I am WAY overdue to post.  Anne just left on Thursday and we had so much to do.  It’s been more than 2 weeks since I posted, can’t believe it!

Wed. Aug. 20 - steps 8924, aerobic 5731

Thurs. Aug. 21 - steps 10553, aerobic 5790

Fri. Aug. 22 - steps 3530 - but at least I resisted snacking!

Sat. Aug. 23 - steps 8538, aerobic 4278

Sun. Aug. 24 - steps 10149, aerobic 6360

Mon. Aug. 25 - steps 6247

Tues. Aug. 26 - steps 5278

Wed. Aug. 27 - steps 4901

Thurs. Aug. 28 - steps 2793 - this was a rainy day but I was also doing the musicians’ schedule for the next 4 months, which always makes me crazy

Fri. Aug. 29 - steps 9849, aerobic 4846 - ahhhhhhh!  It felt good to walk fast!

Sat. Aug. 30 - steps 7661, aerobic 3823.  Weight 144 lbs!  Lovely while it lasted…

Sun. Aug. 31 - steps 7108, aerobic 5425

Mon. Sept. 1 - steps 4430 - did some aerobic yard work which I had been putting off

Tues. Sept. 2 - steps 6057 - more yard work - finally my patio and back yard looks good - I had neglected it all year, due to trip planning etc. 

Wed. Sept. 3 - steps 8258, aerobic 4747.  Weight holding at 147 lbs.

Thurs. Sept. 4 - steps 3042 and went out to a wine tasting which involved a 6 course gourmet meal - small courses, to be sure — completely delicious!  A wonderful splurge.  Weight popped right back up to 150 lbs. but it was worth every calorie…

Fri. Sept. 5 - 9731 steps, 4852 aerobic.  My weight’s still up there, oh well!  (thanks to chips and a margarita near bedtime)  But one has to celebrate at some point — and I always celebrate when that big 4 month schedule is done, or nearly done — it’s nearly done — I’m celebrating! 

Claude, you must be back in Paris by now — hurrah, I will watch for posts!  I am finally seeing a window this weekend in which I can work on my photos and on my writing about the trip, which has been neglected for a month or so.  Soon I will open them up to view on Flickr.

Happy walking, everyone!

The kids are back at school. The work at the university is also picking up as well. So much easier to exercise with all this going on. I can cycle back and forth between the university and the schools I am doing projects in. Also, my walking mates are back from vacation as well.

Friday: Walking 4,100 steps, Abs 10 min

Saturday: Yoga & Abs 30 min

Sunday: Walking 10,100 steps, Abs 10 min

Monday: Abs 10 min, cycling 20 km

Tuesday: Walking 7,600 steps, cycling 16 km

Wednesday: Walking 5,300 steps, cycling 20 km

Thursday: Yoga 1 hour class, walking 4,600 steps

Feeling very happy about the week. Not because I believe that my attempts to increase my exercise routing will now be successful. No, I’m happy because I did the exercise without thinking about not doing it, or planning, or making myself feel obliged.

Right above the foot pads are the handles to pull. When pulled a band connects to 3 paddles in the blue water tank and pulls them in a circle.  The seat of course goes slides back and forth.  The water tank contains 17L of water, plus a little chlorine to keep the water from gunking up.

One size fits all on this.  Resistance is increased by rowing faster. The little computer right above the rowing handles gives strokes per minute, time, distance and all that.  I did a bit over 10km in 30 minutes today.

Ron

Hi All,

Been busy with stuff, among other things our new rowing machine. It’s an H2O, meaning it has a tank with 17L of water and the paddles push against that.  So it’s like rowing on the water.  A great workout. I’ve been working up to a longer run, by biking for 30 minutes and then rowing for 30 minutes.

Best regards,

Ron

It’s been a pretty bleak week exercisewise. Lousy weather, cold and rainy almost every day. I can’t way to get back to Paris. This Thursday.
August 25, 4,600 steps, 35 mn aerobic exercise on the Wii, 10mn stretching
August 26, 10 mn stretching, 30mn aerobics on the wii, 8,400 steps (7,520aerobics, 72mn). Thanks Sara for reading the instructions on the Omron pedometer
August 27, 8,754 steps (4,885 aerobic steps, 35 mn) Not bad
August 28, 3,165 steps (visitors, so not much)
August 29 saw me transform into a couch potato…

They looked much more determined than I was

That photo was taken on the only nice day in almost two weeks!
August 30, 9,200 steps, just visiting, so no aerobics steps whatsoever
August 31, some 2,500 steps, visiting with a friend.
Not really pleased with myself but I guess it’s just the rain which makes me feel down.
Seen from here (Normandy), doesn’t look at all like the planet is warming up!

So where did the time go…feeling a bit tardy about posting but not about exercise!  Added ABS.

7,050 steps August 16

8,841 steps August 17

2,360 steps August 18 + 10 mins. ABS exercise via cable TV

7,782 steps August 19

5,990 steps [1,1419 aerobic] August 20…thanks to Sara alert on use of Omron pedometer!

8,000 steps August 21…because my Thursday Big Apple walk group had grocrumby pedometers  from  City Health Dept, Omron helped us to know we’d done 6,000 steps each.

5,767 steps August 22

5,241 steps August 23

11,877 steps [2,723 aerobic] August 24…picking up family at airport can really add miles! 

