My body is my Temple

 This morning I woke up before the first alarm again. I still refused to get up before the first snooze. But then, as I woke up with stretches, I felt really good. It helped that I was in bed by ten last night and asleep shortly after. Every day, I can bend a little further and reach my toes with my legs closer together.  As I walked around the office this morning, I noticed another improvement. My body doesn't hurt nearly as much. My legs move much easier and I am starting to feel like I could even run a little. This is a huge improvement! For a long time now I've felt like my legs were leaden weights that hurt with every step. I've also endured a tightness in my right shoulder and up to my neck for a couple weeks. I noticed yesterday that it has receded considerably.  Something I think I should mention that is also helping is my muscle roller bar. I bought it a couple years ago and have at times regretted that decision when I come across it sitting unused in a closet. I...

I had another good night last night, waking just before the alarm went off. That doesn't mean I got up before I had hit snooze twice though. My morning stretches are feeling better every day. I can bend a little farther when doing my side stretches, and touching my toes is already a lot easier than when I began. I haven't been doing any floor work yet, but I think I will start that in the next couple days.  Today I had some errands to do downtown for work, and since the sale items for my grocery store ends today I decided to grab them on my lunch. I tried to hurry but it was already 12:30 by the time I got back to work and by then I just had time to eat. So, no lunchtime walk for me today. I'll have to make up for it tonight after dinner.  Last night I did not feel like cooking, or doing dishes, and so we ordered takeout from our local chinese restaurant. I'm always leery of eating chinese since it so often has MSG in it. I have a terrible allergy to MSG that often mani...

I did manage to get to bed earlier last night, although still not as early as I wanted to. I had wanted to be in bed by ten but didn't make it there until 10:15. Not too bad. I woke up feeling rested and got up after only one snooze. That was a good night! Lately, with night sweats from menopause, those have become far more rare. Unfortunately, my partner did not have as good a night. He's a light sleeper and with the weight gain I've started snoring. I have tried different sleeping positions to try and mitigate it, but without success. Yet another reason for me to work on getting healthier. Since I got up early I did some stretching, but I did not manage to drink any water. Oh well, I'll work on that after lunch. Speaking of lunch, there's sunshine outside! I'm grateful that the temperature has stayed above -10, and there doesn't appear to be a wind either. I am really looking forward to getting out for my walk today.  I have a new personal best! Today'...

I know it's only Tuesday, but this week has been rough so far. It's my own fault, I've been staying up too late at night. I heard the alarm go off at my new earlier time to rise, but I just could not get up. That means I didn't do my stretches yesterday or this morning. Also didn't drink any water before work. Not to make excuses, but I am a night owl and I revert to my natural circadian rhythm on weekends. It sure makes the start of my week tough though. Tonight, I plan to go to bed by ten. I often plan to go to bed early, but somehow I seem to wake up after 9 pm and the hours between nine and eleven just fly by!  It's looking like it will be a grey day today. The temperature is still in the mild range at -6, but considering it was -4 earlier this morning I suspect it may not stay that way for long. But, it is snowing too. I don't like looking at the forecast, preferring to take the day as it is when it comes. However, I will probably look tonight to see if...

 Good morning dear readers and welcome to week two! I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I had a quiet weekend, very relaxing. Despite getting up at just before eight am, and it being unseasonably warm, I didn't leave the house on Saturday at all. I suffered some guilt for not getting out for a walk, especially since I had committed to walking every day up to my birthday.    However, although it was short, I did manage to get out on Sunday for a walk around my block. It was a beautiful bright sunny day and I only wore a teeshirt under my jacket, and I still had to unzip my jacket half way. Since I did such a short walk, I decided to walk backwards up the small hill, about 82 m, (270 ft). That certainly was challenging! I will be adding that to my walks from now on.  There are a lot of good benefits to walking backwards, including improved balance and coordination. I can definitely benefit from both of those, as I tend to be a bit clumsy. Other benefits supposedly incl...

 I'm so glad it's Friday. Although this week hasn't been particularly difficult I'm looking forward to having two days I don't have to go anywhere. Well, except outside for my walks, that is.  After stretching this morning I was successful at draining more of my glass of water, although I still didn't make it all the way through. To be fair though, I am using a 24 oz recycled glass pasta jar as my water glass. And, I drank over half of the glass.  I am feeling really good at my progress. I've made it through almost an entire week exercising, without skipping any days. Today I have an errand that I have to run at lunch, so I won't be able to go for my walk. But, I am playing a new house track from one of the local music collectives, Gnomes @ Night, on Soundcloud and it inspired a dance party of one for just over twenty minutes. I've settled down and am chair dancing now. If you want to check it out, the track I'm listening to is Booty Shaker by Cb...