something similar. Flattering, but, alas the 'Walking Coach' title has been taken. I guess I'll stick with the current title.

I've been walking a lot these past few days. The bright, crisp, clear Fall air is very tempting now that my seasonal asthma attack has passed. It's really hard to stay in the house or in the office when I look outside and see the sun shining and clear skies, knowing the temperature is perfect for a long walk!

All around me, people are happy to see the hot, muggy days of Summer leave. Not me! Even on those hottest of days, I'm happy walking outside. Admittedly, this is not a good thing for my appearance! After only a brief walk on a muggy Summer day, I look like a dog who has been dunked in the river! It takes some time to rearrange my hair and clothing to something suitable for the office or the presence of other humans. The dog doesn't seem to mind. LOL. In fact, it was the dog who held me back this summer. Now that she's seven years old - pushing 40 in the vet's terminology - she can't walk in the heat wearing her full length black fur coat. We were limited to two miles a day unless we walked early morning.

Do you know me? There'll be no early morning walks! Early morning is good for only one thing - and that's SLEEP. My body clock just will not cooperate - no matter how happy my husband is to be up and bouncing at 5:30 AM.

So, late mornings or about 4 PM is when I typically walk. My wimpy friends who insist on mall walking (okay, me sometimes) push the walk time to 6PM or 7PM. Since I'm a night owl that's not a problem for me.

The point is - be flexible, but keep moving. Find a time that works in your life - doesn't have to be the same time every day. If you work full time and can't fit a walk in any other time, consider taking at least half of your lunch time for a walk. If you are a SAHM, don't put everything else in front of your walk. Make it a priority so that you do it. Put it on your list.

If you're just establishing a walking routine, take it slow but keep it steady if you can. Don't do so much that you get overly fatigued or sore - but DO keep walking. Remember, no matter what shape you're in, your body is designed to walk. A good pair of shoes and a positive attitude are your best assets for establishing a walking routine and realizing the benefits of it.

My 89 year old mom who was my first inspiration for walking, recently admitted to me that she actually has a guilty conscience if she doesn't walk every day! She has outlived most of her friends ( a mixed blessing, of course) but the key is that other than her vision, she's in excellent health. She is one of the reasons that I developed this need to walk. Not only do I want to age in a healthy manner, I want the mental and emotional benefits I get from walking. It FEELS good.

Don't just take my word for it. Try it out. Work up to 20-30 minutes a day and learn for yourself the positive changes that will occur in your life. Then tell us about it here!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

MORE DANCIN'

2011-09-21T14:53:00.002-05:00

Last evening, a friend and I checked out a dance group that was new to me. Laurie, my friend, took up tapdancing in her adulthood since she had been deprived of them as a kid. But, alas, the studio where she had danced for years went under. Now, Laurie walks and kick boxes and does Zumba. I'm responsible for introducing her to Zumba, and in so doing, lost my regular Tuesday walking partner!!

Now, she's taking a break from Zumba, so I got her to try linedancing with me. So, off we went to a 'new' place. It's in a library and the room has a carpeted floor. Bummer! I was so disappointed.......

Until we started to dance. The teacher, probably at least my age, is very spry and energetic and enthusiastic! Turned out, I knew several of the beginner dances. I was really getting into the groove. There were probably 40 people there, mostly women, mostly African-American. So many people came up to me to let me know they enjoyed my enthusiasm!

How sweet is that?! I'm not any good at it. I kinda remember the steps to a bunch of beginner dances. But, I AM enthusiastic. My motto is Dance Like Nobody Is Watching!

Several of my fellow dancers from Thursday evening were also at this dance. Now, I'm hooked! I think Laurie is too. So, I've got another evening that my poor, sweet husband will have to nuke his dinner for himself.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

KNOCK DOWN

2011-09-14T23:25:00.002-05:00

I've been sick since Saturday with a severe case of seasonal asthma. It it's September in St Louis, I will have an asthma attack. This one has been worse than usual.

This past weekend, I had signed up for a dance workshop. Friday evening and all day Saturday. All day means from 9 AM til midnight with breaks for lunch and dinner. I couldn't pass this up although I was getting sick. So, I danced happily Friday night and went home about 10:00, early for me.

Saturday, I arrived at 10:00 for my first class and danced all day til 3:00 when I went home and took a nap. Then, I dragged myself back for the evening session where we get to perform all the dances we've learned and learn a few more very casually. Again, I left about 10:00. I was beat, hoarse, and clearly in need of medication.

Sunday, I took it easy but Monday was back to work - with no voice. I crept out early (one perk of being married to the boss) and remained horizontal the rest of the day. Cough, cough, cough. Wheeze, hack, gasp - Crap! This is not fun.

Tuesday is my mom's book club and she had promised a cake for her birthday (89 on 9/14!!!), so I bought a cake, drove her there, took myself to the mall and strolled for about 40 minutes. Just strolled. Window shopped. But, better than just sitting someplace feeling miserable.

Today, despite medication and rain (which clears the air of allergens), I'm still ailing. So, no walking today. No dancing. A 4 hour work day which was almost too much. Sofa and TV. I'm VERY TIRED of TV.

Anyway, the lesson here is that the stroll made thing better. Wish I could have done that today.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

SISTERS DO SWEAT!

2011-09-01T20:34:00.006-05:00

I just got home from my weekly linedance class (or sliding as this group calls it) at the Memorial Methodist Church. Most of the women (and the few men) in the class are African-American of all ages - from women who look to be in their late twenties to us white hairs and grandpas. We have a blast! Chel teaches this group. She has a way of breaking down what initially look like daunting dances into 'bite-sized' piece that everyone picks up pretty quickly.

I dance with other groups too. I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming dance weekend at Studio 41 from September 9-11, 2011. The dances at Studio 41 are typically more traditional, incorporating the venerable country and western to the more recent song stylings of Adele. As an old song goes, 'You can't dance and be uptight.' That is so true.

I was pleased to see an article written in a local newspaper by the husband of one of our best Sliders, Peachaz Clark. Her husband, James Clark, is a regular columnist for the St. Louis Metro Evening Whirl and Vice President of Community Outreach for Better Family Life. But, he is NOT a linedancer. His article relates how he humored his wife by attending a local event packed with sliders. And, apparently, he was impressed with the participants and their willingness to sweat to the grooves.

Mr. Clark also writes in this article about the recent enormous popularity of Kick-Ball. That was news to me! I might have to find a team willing to accept my old, decrepit body! Clark indicates that there are over 80 teams in the St. Louis Metropolitan area alone and that the participants are very enthusiastic, training even at 7 Am in the dead of winter! This is devotion and they MUST be impressively good.

Mr. Clark's article spoke to some issues that I hear from many women. It takes such a short time to get all sweaty and a long time to 'repair the damage' so we can be presentable for work and other activities. Have you seen Oprah's show on Hair? I thought I was the only one who couldn't just walk off the dance floor and into work clothing without a long detour through the shower and blow dryer and curling iron routine! I'm White (as is my hair). This is not an area where my Black friends have the market cornered. It's a hassle for ALL of us!

That said, we must all find a way to make our hair and body routines compatible with an exercise regimen. For me, this involves getting a fairly expensive perm every 6-8 weeks so I can have 'wash and wear hair'. We must strike a balance so that we don't find too many excuses to remain on the sofa, glued to the TV, watching others shake their booties.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

BIG HEAD?

2011-08-28T21:07:00.003-05:00

One of the things that makes us humans, that separates us from lower animals, that is distinctive and unique in this universe, is the way we are able to hold our heads steady while we are walking!

Did you ever think about that? I never had til I read a recent article about a guy who is researching the human foot and how our feet differ from those of other mammals. In his research, he discovered that along with the development of a unique foot, humans developed a unique system of neck 'stabilizers' that allows us to see the world through a stable lens rather than a jumpy camera while we are walking and running.

This makes total sense, but I don't think it's something that even enters our minds on a conscious level. Well, at least not mine. What an advantage we have over most other life forms on this planet! Horses heads move up and down while they run. Pigs and dogs have heads that sort of wobble left and right with each stride. Even elephants and camels have loopy head movements when they walk.

We're unique! Apparently, from an evolutionary standpoint (if you buy that or by Grand Design if you don't), the stability of our heads gives us a wide range of advantages over other life forms. We can turn our heads while walking and running if we want. The stabilizers give us a steady visual picture of our world. Our ears remain oriented in a manner that's most advantageous for us.

This researcher also explains that hip, back, and neck problems that many relate to defects of our erect spinal cord are NOT due to our erect stature. They are due to downstream problems of our gait, based on our feet, if they are not properly aligned due to a congenital problem or because we either wear the wrong footwear or we don't exercise enough.

I have long known that back problems are often related to weak abdominal muscles. The abs keep our posture erect to protect all those vertebrae. Walking strengthens abs and back muscles, not to mention glutes and all the muscles of our legs. You should see the muscles in my legs! While I was born with a template for shapely (and possibly muscular) legs, I have certainly developed those muscles through walking. Best way ever to lose fat in the thighs and derriere. Refer to my earlier posts about me walking my #$%$% off!

So, if you needed one, here's another strong piece of evidence that our bodies are designed - beautifully, wonderfully, miraculously designed - to WALK.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

TAKE A STROLL

2011-08-28T21:02:00.002-05:00

Briefly, in a recent edition of the New York Times Science Section, there's an article stating that taking even a short stroll every day will prolong your healthy life and ward off the advent of Type II Diabetes (Adult Onset Diabetes) which is occurring in epidemic proportions among Americans today.

Just a stroll. Wow! That's not even hard to do. How committed do you have to be to take a stroll. Try to walk for 5-10 minutes after you eat your lunch. Walk a bit on your morning break. Park farther from the store entrance every day (except in heavy rain, ok) so you get in a few more steps. Walk the dog. Walk your neighbor's dog (no one will complain, least of all the dog.) Walk your neighbor's toddler in a stroller.

Just walk. The statistics are stunning. This simple form of daily exercise, hidden amid your daily routine, can really pay off.

It doesn't matter so much if I live to be a hundred. I want to live to be a HEALTHY hundred - or whatever age.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

THE MONARCH LEVEE

2011-08-24T04:05:00.000-05:00

In western St. Louis County, almost to St. Charles County, is the Monarch Levee protecting Chesterfield Valley (formerly known as Gumbo Flats) from the wrath of the Missouri River. I've written a bit about this trail before. Here's a picture of one of the Rest Areas along the route.

Having recently walked the nice trail along the Meramec River in Valley Park, MO, I'm less pleased with the Monarch Trail. Why? The Meramec River trail is far less buggy. The Missouri River at this point has back waters and marshes that are great breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other annoying noseeums. The Monarch trail is also the highest point in the area, allowing cold winds to hit you off the river. This same problem occurs at Creve Coeur Lake even tho' the trail is not on a levee. There is little shade along the Monarch. Most of the Meramec trail is shaded. Highway noise is a bit of an issue for both trails, but since the Monarch parallels I-64/40 for much of its length, it's a bit more annoying there.

Both trails are level and paved. Both meander through potentially lovely scenery, but the Monarch has one side pretty much devoted to baseball diamonds and retail outlets. There is none of that along the Meramec trail.

I have not walked the full 17 miles of the Monarch trail. I know it does go to the property those of us who grew up in St. Louis will recall fondly as the Rombach Pumpkin Farm (which I believe is still in business). We and our children have carefully selected just the right pumpkin each Fall on this property, all of which was inundated by the 1993 floods. I do want to walk the stretch of the Monarch that goes by the Rombach Family Cemetary. I'll get to that this FAll, I'm sure.

The Meramec trail also has the benefit of being much closer to my home. It's a 20 minute or longer trip to the Monarch trail if there's no traffic.

Both trails have their good points and I'm grateful that such greenways are becoming more prevalent in the St. Louis area. Having new trails to investigate keeps me walking more.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

GREAT NEW PLACE TO WALK/BIKE/SKATE

2011-08-21T15:44:00.006-05:00

Check this out! It's really close to my home - maybe a 10 minute car ride. It's a wonderful, quiet paved trail that parallels the Meramec River for about 4 miles. There are several points along it to park, but I chose to park at the westernmost trail head in the municipality of Valley Park, MO. Don't be put off by the picture of cars whizzing by on the highway above the trail. In just a few yards, the trail passes under an old railroad bridge then takes you farther away from the noise and pollution (although the sounds of nearby Interstate 44 are ever present in the distance).

