I work out a lot and I’ve been told to scale it down before I hurt myself. It went in one ear and out the other. Sometimes, I think that I live to workout! However, life has showed me that sometimes that is not possible. After my OP, I was told NOT TO workout except for a few rounds around the garden! It was a huge scale down from working out 40 to 60 minutes a day and that walking around the garden was for the birds! However, I did comply and am now doing 10 to 12 rounds along with another 30 minutes of something else. So far, so good.
I started out slow and as they say, where there is a will, there is a way.
Here are five favorites that don’t put too much stress on a wound and if you’re just starting out, you’ll be done in no time and FEEL like you’ve achieved much in a short amount of time.
Walking
This one doesn’t require open spaces, you can do it barefoot and within the confines of your room without too much effort. However, even five minutes gets your heart going. Just put on your favorite music and start moving! That is all it takes. Worked wonders for me and before I knew it, I was doing 20 minutes without much effort and it was fun.
Strength Training
This is a necessity. Cardio and strength are both needed to balance out your workout. I have a small set of weights, nothing heavy, and I do several reps of shoulder workouts, triceps, biceps, and the back as well. All you need to do is just 5 to 10 reps and you are well on your way to being fit.
Stretches
This is important as well. Your muscles tend to get tight after a workout so don’t skip those stretches. Just five minutes of stretching in all directions keeps you limber and flexible and who doesn’t want that right?
Breathing
This one is not considered exercise in the true sense of the word but you can turn it into one by doing specific breathing methods. I like diaphragmatic or rather belly breathing. This one engages and strengthens your diaphragm and this is how you do it. Sit comfortably. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your belly. Inhale slowly for 4 counts, exhale gently for 4 to 6 counts. You’ll feel your belly working. Continue for 5 to 10 minutes. Believe me, it will feel like a workout and the added bonus is that it relieves stress as well.
Yoga
This is my go to stress buster and it keeps me looking and feeling young! There is a reason why yoga is called the fountain of youth. All you need is a mat and you are ready to go. Five or ten minutes and you will feel like a million bucks, well maybe not but headed in that direction!
Those are my five simple exercises to do at home. It doesn’t take much effort but it takes willpower to keep at it and to achieve results. Good luck!
When you fully trust someone without any doubt, you finally get one of two results:
A person for life or
A lesson for life.
Unknown
I learned this lesson the hard way. My relationship with my ex started out as all love stories do, one of trusting each other and wanting the best for each other as well. However, circumstances change and the once trustworthy and nice guy changed into someone I didn’t recognize. He looked the same but the “inside” had changed. Throwing trust out the window, he went on his merry way.
“SORRY” works when a mistake is made, but not when trust is broken, so in life, make mistakes but never break trust, because forgiving is easy, but forgetting and trusting again is sometimes impossible.” Unknown
It is exactly what happened when I went from the, “love of his life” to nothing because someone else walked in and he was ready to take off for greener pastures. It wasn’t that he was in love with her or even cared about her, he wanted that adrenaline rush that cheating brings. The relationship if you can call it that lasted for a few months and it was over and so was the marriage and the “TRUST” I had placed in him.
I learned that trust is not what it seems. Once I thought that believing in someone meant trusting the person wholeheartedly, now I know better. Love all you want but NOT with blinders on. Pay attention and observe what is going on. If it looks like a duck, and swims like a duck, than it is a DUCK or a cheater at play!
Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself?
One week to go and I’m climbing walls again. A friend told me that he would bring a ladder the next time he comes to visit instead of flowers since I love climbing walls so much!
What can I say? I’m a wall climber! Well, only when the unexpected is facing me and I don’t know what the outcome will be. Google is telling me, “You’ll be fine. You are well-prepared.” Yes, they’ve been a big help but still the worries are there. What if I get a surgeon who had a bad night the evening before and took to the bottle? What if I get an apprentice who doesn’t know what he/she is doing? What if……God these what ifs are driving me up the wall. There’s that wall again!
Thursday I have the pre-op. I will get a chance to ask all the questions I want. I have another problem, my throat is acting up. Not sure why but I just did a saltwater gargle, hope that helps. I think I’m just nervous and my body is saying, “I can’t take this STRESS anymore!”
My overnight bag is packed, just in case I have to stay in the hospital. I have a long list of stuff to get tomorrow. I never leave anything to chance so a friend is coming over and we will do the rounds of getting everything I need for when I come back home. I’ll invite her out to lunch as a big thank you.
