WALKING AND DANCING

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

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...

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

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??

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!!

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.

I'M STILL WALKING. ARE YOU?

Lately, it's either been storming or HOT! Kinda hard to walk when the wind is blowing torrents of water into your face. That's what the mall is for, I guess. Same for some of the miserably hot/humid days we've had. While I'm almost always game to walk in the heat and humidity, some of my walking buddies are not, so it's off to the mall for us.

I've also been dancing. Line-dancing has become a true love of mine. Most weeks, my friend Debbie and I dance on Wednesday's and Sunday's. We're in a beginner's class (we aren't beginners, but we get more actual dance time) on Wednesday's and there's a 'social' dance on Sunday's with a nice group of people - mostly women - who don't seem to mind the unintended solo movements that compose many of my dances!

Back to walking. Have you been at it? If not, why not? Life does intrude - but remember, we have to make it a priority before others will respect our determination to move and feel better.

I recently read a magazine article (can't remember where) that emphasized how the human body is designed for walking. Did you see those 6,000 year old shoes recently discovered in a cave in Turkey? In those days, if you wanted to get ANYWHERE, it had to be on your own two feet. I don't even think humans were riding horses or burros or whatever yet.

I often think of our ancestors who walked across this country to find a better life. They walked from the relative security of the Eastern territories to places like Missouri then on further west. There are many diaries written by pioneer women who buried husbands and children along the way. They were strong people - mentally and physically - to endure the hardships they did. They walked to make it easier on the horses who were pulling wagons or were laden with other loads of household goods. They walked to ford streams, cross mountains, and blaze trails. And, they didn't have fancy Nike's or New Balance shoes either.

I DO NOT think I would have survived such a trek. They averaged 20 miles a day! I'm exhausted after 3 miles and I'm not carrying a baby or worrying about being attacked by a bear! Every time I think of our Westward Expansion, I think of the women (and men) who endured. Could I? Would I?

Could YOU? Would you?

So, that little bit of walking we're doing now, to keep moving and to feel good, seems like not much of an accomplishment compared to our ancestors. More reason to keep moving forward. We honor those who blazed those trails. We keep ourselves healthy so that we can feel better. Not a thing wrong 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.