Head Scratching And Anger - No, Despair

This morning was beautiful if a bit chilly, so I was able to walk outside for a couple miles with my best walking buddy, the four-legged Lizzie.  She suffers from too many days without a walk when the weather is too cold or the path too icy.  We both enjoyed our outing.

Later in the day, after my friend Kris was able to leave work, we met at a local mall to walk and talk. While the mall is not my favorite place to walk, it certainly has the advantage of being warm, safe, and accessible.

But, it was there that I saw one of the most awful sights I've ever seen - a kid in a stroller with a small video screen for his viewing pleasure.  It was all I could do to not grab his mother and shake her, screaming about how she was stunting the physical, emotional, and intellectual growth of her child.  Have we become so detached from our tots that we need to have them entertained by a cartoon on a screen while we toodle with them around the mall?  Or for that matter, do we really need those SUV's with not one - but TWO - video screens for the kids to view the latest toons so as not to disturb mom or dad or any other passenger?  I am outraged!

It's bad enough that our kids find their own way to the TV remote and the video game console, plopping themselves down to be entertained by some mindless virtual maelstrom having no basis in reality, no soul, and no redeeming virtue of any kind.  Well, I guess there is that teeny little benefit that the won't be bothering a parent for the next hour or six.

So, we wonder why our kids are all getting so fat.  We wonder why they don't do well in school.  We wonder why they demand more and more external forms of entertainment so they are never forced to deal with the realities of the world they will grow up to run!

If that mom with the kid in the stroller loves her child, she will encourage him or her to look around at the world as he passes through it from his toddler perspective.  She would engage in conversation with that child, building neurologic pathways in the brain for speech and some curiosity about all those new things s/he sees.  Further, as soon as s/he is able, she'll take him out of the stroller to toddle around the play area or run down the mall corridors, exercising those muscles s/he's certain to need as he matures.  Having a kid that plugged in to external, mindless visual entertainment is child abuse - plain and simple.  Don't bother to flame me or throw virtual rotten tomatoes.  I'm right here and anyone with a functioning brain knows it.

I've raised three kids and there were certainly many times - probably daily - when I wished they'd just shut up and leave me alone for a few minutes.  That's what books and playgrounds are for!  And naptime.

Please, please DO NOT plug your child or grandchild or any child whose care is ever entrusted to you into any form of electronic media on a regular basis - especially when there is an opportunity to allow the child to do some activity that will stretch his mind or her legs.  An hour of Sesame Street is one thing - a treat (maybe for you as much as the kid who will be totally engaged by it).  But, aside from that, stroller rides, car rides, walks, trips to the playground, and carpool are all opportunities to share the world around you with that child - maybe the only opportunities you'll have in an increasingly busy and plugged in world.  Take advantage of every opportunity to help a child do what his/her legs were intended to do - crawl, walk, and run - to do what his brain was designed to do - learn, evaluate, measure, question - to do what a child's ageing and development demand - a guide through this very complicated world s/he will have to navigate.

If you love that child and want to give him the best chance at success in life, take him for a walk and a talk - regularly.

BTW - this stroller looks like a rental (as Kathy G points out) but the one I actually saw was not a rental.  Someone paid big bucks for that awful 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.

As If

Have you heard the term 'acting as if'?  It's the idea of fake it til you make it.  It's a way to look at yourself that you might not have thought of before.  It isn't a cure all - but it can certainly help one attain a goal.

How does this apply to walking?  Well, if you've read this blog for very long, you know that it's about more than walking - it's more about feeling well, about taking steps toward feeling better - in mind and body and spirit.

So, acting as if can help you if you've been derailed from your path to exercise or if you are just beginning it or if you might just be going through a rough spot.  When the going gets tough, the tough get up and take a walk!

So, if you don't think of yourself as an active person, now is the time to rethink that.  You act as if you are an active person.  How do you do that?  You get up and walk, even if it's only a few steps or for a few minutes.

If you are a person who finds no time for self care - overscheduled, overworked, just plain busy - then you may want to rethink how you schedule yourself so you can be a person who takes care of body and mind and spirit.  Acting as if there were more hours in the day?  No, act as if YOU are important enough to be at the top of your To Do List.  Act as if you are more important than the project, the memo, the laundry, the chores.  Because, you really are more important than all those things. 

Lots of the things on our To Do List must get done.  Maybe all of them must get done.  But, they'll all be done more efficiently and more happily if the first activity of the day or on the list is self care.  Self Care.  Taking care of yourself.  Do that as no one else can do it 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.

Oh, My Aching ______________!

Right now, it's my aching back.  This is new for me.  I have a variety of aches and pains, maybe more than the norm since I have fairly advanced osteoarthritis.  But, I try hard to not let these things define me or hold me back.  It does no good for me (or anyone) to give in to those aches and pains, to sit on the sofa, maybe feeling sorry for myself.  No good at all.

So, even with the new back pain, I've kept moving.  In fact, my back pain is the kind that is worse when sitting or lying down and better when standing.  How can that be???  So, I have a new regimen which includes lots of stretches before and after walking or other physical activities.  That does seem to help - but I want my old back back!

I am not very patient.  I'm a rotten patient for any doctor although I do try to follow through with what I've been recommended.  I have yet to have any tests since it seems clear that this pain is all muscular.  My husband is a physician and has diagnosed me for now.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it will fade away before long.

What do you do if/when you have aches and pains?  Do you walk/work through it or do you pamper yourself, hoping rest will cure you?  Of course, there are plenty of diagnoses which do require rest.  The old RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevation.  Sprain your ankle, RICE is required.  Overwork your shoulder, RICE is recommended.  I'm using some of that myself.  Heat rather than ice.  Stretching rather than elevation.  But, rest?  Can't seem to get any since the pain is worse while sitting or lying.