This area had been completely flooded in 1993 when the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers reached catastrophic levels. At the confluence of the two rivers, where there is also a third, the much smaller Illinois River, the usual 1 mile width from Missouri to Illinois grew to SEVEN miles! Much of the cities of Alton and Grafton, Illinois were covered. Secondary rivers like the Meramec both contributed to the flooding and experienced record levels themselves. The Meramec empties into the Mississippi about 3 miles south of the Arch. This trailhead is about 12 miles from that point. New levees and flood gates have been erected in hopes of avoiding the sort of destruction that occurred in 1993. However, it's probably just a matter of time before Mother Nature has other ideas.

In the meantime, those of us who like to walk and bike have benefited from the newly erected levees surrounding St. Louis. This trail wanders in an almost straight, flat line for its entire length, making it a perfect place for unseasoned walkers, for those pushing strollers, and for a less challenging outing during peak hot, humid, buggy St. Louis afternoons.

The Meramec River as it nears St. Louis is not particularly pretty. It has traveled across much of the state, picking up detritus and chemical effluent from farms and industrial sites. The Upper Meramec about 50 miles west of St. Louis is clean and clear, safe for swimming (except for its often deadly current), boating, and fishing. But, it's never a wide river. I float on it at least once each summer. I would not float, swim, or fish it at the Valley Park location.

That said, it's lovely to walk beside this river. The length of the trail is well maintained, especially regarding bugs as the foliage is cut back to grass height for at least 10 yards on either side of the trail. There is ample parking and a well marked, nicely paved trail.

The day I discovered this trail, I walked about 2.5 miles, out and back. Then I drove it's full length along Marshall Road from which most of the trail is visible. Marshall Road is the main drag from Valley Park to Kirkwood, paralleling Big Bend Road, and goes under Interstate 270 just before it joins Big Bend Road on the east side of I-270.

So much for your geography and history lesson. Go find a trail you like and let us know about it. Doesn't have to be in St. Louis. I travel quite a bit and would love to know of safe, beautiful parks and trails in other cities. Get walking!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

SOME HOT IDEAS

2011-08-18T05:07:00.000-05:00

During our recent, extended heat wave, I had to rely more on my indoor walking activities to remain on the move. One thing that I enjoy is the Leslie Sansone walking DVD's. I'll eve dance along to Richard Simmons to the Oldies.

But, since I've actually been learning some dances (linedancing), I've begun to incorporate some of my new dance steps into the walking in place idea. Rather than put on a DVD, I'll choose a TV show - usually a half hour show like Wheel of Fortune - and just start walking, knee lifts, kicks, side steps, and some of my dance steps. I do that for 30 minutes on days when I'd normally have done nothing because of the dangerously hot/humid weather conditions. By 'normally', I mean years ago before I was in the habit of a daily walk.

So, now, in addition to the moves I've learned from Leslie Sansone, I'm doing some vines (weaves), coaster steps, sailor steps, and shuffles that I've learned from my linedance teachers. it adds a bit of variety and makes the workout more enjoyable for me. Search on youtube.com for beginning linedancing and you'll find examples of the kind of steps that almost anyone can master. Spice up your routine with whatever means you find. And, share your ideas with the rest of us. We can always use new ideas.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

NEW PLACES TO WALK

2011-08-15T05:53:00.000-05:00

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, there's a weekly section that features a walking/biking path. I look forward to learning what new (or new to me) parks and trails might not be too far from home.

Recently, my husband and I took the dog to walk at the beautiful, fairly new park called Longmeadow Farm. It was an estate with a large house surrounded by some woods and a horse paddock, located at the intersection of two well-traveled county roads. The trails have been added since the family donated the land to the County. It's a lovely walk on a paved trail that winds through woods, across meadows, and around a small pond. If you walk around the perimeter of the property, on the sidewalks next to the street, you'd easily have three miles. But, the interior trails add up to only about a mile. I hope they'll add more trails through the woods.

Using the newspaper, we've also walked at the Fenton Park on the banks of the Meramec River in Fenton, MO, not far from our home. It's a large, well used park with baseball fields, a golf course, and tennis courts. The trails are paved and wander across meadows and through wooded sections. If you covered all the trails, you'd have over five miles. It's all level so no hills. This will not be a great place to walk in the winter since cold breezes blow off the river. In the Spring, the area also tends to flood. But, it's a nice alternative.

I've also walked along the Monarch Levee on the Missouri River in what used to be called the Gumbo Flats, but has now been gentrified to Chesterfield Valley. There's quite a long, paved trail that follows the river, although there's no clear view of the river on the section I walked. Again, probably not a great choice in our windy Winters. Also, there is a lot of marshy land nearby, producing lots of mosquitoes that love my husband's skin! They tend to ignore me, but I like walking with him.

One of my husband's favorite place to walk is the nicely paved trail at Creve Coeur Lake. The major problem there is the fairly aggressive bikers. They don't tend to mind their manners. If the trail isn't too crowded, there's plenty of room for walkers, bikers, and skaters. But, the minute you add strollers and dogs to that mix, problems arise. I truly wish the bikers would let us know when they're coming up from behind. That way, we'd be sure to keep the dog out of their way and we wouldn't feel like we were being used for target practice!

There was another trail in this week's paper that was new to me - and it's not far from home. It's also along a section of the Meramec River and should be level, paved, and probably well used.
I'll report on that trail once I've walked it - hoping for this weekend.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

DANCE OR??

2011-08-12T00:46:00.002-05:00

This morning I was able to take some time to spend with my mom. She hadn't been out of her apartment (off the premises) since she returned from her brother's funeral about two weeks out except to go to the foot doctor. So, I took her to one of our favorite 'boutiques' (read 'thrift store') this morning. So, no time for a walk since I had to get to work after that.

But, I knew that I'd be dancing tonight for the first time in two weeks! The church where we dance had VBS then the teacher took her week of vacation. So, we're finally back to our Thursday evening routine. I so look forward to it. I usually walk on Thursday morning and dance that same evening. My perfect day!

Tonight, we worked for the second time on a dance to Adele's wonderful "Rolling in the Deep". It's a great song with a well choreographed and not too difficult dance that goes with it. I caught on to this one quickly. Lucky me! I have a great teacher too.

So, I count that 90 minutes of dance as a three mile walk. Since we only take a brief (less than 10 minutes) break about half way through, and I continue to stand that whole time, I feel like it's a great aerobic activity like my walks.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

MY LONG DAY

2011-08-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today is one of those where two of my favorite activities were both accomplished. Today there was a Yarn Crawl in the St. Louis area. What's a Yarn Crawl? Well, it resembles a Pub Crawl only in that you go from one location (a bar) to another location (a bar) and to another over the course of an evening. In the world of yarn lovers, we try to confine our crawling to daylight hours. Twelve yarn shops in the St. Louis area opened their doors to all patrons, offered a free pattern and a treat (water, cookies, a small brooch), special hours, and a few special deals. Each participant received a Passport which was stamped at each shop. Tomorrow once the Crawl is officially over, names will be drawn from those Passports for a couple of prizes that will be valued by yarn lovers. Far better than alcohol if you ask me! I got to ELEVEN shops today. The twelfth will see me at noon tomorrow and I'll turn in my well-traveled Passport in hopes of winning one of those prizes.

So, what does this have to do with walking when I drove a gazillion miles today? After my Yarn Crawl activities drew to an end this evening, I rushed home with just enough time to change shoes, leash the dog, grab my husband, and head to the park for a walk. Only got in a mile. Just one mile. But, that's okay. After all that time in the car, I needed a walk. The dog needed a walk. My husband needed a break from building shelving in the basement. It was nice to stroll and tell my husband about the shops I visited (like he cares) and he got to tell me about the cookbooks (egad, MORE cookbooks) he found at the thrift store this afternoon. Do you see why he's building more shelving in the basement? It ain't for my walking shoes. It's for the cookbooks - a market he is aggressively trying to corner.

But, we walked, we talked, we enjoyed. Life is Good!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT MOTIVATED

2011-08-06T05:45:00.000-05:00

We all suffer from days of a discouraging lack of motivation. So, how do we get motivated? How do we get moving when we'd rather stay put? How do we get ourselves off the sofa?

One good way is to have a walking partner who's counting on you. This can be a person or a 4-legged friend. If you don't or can't keep a dog, ask a neighbor if you can walk theirs. The dog will love you for it. Our 2-legged friends are counting on us too. Think of the good conversations you'll have with your friend. If your regular walking buddy is otherwise engaged, call around til you find someone else who's available.

Keep a chart of your walking days. Mark them on your calendar or keep a real walking diary, describing what you saw on each walk. You can write that stuff here if you want. We'd love to hear from you. Once you get a streak going, you'll hate to break it.

Pick up the phone and call someone who will encourage you to get moving. Unless you have a fever, a broken leg, or are in labor, you can walk.

Set the timer for just 10 minutes. Walk around the house until the timer buzzes. How long can 10 minutes be?

What's the benefit of sitting on the sofa? What's the benefit of walking? 'Nuf said.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

OTHER OPTIONS

2011-08-04T05:34:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick recap of ideas for physical activities when it's too hot, wet, cold, or icy to walk outdoors.

Walk at the mall or a large store like Wal-Mart or Home Depot;

Walk in front of your TV to a tape or DVD of Leslie Sansone;

Linedance (find a class. They're everywhere.);

Turn on your favorite one hour TV show and walk around your house during every commercial. After a 60 minutes show, you'll have walked a remarkable 20 minutes;

If it's raining, get a rain slicker or umbrella;

If it's cold, buy and use silk underwear;

If it's windy, use a muffler and extra layers;

If it's icy, don't risk it. Walk in front of your TV.

Got it?

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

PATTY

2011-08-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Patty posted the following comment:
What a perfect time for me to find you. I just re-started walking this past Monday. I have fibromyalgia, so need to do it slowly, but I just came in from a 1 mile walk in 25 minutes. That is pretty slow, but it will get better.
I have already lost 40 pounds, not walking, in the past 2 years, and have 65 more pounds to lose, with walking. It comes off slowly, but I am so out of shape from taking it too easy because of the fibromyalgia, that it is pitiful.
Thank your for this great blog. I am going to start at the beginning of it, and read on through to the now posts.

PATTY IS AN INSPIRATION!

One mile in 25 minutes is a very respectable starting point - and yes, it will get better. Your time will get better as you get better and develop more endurance and re-find all those muscles that are there, still waiting to be tested.

Your weight loss is remarkable, especially if you did it without exercise. But, in my experience, the only way to really keep that weight off is exercise. And, walking is the perfect exercise. With fibromyalgia and other pain-inducing conditions, it's so easy to fall prey to the lure of the sofa, thinking that 'resting up' will make it better. Resting makes some things better, but not chronic ailments like fibromyalgia and arthritis. In fact, using those muscles, joints, and tendons improves them over time. Further, the endorphins that are released during exercise actually dampens the perception of pain that we so often live with.

I encourage anyone who is 'on the fence' (and wouldn't that be an uncomfortable place for someone with a chronic ailment??) about exercise, specifically walking, to at least give it a try for a few weeks.

Taking it slow, as Patty indicates, is the key to building endurance, regaining muscle mass, and the other benefits that accrue over time with an exercise regimen.

If you have read (or will read) my blog entries from the beginning, you'll have learned that even the smallest strides will add up to great benefit. If you start with only 5 steps, that's 5 steps you wouldn't have done otherwise.

In the past few weeks when it's been so extremely hot, on several days I have just stood in front of my TV and boogied for 30-40 minutes. Really! Walking in place, knee lifts, side steps, low kicks, arm lifts, etc. Not hard to do. If you want some ideas, check out some Zumba moves on youtube.com. Don't put yourself through a Zumba workout, though. Just get some ideas of the kinds of things you can do while occupying only a few square feet of floor space.

If I DO NOT do at least 20 minutes of a good workout of some kind, almost always walking or linedancing, every day, I DO NOT sleep well. For a person with fibromyalgia, good sleep is a hard to come by and absolutely necessary for cellular repair overnight. So, without the workout and the resultant good quality sleep, I get into a downward spiral of pain. WITH the exercise, I get better sleep and feel less pain. That's simple for me. A no-brainer. So I move!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WALKING THROUGH THE HEAT WAVE

2011-07-29T22:39:00.002-05:00

Since the entire US seems seized by a heat wave, I'm sure everyone else has had about as much motivation as I've had to walk in this heat - that is to say - not much! Actually, I've been pretty good, but the vet told me quite clearly that the dog, wearing her full length black fur coat, was not allowed to walk more than two miles a day in the heat!

