Standing on my own two feet

Yesterday wasn't a perfect day, but it was a much better exercise and food day than I've had in the past month.<br /><br />Even though I didn't make it to the gym, I still burned over 2500 calories according to my BodyMedia (which I'm wearing again). I worked in the yard, specifically, I pulled weeds and planted flowers. I use to love working in the yard. The feeling of a weed-free flower bed and beautiful flowers planted by my own hand always delighted me in the past.<br /><br />Yesterday, as I was on my hands and knees pulling up stubborn weeds, with every part of my body aching, I kept asking myself "why did I ever think gardening was fun?". It's hard work, and getting up from being in an on all-fours position when I weigh 208 pounds was particularly painful. A few times I thought I might not be able to get up. Which made me realize just how quickly my body has fallen apart. The lesson learned is that if I don't take care of my body, it won't be able to take care of me. It was an eye-opening experience. <br /><br />Even though I'm almost 57 (in August) I've never felt old in my entire life. I always thought I felt and looked younger than the number of years I'd been on this earth. I was able to pull that off with only spurts of exercise during my life until I hit my fifties. Then I realized daily exercise wasn't optional anymore. Once I hit 50 my entire body changed and not for the better either. I think Cher said it best in an interview with Oprah a few years ago about getting old (Cher was 61 at the time). It sucks.<br /><br />Since I have no desire to end up disabled from my own stupid neglect of my body, it's time I get serious about taking care of myself. There's no guarantees I still won't end up in a wheelchair, but why throw the odds in the favor of being disabled. I have enough bad stuff in my genetic makeup to make that happen without me adding to it. The odds are already against me due to a history of strokes in the women of my family (two aunts on my mother's side, my mother and my sister). <br /><br />The threat of not being able to stand up on my own two feet or get up if I fall are certainly motivators for living a healthy lifestyle. Never mind being able to fit into my jeans, which would be nice, but  being able to walk when I'm in my eighties would even nicer.<br /><br />Plans for today<br />My husband is in Denver this weekend (he was there last weekend too). His dad is in the hospital due to severe emphysema. My father-in-law's smoking is the direct cause of his emphysema. He'll be on an oxygen tank the rest of his life, but at 78 and in poor health, the rest of his life probably isn't going to be much longer. My husband said his dad keeps saying he feels like he's not getting any oxygen even though they're giving him as much as possible. It's a very sad situation.<br /><br />That reminds me, I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but my sister and brother-in-law smoked for over 40 years. If you remember, my brother had a major heart attack two years ago and died suddenly at 73. My sister's doctors said the smoking probably contributed to her stroke. Even though both of them had quit smoking 15 years ago, and had been going to the gym daily for the previous four years, the damage to their bodies had already been done. Dying suddenly was awful for my brother-in-law, but the stroke my sister had is a fate worse than death. Not that I'm telling you anything you don't already know. Just something to think about if you're a  smoker. <br /><br />Sunday is always my day with my sister. I'm still not sure if the weather is going to hold out for the zoo and aquarium. The forecast for this afternoon is only partly cloudy versus how it looks right now, which is very cloudy and dark. Either the zoo or a movie and lunch. Depends on the weather.<br /><br />The main exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum is GLBT centric erotic art. I don't have a problem with the GLBT thing, just not sure if my sister is up to seeing erotic art of any kind (my sister is 73). Still, the paintings are by Andy Warhol, Georgia O'Keefe (love her stuff), and some other very famous artists so it's still a possibility.<br /><br />Funny thing about Georgia O'Keefe, I had some large, framed prints of hers in my living room for years. I loved them. They were of giant flowers and I thought they were just beautiful. I never thought of them as erotic, I just thought they were pretty. I read some articles on Georgia yesterday and the critics were saying her flower artwork was erotic. What? Who thinks up this stuff? It's just pretty paintings of flowers. Maybe the art museum is still a good idea. GLBT erortic art. Right. That's just someone's interpretation of the art. I suspect I'll think differently.<br /><br />Before I pick up my sister, I have to quickly clean up the house since I neglected it yesterday in favor of the yard. Then I have to pick my husband up at the airport at 7pm. It's going to be a busy day!<br /><br />Today I will stay focused on healthy eating and being active, knowing that everything I do now will help me remain healthy for the rest of my life. It will help me to continue to stand on my own two feet.<br /><br /><br />

Standing on my own two feet

Yesterday wasn't a perfect day, but it was a much better exercise and food day than I've had in the past month. Even though I didn...

Read more »