One Coin Theory

This article labels an interesting mental ping pong game that I've bet we've all done.  Check it out.

 http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2013/03/do-you-make-excuses-for-yourself-based-on-the-one-coin-argument-i-do/

So, how many days can I excuse myself from an activity before I forget that I was committed to that activity?  For me, the newer the commitment is, the fewer days can I excuse myself from it before I just forget about it entirely.  I'm either in or I'm not.

How 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.

Stepping Out

I just heard the actress Thandie Newton speak about the benefit of dancing, running, or walking in her life.  Her opinion is that such activity is essential to get out of one's own head, to breathe unfettered, to attain the fullest life.

She didn't say, for instance, that one needed to lose 50 lbs, eat only fruits and vegetables, or join a gym to attain the fullest life.  She 'gets' that the very notion of movement improves our feelings of wellbeing AND our actual wellbeing, both physical and mental.

Thandie Newton is a beautiful, petite actress who appears to have what many of us want - good looks, good health, and a good career.  I have no idea what her personal life looks like.  I do have an idea that with her head on so straight, her personal life is probably pretty good.

Imagine the freedom of a jete in ballet, a double axle in ice dancing, a 3 point jump shot in basketball! For most of us, those things will only be things we can imagine.  I'll happily settle for a much more humble and realistic ability to walk  - and keep at it.  My body type, and now my age, argue volumes against my ever having been capable of ballet, ice dancing, or effectively compete in basketball.  That's okay.  Walking makes my life better.  Just 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.

Small Steps To Betterness

I heard a sad tale today about a guy I've know for about 40 years.  He moved away about 25 years ago for his work, so I have not seen him regularly although we share enough friends in common that I've kept up with his life.  He married a great gal about 40 years ago and they've been married all this time, living here and there, working, no kids.

A few years ago - probably 10 by now - this guy suffered a health set back which started with back pain.  He's a tall guy, almost 7 feet tall, and large all over.  With his back pain, he began using a walker.  He worked every day, but fell one day, broke his shoulder, lost his job, and things went from bad to worse.

Now, he walks only from the hospital bed in his house to the door where his wheel chair is as he can't fit the wheel chair through his bedroom door.  He sits all day, plays video games (often with another friend a couple states away), eats, bathes in his special tub, and then hobbles back to his bed.  Such a life I would wish on no one.

The friend who told me about the tall guy is heading to visit him in a few days.  We discussed our friend's miserable life - and miserable it is!  He has only his wife and his sister, no money, and a world that is encompassed in three rooms (one of which is a bathroom).  I think one guy is gonna take on the other guy, demanding that he do something with his life besides play video games!  We both think that our troubled friend could improve his life with just a little effort.

He doesn't seem to be depressed.  His wife is a great gal who loves him with her whole heart.  His sister is nearby, but he is almost unable to leave his home.  He owns a converted van to accommodate his wheelchair, but traveling is an ordeal to say the least.

Why did this happen?  How did this otherwise healthy, happy, friendly guy allow himself to fall into a deep well of unhealthy behaviors that resulted in his almost complete withdrawal from his own life?  How can he continue on this downward path when it would take only a few minutes a day to improve both is health and his outlook?

So, what can be done?  We discussed an intervention.  I can't be there physically, but all his friends can bombard him with phone calls and emails on the same subject.  Dude, we want you healthy.  We want you happy.  We want you alive!

Since he is still able to walk a bit, it makes sense to me that he would build on that to improve his outlook.  Walking only a few extra minutes each day - plus the 10 steps from his bed to his wheel chair - would quickly add up to benefit him.  The day might soon arrive when he could more easily walk to his van and fulfill his promise to drive to St. Louis to visit all his old buddies.

We can't make him do it.  We can only inform and encourage.  We can hope......