So, to keep the vet happy and the dog healthy, I've left Lizzie at home most days, opting for the mall instead. I've missed the families at the park and keeping track of all the nice things my neighbors are doing with their yards - flowers, mulch, shrubs, mowers. All that fun stuff that I'd never voluntarily do to my own yard!

I've been doing a lot of linedancing too. My 'new' linedance group is really a soul-slide group. Dances are easier and the teacher keeps us moving for the full 90 minutes. That means that on Thursdays, I walk my three miles in the morning and dance for 90 minutes in the evening. Amazingly, this is fun for me. Between those two activities, I actually get to work for 4-5 hours. That makes for a full day.

I never look forward to Fall. It's my least favorite time of year - rainy and allergy-suffering go hand in hand with Fall for me. But, for once, cooler temperatures are looking more appealing. In the meantime, I'm working on my heat tolerance, which is really pretty good so long as I don't have to 'look' respectable. After that outdoor workout, I'm a dripping mess!

A mess that only a dog could love!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

BY THE WAY....

2011-06-17T05:41:00.000-05:00

Don't give up. Please don't give up if you do not instantly 'take' to walking as a fun activity. Don't expect instant results, instant toning, instant fun. It takes time - like most great things.

So, start slow, move along steadily, increase your activity level or your time walking every week, post your start date on your calendar so you can look back on that and see how long you've been moving.

There's the idea of the Success Chain that can be quite motivating. Every day you walk, put a small X on your calendar. Every day. Even if you miss a day or two, don't worry. Just put those X's down when you walk. At the end of a month, see how many X's you've posted. You're winning if there are at least THREE X's each week. Four is better, Five is Fantastic. More than that is fine - just means you've really gotten with the program. You probably even look forward to your walk(s). I do.

But, it was not always so. In the beginning - about 13 years ago - it took some mental gymnastics to get my derriere out the door many days. But, I did it because, as you may recall, I had to give up racquetball and I needed some sort of physical outlet. I took up walking because my mom and one of my best friends were regular walkers. They set fantastic examples for me.

My mom is now 89 and still walks at least one mile every day. She'd walk more except she can't walk very fast as she has lost most of her vision and can't see well enough to walk confidently which slows her down. But, she does it! Almost every day! I'm really proud of her - and glad that I have such a good role model.

Let me be that for you. I LOVE my walks. I look forward to them. I've set myself up for success. I have a 14 year long Success Chain - and that's something I could not have predicted. Now, I know that I'll have 14 or more years to add to my Success Chain. Good walking buddies (and you know who you are out there) are part of my success and a great deal of the reason that I look forward to my walks.

So, get a friend, make a friend, adopt a friend (the 4 legged kind) and get walking!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

ANOTHER 'NEWSFLASH' - BUT NOT FOR US!

2011-06-14T05:39:00.000-05:00

Dateline, Thursday, June 9, 2011

"Walking is a very underrated exercise, health expert says" is the headline of an article written by Ellen Warren of the Chicago Tribune appearing in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Really! Haven't I been telling you that all along? Now, do you believe me?

Of course, if it appears in print, it must be true.

Well, in this case - it is!

Here are the tips for 'Getting Off The Couch'

* start with a slow walk, just a few minutes a day;
* increase time gradually;
* then walk faster;
* make a game out of it by spotting an object and speeding toward it;
* let breathing return to normal then speed up again.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll have read at least one article highlighting each bullet except maybe the make a game out of it part. But, it's all a game. Think how we played games as children - tag, capture the flag, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, hopscotch, baseball, softball, Red Rover, etc. They ALL involve walking/running/moving.

That's why most of us were slim as kids. Not everyone - but most of us. Now, kids play video games instead of these healthier outdoor alternatives. Sad. Oh, don't get me started on the serotonin part of the equation.

So, take my advice or take it from the newspaper - get walking! It needn't be competitive, but if that makes it more fun for you, then do it! A direct quote from the article states "Going faster will make you feel even better..." I agree. But, even a casual stroll beats sitting through another episode of Cops!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

ROAD TRIP!!

2011-06-11T17:50:00.000-05:00

One day this month, a friend and I are taking a road trip to Carlinville and Auburn, Illinois. We'll sleep late, hit the road, eat, see the 1.4 miles of the original Route 66 in Auburn, eat, tour the 12 blocks of Sears & Roebuck mail order homes that survive in Carlinville, eat, the head home.

Did I say we have plans to eat at a few historical sites along the old Route 66?

What does this have to do with walking? Well, at some point, I'll have to get out and stretch my legs. This particular friend is also one of my regular walking buddies. We'll find a park or trail some where along the route and get in at least an hour.

Then, we'll probably have ice cream.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

HOT, HOTTER .....HOTTEST??

2011-06-07T23:45:00.002-05:00

The weather reporter on TV said that yesterday or the day before had a temperature that registered the highest since 1911. Really?? It didn't feel that way when I was out walking in it.

While my four-legged walking partner has yet to become acclimated to Summer, I'm doing pretty well. I was delayed in my regular walking time, which has morphed to about 4 PM many days. So, it's pretty hot by then, with the earth still retaining the midday heat. Not to mention the humidity. St. Louis is long on humidity.

But, yesterday, on that record-breaking hot day, it didn't seem that hot to me. There was a bit of a breeze at the park where we walked and we did a couple miles in our usual time. We bailed after two hours because Lizzie (the 4-legger) was clearly nearing her tolerance level. And, we were the only people at the park! Everyone was at the pool. Who could blame them? But, kinda hard to walk the dog in the pool with all those screaming kiddies - and, well, the water.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

FALLING INTO SUMMER

2011-05-18T22:04:00.002-05:00

As my mother says, in St. Louis, there are only two seasons - winter and road construction! Sadly, she's mostly right. This year, we've had a bad winter - then some summer - then some fall - then more summer - now we have Spring. All in a matter of weeks. Amidst the tornadoes and torrential rain, there have been days of amazing beauty, sunny and inviting. I've walked through most of it - albeit at the mall.

I have another linedancing crew, this time on Thursday evenings. This group calls their dances 'slides' and it's mostly soul music. Easier than the group I had been going to and a better work out as the teacher keeps us moving for the full 90 minutes. No complaints about that!

As Kathy has commented, this Spring - if we dare call it such - has been especially bad for allergies. Walking has a very positive effect on the immune system and keeps most of the bad allergic reactions at bay for me. When I don't walk, I invite my immune system to be lazy and stop protecting me from all that dreadful pollen.

So, tomorrow (a Thursday), I walk with my friend Sally in the morning for about 3 miles then dance for 90 minutes from 6-7:30 PM. Whew! That's a fun day for me. Makes for a good night's sleep.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

A CRAZY MONTH

2011-04-04T17:32:00.002-05:00

It's been almost a month since I posted here! I've thought about posting several times over that month, but no follow through, obviously. But, I have been walking - the days when I haven't been sick. Spring (such as it has been in St. Louis) has been hard on asthmatics this year and I've fallen prey to its harshness. But, I'm back on the trail for good - Gosh, I hope! Fingers crossed.

Since it's so windy outside today, I'm walking inside. Not risking another weather induced asthma attack. I've also been able to keep up with most of my dance schedule. I've found a new place to dance that is FUN, FUN, FUN! The dances are easier and for the entire 90 minutes, we only take a brief break, so it's a great aerobic workout too!

There are several local parks that have been written about in the newspaper that I want to walk. I've also checked some of the local info available at geocaching.com to discover other areas that might appeal to me. There's a fairly new park near my house, but no paved walking trails. Rats!

So, what have YOU been doing to keep up with your exercise? Walking, Ihope.

I'll be posting some more soon.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

IT'S TRYING TO BE SPRING

2011-03-08T22:54:00.003-06:00

I am not fond of winter, cold, short days, etc. Even less fond of those runs of gray days that we get. I would never survive in the Pacific Northwest where it's stunningly beautiful 20 days a year and overcast the other 345 days. I'd be depressed - even if I walked every day, I think.

Despite the gray days and the wind (which triggers my asthma), I've braved the elements most days to hit the pavement. My 4-legged walking companion certainly appreciates it.

This evening, I didn't get out - too much rain. But, I did 25 minutes on the stationary bike during Wheel of Fortune. Doesn't improve my game - but overall, as we've read, it will improve my brain power.

So, I'm definitely looking forward to leaving the mall walks behind for some time and getting outside more. My dance classes were even cancelled last week! That's just not fair! But, back on track this week despite the fact that I'm working full time this week.

So, if I can do it, so can YOU! Hope you do!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

A DOSE OF HCG FOR YOU?

2011-02-13T23:55:00.000-06:00

Have you heard about the latest diet program? It's HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), a hormone naturally produced by pregnant women. It's also commonly used as a treatment for infertility.

Apparently, one puts drops of the HCG on their food each day, follow the prescribed diet (low fat), and drop pounds quickly. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Here's the kicker. The prescribed diet is 500 calories a day. There is no one on the planet who will not lose weight on 500 calories a day. No One. Not one person (except, I suppose for the famine victim somewhere for whom 500 calories a day might be an increase in food intake.).

I can't knock this too badly because I haven't tried it. But, I have a brain and I know that it's not the HCG that's causing the weight loss. It's the severe calorie restriction.

If the HCG program motivates a person to strive for a healthier weight, that's all good. I hope that those who participate in the HCG program will consider adding aerobic exercise like walking to their daily routine since the 500 calorie diet cannot be maintained throughout one's life and it's unlikely that it's a good idea to take the HCG every day for the rest of one's life. But, you can walk every day, one way or the other.

That will lead you to a healthier life if you never lose a pound. But, good luck with that.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

OLD BRAINS?

2011-02-11T05:41:00.000-06:00

How old is your brain? Would you like it to be younger? Well, who wouldn't??

According to an article published in the February 3, 2011 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a study of 120 people between the ages of 55 and 80 were divided into two groups, one who walked on a flat track three times a week for 40 minutes each time. The other group began and stretching and weights program.

Before, at the half way point, and after the exercise regimens began, the participants gave blood samples, performed spatial memory exercises, and were given brain MRI.

The walkers demonstrated a 2.12 percent increase in the size of the hippocampus, a part of the brain where memories are stored. The other group demonstrated a 1.4 percent decrease in the size of the hippocampus.

So, for all my friends out there who are lifting and trying to get me to go to the gym, I'll walk instead. In fact, I might actually remember where I'm walking while the lifters (and stretchers) might not recall how to get to the gym. (I really do hope that is not the case!)

One more reason to put on your shoes and get walking!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

SLIP SLIDIN'

2011-02-08T05:33:00.000-06:00

The weather in St. Louis has been cold and dangerous the past weeks. Some say it's the worst weather since 1982. In 1982, I had only one child, played racquetball every day, and had no idea that I'd ever need a knee replacement, have three kids, or care if the sidewalks were safe. Really!

But, three kids, two knee replacements, and many years later, racquetball has given way (begrudgingly) to walking and I feel completely justified in complaining about crummy St. Louis weather that keeps me hunkered down at home, unable to get to work or to the mall to walk or to the studio to dance.

Yesterday was the worst. Nothing was open. My husband and I stayed home together all day, unable to even agree on a household project to work on because we needed this or that from this place or that place to forge on. Those places required driving.

I took the opportunity of a snow day to call an old friend I knew would also be hunkered down with her two kids as she's a teacher and it was a snow day. She and I talked for about an hour, catching up on her tots and my grown kids. While I was chatting, I moved away from the room occupied by my husband so he could continue to heed the TV's endless warnings and 'breaking news' of bad weather. Really? Look out the window, dude.

I moved to another room which happened to contain my recumbent bike. After a few more minutes of chatting, I climbed on the bike and started to pedal (I wish away, but, no, just pedal). By the time our phone catch-up had concluded, I had ridden for a half hour!

So much for bad weather keeping me from my goal. It was really effortless. Just talk, listen, and pedal. I'll live to walk another day......

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

NEED MORE "PROOF"?

2011-02-05T05:27:00.000-06:00

Should you need more 'proof' that walking is good for you, here's a quote from the February 7, 2011 issue of Time Magazine:
"20% = Percentage improvement in mobility among older obese adults who walked and lost weight"

So, you're not obese? Not older? Don't want to lose weight? Don't want to think about it?