6,230 steps August 25

8,136 steps [2,284 aerobic] August 26….10 ABS Crunch machine…10 minutes Treadmill, increased speed to 3.0 with 1.0/incline

*5,798 steps August 27…Waist measure, 37 inches.  This is my real concern beyond weight and the most difficult to change.  Oh, I knew this was my bottom-line issue, had avoided the tape.  No more.  Will I be able to reduce this?  (That’s a rhetorical question.)

Well, I am going to have to bow out gracefully and say that my life in the last week has been just too chaotic and solely laking in any serious exercise. I did manage between two to four thousand steps a day, one good yoga practice, and, if I remember correctly two 10-minute abs sessions before going to bed. Nothing to call home about. Still, I am hopeful.

The gods willing, there will be a Tomorrow and I hope to do better. Thank heavens for you guys…

Well, sister Kay, I got the problem too.  It hit this week, what with personality conflicts both at work and here in my townhouse association, and guess who is in the middle?  Actually, things have resolved somewhat at this point but Wed. was a really bad day.

Sooooo…my step record begins OK but ends less well.  :-)  Here goes!

Wed. Aug. 20 - steps overall = 8924;  aerobic = 5731;
Thurs. Aug. 21 - overall steps = 10553; aerobic = 5790;
Fri. Aug. 22 - overall steps = 3530 and I finished the day with a Glenfiddich…
Sat. Aug. 23 - overall steps = 8538, aerobic = 4278;
Sun. Aug. 24 - overall steps = 10149, aerobic = 6360;
Mon. Aug. 25 - overall steps = 6247, zero aerobic;
Tues. Aug. 26 - steps = 5278 (finished the day with a very strong martini);
Wed. Aug. 27 steps = 4901 (began the day with a hangover);
Thurs. Aug. 28, it rained all day long and I only walked across the parking lot to my neighbor’s - steps = 2793.  Urgh.

Today looks like it might be drier, so I am hoping to get in a really good walk.  On the upside, my weight seems to be inching down into the 145-146 lb. range.  I have not been systematic about it but I have tried to just do a bit of exercise whenever I could, indoors, like the cardio machine for 60 reps at a time.  I used to try to do more at a time on this, but got bored, and I decided that more frequent shorter bits of it are still contributing to the cause.  I will NEVER attain Ron’s degree of faithfulness to his machines…it’s just not me…

Well, I’m eager to hear from everyone else, and especially to hear how Kay is doing of late.  My stressful people have gone away for the time being but I do have a BIG push on at work for the next 3 days, before my assistant goes away for a month and leaves me high and dry.  Can’t be helped though!

Moving on here…my best to all of you and hope the weather is good where you are!   Sara 

I spent the end of last week and the beginning of this week with an old friend who lives in Vierzon and as we had not seen one another for 39 years, if I had had a pedometer on my tongue, it would have broken records
As it is, since Annik lives in a small town, it turns out that we drove everywhere, shopping, visiting etc. and I didn’t walk as much as when I don’t have a car around

I must also admit to lacking courage for abs and stretching these last days, and for indulging with food.
So here goes
August 14 still in Paris), 10 mn stretching, 10,000 steps
Nothing much on August 15, as I drove down to Vierzon
August 16th Bourges Cathedral, 396 steps up, pedometer said 8,000 steps

With my friend Annik, at the top of the cathedral tower

August 17 resulted in 4732 steps,
August 18 3,700 steps
August 19, 3,000 steps
August 20, 8,000 steps, one-hour Feldenkrais session
August 21, back to Bénerville, walked 11,679 steps, (5487 aerobic), thanks Sara, for the aerobic steps discovery
August 22, 8,754 steps (4885 aerobic)
August 23 found me mostly on my couch, only 2,500 steps
And today, August 24, 6,000 steps, in spite of the rainy weather.
As per usual, it’s more difficult for me to find motivation here, but I will try my best.

The Kay is still on overload and it’s getting worse instead of better.  I am exhausted a lot while seemingly accomplishing nothing. 

Saw the endocrinologist Friday and the internist last week.  The former put me on cholesterol meds and took me off my thyroid meds.  He also had me schedule a scan on my thyroid to take a look at the nodules again. Depending on the outcome, I may need to have them irradiated. 

As to the cholesterol thing, I know what I need to do to fix my cholesterol:  fix my diet and reduce stress.   That latter appears to be impossible right now and changing it will take time so I will do what I can with the former while trying to eat healthily.  I don’t eat much so I’m guessing that stress is causing the spike in my usually good cholesterol.  Sigh. 

I found a sign that reads: “Good morning! Let the stress begin!”  and of course I had to buy it.  Hopefully, it will serve as a reminder to help me keep things in perspective and remind me to choose what I allow to put me crazy. 

I’m tearing my house apart and trying to get organized the next couple days.  

Once that is done perhaps I can get a decent exercise program in place.

Sorry I haven’t better news.     

The internist doesn’t get it.  When I told her about my legs hurting and that sometimes I woke up with them hurting during the night she decided that I had restless leg syndrome and ordered iron studies on my blood.  I know for a fact that it isn’t that simple and laughed like crazy when I went to the lab and they said Medicare wouldn’t pay for the test and told them that I wouldn’t and couldn’t pay for it.