Other than that, I’m trusting and believing that all will go well. I hope I don’t freak out and call the whole thing off! The doctor has already warned me that if I do that, it will be to my own detriment. “Get it done,” was what he said and the other two doctors agreed.
Looks like it is a go. I’ll just have to bite the bullet, gather up my strength and courage, believe that I’m in good hands and go through with this. What could go wrong? P L E N T Y! That is the problem.
Ok, taking a deep breath. I seem to be doing that a lot these days. Taking another one to calm myself down and another one for good measure.
Wow, this is hard but I can DO HARD THINGS. Didn’t I write a post about exactly that? Someone else told me to take my own medicine meaning the posts I put out with the help advice. Agreed, BUT I know that I’ll be climbing walls as it gets closer and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It’s just the way it is and I’m a worrywart so it comes with the territory.
Life often speaks in whispers at the beginning, it stomps its feet if you don’t listen and it screams to get your attention when you’re heading towards a head-on collision. Through it all, it has your back and is on your side if only you are willing to pay attention to what it has to say. And that is the hard part.
“Consider for a moment what you pay attention to all day long. What seems important to you, what do you take for granted and hardly attend to at all? Write it down. Do not judge your answers. Be honest and simple. As you keep track all week long, you’ll be amazed at what claims your attention what you give your precious life force to.” Brenda Shoshanna
The truth is as “humans” we march to our own drumbeat. We see what is not good for us, we know it spells trouble and we know if we keep going down that path, it will take us to exactly where we don’t want to go BUT we are hell-bent on doing it anyway. Are we wired for destruction, is that what we seek? At times, it seems that way but luckily for us, life comes in and shows us the way out but only if we pay attention.
“Pay attention to the signs. Stop making excuses for people. Stop defending their inconsiderate ways. Start taking care of you and your own needs.” Unknown
I do that all the time. Make excuses for inconsiderate people that is, BUT there comes a point in time when I say enough is enough and then I shut the door behind me but unfortunately, it is always a day late and a dollar short. I’ve learned my lessons the hard way but most of us do. Don’t ask me why but we just do. Do we get a thrill out of pain? I don’t know but not paying attention when life is screaming seems to be the problem.
When we don’t pay attention to love, it has a tendency to bring us down to our knees and then we ask what happened? We know exactly why. The answers have been staring us in the face even before the collision happened.
Pay Attention To Her:
When a woman is “tripping” she cares, when a woman is “mad” she believed in you and you let her down, when she is “asking questions” she is trying to gain clarity, when she is “quiet” and letting things slide she is giving up….And when she is not doing all of the above…just know you have lost a good woman.” Unknown
AND
“Sometimes you have to put aside what you feel for them, and PAY ATTENTION to what their actions are saying they feel for you.”
Finally, paying attention seems to be the key to a better life, better relationships and a better way through the intricate maze we call life. Pay attention to the signs before it is too late. Not easy to do but there is no other way it seems.
Listen to the wind, it talks.
Listen to the silence, it speaks.
Listen to your heart, it knows. Native American Proverb
This is one of my best healthy eating tip. I do not eat pastries, cakes, chocolates, and or the other stuff that helps you to pack on the pounds. I used to but always to a certain degree and I never indulged. I have my willpower to thank for that.
I do love cheesecake but that is an indulgence that I keep to a minimum. One slice or maybe two and that is it. When I do indulge, I up my workouts to keep everything in check.
Eating fruits and vegetables is a daily must. I keep meat consumption to a minimum, perhaps once or twice a week and the rest of the time I consume fish with lots of vegetables.
So what do I do when the urge hits? The sweet tooth urge I mean. Recently, I’ve started with an avocado sliced up, one piece of fruit, hummus, and a cookie just for good measure and to feel like I’ve indulged. This method works.
Soups are my next best thing. The weather is turning so it is a great time for soups. Today, I am making chicken soup with lots of veggies and a can of coconut milk. I love spicy foods but since my operation, I’ve been warned to keep off the spicy stuff. They irritate and so does coffee but I do drink one cup of coffee in the mornings, just black. Onions, garlic, and all the other spices are out too until my wound heals but since I will be going in for another OP early October, it looks like it will be a long time before “spicy foods” make a showing again.
No fun? I agree but eating healthy is a way of life for me so I don’t miss all the other stuff so much. My indulgence factor is at an all time low but it is a toss up between being healthy and going the other direction.
Health comes first with me and thankfully my body seems to agree!