Don't do it, then. But, if you are a human of any age, weight, and condition, walking may well improve your mobility by 20%.

Worth a try? Not much to lose. Go for it!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

THE HARDEST PART OF A WALK

2011-02-01T05:57:00.001-06:00

I've just finished a fluffy little book by Claire Cook called The Wildwater Walking Club. It was fun to listen to while driving my normal route to and from work. I think it was just 7 CD's so not a Russian novel.

The story is about a woman who has just been fired from her executive job at an athletic shoe company (like Nike) and dumped by her boyfriend. She doesn't know her neighbors, is experiencing middle-aged spread, and is generally miserable. With her little silver parachute comes the income to spend her days on the sofa, wallowing in her pity. After a few days, she decides to go see if her employee badge will still get her a discount at the company shoe store. It does, so she buys all the walking shoes in her size, is given a free pedometer and begins her walking journey. Along the way, she picks up two neighbors and a new attitude. She and her friends find the pedometer to be inspirational and come up with good ways to motivate themselves. I'll save the details for your reading pleasure.

At one point later in the book, the writer inserts this tiny but huge phrase. "The hardest part of any walk is putting on the shoes." I know, I know. We've all heard that the journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step. Yes, it does. But, you can't take that step in your bare feet can you? So, every day when you get dressed, put on some comfortable shoes that will take you on your daily walk - however long that is. No excuses!

Note: I carry a pair of walking shoes and good socks in my car with me every day. I don't have to rely on those shoes very well. I'll warn you that they age poorly. The soles become hardened and slick before you know it. So, now, every time I put on a new pair of shoes, I put the most recent old ones in my car and change them out regularly.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

CAN'T CATCH UP?

2011-01-29T11:50:00.002-06:00

I'm going to paraphrase a question and answer in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on January 29, 2011 from the Dr. Donohue column.

Dear Doc,
My husband wants me to walk with him but I can't keep up. He walks too fast and he says I walk too slowly for my walk to be beneficial.

Answer,
No such thing as too slow. Any walk is beneficial. But, here are some ways for you to improve your speed. Do these before you attempt to walk with hubby again and you'll likely outwalk him!

His suggestion? Interval training. I've written about that before. Those are brief sprints of exercise (in our case walking) during the course of one's regular routine. So, you could start off by picking up your speed and your elbows going between two driveways, doorstops, trees, cars, whatever along your regular walking route. Resume your regular pace between these intervals of sprinting. The interval can start for a duration of a few seconds and work up to intervals as long as 5 or 10 minutes. Eventually, your 'vigorous' cycle should be as long as your more relaxed cycle. "That might take you a year or more."

No one begins any sort of exercise regimen or routine at the top of the game. We all must begin slowly (or for short walks) before we are gradually able to increase both the intensity and duration of the walk. Interval training will make a nice addition to your walk and will also give you a bit more variety to avoid boredom. Try it!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

HERE'S SOME GOOD INFO

2011-01-16T05:53:00.000-06:00

Here's a good article you might like to read. Lots of ads there - but if you click on all ten pages of the article, you'll get some good pointers:

http://walking.about.com/cs/beginners/a/10mistakes1.htm

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WALKING ALONG

2011-01-14T17:44:00.002-06:00

This week, it's been just too cold and the path has been to icy to safely walk outside. My poor dog has suffered from lack of exercise. She so loves her walks with me - or anyone who'll take her.

Instead of walking outside, I've walked at the mall several days, danced twice, ridden my stationary bike once, and am trying to get motivated to do that again this evening.

I have discovered that if I come home from work and sit down, I'm much more likely to remain seated or at least unenergetic. What's that about a body in motion tending to remain in motion while a body at rest tends to remain at rest? That's the thing. So, I try to come home, get my few chores done (oh, there are lots of chores, but I only do a few!), change my shoes (and clothing if necessary) and hit the trail. Unless I head out then - or at least have a plan with another human being that I'm committed to, I won't do it. I'm not very good at making plans or deals with myself.

BTW if anyone out there has any ideas for other easy to pull-off, inexpensive, and accessible physical activities, please share. I discovered I have another friend who lives in my neighborhood who doesn't work on Fridays........ She'll start receiving calls to walk from me once the weather allos.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

TOO COLD FOR COMFORT

2011-01-10T05:39:00.000-06:00

It has been excruciatingly cold and windy around here for the past week or so. I've stayed inside to walk! I'm actually growing tired of the malls - but better to walk there than not at all.

I don't mind walking in the cold, but this cold is very cutting. Blows right through my layers, even with my silk long johns, and chaps my skin. I use sunscreen even in the winter if there's sun. Often there's not.

Last week, I even walked in the misty rain when it was so gray outside that everything looked one color. The whole world was a drab, gray-brown mess punctuated by the occasional cheerful Christmas light. At least my dog enjoyed that weather.

So, back to Leslie Sansone, Richard Simmons, the malls and my stationary bike. I got to dance this evening - even after walking my 3 miles at the mall this morning. So, I can get happy, crazy-sweaty happy, even if the weather doesn't cooperate.

Looking like it'll be snowing this week. Oh well. I'll find a way to get my workout in no matter what! What about you??

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

REMEMBER WALKING??

2011-01-07T05:27:00.000-06:00

According to a recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, walking six to nine miles a week may prevent memory loss. The more participants walked, the more gray matter they retained and the less brain shrinkage occurred, resulting in who walked the most having half the risk of memory loss of those who didn't walk.

This is important stuff - and easy to do. Nine miles a week means a daily walk of less than 1.5 miles. That's less than 45 minutes a day for most of us. For someone like me whose goal is 3 miles a day, 6 days a week, I can attain the memory retention goal of 9 miles per week in 3 days of walking. I don't always make it the full 3 miles. But, at 2 miles a day, I can still get in that 9 miles each week. I often walk 7 days a week so the 9 mile line is definitely attainable.

The reason for this connection between size of the brain, memory retention, and walking is this: exercise increases the amount of blood going to the brain which seems to distribute important brain nutrients. That sounds straightforward enough for me.

So, I off the computer and off for a walk!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

THE LIZZZARD MADE ME DO IT!

2011-01-05T05:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a fairly nice day. Sunny but with ice and snow still on the ground. I ducked out of work a bit early and called Kathy who was available for a walk. As I was putting on my silk long johns and lacing up my shoes, my sweet dog, another avid walker, was eyeing me expectantly. However, the site Kathy and I chose to walk, because of the likelihood of an ice-free surface, is a dog-free zone. So, doggie did not get to walk with us.

But today, despite my being smart enough to know when to come in from the rain, I laced up my shoes, grabbed her leash and took the Lizzard for a walk. She was ecstatic! I drove us to the nearest park where our 1/3 mile track awaited us. I fully expected no other walking fools to be there, but a jogger accompanied by his small, black dog lapped us repeatedly.

Lizzie (AKA the Lizzard) is a flat coated retriever (sometimes, interestingly referred to as a curly coated retriever), bred for the cold marshes where quail hunters seek their prey. Lizzie loves this cold, wet weather. She will actually curl up and sleep on a pile of ice or snow and joys in rain, warm or cold. After her initial 'shake' upon coming indoors, we have to wait only a few minutes til she is completely dry. She's even allowed herself to become completely ice-coated, looking like a skinny black porcupine! In no time, she's dry and warm. Wish I had some of those genes!

So, this drab, drizzly, cold day seemed a perfect walking day to Lizzie. She took me along. If I didn't have her in the family, I'd have stayed inside today. Adding this to my Gratitude List...

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

HAVE YOU DECIDED YOU'RE WORTH IT?

2011-01-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

Quite a while back, I wrote an article entitled "Are You Worth It?". Here's the rerun for you. Skip down below it for some updated info:

Okay, you have kids, a house, a job, a husband, not a husband, not a house, money problems, spouse problems, health problems. In short, you're busy! Who isn't? But, who has time for that 10-30 minutes a day to walk. You do!! You're worth it!

How do you get those 30 minutes? You grab them from the rest of your life. You make yourself a priority in your own life. You put EVERYONE and everything else on hold for your walking time. Trust me when I tell you that everyone around you will get used to it. Plus, they'll like the new you who returns from your walk. You've gotten an immediate attitude adjustment (by walking), have more energy to meet the other needs of your day, and it only took a few minutes.

Should you get up a half hour early to fit in your walk? Probably not as you're probably already sleep deprived if you have the aforementioned kids, house, job, etc. I'm not a morning person, so an early morning walk would be torture for me. Late morning works in my schedule on week days and weekends allow more flexibility.

If YOU are not important enough in your own life to give yourself 10-30 minutes a day, who is? Use your lunch time to walk. You can walk indoors or outdoors because the same rules apply. All you need is the shoes and the minutes. Walking in place works fine. Walking outside is even better.

Before you KNOW it, family members, co-workers, and everyone else in your life will simply accept that you are walking right now. Everything else will wait.

Here's a quick story. My grandmother hated being a housewife and being indoors. She would use any excuse to ditch the housework and work or play outside. When I was a child, I spent summers with her in rural Arkansas where my grandfather owned a large country general store where all the family members worked. My Mamaw cooked dinner (lunch as opposed to the evening meal, supper) for all the family and whoever else was there. In the summers, that was 10-12 people at the dinner table 6 days a week. She began cooking early in the morning and quit only when As The World Turns came on TV (some of my earliest memories and I still watch it!). After dinner, she would often get a phone call from someone (who only had to feed 1 or 2 people their dinner) who would want her to go pick berries or fish. We would stop IN THE MIDDLE OF WASHING DISHES or whatever we were doing and head out to the fun activity outdoors. Mamaw would say, we can leave the work because NO ONE WILL DO IT WHILE WE'RE GONE. IT'LL BE HERE WHEN WE GET BACK. To this day, I remember her words and her attitude - and I remember picking berries in the woods and fishing in the canal as some of my fondest recollections. So - take my Mamaw's attitude for your own. No one will do your housework in your absence. It'll still be there. It'll keep while you get in your walk, especially if you have a buddy who's available to walk RIGHT THEN. Go for it!! Keep it up. You're worth it. And your family and co-workers will like the new you (who returns to work with the proper AA).

___
Did that article convince you to place your needs for exercise and good health above all the 'noise' in your life?

I have several regular walking buddies. We strive every week to keep our scheduled walking dates. One friend Sally said it succinctly. I'll paraphrase. If you don't make the walk or workout a priority, it won't happen. If you allow other work, appointments, chores to mess with your scheduled walk, the walk won't happen. So, if you have a regularly scheduled walk (or other exercise), don't let other things interfere. The more consistent you are, the fewer interferences you'll experience. Those around you will learn that you'll get around to their request - shopping, a movie, chores - later. But, first you have to honor your commitment to yourself. Write your walking dates on your calendar right along with the carpools, grocery trips, soccer games, and doctor's appointments.

Go for that walk! Make it matter! Put yourself first so you'll be in good enough condition and in the right frame of mind to take care of all the other stuff you have to do in your life.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW WAY, A NEW YOU

2011-01-01T04:55:00.000-06:00

In December, 2008 - two years ago - I wrote this blog article: (Please scroll down to my NEW article)

Are you confined to your bed or mobile only on your scooter or a wheel chair? Don't give up.

Why are you confined? Is it mostly because of weight? Does it hurt you to walk? Are you unable to transfer yourself from bed to scooter?

If these are true for you, consult your physician and ask if you can stand for a few minutes each day. Unless you have an ailment that will be made worse by weightbearing (like a broken ankle), you'll be allowed to stand for a few minutes each day. This counts as a walk.

Get yourself positioned so that if you MUST sit down and can't remain standing for your 90 seconds, you can ease yourself down. Falling is not allowed!!!!! Standing is the first component to walking. Can't walk if you can't stand. Can't run if you can't walk. First things first. Work on that standing.

WHAT IF IT HURTS? Guess what! It's gonna hurt anyway, so why not put up with the minutes of pain to regain your mobility. It can be done. It has been done. YOU CAN DO IT.

Stand, walk, walk faster, walk longer. Do what you can. No one is judging you or tracking your progress unless you post on this site and want to keep track. Tracking is a good tool - but is not required. It's just a tool. Mobility is YOUR goal. Walking will come.

REMEMBER - it's about feeling better. I'm not here to judge or poke. Just to encourage and remind you WHAT IS POSSIBLE. Probable is up to YOU.

