Me and my achy body came in from my walk around the neighborhood yesterday….my new ritual that I have recently constituted along with my new, healthier diet. It’s not an automatic thing for me….never has been; but it’s the ‘NEW’ plan on my way to a healthier lifestyle. Why? Because my “OLD’ plan apparently hasn’t been cutting it…..albeit is a heck of a lot more fun. However, according to my doctor, MY plan will start working against me if I don’t take some serious action and do something about it…..NOW. Though nothing is life-threatening, he’s worried about the possibilities of things like Diabetes, heart disease, stroke and such….all related to my on-going battle to lose weight. I already have some of the achy knees, hips and back stuff that comes with the territory of getting older. It’s not like I haven’t heard those words before, and it’s not like I didn’t already know what he was going to tell me. I’m just not crazy about being told, and I don’t give him much of a chance to lecture me since I make as few appearances to his office as possible…..you know; I’ve got to be feeling pretty shitty and willing to risk a lecture. As nice as he is, and as good a relationship as we have…I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Unfortunately I was scheduled for one of those appointments…..I didn’t have a choice. They were holding my prescriptions hostage and wouldn’t fill them until I came in for a complete physical. Cripes, it had only been four years. That didn’t seem so outrageous to me. But my doctor knows me pretty well. He wanted the whole battery of tests done. I always feel like a car going in for a complete tune-up. Heart…fine. Hearing…fine. Blood pressure….good. (Well fine for being on medicine.) Mammogram….fine. EKG…fine. Lungs…fine. Cholesterol….okay. A slight elevation in my glucose count. This is the main reason why I’m constituting the ‘NEW’ plan…..bummer.
Hey, it is what it is. I didn’t gain this weight overnight. I’ve had a sweet tooth all my life. I’ve loved bread and starches all my life. What I don’t quite remember is: When did I get so lazy? I was always so naturally active. As a kid I couldn’t sit still…..I was a tomboy. As a teenager I was a cheerleader and into gymnastics and loved sports. As a young mother I was constantly ‘on the go’ running after little ones. That didn’t stop for years…well into their high school years really. Maybe it happened when they went off to college and things slowed down for me.
It became a very different life in my late forties and fifties when there were really no more kids in the house and it was just my husband and I. I worked some of those years, but things were definitely slowing down….and I must have been slowing down right along with them whether I knew it or not. I was okay with that. I think it was even my plan. Then of course there are always those things you never plan for.
Death has a way of slowing you down like nothing else. It can immobilize you if you’re not careful. I was surprised at how well I thought I did after my husband, Joel, died 2 ½ years ago. I did what I had to. I handled whatever needed to be taken care of….almost like a checklist; and still tried to feel like I was existing in my normal day….or what could be normal for me at that point. Then right on the heels of that, I got hit with my mother getting ill and her death. Here’s how I remember my existence at that time….
I took care of paperwork and legal issues. I blogged and read blogs. I worked on BlogHer. I cleaned some of Joel’s things out. I saw family members. I read blogs. I worked on BlogHer. I had things fixed in the house that Joel never got around to. I’d drive out to see my mother and bring her what she needed. I talked on the phone to my kids…a lot. I played games on the computer. I read blogs. I blogged. I e-mailed. I reviewed blogs for BlogHer. I met with my brother to discuss my mother. I had more things repaired around the house. I met with a financial advisor, insurance agents and bank representatives. I spent time with my kids. I played and worked on the computer. I had lunch with friends. I blogged. I answered e-mails. I blogged. I worked on BlogHer. Along with my brother, I took care of the details of my mother’s death. I finally flew out to see my new grandson, Bastian, two months late. And I joyfully celebrated the marriage of my beautiful daughter, Jory.
Does anyone notice a pattern here? Does anyone see one mention of exercise? Well in all honesty, that wouldn’t be totally fair. There have been periods in those 2 ½ years that I actually did exercise on a fairly regular basis on my stationary bike that my son, Joe, got for me. My problem is consistency. I’ve started using my bike again too.
I have to use the Double Whammy of walking and using my exercise bike to counteract all the hours I spend sitting in front of the computer hour after hour….day after day. Now THIS is where I’m consistent! And although my computer was a haven and a refuge for me at some very stressful times in my life, it is also what’s gotten me into such disastrous trouble. I have NO guidelines when it comes to the computer….blogging…..BlogHer….e-mail…. computer games…..and everything surrounding the internet. I don’t know when to call it a day. I go from one thing to the next to keep caught up. By the time I’m done….it’s often into the wee hours of the morning, my ankles are swollen, and I fall into bed. Hello? What kind of exercise program is that?
Good news….my fingers are damn skinny.
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