Week 3 of Retirement and doing OK
Exercise
All the daytime TV shows are promoting "the new year, the new you". Since it is the new year and my new life, and by the very fact that I am watching too much TV because there is not much else to do, I have been paying attention to their message. Exercise, I never really liked it although in my younger years I went to many classes and also worked out with some pulleys attached to a door handle. Hubby got these for me, such a dear man. I always told myself and others that I did these exercises for 30 minutes, but if truth be told,it was closer to 10. I actually thought running around after four kids was enough. However, now that I have no one to run around after, I have to do something to keep my heart beating. I thought it over carefully as to what sort of misery I could inflict upon myself. There are gyms, but working out with skinny young people did not appeal to me. I am also not ready to join one of those "mature" classes where they move slowly around in the water. That would totally depress me as I consider myself "older, not elderly". Arobics are out as I have always thought of these as something you might see in a Mel Gibson torture movie. I needed something that would not involve learning routines, people seeing me flopping around and something that when I was through, I would still be alive.
The word "jog" had never been one of my favorites. It is a silly word and no one looks good doing it. The sweat on their clothes and the frightening grimaces on their faces does not say "fun". However, that is what I am now doing - in the comfort of my home. I have mapped out a route, carry a pedometer, and each day try to jog further than I did the day before. My course starts in foyer, makes a left at the livng room, onto the dinng room and once around the table, another left into the kitchen, once around the island, into the breakfast room, go to the corner of the family room, around the coffee table, back into the breakfast room and left into the hallway and back to the foyer. I am now up to 6023 steps which on my pedometer is 3.6 miles and I am doing this without stopping. There are times though during my jog when I reach over to the table where the candy dish is and pick up a few M&Ms to help keep me going. Everybody deserves a reward.
You might ask why don't I get a treadmill or a stairmaster like most other sensible human beings. A treadmill is boring and reminds me of my yearly heart examine. A stairmaster would kill me. I look at my jogging as not only good for my health, but something to help keep my floors shiny. As I jog, my fuzzy socks that I wear dust the wooden floors very well. It's a twofer. As my floors have become an obsession with me since I got my new steamer cleaner, keeping them shinny gives me great joy. Yes, I have to get out more.
On to my exercise..., you know bathing suit weather is right around the corner and I can't wait to wear one - oh yeah, that won't happen. The world may not be ready for that.
Exercise
All the daytime TV shows are promoting "the new year, the new you". Since it is the new year and my new life, and by the very fact that I am watching too much TV because there is not much else to do, I have been paying attention to their message. Exercise, I never really liked it although in my younger years I went to many classes and also worked out with some pulleys attached to a door handle. Hubby got these for me, such a dear man. I always told myself and others that I did these exercises for 30 minutes, but if truth be told,it was closer to 10. I actually thought running around after four kids was enough. However, now that I have no one to run around after, I have to do something to keep my heart beating. I thought it over carefully as to what sort of misery I could inflict upon myself. There are gyms, but working out with skinny young people did not appeal to me. I am also not ready to join one of those "mature" classes where they move slowly around in the water. That would totally depress me as I consider myself "older, not elderly". Arobics are out as I have always thought of these as something you might see in a Mel Gibson torture movie. I needed something that would not involve learning routines, people seeing me flopping around and something that when I was through, I would still be alive.
The word "jog" had never been one of my favorites. It is a silly word and no one looks good doing it. The sweat on their clothes and the frightening grimaces on their faces does not say "fun". However, that is what I am now doing - in the comfort of my home. I have mapped out a route, carry a pedometer, and each day try to jog further than I did the day before. My course starts in foyer, makes a left at the livng room, onto the dinng room and once around the table, another left into the kitchen, once around the island, into the breakfast room, go to the corner of the family room, around the coffee table, back into the breakfast room and left into the hallway and back to the foyer. I am now up to 6023 steps which on my pedometer is 3.6 miles and I am doing this without stopping. There are times though during my jog when I reach over to the table where the candy dish is and pick up a few M&Ms to help keep me going. Everybody deserves a reward.
You might ask why don't I get a treadmill or a stairmaster like most other sensible human beings. A treadmill is boring and reminds me of my yearly heart examine. A stairmaster would kill me. I look at my jogging as not only good for my health, but something to help keep my floors shiny. As I jog, my fuzzy socks that I wear dust the wooden floors very well. It's a twofer. As my floors have become an obsession with me since I got my new steamer cleaner, keeping them shinny gives me great joy. Yes, I have to get out more.
On to my exercise..., you know bathing suit weather is right around the corner and I can't wait to wear one - oh yeah, that won't happen. The world may not be ready for that.
OMG..........you haven't changed a bit Arlene....I LOVE IT YOUR RETIREMENT!!!! LOL
ReplyDeleteI am having a hard time with the math. If there are 5280 feet in a mile and you have run 3.6 miles then you have run about 19,008 feet so far. If the trusty pedometer is correct and you have 6023 steps then that means the average stride is about 3 feet 2 inches. That is a pretty good length stride for in-house running. I would think that based on your path you would run into walls every 2 - 3 steps. This is sounding dangerous. I hope you are wearing proper equipment. While the M&M stop sounds like a good plan, I can only imagine it causes a shorter stride.
ReplyDeleteI knew you would pick up on the stride thing (it was one of the first things your father mentioned). My pedometer on my phone lists the steps, time and mile. Would my phone lie? There is a little man running on the screen and makes a step along with me. I am going with the phone's math as it makes me feel good and proud of myself.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that I have picked up some bruises along the way, mostly when I go around the dining room table. However, I keep running despite these little mishaps, because I have goals and am determined to beat this damn age thing. It kills 45 minutes of my very long days also.
Today and Monday I went out. That makes it three times this month that I have been out during the day. I have become kind of like a vampire since I retired as I seem to only go out at night. However, vampires are "in" and I really like to stay on top of what is going on in the world.
Well, I need to get back to my exciting life. Today is dusting day, but tomorrow is the best - I get to steam my floors again.
I wouldn't waste any money on exercise equipment. I can say from experience that it isn't worth it. We've had Jess' old treadmill and an exercise bike sitting in the basement for years now and I have yet to feel a single benefit from them.
ReplyDeleteBesides, I saw a report of a large-scale longitudinal study that was conducted some years ago on the effect of exercise on lifespan. Sure enough, those who exercised lived longer than those who didn't. And sure enough, the more people exercised, the longer they lived. But then someone did the math. It turns out the additional lifetime that exercisers realized came very close to matching the total time they had spent exercising. Now, I've gotta ask you: is that really time worth having? Just sayin'
Good point Fran. However, I have a little incentive to do this due to an appointment with my heart doctor in a few months. He will ask me if I am exercising and if I don't have an answer, he will lecture me. Remember when we were young and Mom made us go to confession every week on Saturday. I used to make up 4 or 5 sins to tell him and that usually got me through. I never really did that examination of conscience that we were supposed to do, I just memorized what to say. We were in a dark confessional box though and I did not have to look him in the eye, however, a doctor is sitting 3 feet from me and I would have such a guilty look on my face as I lied to him that he would know right away - and I'm afraid of him.
ReplyDeleteI wondered about the mileage on your pedometer as I remembered the 5280 feet thing but I never would have tried to spoil it for you,It takes our kids to do that but how clever he is to figure out the stride thing that explains everything. You are so fun to read.Patty
ReplyDelete