_____

This article of mine came to mind the other day when I was talking to my sister in law, G. G is a dedicated walker. She has been walking for years and walks aggressively every single day. Lately, she has been greatly hampered by disabling plantar fasciitis. She has done everything several doctors have suggested, including discontinuing her walking and exercising. She has gained a lot of weight and feels rotten. I feel rotten for her. She feels that she is wasting time just sitting around when she could/should be doing a lot more. That part is not for me to say. No judgment here.

Walking isn't just for the miles we walk. For all of us, it's for our mental/emotional well-being. We all call it our 'therapy'. For many of us, it's also a requirement for maintaining a healthy weight and control of things like blood pressure and blood glucose levels. For G, it's all of these. She feels disabled. She misses walking with her sister and she misses the state of wellness she had come to take for granted.

I had suggested that she visit an accupuncturist who had given me relief from a different pain but who had successfully treated two friends for plantar fasciitis. If you're not familiar with plantar fasciitis, you're really lucky. It's a very painful condition that typically affects the heel area and is worse in the morning upon arising. There's not really much that helps it, although wearing a splint that lengthens the heel tendons during sleep and anti inflammatory medications work for some people as do hot and cold soaks and massage. But, no guarantee of decreasing the pain. For a fortunate few, the condition fades away. For others, it's a life long issue.

When I was talking to G. on the phone the other day, it occurred to me to suggest that, it's gonna hurt anyway, so take some pain killers and get back to walking. She has an appointment scheduled with the accupuncturist, but she's miserable NOW. She wants to walk NOW. I don't know if you can make the condition worse by continuing to walk, but you can certainly make other conditions better by walking.

G. has decided to stay off her feet (a relative term for a woman who is expecting 25 people for a meal on New Year's Day!) and wait to see if the accupuncture will give her any relief. If not, she'll bit the bullet and go back to a walking regimen, using pain medication if necessary.

I know G. She's been my SIL for 40 years! She is a determined woman and I believe she'll do whatever it takes to get her life back. For her, that means walking to maintain her physical health and walking to maintain her emotional health. She's like a person in the article from 2008. She must stand first. That means maybe taking it slow for a while, taking pain meds, and giving herself a break. She'll do it! What about you? Who will you be in 2011 - a walker or a sitter?

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

SNOW TIME

2010-12-30T04:40:00.000-06:00

Reflections from Christmas Eve, 2010.

I don't know about you, but I love to walk in the snow - so long as there's no ice under it, so long as I'm bundled up nice and warm, and so long as I don't have to look presentable at the end of my walk.

It's been snowing in St. Louis all day. All day! That seldom happens here. It began sometime before I arose this morning. By the time I had to drive to a meeting at 9 AM, there was about 3 inches on my car. By now, 12 hours later, there is twice that outside and more on the way. It's not windy, not particularly cold, and I'm tempted to put on my boots, hook up Lizzie's leash, and hit the street, but....

I can't walk out in this stuff because my sweet husband is home and he pretty much forbids it. Now, he's not one to forbid me much. Good Luck with that. Forbidding me is almost a guarantee of what psychologists now call Oppositional Defiant behavior. In this case, I do respect him enough to not want him to worry about me.

So, despite the dizzying Christmas rush at the mall, I met a friend there and we walked. She really needed a walk as her work week has been Hellish. I just needed to get my derriere in gear. There are quite a few malls in the St. Louis area. Kathy G. mentioned one that is no longer a true retail mall (Crestwood Court formerly Crestwood Mall). Most store fronts have been given over to theater companies, art studios, and, lucky for me, the dance studio (Studio 41) where I dance. The other mall where there are seldom enough shoppers to be daunting is the upscale Plaza Frontenac. This mall has the added bonus of underground, heated parking AND wooden floors.

You might ask why I don't walk at Plaza Frontenac more often. It's location is not perfect for my friends and it's small enough to become totally boring by the time we've walked the first half hour. Feels like I imagine that hamster in a cage on that Ferris Wheel type thing. I hate hamsters and those Ferris Wheel things look really boring to me. Plus, the window shopping is limited to designer garments, expensive jewelry, and other posh home furnishings and accessories. Not my style.

But, walking at the mall beats not walking at all. Steph and I walked and talked for an hour. We both finished the walk in a better state mentally than we began it - as is usually the case. Take care of yourself and find a safe place to walk. It's an investment in yourself - and YOU'RE WORTH IT !

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

I JUST CAN'T FOLLOW THE GAME

2010-12-28T05:56:00.002-06:00

I've tried learning those dance steps on Sweating to the Oldies. I've tried to learn the routines in Zumba. I've tried remembering the dance steps in Dance Aerobics. I'm hopeless.

Okay, I linedance. You know that because I've written it here. So, you might ask, what's the difference. At my linedance class, I have a teacher. A very patient teacher. He cheerfully goes over the dance steps 287 times til I get them right. Then he turns on the music. Fortunately, it's not just ME who needs all those rehearsals.

So, why do I put the Sweating to the Oldies in my VCR (my ancient VCR) anyway? Well, just because Richard Simmons moves right doesn't mean I can't move left. He can't see me! No one sees me - unless you count the dog who is still trying to figure this out.

The beat is there. The encouragement is coming from Richard's mouth. I can groove to the beat, swing my arms, push my tush, step right and left, do knee lifts and side steps all I want even if the folks on the screen are gracefully following Richard to a T.

I still get the workout. I still get to sweat. I still feel great when I finish the workout. You can too. Don't worry about getting it right. Just do it the best you can. Do it for 20 minutes if you can. If not, just do what you can. You'll feel better, too.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WHEN YOU REALLY CAN'T

2010-12-26T05:56:00.000-06:00

There are just some days when getting in a walk just isn't possible. Whatever the reason, there's no time, and you just want to collapse after a day at the office, or chasing after kids, or cleaning house, or running errands, or just cuz.

Plan ahead a bit on such days. Try to speed up your walk from car to grocery store. Walk faster down that hall at work. Climb the stairs rather than take the elevator. Offer to run an errand for the boss or push the wheelchair for a patient. Help a kid pick up the twenty things you want picked up before the timer goes off. Set a 9 minute timer rather than a 10 minute one to motivate you to scrub the shower.

You get the idea. Whatever physical activity you have to do, push a little. Do it a little faster, a little harder, a little more energetically.

Such effort adds up. AND, don't forget. After you've collapsed for the day, you still have to get up to get a drink or hit the bathroom. So, stay upright and walk around your house the entire time the commercials are on. Time it if you don't believe me. There are at least 20 minutes of commercials in most 60 minute TV programs. If you walk for ONLY that 20 minutes, you've given yourself a healthy edge.

Then, sit, read your book, pet the dog, have a snack. You've gotten a bit of a workout in - and some days, that's good enough.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

A CHRISTMAS STROLL

2010-12-24T07:14:00.002-06:00

Christmas and New Year's are upon us. Weather may be rotten where you are. Schedules may be busy. The to-do list may increase exponentially. The cooking and cleaning may overwhelm you. Expectations will NEVER be met 100%. Just not a possibility.

What's a person to do?

Go for a stroll. Not a walk. Just a stroll. After your large holiday meal, grab the hand of the kid closest to you and ask him/her to go for a stroll with you. The dishes will wait. Remember, no one will do your work while you're gone. Have no fear. It'll all still be there when you get back to it. So, do something relaxing as a treat. Stroll.

Taking an easy stroll after a large meal is good for you. It makes room for dessert more quickly, after all. And who doesn't want that?! It's also a time to bond. Maybe with your husband. Maybe with your grandchild. Maybe with that sister in law you don't really like very much. There is not much that can't be improved by taking a stroll.

Make it at dusk or just after. Marvel at all the pretty lights. Breathe in the crisp, cold air. Be grateful that you are alive and able to walk. Think of all the things to be grateful for. Most of us could easily rattle off ten things we're grateful for. So, bypass that list (which includes the good health of your family members and the roof over your head) - not because you shouldn't be grateful for them, but because we're ALL grateful for such gifts and we need to be grateful for them EVERY day. But, on this holiday - whatever holiday you celebrate or whenever your family gathers - find TEN MORE things to be grateful for. Think about them on your stroll. Tell your SIL that you're grateful for her presence. It won't hurt anything if it's not the absolute truth and you'll probably shock her (in a good way).

Later, once the house is quiet and the dirty dishes have been tended to, WRITE down your gratitude list. Write down TEN THINGS you're grateful for TODAY. Write down those ten and stash your list somewhere you can get to it in a couple of days, weeks, or months. You'll need it more then than now.

What are you grateful for now? Here are some that come to my mind (after the health of my family, etc):
that I can walk despite my hip pain
that I have a job to go to and work that's important
that my dog is such a great walking companion
that my husband likes the very imperfect hat I crocheted for him
that I found enough bags and crepe paper to handle all my presents
that my house looks great with its new siding and gutters
that my mom and MIL are still alive and healthy (okay, they're 88 so I can double dip here)
that my younger son has found his 'calling' in law school
that I can afford a mani-pedi if I really want one
that it wasn't me who fell yesterday and broke an ankle (altho' it was a friend and I'm sorry for him and you call me self-centered if you want)
that no winter storm has deprived my house of electricity (thus warmth and hot water)
that I have enough matching dishes to feed the whole clan
that I was introduced to the idea of a Gratitude List 13 years ago
and, finally, just for me - THIS HOLIDAY IS OVER!! (call me a Scrooge. I admit it!)

What's on your list?

When you're having a bad day. Pull out the list you made this holiday and read it. Guaranteed to improve your mood. Gratitude is right up there with walking for making any day better.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

A MALL HAZARD

2010-12-22T07:02:00.002-06:00

One might think, based on my previous articles about mall walking, that I find shopping to be a potential hazard. I'm really NOT a shopper, so that's not often a problem for me.

What is a hazard at the mall? Those darn food courts, Cinnabon's permeating aroma, and the See's sample basket in the weeks before Christmas. Those things can derail the best laid diet plans!

Not that I follow a diet. I do not. This ain't about dieting. If I talk about a diet, it's typically referring to money. I go on money diets all the time. Probably 3 - 4 times a year, I feel the need to realign the budget and go on a money diet. That's a whole different blog.

But, I doubt there is anyone who is not tempted by those freshly baked cinnamon rolls, the sizzle of the wok in the food court, or the insidious call of chocolate when the See's salesperson holds out the sample basket. I'll have a mint crisp, thank you.

Here's my trick. I chew gum the whole time I'm walking. So, when I get that sample, I hold onto it until my walk is concluding. Then, I ditch the gum and have the little treat from See's. BTW, See's lollipops are great. One lollipop will last about an hour's walk. Really!

So, don't worry about being overrun by a triplet stroller or sideswiped by a Hoveround or not being able to balance the bank account at the end of the month. Worry about the smells from the food vendors and the allure of foil wrapped candy. Much more hazardous.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

THE CALL OF THE MALL

2010-12-20T06:36:00.002-06:00

Pre-Christmas is a tough time to be a mall-walker. It might be better if I was one of those early birds for whom the malls open their doors at 5 AM. But, I'm not. Ten AM is a much more pleasant time for me to walk - crowds or not.

You can learn a lot by walking at the mall. You learn what styles are in fashion by looking at all those mannequins in the windows. You find out what toys are hot. You can see how many different phones are being marketed. And, inevitably, you'll discover that there are more shoe fashions that are incompatible with life as you know it than at any time in human history.

I am a huge fan of Carlos Santana. Wish he would stick to the guitar. Jessica Simpson should keep her mind on her Daisy Dukes. Coach should figure a way to share some of their huge asking price with those folks in the sweatshops OR lower their prices. And, Steve Madden, well, he should just get some better designers.

What about cosmetics? Want to know what's 'in'? Walk the mall. High-tech devices? Learn all about them at the mall. You'll also discover that the mall is the new park on rainy days. Every SAHM has her stroller and kids at the mall. There's even a little play area for the tots at most malls. Nothing wrong with that.

But, in those weeks before Christmas, EVERYONE and her grandma is at the mall. They make it a bit difficult for us walkers. I mean, who needs their priorities realigned? What are all those nice long halls designed for? Everyone at the mall must walk (unless in a wheelchair or scooter). Shopping is just a necessary impediment to all the walking that needs to go on there.