*************************** 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 Cure For Pain

Many of us suffer from joint and/or muscle pain.  Osteoarthritis - the wear and tear type of arthritis that comes with aging - is rampant in our culture as we live longer, remain more active, but gain more weight.  Along with these lesser forms of pain, come chronic back pain, sciatica, neuropathy, and other ailments that are often treated with medications or surgery.

Now, a physician (and he's not alone) has written a book addressing non-surgical, non-medical therapies for pain.  Here's an excerpt from a recent interview:


What else can someone do to relieve pain besides take a prescription pain reliever or undergo a procedure?

A.

There are so many self-help things you can do. Something as simple as trying to do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise can help. With pain, you’re in a vicious cycle – you take more narcotics, your REM sleep decreases, and then you’re tired and you don’t want to exercise. If you can get through the first week or two of extra pain by doing the proper exercise, like 30 minutes of walking daily, long term that’s going to have an impact. Most people give up on simple walking, but it can have a huge impact long term.

End quote.

I totally agree with this doctor's philosophy.  I encourage you to read his entire interview here
 http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/stopping-pain-without-drugs/
and to look into getting a copy of his book.  I'm going to request it from my library right away.  If it's the gem I think it is, I'll buy it so I can be sure to have my own copy for reference.




*************************** 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 Makes You Move?

My husband has several patients who weigh more than 300 lbs.  These particular people are not in good health.  They suffer from a lot of pain - joints and muscles.  They suffer from respiratory problems (congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are common), from high blood pressure, and from type 2 diabetes and all its awful co-morbidities like peripheral neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, and impairments all over their bodies.  They cannot walk well or far.  They are not wealthy.

I always wonder how these poor souls remain so obese and so immobile.  And, since getting out of their homes and into their vehicles is so hard for them, I wonder who maintains their supply of food so they can maintain the weight?  In every case, there is another adult in the home who is clearly the 'enabler' - the person who enables the morbidly obese to remain that way by running to the grocery store, doing all the household chores, and watching a loved one slowly fade away, usually in some degree of pain.

I don't want to be that patient or that enabler.  However, even that person who is 100 or more pounds overweight, who has trouble walking, and who is in pain - even that person can improve his/her life by simply standing up and walking in place.

If this simple activity is done for only a few minutes a day, life will improve for these folks just like it does for the rest of us.  If that person starts with only one minute of activity per day for a week then ups it to 2 minutes the next week, the pain will not increase, nor will there be in increase in appetite or desire for food.  In fact, the appetite and the desire for food will likely diminish a bit due to the increase in physical activity.

How many times have you read here that this is not Rocket Science?  It's a phrase which comes to mind often when I think of how to motivate others to increase their level of physical activity.  Walking is the simplest, easiest, cheapest, most readily available way to get increase physical activity.
There is no way to change the equation.  1 plus 1 will always equal 2.

Increase in physical activity will always result in an increase in a sense of well being.  Maybe not the first day, but soon thereafter.  Nothing else will fix what ails one as quickly as this.  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.

Another List

I found this fantastic list of reasons for walking (and other forms of aerobic activity).  You can read the entire article, and other good ones too, at the Mayo Clinic Site where the list below originated.  I'm not a physician - but they are!  And scientists too.  The Mayo is a fantastic facility.  Because of my job, I've been fortunate to have seen the kind of extremely detailed work up they do of each patient they see.  Every patient is seen by a wide variety of specialists - from neurosurgeons to nutritionists, from social workers to specialists in every medical field.

Lucky for us, for free, we get the benefit of the combined wisdom of all those specialty practitioners wrapped up in the following list.  Read it and you'll know many of the reasons walking is good for you.  However, I still maintain that the main reason to walk every day is that it makes you feel good.  What could be better than that (with all the added physical benefits)?

Keep excess pounds at bay
Combined with a healthy diet, aerobic exercise helps you lose weight — and keep it off.

Increase your stamina
Aerobic exercise may make you tired in the short term. But over the long term, you'll enjoy increased stamina and reduced fatigue.

