Tag Archives: exercise

Walking it off

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My Fitbit* Flex is a few years old and was a great motivator to get up and walk. (This model is no longer available.)

After I retired (and had a change in some medication – meaning I had to change to a not-so-great insurance plan), I gained 20 pounds.  Happy?  Not in the least.

Anyway, I’ve been doing these “Workweek Hustle” events with some other Fitbit users.

These have really helped me get out of my favorite knitting chair and move.  I only know one of the people in this group but that really didn’t matter.  What did matter was that I was motivated again to do something about the extra pounds.

And last week I won! 

Big time won!  Personal best week!!

I just need to keep walking to reach my goal of losing ten pounds by July 4th.  The only downside to this fabulousness is not much knitting.  I haven’t figured out how to walk and knit at the same time without doing any damage to the knitting or myself.

*Not a paid product review.  Just my story and my own personally purchased Fitbit.

 

Mind games

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A coupe of days ago I posted about turning my clocks ahead one hour for Daylight Savings Time earlier in the day.  I actually did this around 11:00 a.m.  Did it work?  Not really.

mind game op

It was me.  I kept reminding myself that it was an hour earlier than it really was.

So much for that mind game.

I didn’t go to the market Sunday morning after Mass as we didn’t really need anything.  I got my knitting out and promptly fell asleep for about an hour.

After our carb-heavy pancake lunch, I washed the griddle (too big for the dishwasher) and checked my email and played on my iPad.  And fell asleep.  Again.

Getting a good nights sleep Sunday night was out of the question.

So yesterday instead of playing another mind game, I played a body game.  Mr. Aitch wasn’t home last evening and I was restless.  I went outside and raked leaves from part of the yard, picked up fallen branches and twigs, spread the clumped up flowerpot soil I dumped out last fall, put back part of the collapsed rock wall around the raised beds in the front of the house, straightened the solar lights around the raised beds, and evaluated what else needed to be done.

raking_leaves

I went to bed at 10:15 last night, fell right to sleep and woke up 10 minutes before the alarm went off.

The wear-out-the-body game worked.  I sit all day at work and I don’t get much exercise.  I need to change that and do something every day. It’s supposed to get to 60 degrees toady so I plan to work outside again.

 

Smoosh be gone

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I’ve decided to join a Smoosh Camp with Cindy to get rid of some unwanted smoosh.  Not the yarny smoosh but the fatty smoosh around my waist (aka muffin top) and other body parts.  So instead of knitting during lunch, I’ve been walking around our building.  I started walking last week when we had some warmer weather so it’s not exactly new for me.  It’s gotten cold here the past several days with strong winds but I’ve still walked.

I started knitting a lot more a few years ago to keep my hands busy in the evening when I’d want a snack.  That worked great as I didn’t snack.  I would keep my pattern on the coffee table in front of me and every time I completed a row, I basically did a crunch/sit up when I leaned forward to mark off the row.  Now all I want to do is sit and knit.  And my pattern is beside me so I don’t even have to move much to mark off a completed row.

My leather motorcycle pants are getting snug.  When I first got them in 2005, I could wear them over my jeans and pants when I went to work.  I can barely get them fastened now without the pants underneath.  I don’t have $200+  lying around to get another pair.

Weight is just a number (like age) and though I’m trying to get to a certain number, I know it’s really about how I feel in my skin and clothes.  My skin is getting tighter.  So are my clothes.

Do you do any exercises you when you knit?

Drink more water

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I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and had some good news and some not so good news. 

The good news is that I lost five pounds!  Yes, the 10 minutes workouts I’m doing every work are paying off.  I also started working my upper back to get rid of that unsightly back flab.  I know I can’t spot reduce but my goal is to tone that area hoping the increased muscle will burn off more fat overall.  And eventually the flab on my back will be gone, too.  Since doing these upperback exercises, my back doesn’t seem to get as tired while riding the motorcycle.

The not so good news was that I need to drink more water.  Now water is my choice of drink 95% of the time.  I do enjoy a cup of green tea almost every morning and I do like my wine in the evening but for the rest of the time it’s water.  I just don’t drink enough.  I have to make a conscious effort to drink.  My mother was the same way.  She just didn’t drink very much.

I did knit on the eyelet sweater last night.  The next row will start the neckline decreases.  Only 10 more rows to go before I do the front bands and neck edging.  Then I will be finished with the second sweater. 

We are visiting Mr. Aitch’s brother this weekend and I wanted to take some banana bread and peanut butter cookies to him, my FIL, and my aunt since all of them live in the same town.  I think the bananas are beyond banana bread.  I touched one last night and it felt liquified under the peal.  Too far gone.

I remembered to take some butter out of the refrigerator before I left or work this morning so I could make the peanut butter cookies tonight.  Yes, I know Mr. Aitch doesn’t like the oven on when it’s hot but he’s not going to bo home tonight.

It’s time for me to check out the water cooler.