So, I say. Stop shopping and get walking! Actually, if you don't want to ruin your budget, leave your purse, credit card, and checkbook in the trunk and just walk. I used to be tempted to pull out my credit card (in the days before debit cards) when I'd see something enticing in those mall windows. Now, I'm just a walker and do little in the way of window shopping. I know I'll be at the mall at least once a week in the very cold and the very hot seasons, so if I need something there, I can take advantage of my walking addiction and take my debit card with me for the occasion.

So, no excuses. Get walking. If you can drive, you can get to the mall. Also, note that Home Depot even allows you to bring your dog into the store with you. And, I swear, there are seventeen miles of concrete walkways in every hardware store. Way more than at the mall. I'm just saying......

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

THE WALKING WOUNDED??

2010-12-17T06:13:00.000-06:00

Months ago, I wrote that I was enjoying Zumba. I loved the rhythm, the beat, and the movements. The harder the work out the better for me. Not so for my hip. I dropped my twice weekly Zumba class with sadness. But, I continued my linedancing at the same studio.

Weeks went by and the hip got worse not better. So, off to my Favorite Orthopedist I went. I pointed to the two spots that hurt, he took a picture, looked, filled a syringe with the marvelous elixir that removes all joint pain (if you're lucky), and stuck me. He said that this fixes the problem 80% of the time. " If it's not better in a few days, come back and see me. " His actual words. He spoke those words. I heard them.

Days go by. One of the painful parts of my hip is CURED. Glory be! ONE of the sites. Not the other. It got worse. I was in denial. Continued to walk and dance and pop the Tramadol.

Finally, I went to see my Favorite Orthopedist again with my sad tale. An MRI was ordered. An MRI was read. No hip arthritis - this is a good thing! But, there is a tear in the Gluteus Minimus. The where??? Who knew we have three (count them, THREE) butt muscles that come off the hip (maximum, medialus, and minimus)? Who cares? Only someone who has a tear in one and swelling in another.

Why? I asked. How? I asked. No one ever knows. He said. It'll get better. He said. Don't worry. He said. Easy for him to say.... Then! We figured it out. Remember that little device I told you I had purchased on ebay?

This is the culprit. Know how many times I used it? Wanna know? TWICE! This inexpensive device from an earlier (low tech) era has now cost me over $600 and any amount of pain.

But, will I be defeated? NO! I'm still walking (well, read my recent post). I have taken a break from dancing for the month of December, hoping that this brief respite will aid in healing. There is a surgical repair option - but not for me unless it gets lots worse. There is also an option of another of those miraculous injections - but they don't assist in healing and could actually mask pain caused by worsening the tear.

So, I'm laying back. Sticking to walking alone. Anyone want this little device? No, I won't sell it to you or give it to you (or charity). I'm destroying the darn thing. No one needs any help getting injured. Even those of us who are not 'jocks' can get injured by exercise. In the future, I'm sticking to my walking, dancing when I can get back to it, and my stationary bike.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

LESLIE, RICHARD, AND ME

2010-12-15T18:07:00.003-06:00

It's been terrifically cold in St. Louis this past week. And, the weather has been so bad that I've been 'under it'. Last Thursday night, while I was minding my own business, I was stricken by some ailment that left me on the sofa for 4 days and with no appetite for 6 days. I lost almost 10 lbs! Better now, but tomorrow will be ONE FULL week since I've gone for a walk.

What have I been doing in the meantime? Well, Leslie, Richard, and I have been hanging out. That's Leslie Sansone (Walking Off The Pounds) and Richard Simmons (well, you know who he is!). Yesterday was the first time I felt I could go for a walk of a mile or so, but the weather was just too cold once I returned home from work. So, I popped one of Leslie's tapes in my aging VCR and walked, after a fashion, for 2 miles - or 30 minutes.

Today, it's warmer but still not suitable for walking outside because of the icy patches, so I dug out a really old Sweatin' With The Oldies and worked out with Richard Simmons. I actually do not do most of his dance steps. I do most of Leslie's maneuvers while singing along with Richard and his crew. Big Girls Don't Cry - at least not this Big Gal.

I'm really hoping that the predicted ice storm tonight will clear out enough for me to meet my walking buddy at the mall for our usual Thursday morning hour long walk. I NEED it.

But, if that's not possible, I'll boogie with Leslie or Richard.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WANT TO LIVE TO 100?

2010-12-08T05:40:00.000-06:00

Do you want to live to 100 years of age? I'd like to if I'm healthy. Maybe that way, I'd actually live long enough to see grandchildren. I know, I know. Be careful what you wish for!

But, back to living to 100. In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of October 21, 2010, there's a long article containing the sage advice of a woman who is a healthy centenarian. How did she get that way?

I glossed over most of the very long article til I got to a sub-headline stating 'A Walking Example'. Whoa! Now, there might be something good in this section - something I'd actually enjoy doing other than eating my fiber and living a 'good life'. LOL.

The woman who is the subject of this article does an hour of yoga (no, not for me. You have to get on the floor. Then you have to be able to get back up.) After yoga, she goes for a half hour walk before breakfast.

Now, a half hour may not seem like much, especially after a full hour of yoga, but I'm liking this part of the 'cure'. But, maybe that's just me. Give me an assignment that I like, and I'll do it nicely for you.

Okay, what other good things must I do to live to a healthy 100? Give up chocolate? Eat only 1,200 calories a day? Do yoga? None of these seems likely. But, I will keep walking. What about you? What would you be willing to do/not do to live to a healthy 100?

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING....

2010-12-06T07:21:00.002-06:00

Dance like nobody's looking? I love that saying, especially since I love to dance but have all the grace of a galumphing brown bear. Ask me if I care. NO!

I dance in public pretty much like nobody's looking. I try not to do any stripper type dances in public. I promise. But, I LOVE to dance, so I just go for it.

Here's a thought. Turn on some 'happy' music - salsa, disco, whatever floats your boat - and DANCE at home, all alone. Do the twist. Do that one where you pretend to be wearing a scuba mask under water. Do the 'chicken'. Do the 'Limbo' - how low can you go??

Do this when you can't get out to do anything else like if the streets are icy. Do this when you're feeling crabby. Do this when you're antsy. It's a cure for all three of these things. Really!

And, there is the plus that, well, if you're home alone, no one is watching. No critics. No embarrassment. No such thing as the wrong way to do a dance.

I have personally fallen in love with a waltz called Wonderland Waltz from the Johnny Depp movie version of Alice in Wonderland. It's by the Plain White Tees and is an energetic waltz. It's not what I'd call a 'happy' song - but it's a fantastic dance and I'd do it 27 times a day if someone would play the music for me. As it is, I have to wait for my twice weekly dance lessons and bug the teacher (who also loves this particular dance) to play it more than once. While one might not think of the waltz as being a strenuous dance - not like the Forbidden Lambada - it's quite a workout.

And, I don't care who's watching. I'm gonna dance that dance anywhere, anytime I hear it!

Note: Refer to this article for more on this dance:
http://ewalkandtalk.blogspot.com/2010/11/dancing-with-johnny-depp.html

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

HOW CAN I GO TO WORK AND EXERCISE?

2010-12-04T07:06:00.000-06:00

Figuring out how to fit a walk into one's daily work schedule is a persistent problem. An article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of November 18, 2010 addresses this issue nicely.

Here's what the brief but pithy article says. (I just love being able to use 'pithy' in a sentence!)

*use weights at your desk - store a small hand weight (a full can of soup works fine) and use it to do biceps curls up to 3 times a day. (If you're not familiar, check here to learn the proper way to do biceps curls. Ignore the 10 second advertisement and be patient til you get 57 seconds into the video. You can do them sitting down just fine.)

*take the stairs (do I need to explain this? UP as well as down.)

*do triceps curls while the microwave is heating coffee or lunch - back up to the table or counter, grasp it with you hands, bend elbows, and dip thighs.

*do squats. Stand at your desk every now and then, extend your arms and bend those knees. Go down only as far as you're comfortable which may be only an inch or so at first. Up and down. Hold for a count of 5, working up to a count of 20.

*(and their best hint) walk when you can - around the block, to another cubicle or department, to the printer even if you can roll your chair there.

AND - I'll add these two:

* get up from your desk as often as you can.

* stand up to do some of your work. Nothing says you can't stand while talking on the phone or thinking. You can think and stand at the same time, right??

Doing these little things regularly really adds up. Don't start quantifying it until you've been doing one or two of these activities for a few weeks. Add one new movement each week. Once you've gotten comfortable with a few of them in your routine, start taking note of how many minutes each day you're able to move your body. When you get up to 20 minutes of these activities each day - in any combination - consider this - YOUR BOSS IS PAYING YOU TO WORK OUT and you are very likely increasing your productivity.

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WALK OR NOT??

2010-12-02T06:58:00.000-06:00

Had an MRI today (don't ask) and didn't realize how tense I was about it. It only lasted 20 minutes and I knew what to expect (some claustrophobia, lots of noise). But, when I got done with it, I was a mass of pain. I must have been tensing every muscle in my body in an attempt to remain perfectly still for the full 20 minutes while lying on a hard flat surface which is supremely unpleasant for me.

Drove home right away, feeling slightly sorry for myself. As I turned onto my street, it occurred to me that, at 4:30 PM, I had a choice. I could either shed my shoes and sack out on the sofa watching mindless TV after taking some Tylenol for the pain OR I could take advantage of the remaining 30 minutes or so of daylight, please my 4-legged child in the shortrun, and walk away my tension and pain.

I made the right choice! I rushed into the house, laced up my walking shoes, leashed the dog, layered myself for the chilly weather and hit the street 15 minutes later. We only walked for about 30 minutes, but that was enough time and exercise to release all the stress from my muscles and alleviate a lot of the pain!

Hooray for nature's pain relievers, endorphins!

Remember that you, too, have this choice each day that you're tense, in pain, or crabby. Do you go with those feelings (physical and/or emotional) or do you do what's best for your body and spirit and work those bad things out with a little walk or other physical activity? Do the right thing!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

DOING 100% OF YOUR 10%

2010-11-30T05:17:00.000-06:00

Every day, there is only about 10% of our activities that we have 100% control over. Think about it. Meals must be served at a fixed time. Work hours are established for most of us. Traffic signals and the car(s) in front of us determine how long it'll take to get to work or run that errand. Other people's realities overlap with ours and we get side-tracked. Taxes must be paid, diapers changed, soccer games attended, walls painted, groceries purchased, etc. So many THINGS!

So, what do you do with the 10% over which you might have control? How do you spend that time? Is it all work and no play? Is it spent in front of the TV or computer? Is it devoted to the well-being or needs of others?

Take back your 10% and devote yourself to putting 100% of yourself into that 10%. That means, Take Care of Yourself! Do what's right for YOU - not the kid, the spouse, the neighbor, the boss. Read a book, get a manicure, eat an ice cream cone, AND go for a walk.

In reality, we can't give 100% to that 90% or even the 10% if we aren't willing to give 100% to taking care of ourselves. How will the car run with no gasoline? Will it run efficiently with no oil change? No!

Don't feel guilty. Don't whimp out. Don't let anyone take away your 10%. Give 100% of yourself to the 10% you get to devote to yourself!

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

WALKING AND THINKING (AND GRIEVING)

2010-11-28T05:13:00.000-06:00

I'm able to work out a lot of my emotions in my head while I walk. Today, my dog and I walked three miles, mostly around the track near my house. My heart was/is heavy. I had just recently learned of the suicide of one of my oldest child's grade school friends, a bright, cheerful kid back in the day. The young man has a brother two years younger than he who was in the same class as another dear friend's son, and a much younger sister, who was my daughter's classmate. So, the mom and I spent a lot of waiting time in the school foyer together, sharing our hopes and fears for our kids, laughing over their goofiness, and cheering each other through the kids' successes.

That private school class of 27 kids (21 boys as I recall) was an extremely academic one. At one point when they were all still in high school, I noted that 21 of them had received some sort of special honor - National Merit Scholarship, Missouri Scholar, Scholar Athlete, etc. That's an amazing percentage!

Now, the amazing percentage is a sad one. Three of those young men are dead. Such a tragedy. And, who knows why a bright, attractive kid with a loving family kills himself? I don't think even the kids' know themselves. They just can't see the light ahead.

But, back to my walking. I often compose articles to be posted here while I'm walking. I'm able to come back home and type away, putting down most of my ideas for you to read. Today, I spent my three miles composing a letter to this boy's parents. There are truly no words to console parents who have suffered such a loss. But, we all feel the need to offer some, don't we?

