Too cold

It has been too chilly here to swim. But I must get at least one good swim in before leaving here on Sunday.

Haven't been walking because my foot in bothering me still. The doctor said the screw he put in has migrated and if it doesn't feel better in a few months, the screw will have to come out.

That, plus all the stuff we are doing to clear the house and set it up for showing well - late nights and early mornings - have taken their toll on my best-intentions for exercising.

So, what's your excuse??

Begining Again.

At this point, I've been away from exercise for two weeks. Tomorrow will be new beginning for me, too.

I went to the running store on Higgins to get some new shoes. The proprietor was very helpful - he looked at my present running shoes, watched me walk barefoot and in shoes. He determined from my walk, and the wear pattern on my old shoes, that I have fairly flat arches and foot turns inward a bit. He picked out several shoes with strong arch support for me to try. He has a treadmill in the store, so I could actually run in the shoes which is a nice feature, though he even said I could go running outside, if I wanted.

Well, $90 later, I have a new pair of Sauconys that felt great on the treadmill. They weren' the coolest looking shoes, so I felt very grown up by choosing the most comfortable ones.

Then, later that evening, I came down with some kind of awful cold or flu-like thing, (undoubtedly from pulling two all-nighters in a row to meet a deadline), and I have yet to test-drive my new kicks.

On a side note, here is an easy, but very tasty recipe I tried a few weeks ago:

West African Lemony Okra Soup



I bought the okra frozen, and I substituted chicken breast for the broiler, and you can use brown rice or wild rice for more fiber if you want.

Really yummy and filling!

This is a good time to begin again.

With my new waterproof case for my Ipod, swimming is something of a joy. I set out to do 100 lengths yesterday, but did 120 instead. Instead of counting each lap, I used a system of counters, moved across the tiles to keep track of my laps. I didn't realize how many I had done until I actually stopped to count the number of tiles I had "swum" through.

And I've started a limited walking program - I walked a little over a mile the other day. I'm finding my method of walking wants to change, but I haven't figured out which way to plant my foot yet. The "new" foot did well, (although it wound up pretty sore) but I am noticing problems with the foot that hasn't been done yet, which is pretty distressing. I am not anxious to have it done and I really don't want to be laid up for so long again and, with Wally on the trail, I have no one to help me out either. Bummer!

Today will be a Pilates-type of day with stretches and core work.

Back on Track

Well, no posts for awhile, as you know, for various reasons (as you know).

My official excuse was that you were temporarily too gimpy to exercise, so why should I post all my wonderful progress and make you feel bad.

Plus, I think I'm giving myself carpal tunnel, with all the typing I've been doing for school lately.


ANYWAY...

I haven't been getting much exercise in the past week. I've missed so much sleep that I think I am coming down with something -- swollen glands, sore throat -- that sort of thing.

I did, however, want to update you about konjac/glucommanon. I've been taking it with meals. boy, does that stuff fill you up! I'm curious to see how it affects my cholesterol, etc. I bought it here, where it seems to be cheaper than the health food stores:

http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=NFS-03550

This is the brand that Dr. Mark "UltraMetabolsim" Hyman recommends. He also recommends not taking it with medication, or other supplements, because the gelatinous fiber tends to absorb other stuff in your gut while it's there.

Curiously, Glucomannon's scientific name is Amorphophallus Konjac. I wonder how closely it is related to our giant Sumatran flower?

In addition to the fiber, I've been taking fish oil, B complex, vitamin D (those sunless Montana winters...) and CoE Q10. I still get fishy burps for the first hour of my day.

Not so great with coffee.