The Joy of Six...

Here’s To My Health….Oooo, ah, Ouch….

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.  

Diet and Exercise and Health...oh my!

Okay, I'm having a little trouble staying on "the healthy track" again.  I have been for about a week now.  It's the bane of my existence....this 'healthy living' thing.  I wrap my head around it one minute and then just as easily unwrap it the next.  But, I'm laughing....and yes, I'm entering another 'serious mode.'  I'm going to kick this healthy-lifestyle-thing in the butt.....Yeah, when......

 

 

My exercise bike, lots of water, lots of salads....and a few prayers wouldn't hurt.

The Road to Elderville

I just can’t seem to do it right.  I just can’t seem to make the journey into elder age gracefully.  It’s not that I have trouble believing I should be there; it’s that I’m such a lousy example of what you need to do to make for a more successful trip.                                                                                                   

There are those who spend their entire lives focused… in a preventative mindset.  They eat all the right foods.  They get plenty of exercise.  They make their regular visits to the doctor.  They get plenty of sleep, don’t drink excessively, and probably don’t smoke.  Apart from the fact that I’ve never smoked, and don’t really enjoy drinking that much; I’ve pretty much broken all the rules that could benefit each and every one of us strolling down the road to Elderville.                                                                  

Okay, I think I’m going to cut myself some slack over the “not enough sleep” issue.  I have my share of nights were I don’t get anywhere near eight hours of sleep; but I also have a lot of very restful ones too.  In the past several months, I venture to say that a good majority of my short nights were a direct result of being a member of the BLOGERHOOD….an addiction in itself.  We all know how consuming it can be; and late nights claim a lot of us.                                                                                       

One area I have never been good at is following through with regular doctor visits.  I just never put them as a priority.  I usually have to have something bother me before I make the call.  Not that anyone is fond of going to the doctor; but I, like many others, would definitely be called neglectful.  I wish people were more like cars in this area.  Make an appointment with the doctor, have EVERYTHING checked out, from head-to-toe at one time, fix whatever needs fixing, adjust whatever needs adjusting, and leave feeling brand new and running smoothly…ONE GREAT TUNE-UP.  Is that asking for so much?  It doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.                                                                                           

Then we come to two other areas in my life that have been woefully overlooked; disgracefully shunned, really.  Proper diet and exercise.  Ohhhh, just typing that hurts.                                                                                                             

My eating habits….I’d like to blame my mother for that one.  It would be wrong, but it would make me feel better.  Though there were no concrete guidelines as to what I should and should not have when I was growing up, we had just as many healthy meals as anyone else.  We also had as much junk food as anyone else.  Now what do you think my preference was?  This is where I think I can legally blame my mother.  She DIDN’T stop me!  Shame on her.  And who’s to blame for continuing those bad eating habits throughout adulthood?  Shame on me.  Enough said…you get the gist.                                                                                       

I always admired people who just instinctively knew to choose the healthy and nutritional things to eat.  Cripes, I admire the people who didn’t instinctively know, but worked at it nonetheless.  I fall somewhere into the “pathetically misinformed and in denial” category.  Over the years I’ve made many attempts to mend those fences, and I have succeeded at times.  I like A LOT of healthy foods….honest; but in general I have to really focus on what’s good and what’s not so good…it doesn’t come naturally. It becomes pretty apparent as you get older, that there are MANY diet adjustments one needs to make, whether they want to or not.  I guess I just never expected that I had to grow up and be accountable.                                                                                                       

On a par with my poor eating habits are my virtually non-existent exercising habits.  I must admit that I am stymied by this since I had always been a very active person as a young adult and mother.  I don’t exactly know where it all went south, but I think it was somewhere in my late forties.  I’ve never been a big fan of just walking for walking’s sake.  There had to be a mission to it in my mind.  Some people relish their daily walks…they can’t wait.  I can come up with every excuse in the book NOT to go.  Here too, I’ve had periods in my life where I was pretty good about it.  And then…that slippery slope downward to ambivalence. I can’t just blame it on everyday aches and pains that keep me unfocused…it goes deeper than that.  My kids have made their pleas for me to get out there and maintain a healthier lifestyle.  I keep trying.  My son figured he’d make a power play and bought me a really nice exercising bike last Christmas.  With the exception of a few weeks recently (I have an excuse, but not a good one) I had been using it daily.  I’d even go as far as to say I was proud of myself.  Every time I’d get through with my little workout, I’d mentally pat myself on the back.  And I know I’ll get back into my daily routine because I actually like it; and for me that’s more than half the battle.                                                                                                 

Now I'm at a time in my life where the past catches up to the future.  The journey to Elderville should be a welcome adventure...an exciting time.  Some of us make it skipping along like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road; others of us pop our heads up every so often like Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street...and wonder who we can blame for it all going wrong. 

Pieces of Me

ChristMunchTime

                                                                                                                  

Jolly ‘ol St. Nicholas,

don’t you look this way.

Don’t you tell a single soul

what I’ve done today.

Christmas will be coming soon.

I’ve got this horrid plan…

Devouring goodies left and right;

Please stop me, little man.

Some might want a diamond ring

or a slinky evening gown.

Me? I haven’t made a list;

too busy chowin’ down.

Christmas cookies, pies and cakes;

all kinds of candy too.

My sweet tooth is on overload;

now what’s a girl to do?

As for me, I’ve given up.

My diet’s down the drain.

Good judgment?  Not a chance of that

with sugar on the brain.

Be kind to me St. Nicholas;

I can match you pound for pound.

I hope you won’t forget my house

while making Christmas rounds.

Remember what I’ve told you

as you finish out your day.

I’ll be leaving milk and cookies….

Well, you’ll get the milk....okay?

                                     -Joy

Cinderella...and The Bomb

My mother loves to reminisce on occasion about my brother and I when we were small.  I don’t mind really, and it usually leaves my kids in stitches.  One of the stories she fondly brings up was back when I was a toddler; I was never sure exactly what age I was.  We lived in a strange little home for a while when my dad got out of the Navy.  It was dome-shaped with a metal roof, and they had a name for it; but for the life of me I can’t remember it. (If I had to guess, I think they were called Quonset Huts) There were several huge areas of them built by the government.  They all had rounded roofs; but I remember ours was a little different.  My dad built a square porch off the front of ours that became a den/TV room.  I loved that little room.  These homes all had little fenced-in yards as well.

As my mother tells it…she would put me out in the yard in my stroller to get some sun and fresh air and then go back in the house for awhile.  When she’d come back out to get me she'd see this little black circle around my mouth, and I’d be happily crunching away on something.  Apparently I took a fancy to some cinder patches in our yard.  My mother has them rolling in the aisles with this one…sound effects and all.

She Ain't Heavy...She's My Mother

My two middle children, Julie and Jory, are concerned about my health.    They make no bones about it….they come right out and tell me.  I take their concern with the intent in which it is given….out of love… and fear that something will happen to me.  They both have made their pleas to “be serious Mom, and please make sure you walk every day”….something I’m not always fond of doing.  I don’t know why exactly…I was always such an active person when I was younger…couldn’t sit still in fact.  But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten into this sedentary rut, if you will.  I don‘t know exactly when it started, but I’m willing to bet it was around the time my last child finally took the step to leave the nest; go off to college and start the next chapter in his life.  Makes sense.