Usually, the things I'm able to ruminate on and work thru my brain cells are happier. Sometimes I walk with God and express my gratitude for the beautiful scenery and my very fortunate life. Sometimes I walk with the sure confidence that all is well with the world despite what the newspaper says. Sometimes, like today, I walk with tears in my eyes and a heaviness in my chest that will ease over time. I know that. For me, there is hope of a brighter day. For Jimmy's parents and siblings, I'm not so sure. I hope they will walk with his memory in their minds and his love in their hearts. I know I will never forget him.

***************************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.

IT'S BEEN ALMOST THREE YEARS!!

2010-11-26T11:44:00.000-06:00

It's been almost three years since I began this blog. Some articles I've posted have had little to do with walking. But, I hope all of them have added something to your experience of walking or other exercise.

I just went back to reread that very first post. You can read it here . I promised, but have not created, the sister site to match up walkers. Let me first ask if there's any reader(s) out there who are interested in such a site - sort of a match mates service for walkers? If there is interest, I'll get the site developed.

Also, I'd be very interested in learning from readers what advances they have made in their walking regimen. Has anything you've read here encouraged you to walk more or do other forms of exercise? Have you learned something?

Finally, I'd ask for every reader to post a question or comment about his/her personal experience with walking. Do you keep a log? Have you worked to increase the distance you walk or the amount of time you walk? Has walking improved your life, your health, your outlook?

Also, if you're a newer reader, I strongly encourage you to go back and read the first 20 or so articles in order. There's a lot of information there, some of which might be more helpful or encouraging than the more recent articles. I do not want to forget my goal - to get people off the sofa and out into the world of walking, moving the body, to feeling better and improving quality of life.

My dear mom just turned 88. She still walks every day despite the fact that she is nearly blind (from macular degeneration). Her loss of vision has impaired the speed at which she can walk, so she doesn't enjoy it as much as she formerly did. But, she still does it every day and she claims that she's the only person in her independent living apartment complex who doesn't complain about aches and pains every day. She doesn't have any! She beats me at that! But, as she says to anyone who'll listen, 'you can't sit in front of the TV all day and feel good'. I really think she's onto something.

So, I'm just carrying on a legacy of the strong women in my family. My mother's mother lived into her nineties and walked every day of her life too in addition to living a rural lifestyle which required a lot more physical work than we modern housewives and moms are used to.

Please feel free to post your successes here. We'd all like to share in the success with you!

***************************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.

OH, THOSE BIKERS

2010-11-24T11:22:00.000-06:00

Bikers pose a special problem for walkers. Bikers of any age seem to feel that all horizontal surfaces within the public domain are for their sole use. Adult bikers apparently have no problem taking on cars whizzing by on streets with no shoulder for the biker to bail on.

Many bikers also have little respect for walkers and the sidewalks on which we walk and from which they are legally restricted. They whiz by walkers with no respect (often on the sidewalk). They often don't warn us that they coming up behind us, don't seem to understand that we have a legal and moral right to be on the sidewalk or track, and are generally dismissive of us as being non-athletes.

Right. I am a 'non-athlete'. I'll happily let any biker know that. I'll also let him/her - aw, shoot, it's always a him - know that if they collide with me, it's one thing. But, if they hurt my dog - they'll be really sorry.

My friend Stephanie routinely rides her bike to work. She's a middle aged woman who is not training to join Lance at the Tour de France. She's just minding her own business, and the rules of the road, as she makes her way to work about a mile from her home. She is frequently cursed and side swiped by guys trying to outdistance Lance that minute.

Poor Lance. He takes a lot of abuse here.

One way I have decided to address the issue of disrespectful bikers is to start training the young kids who bike around the track where I walk. I've had quite a lot of success. I begin with asking them to please let me know when they're coming up from behind so they won't scare my dog (which they do. She's a real scaredy-dog). By their second or third time around the track, lapping me each time on their training wheels or trikes, they begin to get it. I say 'thank you' EVERY time they get it right.

Maybe the way to get the Lance-wannabes in line would be to just thank them each time we survive being passed by them. What do you think?

***************************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.

I'M NOT AMY VANDERBILT, BUT....

2010-11-22T10:59:00.000-06:00

There are certain rules of etiquette that concern walkers and others who use the sidewalks, trails, and streets of our world. We'll all be a lot safer and happier if we can agree on a few Rules of the Walker's Road.

1. If you're riding a bike, skating, or otherwise going faster than the prevailing foot traffic, it would be especially nice of you to let the walker in front of you know that you're coming up from behind. A simple 'on your left' will warn the walker that you're in the neighborhood. I spend a lot of time teaching this simple nicety to the children who bike around the track I walk on. It's always more pleasant to avoid a collision than suffer one.

2. If you're walking across a street, PAY ATTENTION to the cars. As a walker, you may legally have the right of way, but would you rather be right or dead? Walkers slow down traffic when we fail to remain alert to what's going on around us. This makes drivers cranky.

3. Walkers (and joggers) have neither a Constitutional nor God-Given right to listen to their Ipods in stereo. Unplug one ear whenever you're walking around others. Not only will you still be able to hear what's on your Ipod, you'll also be able to hear the nice biker coming up from behind you when s/he politely states, 'on your left'.

4. DO NOT ASSUME that because you can see a car the driver can see you. Wear light colored clothing when walking at dusk or later, use reflectors and flashlights, be aware that, if you're walking into the setting sun, you may well be approaching a 'blinded' driver. Refer to #2 above.

5. Don't 'hog' the walking/biking/skating surface. Make room for others to pass you safely.

6. Dogs walked properly will be on the walker's LEFT. Dogs walked improperly will wander into the paths of others, trip their owners or others, and generally cause confusion. If you are walking your dog, be sure that your dog follows rules #1-5 above.

7. Do yourself a favor and don't walk where there are Sweet Gum Balls. If you have no personal experience in this area, consider yourself forewarned. It's impolite, not to mention painful, to break an ankle. To that end, if you own property that allows Sweet Gum Balls to fall on the sidewalk, it is your civic duty to remove each and every one within 5 minutes after it hits ground.

***************************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.

LAKE HELL - ER, HILL

2010-11-20T05:56:00.000-06:00

I recently attended a state conference at the Grand Glaize Inn at Lake Ozark, Missouri. I hadn't been to that area in years. The Inn is ok - no great shakes. The conference was informative and time consuming. I knew that to be able to sleep in a hotel room (I have sleep issues most nights), I'd definitely have to get in a walk. The conference schedule allowed little free time, running from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM or later with one hour for lunch and two hours for supper. Had to finagle a walk somehow.

To that end, I laced up my walking shoes and went for a 30 minute walk at lunch. I walked down the road 15 minutes, looking for fast food or a convenience store with no luck, and 15 minutes back to the Inn. Grabbed a protein bar and a soda and headed back to the conference.

For supper, I drove to Hyvee (which if you're not familiar with and have access to, get yourself there!), loaded up some goodies from the salad bar and some juice, and got back to the Inn. I'm a late eater, so their supper time didn't suit me. I stashed the food in my room and headed out to the trails behind the Inn.

The Inn is directly on the Grand Glaize River part of Lake Osage. It's very pretty. Virtually every property has its own marina. The hotels and condos all perch on bluffs above the river. So, the trails are pretty much straight up and down. I took stairs down to the lakefront and began following the trails. Passed a boat aptly named 'Cirrhosis of the River'. Made me laugh.
Called my husband to tell him about the boat's name. While I was speaking with him, I started hiking up a hill. A really steep hill. I'm walking and talking and the next thing I know, I'm completely winded. This doesn't happen to me.

The afternoon was still sunny and warm. The cold breeze of the previous day had vanished and I was psyched to be outside, enjoying the scenery on my walk. Trudged up that hill. Out of breath. Finally told my husband that I had to get off the phone. By then, I had topped the hill and walked around the parking lot at the Inn. To get in my 30 minutes of walk, I had to circle the parking lot a couple times. No way was I going back down that hill!

By the time the conference meetings were over for the evening and I retired to my room for a shower and some food, I was beat. Slept well that night. Maybe that hill wasn't so bad after all.....

***************************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.

DANCING WITH JOHNNY DEPP

2010-11-18T05:47:00.000-06:00

Well, not exactly. I find Johnny Depp to be an accomplished actor and a handsome, if boyish, lad, but way too young for me. And, I've seen very few of his movies. However, I'm completely in love with the Wonderland Waltz from Depp's "Alice in Wonderland" movie. Let me explain.

A couple weeks ago, there was a linedance workshop in Chicago - Windy City Dance Expo. My favorite dance teacher attended and came back with this great new waltz to teach us. Larry, my teacher, told us that every time he heard this song played, he HAD to dance. Unlike most dances, I learned this one very quickly and it has quickly has become my favorite! The second week we practiced it, I came into the class telling Larry that I wanted to dance this waltz SIX TIMES. I think we got to it four times - which is at least twice more than usual for a new dance we're learning.

If you're not familiar with the music, check it out. The Wonderland Waltz is performed by a newish band, The Plain White Tees. It's a waltz in a minor key - another oddity. But, that was perfect for the pre-Halloween weeks we were learning it.

Another thing about this dance is that it's looooong. It's a workout in itself! Try doing the waltz on your own, taking long strides which are required with this dance, and see how many times you can do it. At dance class this evening, we danced it twice in addition to the two new dances we learned and several others we did by request - ones we've already mastered.

So, today, instead of walking, I danced! It's so much fun. I highly recommend linedancing or couples dancing for anyone who likes to move. Great aerobic workout and fun, to boot!

***************************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.

TWIST AND SHHHH, DON'T SHOUT, PLEASE!

2010-11-14T05:24:00.000-06:00

In my unending quest to find interesting ways to keep myself active, I recalled a device that I had seen years ago but never used. Naturally, I began surfing the 'net to find one. Didn't even know what to call it. It's a device that one stood on and twisted. The idea is to take off some weight around the middle OR strengthen the abs. Might do both.

It took me some time to find such a device. I found a site that purported to sell these devices that are manufactured in China. Isn't everything? So, I placed an order for one - about $25 with free shipping. I waited, and waited, and waited. I emailed and was reassured that my order would be filled but they were back-ordered. Finally, after 4 months, I cancelled my order and was refunded my full purchase price. Good so far, but still no 'Twister'. It's not a Twister. That's the name of a game from the 1970's, I think, that results in a lot of compromising and embarrassing contortions of the body. Not for me.

Finally, I found one of the 'original' devices for sale on ebay. I ordered it (and paid about half what the 'new' one cost) and received it a few days ago. It's pretty much fun. No idea if it'll result in producing any of the benefits originally claimed. Probably not or it'd still be marketed, right? But, it's easy to do and is another small, inexpensive device to add to my slowly increasing array of gadgets to keep me moving.

***************************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.

SPRING INTO FALL

2010-11-12T05:15:00.000-06:00

Call it Global Warming, call it El Nino or La Nina, or just call it crazy. We're having Spring weather in Fall in St. Louis. I know this to be true because I typically have Fall allergies and my husband always has Spring allergies and we've switched seasons. This is conclusive proof that we're Springing into Fall this year, 2010.

What does this have to do with walking? Let's be clear. I'll walk in most any kind of weather, so long as there's no ice underfoot. But, wind slices right through me and, just like that, triggers my Fall allergies, making me sound like a cheese grater looks. No fun either. There have been years when I was hoarse for as long as three months straight.

So, in the Fall, when the winds and rain start in this part of the world, I take care to keep my throat out of the path of said wind. This means, I can walk, but I can't walk and talk. My voice is muffled under layers of fleece to prevent the wind from reaching my vocal cords.

Actually, it's fairly well documented by medical research that exercise such as walking aids greatly in preventing allergies. I have found this to be true in my own life. The more I walk, the less likely I am to get sick - whether it's from an allergy or a virus or a bacterium. Walking supports a healthy immune system.

Obviously, there are times when one shouldn't exert. The doctor's rubric is that if you're sick from the head up, you can exercise. If you're sick from the neck down, it's time to take rest, take fluids, and baby yourself. I pretty much agree with this. So, let's all go walking and build up our immune systems to fend off the flu and such that assault us each winter.

***************************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.

PUZZLING NEW PLANT

2010-11-10T04:51:00.000-06:00

I spend a lot of time admiring the well manicured lawns of the houses I walk by on the streets near my house. So many people invest lots of time and money to make their lawns attractive. Me? I typically take the path of least resistance. I appreciate the beauty of these lawns but refuse to invest either the time or money into creating such an oasis in my own yard.

