Four classes in the book

I have now taken four yoga classes with four different instructors. Here is what I've learned:

•  I don't enjoy doing yoga, but I do enjoy having done yoga. It's hot in that studio, and I'm not good at it yet. (No way can I do downward dog. Just not gonna happen.) But I do feel better. So I'm sticking with it.

•  Early is better than later. I've taken classes at 10:00 AM, noon, and 7:30 PM. The 10:00 AM class works best for me. I was ravenous after the noon class. I was sluggish during the evening class because I'd already had dinner. Morning seems to be my Goldilocks time: just right.

•  The teachers really matter. The first one seemed to assume we were all experienced, but I'm a novice and I suck. The second one was great, very good with offering modifications, but mine was her last class. Literally. She'd already given notice. The third was better than the first and renewed my commitment. The one this morning was very good, too. "There's no right or wrong here," she said repeatedly. I appreciated that.

•  I feel supported. This studio just opened in August, less than six months ago, and I am their first Medicare member. They receive the fee for my 4 classes/month directly from United Healthcare. So we were very patient with each other during sign up. After all, I've never been on Medicare before, and the paperwork is byzantine. Kirsten, the woman who works the front desk, has suggested classes and called me at home to see how it's going. I appreciate the service and support.

•  I can do these stretches at home, you know. Just because I haven't yet doesn't mean I can't. I will try to incorporate a few minutes of stretches into my first-thing-in-the-morning routine.

So it looks like yoga will remain part of my new retired life, at least for a while.

Yoga: Day 1

See this photo of flexible women reaching for their toes? I did not remotely resemble them today.

I got confused a lot. "Now place your bolster at a diagonal ...." "Using your block ..." "Place your strap ..." I had no idea yoga included so much paraphernalia. It was a lot to keep straight. Plus I'm in rather abysmal shape.

But I am proud of myself. I made the commitment, I showed up and I did my best. It is a start. 

I try again Thursday.

I am a lucky gal

Yesterday afternoon, I was actually done with work at 5:30! I've been so overloaded these past few weeks that this was noteworthy. The sun was still bright, the skies were blue, and I celebrated by taking a walk. I took my canvas bag to the BIG grocery store, which is just a shade over a mile away. It took me half an hour, which is longer than it should because I am hideously out of shape.*

After hearing the good news from the CDC, I wore my mask on wrist. It made me crazy happy to be able to smile as I waved at the driver who paused for me at the crosswalk. I was amused by the little boys rather aggressively hawking lemonade from their stand outside the community softball game. (I still wasn't ready to drink a beverage mixed by grimy little hands, though.) I wore my mask while shopping, though. It's still mandated here in Illinois and I respect the law as well as the science. 

As I walked the mile back with my heavy bag -- not even Friday and most of my weekend grocery shopping is done! -- I stopped at the bakery for a chocolate brownie. I don't think I've been in that particular bakery in a year!

I thought of John and my oldest friend and realized how lucky I am. She's 11 months older than I am, he's 2 1/2 years older, and neither of them could have enjoyed a similar walk. Both of them require canes to walk any distance. With John, it's fatigue and trouble breathing as a result of (currently untreated!) congenital heart failure. My oldest friend suffers from severe knee pain.

I haven't been to the chiropractor in a year. As things reopen, I must return. While I no longer suffer those horrible, shooting pains up and down my right side, I do notice that I have regressed. My balance is off, I'm pretty damn creaky when I get up, and it took me forever to walk that mile.

But I am healthier than they are. I don't exercise, but neither do they. I don't smoke, like she does. I don't drink, like he does. But I eat too much fat and sugar and am way, way too sedentary. 

I must take a moment to appreciate how lucky I am and then be more mindful. Drink more water. Get back on my lateral thigh trainer, if only for a few minutes a day.

Appreciate what God's given you, Gal!

*It wasn't that long ago that I could walk 3 miles in an hour.

February Blog Challenge -- Day 6

  

Visit Kwizgiver for the prompts

 

6) What is something you have always wanted to try but haven't yet?

Cross-country skiing. I prefer really cold days to really hot ones, so it would be a fun and healthy way to take advantage of the way I'm naturally calibrated. Also, I have like NO upper body strength, so it would be a good workout for me.

May Music Meme -- Day 22

A song that moves you forward. If working out constitutes moving forward, I'll go with this one. They used to play it all the time at the health club, and I loved doing my floor exercises to it. (Play along! Click here for prompts.)

Seen while looking out the window

I wasn't going to work out today at lunchtime. I have a good book, I was hungry, I had a few bucks in my wallet ... I thought maybe a slice of gooey pizza, devoured in a booth while enjoying my book, was in order.

