My body is my Temple

 Well, here it is Monday and almost 1 pm and I haven't gone for a walk yet. Worse, I didn't walk or shovel snow all weekend, so my motivation is pretty low. It was snowing again this morning and I am really not feeling walking outside. But, that doesn't mean I'm not going to exercise. I ended up working through the traditional lunch time so I'll do it now that the guys have left. I'm fortunate to work in a small office with just three other occupants.  Thankfully, I have a beginner exercise class on Youtube that I can do in my office. I found it before I started this blog and really enjoyed it, although I had difficulty being consistent with it when others were in the office. The video is a thirty-minute  low impact exercise for beginners that you can do at home. Check it out here:  Body Project video . It's perfect for days like today when I'm all alone and the weather is not ideal for walking. I keep a teeshirt at the office and just work out in my soc...

 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...

This morning's stretch session lasted a little longer and included a couple new positions. It's only been three days of getting up earlier but already I can feel a difference. My arms and shoulders didn't hurt as much, and bending over to stretch my hamstrings and touch my toes was a little easier. I did drink some water, but by no means made it through the whole glass. As a compromise, I only brought one coffee to work with me instead of the usual togo cup and thermos.  I am not quite as excited about my walk this morning as I have been the last few days, but am still not dreading it. Something I will be checking carefully while getting ready is for any kind of lump in my boot liners. I have classic-style Sorels for winter boots and I regularly wear them the liners as slippers here in the office, leaving the outer rubber shell under my desk. Yesterday, just as I was finishing my walk I noticed a sore spot on the ball of my foot. When I returned to the office and removed th...

Good morning dear readers! I hope you all are finding some inspiration from this blog.  I was up early again this morning and did some more stretching. It was only about five minutes before I settled down on the couch with my coffee to wake up, but it sure felt good. Tomorrow, I'm going to try drinking a glass of cold water first thing after waking. I know I don't drink enough water and it certainly can't hurt! I know I said in my first post that I wasn't going to set a goal for a particular weight or clothing size. But while walking yesterday I decided that I would set mini goals to ensure I can celebrate milestones along the journey to wellness. For my first goal, I plan to walk or exercise every day for forty-nine days and strive to lose ten pounds. Why forty-nine you ask? Well, the fiftieth day will be my 51st birthday and although I may want to, I'm not going to commit to walking that day.  Speaking of yesterday's walk, I mentioned to my boyfriend last nigh...

 Well, here we are on Day 3 and I'm still feeling good and motivated. I even got up and did some stretching this morning! Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not a morning person as I tend to be a night owl. However, I decided that I would start getting up a half hour earlier than normal to give myself more time to drink coffee and wake up slowly. I actually made that decision so that I could get to work on time as I had a bad habit of showing up ten minutes late the last few months of 2020 and I was determined to correct that in 2021. So, there I was at 6:30 this morning, standing in the middle of my living room with arms outstretched. I won't lie, I didn't do a lot. Basically warmed up my neck, shoulders and arms before switching to my legs. My hamstrings and calf muscles complained as I gingerly bent at the hips and leaned forward, reaching for the floor. Only five minutes, but the heel spur I have been suffering with is much better today because of it. Each new ...

 I'm so excited for my walk today at lunch! This is definitely a change from the usual dread I feel. Since I live in the north, but prefer a warmer climate, this time of year is when I usually want to just stay indoors and semi-hibernate. Oh sure, I snowboard when I can afford to, but suffice it to say that I am not a huge fan of winter.  So what's different now? Well, I felt so good after my little walk yesterday morning, mentally and physically, I'm all fired up to do it again. Plus, I shared this blog's first post in a Facebook group yesterday and had an overwhelmingly positive response! So, now I don't feel like I'm doing it alone.  Even the fact that the sky is overcast and the temp has dipped down to almost -20 C isn't enough to dim my enthusiasm. Finally, it's time to get dressed and do this! Well, that was short and sweet, I was only out about fifteen minutes. Still, I managed to increase the distance walked to almost 1261 m, almost double yester...

Hello, dear readers, and welcome!  As I launch this new blog, I invite you to join me on my journey. I admit that it's been a long two years of grieving and doing a lot of nothing since my little dog died. I did get active for a little while last fall when I had a walking buddy, but then as winter started to let up Covid-19 hit. But, thats enough about that for now. Let's get back to the title of today's post. Its true, my body physically aches with the extra weight I've put on. At 50, almost 51, I'm as heavy as I've ever been. And, since I haven't weighed myself in about a year, I'm afraid of what the readout would be. From my clothing, I know I'm wearing a size 18. But regardless of the number of pounds or clothing size, my body is uncomfortable.   On top of the pain I feel in my muscles and joints, there is also the mental. I have a beautiful oval wooden full length mirror in the corner of my bedroom. It’s something I always wanted and I love it. ...