I also 'collect' interesting plants I see along the way. I don't steal them. I just find ones that attract me and try to learn more about them, usually by calling my green-thumbed mom. Yesterday, I found a real beauty! And, cannot identify it. Maybe a reader can help.

It's a bush on the southeast side of a southeast facing house. It's low to the ground with slim limbs that bow, arcing from the center out. The leaves are the shape of a human eye with the pointed end facing farthest from the limb. The leaves are bright, almost chartreuse. BUT, the coolest thing is the fruit/nut/whatever on the limbs at the leaf intersections. They are the size of a sweetgum ball, are a deep orchid color (I'm very color impaired, so I can tell you that they're not red, not pink, not maroon, not mahogany, not purple - but a sort of reddish purple that I call orchid). The neatest thing about the fruit/nut is that each one is round but consists of smooth, little bumps, making it look somewhat like the inside of a pomegranate.

Not a very good explanation. I have no idea what to google. I've never seen any signs of life at this house, but I plan to knock on the front door next time and ask. In the meantime, if anyone has any ideas of names of plants that I can google to find the right one, please let me know.

***************************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.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY

2010-11-08T22:06:00.002-06:00

Today was unseasonably warm and sunny, so I skipped out of work a bit early (as it gets dark by 5 PM since the loss of DST) so my pup and I could walk a bit. I got home, changed into my walking shoes, watched Jeopardy with my daughter, then put the leash on Lizzie (my 4 legged child) and headed for the park.

I was amazed at how few people were at the park. There were two or three kids at the playground but only 2 joggers on the track! So, Lizzie and I were unhampered in our walk. One child on her teeny bike was on a collision course with us, but, at the last minute she changed course so we all survived unscathed.

Later this year, I'll be able to walk at the park closer to dusk. There's one corner of the track where the trees are especially dense. The track is sort of a plateau, the high point in the neighborhood, surrounded on three sides by schools and homes but on the third, there's a nice stand of dense woods. At dusk, if we're quiet, we can see the deer sticking their noses out of the leaves to see if the coast is clear for their turn on the track.

However, as soon as the deer see the dog, they hide back in the woods. Apparently dogs and deer don't go well together. We've actually had deer in our backyard. Our house is in a subdivision where most of the houses are on about half-acre lots. Most yards have a nice line of trees at the back of the lot. My back yard, due to years of benign neglect, has a nice patch of trees with dense undergrowth at the back property line. Fences keep the deer from meandering through the neighborhood, but they do find their way to our yard and to those of our neighbors.

It's really exciting to see a group of deer when I'm on a walk. There are several patches of dense woods in the neighborhood where they can hang out without fear of being bothered. They're a real pain for drivers - a true road hazard. But, I enjoy seeing them on my walks. One more thing to add to the list of things that one can enjoy better on a walk than any other way.

***************************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.

RECONNECTING

2010-11-08T05:43:00.000-06:00

Had an afternoon off last Friday and took my mom to the mall to get some of her favorite Panda Chicken egg rolls. While there, we ran into my friend Kathy G (a reader here) whom I hadn't spoken to or walked with in quite a while. Since we both had the rest of the afternoon off, we planned a walk together.

I dropped mom off at her apartment and drove home, called Kathy, and laced up my walking shoes. Kathy and I met and got to walk and catch up on news of family and friends for about an hour. By then, I was zapped. Kathy's walking pace is a tad quicker than mine, so I try to keep up. She wasn't aware of that - and I purposely didn't make her aware til I finally, inadvertently, said something about it near the end of that walk. She was surprised!!

Well, she's about 10 years younger, about 40 pounds lighter, and a real go-getter and she's surprised that her pace is quicker than mine!! Guess I'm flattered. But, main thing is, I enjoy walking and talking with her.

***************************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.

MAKING NEW FRIENDS

2010-11-06T04:36:00.000-05:00

At the park by my house, there's a nice, blacktop 1/3 mile track, mostly flat, that traverses around soccer/baseball fields, next to other fields and a playground. This is my 'default' walking location - when I have little time to walk, when I walk with my husband as with 2 adults and 1 dog we're wider than the sidewalk, where I walk when there's too much traffic or it's too close to dark to be safe on the street.

Recently, every time I'd walk at the park, I'd see the same woman walking. Finally, being the shrinking violet that I'm NOT, I introduced myself to her and asked if she'd care for us to walk together. Her name is P (we'll just call her by her first initial), and, of course, our lives have had many previous intersections but we'd never met before. We ended up walking 3 times together over the next few days, then my schedule got busier and I haven't seen her in a week or so. But, I'm sure our paths will cross again. One lap around, we picked up E (her first initial), a very pleasant lady known t P from the track. Nice conversation and I walked lots farther than I had planned.

Turns out that P hasn't been walking that long, but she walks for 90 minutes every day! She walks for an hour on the relatively flat track then walks the last 30 minutes on the adjacent trails that include some brief but steep hills. Good for her!

Can't wait to run into P and E again! Almost always more fun for me to walk and talk than to walk alone.

***************************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.

RECENT WALKS

2010-11-04T16:32:00.002-05:00

While walking recently, I've planned blog articles in my head, but haven't followed through with actually writing them! Sorry 'bout that. Here's what's been going on lately:

Made two new friends at the track in the park near my house.

Reconnected with Kathy G. for a walk.

Found a really neat plant in someone's side yard that I'm trying to identify.

Enjoyed the 'Spring' weather in the Fall. Where have all the allergies gone??? (probably shouldn't say that aloud!)

Twist and Shout

More dance news.

So, here come the articles about these topics. Hope you'll enjoy some of the reading and will be inspired to get/keep moving. Keep reading.....

***************************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.

WALKING AND DANCING

2010-10-12T05:14:00.000-05:00

I dance most Sunday evenings. There's a great DJ, Larry, who, with his wife, Tracey, host a social dance at their studio most Sunday's from 6 -10:30 PM. Larry also teaches a lot if the dances and is the only teacher at the Wednesday night 'Beginnner' class that my friend Debbie and I attend most weeks. We're not any good at dance, but we're not beginners. We just enjoy it and don't mind going over some of the 'oldies' when a newcomer joins us (which is not often enough!).

The group that gathers to dance on Sunday is diverse - but mostly women. In addition to Larry, there are only two other men who are regulars. But, the women span ages from (I'm guessing here) 36 to 86. That's quite an age span. Plus, we have varying skill levels. Many of the women have been dancing for years and some are even teachers of their own groups on other days. Most of them are far more accomplished at dance than I am, but few of them have more stamina than I have. And, they let me know!

I'm always rarin' to go when we get there. I lace up my dance shoes (slick soled for turning) and dance every tune I know the steps to. Now, that's AFTER I've walked my three miles earlier in the days. After only a few dances, many of the women are complaining about being hot, being tired, hurting feet or knees. Well, yes, my feet hurt too. But, it's time to dance! Who cares if their feet hurt? And, who can be tired when a calypso beat comes up or my absolute favorite Wonderland Waltz.

That waltz usually does it for most people. It's a longer dance than most - and quite energetic, requiring longer strides than most dances too. It simply tires out most of the dancers. Not me! I wanna do it again!

It occurred to me today - while I'm taking a day off work to cook and clean in anticipation of the holidays - that my walks actually give me energy. That wasn't the case from Day 1. I had to work up to it. When I first started walking, I didn't walk 3 miles - closer to 1 mile. And, I was tired when I was done. Now, 3 miles is my norm. Some Thursdays, I'll walk 5 miles in two sessions - 3 in the morning then 2 more when I get home if the weather is nice.

Now, a walk doesn't fatigue me. It actually gives me energy. I need all the help I can get with that! Don't you?

***************************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. You can trust the information you find here. It's from a dedicated walker. Trust me and your life will get better! I promise.

YES, I HAVE BEEN WALKING

2010-10-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

and not writing - again. The weather has been wonderful, for the most part. Also, on September 11, I participated in an all day (and all evening) dance workshop at Crestwood Court. There were linedance teachers from all over the US and at least one from Canada. It was so much fun!! I highly recommend a good linedance as an alternative to walking - and to mix it up a bit.

My friend Debbie and I are having fun with the linedancing. We even taught a group of women (and two guys and a bunch of kids) two linedances for a talent contest at Debbie's church. Well, not sure how much talent we demonstrated, but the women there are interested in continuing to linedance, so we're trying to find a place and time to get together once a week so I can teach them the linedances I know.

If you know me personally, this won't surprise you - that I'd be teaching linedancing. I'm not any good at it, I'm sure I'm not graceful and not much fun to watch doing it, but I LOVE it. At least, I can teach the specific steps AND pass along my enthusiasm for the activity. LOL.

But, I won't be giving up my walking. I'll be doing that every day, including most days that I dance for 1-3 hours. The only thing that gets in the way of these activities are those irksome things like work and housekeeping. And, if you know me, you know the housekeeping activities will just have to wait.....

***************************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.

WHAT I SAID...

2010-09-30T19:50:00.002-05:00

I don't have a PhD or an MD or any D - just my brain, my observations, and my experiences. I've written about those here - at least insofar as they relate to my walking. But, if you'd rather have the word of an 'expert', then this is a good article:

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/small-steps-can-lead-to-a-big-lifestyle-change.html

The whole idea in the article (as I've written) is small changes, focus on health rather than on weight, no judgment, just moving forward the best you can. Please let me know how you feel about the article.

***************************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.

RESORT WEATHER

2010-08-17T17:35:00.002-05:00

I finally had enough time to walk the dog (Lizzie) this afternoon. Just ran away from work despite the amount left to do because it's finally not 100 degrees! And, it's overcast. We walked for about an hour in the streets around my neighborhood. This dog just LOVES to walk. I feel bad when I can't take her with me - but she's not well socialized to other dogs and requires too much attention for me to walk with her and another human (and I have the broken wrist to prove it).

When I walk, I often get ideas of things to write about here - but lose the thread of that by the time I return home. I'm still dancing twice a week, too, Also, I've ordered one of those old discs that you stand on to twist. Do you remember those? I was talking about the device to my husband the other day and decided to look online to see if such a thing is still being made. Found one and ordered it - less than $25 with free shipping. I'll let you know if it's a good addition to my exercise regimen. I think it'll work fine because, like my stationary bike, I can do it in front of the TV and be done without thinking about it much.

More to follow.

***************************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.

WALK YOUR A%$ OFF??

2010-06-24T19:36:00.002-05:00

My britches have been fitting funny. Not too big really, but wrong somehow. I hadn't been paying much attention. In the warm weather, I tend to wear walking shorts (Burmuda) or capris (just a few inches below the knee). I stay active, even at the office, and remain hot most of the time, so short sleeves and shorter hems suit me well. So, what's going wrong?

I put on a pair of white capris I purchased just last year. They look good on me head on. Then, I turned to get a side view and see that the pants are riding forward from the bottom to the hem behind my knees. Wow! Where'd my buns go? I've walked them off - literally.

There's that new 'reality' show on TV, something like Dance Your A** Off. I know that's an 'expression'. At least, that's what I thought. I didn't dance it off, but it appears that I did walk it off. Oh, yeah, that IS the name of this blog, isn't it.

So, there's hope for all of us. Heaven knows I had a generously (to be kind) endowed derriere. Now, I've got almost none. A case could be made that maybe I should look at myself in the mirror a bit more. Not likely to happen. I'm usually on the run and feel 'pulled together' if everything is clean and matches.

If this isn't a good endorsement for walking, then I don't know what is. What have YOU walked off (thighs, derriere, pounds, depression, worries)??

***************************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.

A WALKING BLOG? NOT!!

2010-06-18T09:16:00.000-05:00

This is pretty funny. From time to time, I google 'walking blog' to see if I can find anyone else blogging about walking. The reason I started this blog is because I found most other blogs to focus on weight loss or other exercises more than on walking. It might be difficult to make writing about walking INTERESTING - but I do try to be encouraging and informative - to share my passion for walking in hopes of motivating others to discover what I've discovered about feeling better by walking.

So, I googled and found this:
http://blog.youwalkaway.com/

Click on it at your own risk. It's not pornography or anything. But it's equally obnoxious in some ways. It's about walking away from your home mortgage.

Not what I had in mind when I started a walking blog. Does that sound misleading to you??

***************************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.