This Fitness Journey

Well, it's definitely a journey, that's for sure. I'm getting there, just my impatience shows through sometimes.

Unfortunately, as my muscle tone improves, my weight loss has stalled somewhat, and that is so annoying. I still have at least 50lbs that I want to see gone, and I'm doing all the right things, just my body has decided not to cooperate on the numbers side of the game.

I can notice the difference - I can feel the musculature in my upper legs, thighs and butt under the padding that has been covering it for years. My workouts are at higher levels, longer times or more sets of reps, and those are the things that I am measuring by.

I do love my Planet Fitness, too. I use the hydro-massage bed 2 or 3 times a visit. One time, I may focus solely on about 8" of my lower back, another I'll do lower back down the back of my legs to just above my knees ... the latter usually after I've worked my legs on the machines.

My favourite machine is the Intellistrider, which is a seated stepper. I could barely manage 2 minutes at level 1 when I began, now I do 30 or 45 minutes at level 3. On the triceps press, I started doing 5 sets x 20 reps at 20lbs, and now do 5 at 40lbs and then an additional set at 50lbs.

At home, I have my elliptical cycle and most days do one to two hours of pedalling in anything from 15-45 minute increments. It began as a way to get my heart rate up a bit when the meds had it so slow it was scary. I'd pedal to bring it up into like the mid 40s where it didn't feel as weird. It was very stressful when it would drop to 33 or 34. Thankfully, getting me off some of those drugs have helped but my norm is 45-50. The pedalling continues as a way of exercising now, and I read a lot of good books while I'm doing it.

I can definitely see the difference :

When I see this pic now, I cringe at how big I was. That was also when I was basically bedridden most of the time and needing a wheelchair whenever we were needing to go out anywhere.

At my highest weight, I was 317lbs, which is absolutely awful. I was over twice what I had weighed when I was younger (from 15 to 30 I weighed 140lbs other than during pregnancies and just after).

I still have a long way to go, but I can see the difference,
and feel it in so many ways.

Each day is another step in the journey, and I'm just keeping on keeping on.

More pics of Campbell's Covered Bridge Park

Just wanted to share some more pics of today's afternoon out, taken by my resident photographer, LOL, my hubby.

First, the sign posted by the bridge, explaining the history.

 A view from the bridge, showing the curve in the creek

The bridge in all its glory, showing the area where people like to sunbathe and play in the water, to the left of the photo.

Information from the board at the park

Continuation of information board info

This pic shows the construction design of the bridge

A map showing the location of the bridge and the route of the creek. It also shows the original locations of both the home and grist mill that were on the site, ruins of which remain and can be seen

Another view of the bridge, taken from the left of the front, close to where I was sitting. People do walk under the bridge in the creek. That part seems to be a favourite with 4-legged visitors.

The view from the bridge looking down on the area where people like to play in the water and picnic.

You can see why we loved this place. It's definitely worth visiting if you are in the Landrum, SC area. It's a beautiful spot for a fun family day, or a peaceful self-relaxation.

Such a beautiful afternoon out

This afternoon, hubby and I took a lazy drive out, just "exploring" as we are wont to do, sometimes. We headed out on Highway 101, and took time to drive around a tint home community (one of the retirement options we are considering) and then it was all creeks, streams, and Campbell's Covered Bridge.

Water is calming for me, and I love the sound of bubbling brooks and gurgling streams, I find it very peaceful and it lowers my blood pressure and lifts my spirits. 

I packed us a cooler bag with drinks, sandwiches and (such indulgence) a piece of cheesecake each, so that we could kind of picnic as we went along. And we did!

Campbell's Covered Bridge is a lovely place. There were families with children playing in the water, people with dogs just enjoying a beautiful Summery day, everyone just out and about, taking in the pleasure of such a God-given space.

The pathway is shaded by huge trees in parts, and the remains of the old house and grist mill now form an area where people sit and picnic. 

One has to walk from the parking area down. Unfortunately, it becomes a gravel area to walk on, and me and my walker struggle with gravel paths, so I made it down the paved walkway and then sat in a shady area in front of a natural spring, that sent a stream meandering its way down the hillside to the stone ledge where people were sunbathing.

Coming back up the slope was more difficult, but I think I achieved it with aplomb, I only had to rest a couple of times, and with it being so hot outside (and me not doing so well, in the heat, usually) I was quite pleased about that.