Ward off viral illnesses
Aerobic exercise activates your immune system. This leaves you less susceptible to minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu.

Reduce your health risks
Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of many conditions, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Manage chronic conditions
Aerobic exercise helps lower high blood pressure and control blood sugar. If you've had a heart attack, aerobic exercise helps prevent subsequent attacks.

Strengthen your heart
A stronger heart doesn't need to beat as fast. A stronger heart also pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body.

Keep your arteries clear
Aerobic exercise boosts your high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol and lowers your low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad") cholesterol. The potential result? Less buildup of plaques in your arteries.

Boost your mood
Aerobic exercise can ease the gloominess of depression, reduce the tension associated with anxiety and promote relaxation.

Stay active and independent as you age
Aerobic exercise keeps your muscles strong, which can help you maintain mobility as you get older. Aerobic exercise also keeps your mind sharp. At least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three days a week seems to reduce cognitive decline in older adults.

Live longer
Studies show that people who participate in regular aerobic exercise live longer than those who don't exercise regularly.

Take the first step 

(As in, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single 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.

Your To-Do List Can't Just Be In Your Head!

Most of my good friends fall into the perfectionist category.  Don't ask me why.  I guess they are somehow attracted to my relaxed attitude about most things that would drive a perfectionist  crazy.  My tupperware is a mess.  My laundry is clean and folded but stuffed here and there.  We have books in every room, stacks and stack of them.  There is yarn on every horizontal surface.  Dust doesn't bother me and order will never reign supreme in any home in which I reside.  Not a possibility.

But, I do have my own manner of organization.  Really!  I am never late for appointments, pay my bills on time, and take care of all the important aspects of life that need to be done in a timely manner.  How?  One way I've discovered is to make a list.  That's a List, with a capital L.

Sometimes the state of my house gets me down.  I'm such a rotten housekeeper!  My house is not dirty, but it is cluttered.  My mind is also cluttered.  It becomes very easy to fall into the trap of doing what's urgent rather than what's important.

Think about that.  Urgent or Important.  Here's an example.  The phone is ringing and the baby is crying.  Which is urgent?  Which is important?  The baby is clearly more important than the phone although I cannot stand to have a phone ring more than 3 rings.  While that may be an extreme example, it's merely used to make my point.

What's on your To-Do List?  If you follow someone like the FlyLady, you have a built in To-do list, hers, which you tune into every day when you get up, get dressed right down to your shoes, and hit the ground running.  Bless the FlyLady.  She sets a standard that is reasonable, rational, and absolutely unattainable by me.  But.....I have learned a couple things from her that work very well for me.

I've written before - more than once - about putting YOURSELF on your To-Do List so that you build your walking/exercising time right into your daily schedule.  But, if you list is in your head - if it's not WRITTEN DOWN - it's not real and you won't do it.  I'm telling you!

For years, when I guess my brain was either more flexible or less cluttered than it is now, I could actually get by with a To-Do List in my head that wasn't written down.  No more!  Especially when I'm trying to include a new activity or deadline in my schedule.  I must have that list in writing, in front of me, carry it around, and mark off each item on it.

So, if you're finding that you still have difficulty making time for yourself - for walking, exercising, relaxing - please write down your To-Do List and put yourself on it.  Put your activities in order of priority.  Note that YOU must not be the last item of business on your list.  You must be near the top - if not at the top.

When the nice FlyLady has you lacing up your shoes every morning, make those walking shoes.  When you pack your lunch for work, put your walking shoes (nicely wrapped) in your lunch bag too.  When you make your list of errands, park in the farthest spot available and double time it through your errands.  When you plan coffee with friends, make it coffee 'to go' and walk around the park with your friend while you sip and catch up.

If you don't write it down, it's unlikely to happen - especially if it's new behavior.  Give yourself the best chance for success.  Make yourself the most important thing on your To-Do list - because you are!



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