Heart Attack

Another one of my friends just had a severe heart attack. So he finally quit smoking. As the saying goes, everyone stops smoking sooner or later. But I'm thinking it's better to be fit than have issues like that.  Sometimes I wonder why I'm working so hard to get fit, then something like this happens and I think, 'oh yeah.'
I was so tired today.  Friday we moved a queen sized bed. Saturday I went to an SCA event and threw axes and knives and also juggled. Plus carrying things back and forth from the car is tiring.  Sunday we put the camper shell back on the truck.  So it's not surprising that today I was sore and tired. I still tried to get up and do things. But I didn't really exercise today. I got up at 5 AM after tossing and turning all night. I should at least do some stretching before bed.
Take care of yourself. You are the only 'yourself' you have.  

My axe throwing group.

DIY Hand Weights

I was watching a Zumba fitness commercial and they had these hand weights and I thought Ooooh I can make some of those.  So I bought a 1 1/2" PVC pipe, cut 2 11" lengths off of it, and bought 4 PVC caps.  I filled it with lead scraps, put the cups on tight, and I had a set of hand weights for my very own. Now I can work out my arms a bit more when I dance. I don't know how heavy the official ones are, but I made mine 2 Lb. each.

Oh I just looked them up. They call them 'toning sticks' and the 1 lb 'toning sticks' are $19.94 and the 2.5 'toning sticks' are $24.95. I spent $6.00 on mine, and the filler was scrap I had on hand. Not bad.  And I still have enough PVC pipe left to make another set or two.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

I tried to squeeze in a 45 minute workout before the rain started today. Before I even got going a mini van parked right behind me and the two passengers just hung out there for the next 30 minutes. And a moving van parked in front of the other garages and had five people tromping in and out loading the van from the upstairs apartment. I just can't catch a break, can I?


The cold weather makes my joints ache, so it was a rather painful and self conscious workout. I just tried to keep visualizing what I'd look like without all this extra flab. But when my 45 minutes was over I was more than ready to go back inside.

 My workout partner.

Walking Was The Best I Could Do Today

I got a lot of walking in while shopping today. I had hoped to do more, but it was dark before I knew it and I don't feel safe being out in the alley after dark. I'm trying to clear exercise space in my bedroom, which involved moving a Japanese lantern and a mobile, and I have overhead space now, but not floor space. #FAIL It's such a simple concept; why can't I get it right? Tomorrow is going to be problematic too, because it's supposed to rain. Hopefully I can work out in the morning before it starts. Wish me luck.

Since today is Superbowl Sunday and I pretty much figured the potheads would be gathering in the garage next to mine to watch the big game, I opted for taking a long walk today instead. I walked to McDonald's, ate breakfast, wrote 3 pages in my journal, and then walked home at a faster clip than normal to get my heart rate up. I'm so tired today. I think I have a sinus infection. So I'm going to take it easy today.

New Fitness Plan

This morning I was sitting on the couch when this fitness program came on and talked about an insanity workout where they work out 45 minutes a day for 6 days a week for 60 days. So I decided to do my own workout only in their time parameter.

I decide the alley in front of my open garage is my best option. Our neighbors let their dog poop on the grass so unless I want to clean that up every day the common lawn is out. Plus it's often marshy because the timer is set on too much water. Ah the joys of renting. I laid out a mat so I could take my shoes off on the asphalt. I want to get a rug instead because the mat is slippery. I also got a radio hooked up and an easy to read clock. I put up a calendar so I can keep track of my workouts. Now the hardest thing is to grow a thick skin so that when my neighbors park right there and stare at me, I don't get rattled. They aren't supposed to park in the alley but they do. Then they just sit there while one of them runs upstairs for 20 minutes. I found out I don't work out as hard when I'm being watched. Even if they aren't watching, I can't forget they are there. My workout consists of any moves I can do without aggravating current injuries. So it is mostly stretching and dancing, though I might incorporate some juggling.

Up Early

I got up early this morning so I can be more physically active.  It's a bit chilly. I need to get up more often from the computer and break the inertia of sitting and staring at the magic box. I don't want to make too much noise and wake my boyfriend up though.

Bike Riding

A few days ago I started riding my bike again. The weather in S. California has been gorgeous as the new year gets off to a warm start.
The day after I rode, my shoulders were pretty sore. I'm not used to leaning over handlebars. And I had some trouble with the shifting process, but over all I'm getting over my fear of bicycling.  And it's so much more time efficient that walking. It's nice to go fast for a change and not spend 30 minutes just getting around the block. I hope I make bike riding a habit.

Frustrated

I would really like to lose 10 pounds before I see my doctor again. I feel like I'm not making any progress in this area of my life.  Spark People is helping somewhat, but I need to move my butt more and get busy sweating off some of these pounds. Which is hard when I hurt all over. Maybe I should go for a walk right now before it gets hot out. See you.

Hooping in Atascadero

I got to do some hooping at my daughter's baby shower in Atascadero, CA. We got a little carried away and took too many photos. It was nuts. My friend Mandy joined in too. The weather was perfect.