Getting back to the car, my BP was a bit elevated, 186/82 but dropped fairly easily to 145/78, so no meds needed either! That was a blessing, as I do hate having to take meds BUT when I have to, I take them, because they keep me alive! When I can get my body to do things naturally, that's def my preference.

Campbell's Covered Bridge, is apparently the last covered bridge in the state, and was built in 1909. It spans what is known as Beaverdam Creek, and is named for Alexander Lafayette Campbell (who apparently was a big land owner in the area, at the time, and built a corn mill), according to local historians.

It's quite small really, only 38 feet x 12 feet, and apparently, it's design was quite rare. It has diagonal pine timbers and vertical iron rods, and the design is called a Howe Truss. July 1 2005, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, thus ensuring that it will be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

There are various hiking trails around the park area, but obviously moi and my walker did not get to wander any of them. Natural flooring, in wilderness type areas, is just too hard to navigate. The wheels just don't want to work in unison, and every bump in the track, is very jarring. Were I able to walk unaided, I'd have loved to have explored them.

This afternoon, our beloved Gizmo has crossed the rainbow bridge

He was a character, that's for sure, and definitely "the Man" in his domain. He was a gentle soul, a pain in the butt, could be a pest, but was a gentleman through and through.

He was just a kitten, back in 2004 when we first fostered him with Kitten Action Team. He'd been with another foster home previously and they had nursed him through feline upper respiratory disease, he was very sick, and the vet had advised euthanasia, but his foster mama had said no, she wanted him to have a chance, and she nursed him through it. He had surgery on his eyes because of it, I don't fully remember why, and had permanent black leakage from this inner eyes, all through his life.

He was a tough kitten though. He took it all. For many years we had to take him for shots for the allergies that plagued him all of his 16 years or so, and then a vet told me that I could give him the 2mg over the counter allergy pills ... not that he enjoyed that experience at all. He'd gag and drip all kinds of gooey mess, for a few minutes, from his nose and mouth, requiring gently wiping it off with tissue to get it away from both so that he could breathe. Once it cleared though, he'd be so relieved and his breathing and "snottiness" would ease again.

He used to snuggle on my chest as a kitten and gently and rhythmically paw my shoulder as he sucked on my neck ...

He had a strut though, that said he was cock of the walk ... "this is MY domain" ... he thought he was a lion king.

It's hard losing furbabies, and sadly, because all of ours are older, it has been happening more and more. Since July of last year, we have said goodbye to Angel (14), Mystery (13) and Boo (15) and now to Gizmo. The only thing I can say is that they all know they were loved.

NOW I can see a difference!

When you are someone - like me - who is losing weight, neither the mirror nor the scale may alter your own conception of yourself. After many years of being a certain "way", the brain kind of still "sees" out body that way, even when outward sources tell us otherwise. Or, in the case of mirrors, we may still see "fat".

I've been happy with my numbers - I've lost over 100lbs now - and am definitely happy with my improved mobility, plus can feel the toning going on in various parts of my body BUT I honestly didn't comprehend the magnitude of my achievement until I came across an old picture the other day, from a few years ago.

This was me in 2014, it was taken at an AVON President's Club luncheon. My hubby had wheeled me in from the car, in a wheelchair.

I didn't go out much, everything was too much of an effort. Walking was very hard, and I spent most of my days in bed, other than when I staggered to the bathroom, the front door (to let the dogs in and out) or the kitchen to sit and wash dishes, or prepare food.

Throughout my home, everything was geared so that I could go from one place to another and be able to hold onto something to keep me steady.

At the grocery store, hubby would go in and get me a ridearound as I couldn't even walk into the store. I am still unsteady on my feet, without support, but now - most times - I use my walker to go into places, unless I'm having a "bad day" arthritis or blood pressure-wise and the  it's the ridearound again.

Last year, at an AVON "do" locally, this pic was taken of me with 2 of our AVON managers. I can see how much I had changed (and how much better I looked) in the face, my upper arms, and across my shoulders.

My transformation is still ongoing.

I log EVERYTHING I eat (and my meds!) on a site called Sparkpeople.com where I also have set it up to track my vitamin and minerals intakes as well. I log all my activity, and now that I am consistently using it, my time on the elliptical bicycle has gone from a 2 minute that felt like 200 struggle, to anywhere from 10-30 minutes comfortably, as I read various books. Oftentimes, my stopping is decided by my heart rate or blood pressure rising too much/too fast or my bum going numb!