My mantra here is 'This Too Shall Pass'.  It certainly is true most of the time.  Please keep YOUR fingers crossed that this 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 Weather For Ducks and Geese

The weather around here has been mostly just awful and depressing.  I was out in the mess all day today, running errands.  Walked at the mall before a long day of errands and defensive driving.  It was gray, cold, misty, and ugly all day.  This kind of weather really makes it hard for me to get motivated to walk.

That's where good walking buddies really make a difference.  I have a friend I walk with on Thursday and Saturday.  Another I walk with on Sunday, Monday, and Friday.  Then, I dance on Tuesday and now Wednesday.  If I can't dance on Tuesday and/or Wednesday, I walk with my 'dance friend' instead.  That keeps me motivated better than any resolution or concern for doing what's 'good for me'!

So, if you are tempted to remain on the sofa, get a friend to walk with you.  That way, you can keep each other going, enjoying the walk better when it's shared.


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

Why CrossFit Makes Me Cross

Have you heard about the latest exercise craze?  It's called CrossFit.  It's an exercise regimen, typically worked on at a franchise 'box', that is extreme IMO.  The idea is to extend your body to its furthest physical limits - to lift heavier, push farther, jump higher, etc, getting in as many reps as you can in a 12 minute period.  There regimen includes those things we recall from our school days, burpees, kettle balls, jumping, and other high impact activities that are best suited for the young and physicall fit.  Well, not really.  These activities, pushed to their extremes, are not really good for anyone's body but the CrossFit business is taking advantage of both the extreme aspect and the social interactions of these activities while growing their franchises across the country.

It's not that I am opposed to this sort of extreme physical activity.  I think that for Navy Seals, those training for triathalons, and those who are very physically fit, the CrossFit path to physical fitness may be acceptable.  However, I've known several folks who appeared to be quite physically fit suffering phsical injuries from this workout (or others similar to it).  One guy I know broke his leg doing the burpee to jump in the air exercise.  Really.  Breaking your foot while engaged in muscle building activities is a no-no.  I felt sorry for him.  Six weeks in a cast meant no more extreme fitness workouts for him.  Others have suffered everything from pulled muscles to  exertional rhabdomyolysis, a potentially fatal disorder in which muscle fiber break down from over work, releasing specific proteins into the bloodstream which can damage the kidneys.  It's a form of dehydration which is extreme.

So, everything about this new trend is 'extreme'.  While it's marketed to couch potatoes and triatheletes alike, it's pushes the limits of sensible exercise to incredible and often disabling lengths.  Why do that?

This time of year, the gyms are overloaded with people working toward their New Year's Resolution to build a better body.  Nothing wrong with the gym, of course, but most of those folks will have gotten over it within the next few weeks.

Far better to start slow and work toward a sensible, reasoned exercise regimen.  If you want variety, take a few notes on the CrossFit strategy and incorporate them into your workout.  Change things up by walking backward, carrying weights, upping the elevation on the treadmill, or simply increasing either your speed or the duration of your walk.

The payoff may not be immediate, but there is a payoff.  You'll quickly begin to feel better, bypassing the pulled muscle and dehydration hurdles, and build an exercise regimen that you can incorporate into your schedule/routine and do anywhere any time it suits you.

If CrossFit is for you, go for it.  But, when you've given it up because of a torn this or a painful that, go back to your the exercise nature designed your body for - simply 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.

Did You Make A New Year's Resolution?

How's it working for you?  Typically, within a few weeks of New Year's Day, any and all resolutions have fallen by the wayside.  I'm not one to make them.  I read this article and thought you should read it to.  So, please read and let me know what you think.

Also, if you have made a resolution for 2014 and you're still sticking to it, I'd love to hear about it and how you are accomplishing 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.

That's What Friends Are For

Do you have any walking buddies?  I do!  I find that having friends I enjoy walking with is extremely motivational for me.  I walk with one friend twice a week, another friend three to four times a week, and two others on a less frequent basis.

When you get started on a regular regimen of walking, even when you look forward to  your walks, there are days that it's just hard to force yourself to lace up those shoes and hit the bricks.  Having a friend who counts on you to share the walk will get you over that hump every time!

So, lately, when I've been ailing, Kris nudged me, going so far as to pick me up a couple days to hit the treadmill at the gym when I was feeling crummy and very unmotivated.  I could only last 20-30 minutes on that treadmill, but every time it made me feel better.

So, now, the tables are turned.  Kris has the crud and I was able to pick her up today and get to the gym.  She has a habit of overdoing, so since I had the car keys, I limited our walk to 30 minutes.  I walked a bit faster on my treadmill, but she hung in for the 30 minutes and I had to tell her when the time was up.  From beginning to end, that 'work out' lasted 50 minutes, including drive time.

Everyone - and that means YOU - has an hour to give to yourself for walking or some other form of regular exercise.  For me, a day without walking or dancing means a night full of leg cramps and no sleep.  That's darn motivational for me.  So, I KNOW the short term fate that awaits me if I'm too lazy or sick or unmotivated to put in that little bit of time.  Even if it's a 20 minute walk in place in front of the TV.  I MUST DO IT.  The price for not doing it is too high for me.

So, since I love my friends, I sometimes push them a bit and they sometimes push me a bit.  Sometimes, the walk at the mall is 'puny' and I avoid the stairs if my asthma is being ugly.  Other times, I'm the one who can provide the little motivational edge to get a friend moving.

That's what friends are 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.