Slender as a Thread

[journey11]

This is a hard time of year. I think the shorter days just trick our bodies into wanting to prepare for hibernation too. Hope you can find some healthier options and ways to tweak your favorite family recipes so you can still enjoy some of them without guilt. Realizing I could make a really good, healthier version of chocolate with coconut oil, stevia, and cocoa powder has been a lifesaver for me!

 

[digitS']

Chocolate?!

I was just thinking this afternoon about a cup of hot chocolate instead of another cup of coffee, @journey11 . I had the coffee since DW likes cocoa so well and the box of Swiss Miss is nearly empty. But no ...

Chocolate is not very important to me. It kinda tickles me that it is to some people. And people! This is the time of year ~ right on thru Winter ~ when the chocolate ads are hitting us everywhere, every day!

It isn't just guilt. The little bit of arthritis comes and goes as a problem. What doesn't go away for me is as very bad back and nerve damage for one leg. Both legs are weak. I just move through momentum - like a Mallard thru the air. I really shouldn't be able to get around, I'm too lame.

Park the equivalent of a couple concrete blocks around my waist and I can't imagine being able to even squirm.

Steve

 

[buckabucka]

Are you able to swim, @digitS' ? Not outdoors, of course, but at some local facility? It seems like that would be a nice gentle activity, but it really burns calories.
I used to love swimming, but after a while the chlorine bothered my skin, and I swear the local college keeps their pool at 33 degrees. My sister is lucky enough to live right near a warmish salt water pool.

Here was my health challenge this week: I was at a dinner party with close friends, when someone brought up a study about measuring health by the ability to rise up off the floor from a cross-legged position without using your hands or knees. I guess points are deducted for each time you must use your hands or knees. Suddenly we were all on the floor. I am slim and exercise some, but I couldn't budge. After much struggle, DH, made it up. One woman sprung to her feet like it was nothing, but none of the rest of us could move. I'm the youngest in the group, so I went home and practiced. I can do it now, although not without much struggle. I'm not sure how it is supposed to benefit me either, but I somehow felt like I'd accomplished something.

 

[so lucky]

I consider myself pretty flexible for an old lady, but I can't do that. Something about getting the feet to rotate into a standing position...
In our Pilates class, we have to curl up slowly, from a lying down with arms lying above the head, feet spread apart, to a sitting position, with hands spread forward between feet. Repeatedly.

 

[digitS']

Good for you, @buckabucka ! Since we spend so much of our day sitting, being able to rise from that position is a lesser or greater accomplishment, no matter how we do it.

Swimming? It is supposed to be one of those "muscle memory" activities that we are not able to forget, like riding a bicycle! I seriously wonder if I can do either ... one leg is quite a bit worse than the other, would I just turn like a corkscrew?? Bicycling, I may be able to maintain my balance but getting far, I don't know.

I haven't done either activity for years. There are plenty of outdoor opportunities here, during the summer months. I used to live just up a short path from a boat dock on the river and enjoyed a beach farther up where the river left the lake. The river kind of skims that 1,000 foot deep lake as the warmer surface water heads off downstream. It was a pleasant place to swim.

Steve
olde guy with a cane out walking somewhere, most days lately

 

[thistlebloom]

Stationary exercise bikes can be had very cheaply from thrift stores.

I have a trainer that I use in the winter, the rear wheel rests in a frame on a tensioned roller. I have an old (vintage! ) Schwinn 10 speed road bike that I ride on it.
It's a matter of survival anymore, if I don't keep up during the winter I spend the first half of the work season regretting it.
It helps a lot with my shredded knee, keeping the muscles around the joint built up is the key to having any working endurance and pain management.

 

[Smart Red]

This should be an interesting winter. I'm down 13 pounds since DH's stroke last month and not even trying.

 

[thistlebloom]

This should be an interesting winter. I'm down 13 pounds since DH's stroke last month and not even trying.

Bummer of a way to lose weight though.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

This should be an interesting winter. I'm down 13 pounds since DH's stroke last month and not even trying.

I have been gone so long from this site, I missed anything about your husband having a stroke. I am down about 13 right now from my husband and his cancer. I was down over 20. I was not trying. He had a seizure in August and that sent me over the edge and I lost 10 pounds in a short time, but I have started to relax, but looks like I will be down 10-15 pounds for the year. I am sorry about your husband.

 

[Smart Red]

Thank you, @Gardening with Rabbits. You've had well and above your own share of problems this year. I am glad to hear you are anticipating/planning for a better 2016. We hope your DH thrives and you both get more time to do what you love.