I usually do from 30 - 75 minutes a day, depending on any of the above! Eventually I'd like to get to doing an hour at a time and maybe twice daily, but again, that will be determined by my body's reaction to it.

One thing that all of my health issues has taught me, is that I'd better do what it says, when it says, or else.

We still have not figured out what provokes my erratic heart rate to spike or drop periodically (I have A-Fib) nor why my blood pressure will soar into the 200s/110s for no reason, but, in being more aware of how it "feels" when my body does those things, is enabling me to better deal with them, and bring them back under control, when they do.

I am well pleased, though, with how this journey is progressing. I don't expect to get back to my "regular weight" of 140lbs that saw me through from 15 until I hit 30, but 160lbs would be nice and I'll even "settle" for 170-180lbs.

On that note, I'm just going to keep on keeping on.

Have a great day!

How things have changed

I remember long walks with my nan, with her telling me all manner of things about her childhood, from the time I was about 7. I was amazed at all the changes that had happened in her lifetime. She had been born in 1908, so had grown up and seen the suffragettes win the vote for women, Alcock and Brown's first transatlantic flight in 1919, the first and second world wars, the introduction of tv, and the transformation from horse-drawn to motor vehicles ... and this was only up to the 1960s.

Now, aged 63, I find myself in a similar boat of looking back, and seeing all the changes in my own lifetime, good and bad.

The flickering images on black and white tv (2 channels to begin with) that expanded to colour, and 4 channels, and now (courtesy of Android boxes, cable and satellite) hundreds of channels from all over the world. Among those 1960s images, news programs showing Yuri Gagarin's first manned space trip, Valentine Tereschkova, the first woman in space, and then Neil Armstrong, in 1969, taking those first steps on the moon. Amazing. In MY lifetime.

It amazes me that there is now more memory on a smartphone than there was in a huge room full of computers that sent those first astronauts into space.

Around the age of 11, I had a "tranny" (a transistor radio) that I listened to "pop music" on ... and we had a radiogram in the house that played recors at 3 speeds - 33 rpm, 45 rpm and 78 rpm for the "oldies". Only a few years later we had 8 tracks and cassette tapes, soon replaced within a decade, by compact discs, which are now (in themselves) obsolete with the advent of i-tunes and downloadable digital media.

I can remember reel-to-reel projectors that showed home movies, and then the Beta and VHS vcr tapes ... now long gone and replaced by DVDs and (again) downloadable digital media.

I grew up with lots of heroes, real people who had done extraordinary things, not like today where it seems the only people feted are actors, musicians or sports players.

People like Albert Schweitzer, who opened a hospital in Africa which still serves the local area and has one of the lowest child mortality rates for malaria there;  Gladys Aylward who helped stop the process of foot binding on female children, in China, and led 100 to safety when the Japanese invaded in 1940; Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks, who helped change America during the civil rights era; Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereschkova, and the many American astronauts who took part in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the Shuttle flights; Edith Cavell a nurse during WW1 who helped smuggle injured British and Allied soldiers to neutral Holland and who was executed by the Germans for it (there was a school near my nan's in Hackney, named for her, and local people were very proud of her) and Violette Szabo, a heroine in WWII, who was executed in Ravensbruck concentration camp; Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas were also among so many people that I admired, as I was growing up. Jane Goodall is still alive and pursuing her dreams, an amazing lady.

I consider myself blessed to have grown up in the era that I did.

Ups and Downs

Today has been another roller coaster with my blood pressure, and I am thankful that it finally seems to have settled to an even keel, albeit just before bed time. It has been a hectic day, and trying not to worry about it makes for thinking and worrying about it! Kind of a vicious circle.

On a good note, I had a lovely chat with my AVON coach lane. My team had made excellent growth over the past year, and we discussed my goals for the upcoming 12 months, and the issues that I had to deal with that had prevented me from some personal achievements.

The bad weather has made hubby's, and my, old bones ache, and also our poor older dogs'. Max, especially, has been very whimpery today, despite the glucosamine treats they have, so I opened a regular glucosamine capsule and sprinkled in a creamy cheese triangle for him. Poor baby.

We are a household of crotchetty geriatrics, both human, canine and feline.