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.

IT'S HOT!

Whoa! In St. Louis, we just went from autumn to summer! A few days ago, it was about 40 degrees. It's rained every day for EVER (it seems). Then, yesterday, it got up to 88 degrees! I walked but not aggressively. My 4 legged walking companion just came back home from a 10 day absence (and confinement) and she's really not up to the heat. I took her for a walk this afternoon. It didn't seem that hot to me - well, it was plenty hot - but doggie was definitely dragging. I cut short the walk at about 2 miles. We'll have to work her up to the three mile mark. She's done nothing since 5 PM (it's now almost 10 PM) but drink and lay on the A/C vent when it blows on her! Wish I could do the same thing!

But, she loves to walk, and so do I, so we'll be back on the trail soon. Hope others are getting out there too.

In a day or two, I'll have a review here of another book I found soon. A good one!


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

WHEN TO WALK? and a rant

The actual answer of when to walk is.........anytime! I've been walking a lot more lately than I've been writing. Did you miss me? I hope you were out walking too.

My husband and I are book collectors. We went to a book sale recently and came home with a few additions. One is a book entitled, "Walk Don't Die' by Fred Stutman, M.D. The title was intriguing. So, I plunked down my 25 cents and took it home.

This author is crazier about walking than I am! The first 3/4 of this book is a RANT against jogging! Stutman believes that joggers run themselves to death. As a former jogger, I am familiar with the joy that joggers gain from running - the so-called 'jogger's high'. I enjoyed that too for several years. Then age and reality (and quite a bit of weight) brought me back to reality.

Most of the points that Stutman makes about walking are completely accurate because most of the supposed advantages of jogging vs walking are myths. Walking is a far less hazardous activity that has benefits equal to those offered by jogging. In fact, the only advantage that I have found to jogging is that you (you, not me - a very slow runner) can cover more ground thus get the workout completed in less time. That's not much of an advantage when weighed against other factors - like more wear and tear on joints and the frequent need for more costly shoes for joggers rather than walkers, among others.

So, don't waste your money on this book even tho' he's a strong advocate of walking. Go for a walk instead!

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

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

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

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


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

IF YOU EVER NEEDED A REASON....

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

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

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

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

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

Sign me up!







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