YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING....

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?

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??

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%

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)

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!!

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

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.