Just need to talk to my friends (204)

jfkoc

Carl…muscle, fat, diet…I will walk tomorrow with my outside rollator. I wil pick up the hand weights on my desk and will move more inside.

BethL

Good information, Carl! Thanks for sharing.

Carl46

I'm back. It doesn't take long to wear me out after two years of shuffling around in slo-mo with DW. I am weak as a kitten. I walked up the hill to the cemetery and down and enjoyed it immensely, but it tired me. By autumn I will be walking much farther. I already have a new pair of walking shoes and a big Panama hat to keep the sun off my head.

One of the best ways to get in some walking is to walk a dog. The dog won't let you skip days, you will get some sunshine, and you can socialize with the other dogwalkers. My SIL who loves pastry lost her house with fenced yard to a tornado and moved into a rental without fence. She walked the dog twice a day and lost a lot of weight. Her diabetes improved and she felt better. Then the insurance money came and she bought a house with fenced yard . . .

My SIL the dog trainer says: "If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise."

Carl46

You're welcome, Beth. You know I love the sound of my own voice.

Good for you, Judith. Start where you are and get stronger.

GG, you can have some chocolate and be healthy. But when you do like my SIL who loves pastry and order two desserts instead of an entree and a dessert . . . Let's just say that a slice of cake in one hand and a slice of pie in the other is not what is meant by a balanced diet.

All things in moderation. Exercise, but not until it hurts. Eat a little chocolate, after you eat the protein and the veggies.

The best exercise is that you enjoy and will stay with. Some people like to run, but I find it incredibly boring and wouldn't do it even if my old joint injuries permitted me to do it. Some people like boxing, some hate it. Some people like swimming laps, but social people don't like it because you can't natter with others while you do it. Just don't buy one of those things that move your feet back and forth while you sit. If it doesn't stress your muscles and bones, it won't cause muscle and bone growth or prevent muscle and bone loss.

Lorita

That's what I should do - walk the dogs. Really is sort.of hard to walk two Great Pyrenees but they are really good and love it. Our mailbox is over a quarter mile from the house, sort of downhill so if I could ever walk down there it would be uphill coming home. Part of it is level Though. Maybe that could be my goal this summer. I need to trim their toenails. Not hard to trim Stormys since I started when he was a puppy but it is another story for Sheena..She was a year old when I.got her and I don't think her owner ever trimmed them. I need two hands to hold her foot and two to trim the nails. These guys are really strong.

GG, for the life of me I can't see playing golf. Carol's husband is 82 and he plays almost every day with up to 12 men who are all in their 80s and early 90s. My BIL and his wife played when they were in their mid 80s and loved it

Okay, good night again. Sleep tight.

.

Carl46

Golf is a good example of a sport some people love and some hate. The man across the street plays twice a week in season and watches it on TV, but I knew a lawyer who went into government because he was sick of playing golf with clients and other attorneys. I don't think golf is a great choice for fitness, because it's seasonal and because a lot of courses require carts to speed up the game. What a way to ruin a good walk!

I see a lot of people walking the paved drives within the 120 year old cemetery at the top of the hill. It has a lot of trees, mostly red maple, and walking under trees is very relaxing. Or I can go to the botanical garden and walk there. Or just walk around the block and wave at the people working on their yards. Anything to get off the couch.

Good night, friends.

GothicGremlin

Lorita - I don't understand why people like to play golf either, although my dad loved it. We had to do 'golf lite' in high school. It was kind of like being on a driving range, and I was excellent at it. And by 'excellent' I mean my ball sat right where I thought I hit it all nice and covered with a mound of dirt. Not my game. 😄

Carl - Fortunately for me, I don't really like creamy things. I rarely eat ice cream, pie has a horrible texture and I just can't deal. Food that moves of its own accord is right out - things like mayonnaise, sour cream, and jello fit into that category. Thankfully I like most vegetables.

As for exercise — running doesn't feel good to me. Maybe it's too high impact? Boxing and kickboxing are fun because believe it or not, there's strategy and tactics involved. You're constantly making choices, which is nice.

Probably my favorite piece of gym equipment is the earthquake bar. It's for chest presses. The bar itself only weighs six pounds, but then you add weights on either side - and with the bands, it's really unstable. It works not only your shoulders, but your entire arms (and other muscles). I'd never use this bar without a spotter.

Carl46

Never heard of the earthquake bar, but I can see it would be a really good workout. Working several muscles is why free weights are better than those weightlifting machines that only allow movement in one direction.

While we're on the subject, it is a good idea to do some core exercises the prevent lower back pain. I do Williams exercises, as prescribed by a physical therapist many years ago. If I do them twice a day, I don't have low back pain. If I slack off, I do. It consists of a back lift (raising my torso while lying prone); a crunch (partial situp lying supine); pelvic tilt lying supine (my wife calls it "screwing the light fixture" but it amounts to pressing the small of the back to the floor); and straight leg raises. Ten reps each, twice a day, takes only a few minutes. I met a lady who achieved the same result by replacing her office chair with a large ball. The ball was constantly trying to roll, and her core muscles were worked all day keeping her from rolling off the ball. She looked great, so I guess it worked.

I tried boxing a long time ago and didn't like it, so I don't do it. If it fits your personality, have at it, it's great overall exercise, weight bearing as well as upper body.

I enjoyed aerobic dance many years ago, before I hurt my foot. I'm not a good dancer, I look like a dancing bear, but I enjoyed it and it made me strong and, for a big man, graceful.