I looked out the window to check the weather and saw an old lady with a cane. She looked so vulnerable, trying to make her way toward Michigan Avenue in the crush of people. I decided I never want to be her, and that I should work toward preventing it.

So I stretched and I pedaled. And tonight, when I got home, I iced my back. I have to respect that I have spinal stenosis and behave like a responsible adult when it comes to managing it.

Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

April Prompt -- Day 6

"One Thing I Need to Start Doing"

Working out! Not only is the recumbent bike good for my heart, those stretches on the mat help my back and leg.

I have two gym memberships, one near the office and one here at home. If I amortized how much money I waste every day by not working out, I just might make myself sick.

For more about the April Challenge, click here.

Image courtesy of Youngkeit at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Guess who worked out! That would be me.

I've been going to the chiropractor twice/week for the last two months. Last Thursday, he OK'd me to return to the health club. And so Monday I did -- for the first time in 2019!

I believe this is the beginning of the end of a saga that began back in September, when I visited the doctor about my swollen right calf and she sent me to the hospital for tests to eliminate DVT and phlebitis. Then in December, I began suffering from distracting, sudden, stabbing pains in that same right calf. Another trip to the hospital. Once again, DVT was eliminated. Along the way, diabetes has been ruled out, too.

Great. We knew what it wasn't, but we didn't know what it was. My friend Barb recommended her chiropractor, and my world changed.

It's now been four days without any pain. That's the longest I've gone in three months! I'm getting better!

So I went back to the health club and I stretched. I pedaled. It felt gooooood.

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 7

Today's happiness: Doing it anyway. I worked out at lunchtime. I didn't want to. Once I got outside into the sunshine, I wanted to just keep walking and take myself to a nice, relaxing lunch. But instead I did the hip ab and adductor machines and about a half hour on the recumbent bike. 

I'm proud of me.

via GIPHY

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

 

The cover fell off, but still ...

I saw Napoleon and his "mom" today. She was sitting on the corner, surrounded by his carrier and litter box, kitten beside her and nose in a book. I recognized it, even though the front cover had fallen away: it was the Patty Hearst autobiography I gave her husband! It made me happy to see her so engrossed in it. It made me feel old that this story is completely unknown to both her and her husband, but they're both readers, and readers love books. It makes me happy to put books in their hands. Especially used books that would be tossed aside but are now being enjoyed.

And I had another one for her in my purse. Caleb said he likes true crime, while his wife prefers "biography, memoirs and poetry." I found Waiting for Snow in Havana in our local Little Free Library. She was enthusiastic about it.

I also worked out at lunchtime. I feel better today than I have in a week. I think I discovered the key to overcoming depression: physical activity, and doing something -- even something that doesn't cost anything -- for others.

I may get altitude sickness

That's how high my high road is today!

I not only worked out for the first time in 2017, I also brought my lunch. And said lunch was actually (reasonably) nutritious: tuna salad, crackers, applesauce and chocolate pudding. I admit that when I eat healthy my meals tend to sound like they were planned by the junior high lunch lady, but never mind that now.

I was a good Gal at lunch today!

And to think, you could have gotten a personalized cutting board!

I finally read my December issue of O magazine today, featuring Oprah's favorite things, and learned that I could have given everyone on my gift list a personalized cutting board at a little over $150 a pop.

The magazine entertained me as I pedaled ... for the first time in 2016. I finally returned to the health club and it felt good. I warmed up on the deltoid fly and the abductor/adductor before moving to the exercise bike, where I kept my heart rate to about 100 bpm for 25 minutes.

It felt good. I'm hoping that the incremental physical activity will help my gastrointestinal tract get back to normal.

It does a body good

My 11:00 meeting ran long, of course. (Meetings with Christine the Mole always do.) I didn't have time to do my full workout -- 10 minutes of floor exercise or machines and 20 minutes on the bike. Normally I would then blow off exercise and go to lunch.

For some reason, though, yesterday I went over to the health club anyway and just did the 20 minutes on the bike. Though I kept my heart rate over 100 the whole time, I didn't work up a major sweat and was able to just give myself a little sponge bath before getting dressed and returning to the office in time for my next meeting. Because I didn't exert myself, I wasn't sure the workout had been worth it.

It was! I felt so much better all afternoon. I've got to remember that doing something is better than doing nothing when it comes to exercise.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 10

The entire day of Monday gets the Happy Cone, because chocolate custard is nice and smooth and so was August 10.

No drama at work, just productivity. I got in a decent workout, which felt good. (I believe physical activity is missing from day-to-day.) I brown bagged my lunch. I cooked myself an economical yet nutritious dinner. There was no Cub game, but I found a PBS American Experience documentary on JFK, which kept my brain occupied.