Then after I got back home to Anaheim the heat wave hit with several days being over 100 degrees. So no hooping for me. Luckily it's starting to cool down a bit. By this weekend I should be able to hoop again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/almostfamous/5030682694/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/almostfamous/5030061159/in/photostream/

Sparks Dot Com

Tonight an artist in the Etsy chatroom was talking about a group called Sparks.com that helped her lose weight. She lost 53 pounds, then quit the site, gained it all back, and just went back to the site to start over.

So I joined it too. Once I get over the eyestrain from even looking around on that site, I think it may be a lot of fun and maybe even help me focus on getting my weight down to a low enough level that my Dr. doesn't gasp every time I step on his scale. Seriously.

If you are also on Sparks, let me know so we can be friends over there.

Could It Be Gluten?

I've decided that for the next month I am going to eliminate as much gluten from my diet as I can after reading an article in First magazine. I wrote an article on gluten here. I'm no expert, just sharing my latest effort to get my weight into a safer zone.

http://hubpages.com/hub/My-Thoughts-on-Gluten

Fitness Day Four

I was so stiff and sore today. Even walking hurt. We went shopping and I had to walk really slow. Tonight I did some stretching. My knee is hurting but not in the same spot. Now it's hurting on the outside edge. I took a few photos of me stretching.

Hassling With Gmail and Hooping Day 3

My goal today was to make a fitness Daily Booth account, and link that to a Twitter account. So I wanted to create a new Gmail account to verify Twitter. Only Gmail won't let you make a new account anymore unless you have a cellphone that receives text messages. Which I think is bogus. I rarely use a cell phone and I wouldn't give them my number even if I did. Screw that. Stupid Gmail.  So I used my old Yahoo email instead, but it had gone inactive so I had to jump through hoops getting that running again. So now hopefully this blog, Twitter, Daily Booth and so on are all linked together. And speaking of  hoops here is a photo of today's exercise which is hooping.

Sat. Looking For A Workout

I woke up this morning with a sore neck. My body is going to have to adjust to the new stretching routine. Or I just slept badly on my pillows. But I did some stretches and now my head feels like it's on more or less straight again. It's a beautiful day so I'm looking forward to some outside fitness.

Joel Harper Firming Exercises

I switched on the TV and happened upon fitness trainer Joel Harper doing something called Firming After Fifty, so I did the exercises along with him and his mother! And another person so they could show beginning, intermediate and advanced all at the same time. I don't have any room in my living room to exercise so I stuck to the beginner one so I wouldn't kick over any boxes. But it's perfect for where I'm at right now.

Day 1 I Want My Dancer's Body Back

I saw a very fit 15 year old on Dailybooth.com and it lit a fire under me to get in shape. I am mortified at the way I look. So this morning I had my boyfriend take full body photos. Usually I 'cheat' and use tricky angles in an effort to look thinner. But that only works online, and when people meet me in real life they see me as I am. I cringe to look at these, but it wouldn't be much of a goal if we didn't have before and after photos right? I'm not sure if I'm brave, stupid or just trying to humiliate myself.
BTW I do have men on my Flickr group that think I'm hot just the way I am. But it's my own eye that has to be content, right?

Santa Ana River Bike Path

Last weekend I took a long walk along the Santa Ana River Bike Path. I got to take some really cool pictures. I don't think I'd enjoy walking all that much if it weren't for photography. Here are some of the photos I took along the way. There is a firefighter training tower, bulldozers at work, Angel Stadium, joggers and a lumberyard. Click on any photo to see the original size.

Walking and Belly Dance and Knott's

Lately I was depressed because I felt like I was getting fatter and fatter in spite of all my efforts. So I was quite happy today when I compared measurements from May 2007 with today. I've actually lost an inch on my waist and my hips are the same. So I'm not ballooning up like I thought. It's small encouragement but it just proves how our mind can trick us.
On Thursday I walked to Knott's Berry Farm and back, which took me an hour. I did have to sit and rest once I got there, so the walk took about 40 minutes. I'm thinking of getting the yearly pass so I can actually walk inside the amusement park. Part of the reason I don't walk more is this neighborhood is boring and about the most unsafe neighborhood I've lived in. But inside the park they have fun things to look at and security. And I can see the live shows too.
I was thinking of walking there again on Friday but it was closed and it rained all day.
Today I spent an hour doing housework without any breaks to get my heart rate up. I did laundry, vaccuumed, took out trash, and so forth. And I walked up and down the alley and did some belly dance moves. One thing I've noticed is my knees are not flexible anymore and any serious bending hurts. I'm not sure if I can fix that by working out more or if my knees are just shot from being overweight and from years of dancing. We'll see. It's discouraging but I can work around it.
My main goal right now is to do cardio six days a week for at least 30 min. with two hours of exercise overall counting stretching, warm-ups, cool downs and so forth.

Oh well

I managed to do the milk, water or tea thing for 27 days. Then I had a relative that was dying in the hospital and my best laid plans flew out the window. It was too inconvenient to stick to the plan, and just days after she died I had to go out of town for a week on business. I thought I'd start again on Nov. 1 but I didn't, and now the holidays are upon us.