All good!

What's that you say? What's the August Happiness Challenge?

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy chocolate cone. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 3

Today it's my virtue that I'm celebrating with the Happy Cone. For I began my workweek by:

1) Working out at lunchtime

2) Then eating a lunch I brought from home

3) Tracking all this healthy activity on The Daily Plate at Livestrong.com

What's that you say? What's the August Happiness Challenge?

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy chocolate cone. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Now that January 2015 is one for the record books, it's time to look back at how I'm doing with my resolution to work out, save money and improve my personal environment.

The Good. This being more careful with my money thing is working out well. By being more thoughtful about where I spend and what I spend it on, I was able to save $40, which I put toward my Associated Bank Visa card. It's easier and more satisfying than I thought it would be.

The Bad. I haven't kept up with cleaning and purging. I've been too exhausted by drama. There's been drama at work and drama with my condo association and it's been too easy and too comforting to just curl up on my lumpy futon and crash.

The Ugly. I haven't worked out with my trainer in months, and the weight I lost before Christmas is back. I eat way too much salt and sugar. I must stop this.

I'm trying not to slide into self-shaming. I fucked up. So be it. February is a new month. All I can do is redouble my efforts to stay Good and ease some of my Bad and Ugly behavior over.

Three for three!

On Monday I brought my lunch, did 10 minutes of floor exercises and 25 minutes on the stationery bike, and I went through every item on my kitchen counter and am parting with a lot of crap-- including but not limited to expired coupons and OTC meds.

I wish I could honestly report that my home is looking so much better since January 1, but I'd be lying. The important thing is that I'm keeping this promise to myself and am improving my personal and financial environment.

I'm learning that's a key part of this -- to remind myself that deserve better surroundings. I'm the only one who can make this happen, and so I shall.

Trifecta!

Thursday was not a good day for this gal and her resolutions. I didn't work out, I didn't brown bag my lunch and I didn't do anything to improve my home environment.

But today was a new day. I worked out, ate a lunch I'd brought from home, and when I'm done blogging I'm going to pack up this year's Christmas cards and get them out of here and help a good cause.

St. Jude's Ranch for Children* "transforms the lives of at-risk children, young adults and families by empowering them to create new chances, new choices and new hope in a caring community." They support their good work by selling recycled greeting cards. Kids take the fronts of used cards, attach new backs, and sell them at 10/$17.

In addition to the cards people were nice enough to send me in 2014, I'm sending them the fronts from the boxes of unused Christmas cards I received from charities in years gone by. I had collected way, way more than I could use, but it seemed so wrong to just dispose of perfectly good cards. I'm glad that finally they will be put to good use … and finally out of here!

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*Not to be confused with St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, which also does wonderful but very different work.

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the lives of abused and at-risk children, young adults and families by empowering them to create  new chances, new choices and new hope in a caring community.  - See more at: https://stjudesranch.org/about-us/#sthash.YjV9OCzv.dpuf

transforming the lives of abused and at-risk children, young adults and families by empowering them to create  new chances, new choices and new hope in a caring community.  - See more at: https://stjudesranch.org/about-us/#sthash.YjV9OCzv.dpuf

transforming the lives of abused and at-risk children, young adults and families by empowering them to create  new chances, new choices and new hope in a caring community.  - See more at: https://stjudesranch.org/about-us/#sthash.YjV9OCzv.dpuf

Right back in it again

Back to the old grind after two weeks away from the office. Life in the real world is a mixed bag.

I skipped my workout yesterday because I figured the gym would be filled with newbies whose resolution is to lose weight, but I did brown bag my lunch. YEA! That's an easy moneysaver  I resolved to do at least once each week.

I brought one of my more troubling coworkers, Blondie McBlonderson, a souvenir from Key West. It was a tiny thing -- just a postcard of Robert the Doll -- but it seemed to make her happy. Being more positive with her is something else I'm working on because it's compassionate and decent and because it may make my own day go easier. So that gets a YEA!

When I got home last night, I was exhausted and had a headache. I think part of it was being back to the old routine. Part of it was dealing with the commute in 0º. Consciously I kind of dig it -- after last year's subzero January, it didn't feel bad at all. But I think it depleted me physically all the same. So instead of dejunking my house last night, I napped. BOO! 

But today I worked out. First time in 2015. YEA!

Ow, ow, ow!

I worked out three times this week, once with my trainer (aka "The Doe-Eyed Sadist"). While I admit to some soreness, it's the kind of hurt that indicates progress, not damage. I feel stronger and more fit, even though I don't believe I've lost any weight. (I am allergic to scales.)

My balance has improved, too.

I am feeling proud of myself right now.