Health Trek Day 24

This morning as I was walking on the treadmill, trying to ignore the pain in my hip, I wondered just how much the weather really affects arthritis pain. When I got home I did a little research and found articles that confirmed that arthritis aches and pains, asthma and even migraines are definitely affected by weather changes. Hot humid weather can exacerbate respiratory problems as well as migraines and joint pain. Cold, damp weather also contributes to all those little oohs and ouches we suffer through. There are even weather channels now that have a health scale to warn you of those aches and pains you will be getting from the forecast. (All that meteorological mumbo jumbo gives me a headache!) I can't help but wonder if they are getting a kickback from the pharmacy companies for all the pain medicine they will be selling because of the forecasts. Anyway, the articles explain how changing weather can cause your bodies to expand and contract, joints to adjust to these fluid changes and the result is a big ouch. I guess it makes me feel a little better blaming it on the weather because I know the weather will change and I will get some relief. Until it changes again. But just being able to blame the weatherman or should I be politically correct and say weather person, helps to cope with the pain. The important thing is that I still drag myself out of bed and go to the gym to do my exercises. One thing to share in case you don't know it, my orthopedic doctor told me last week not to worry about increasing the intensity of machines as I walk. The arthritis condition I have can be harmed more by putting to much strain on the bones than the exercise benefit could do So instead of increasing the intensity, I am increasing the time that I walk. I started with 15 minutes a session and I am up to 30 minutes now on the treadmill and the bike. I increase my speed on the bike up and down in spurts, keeping the level low. I have been able to get my heart rate up to the target level doing this and I break out in a sweat so I know I am doing something. The important thing, my wise Doctor advised me, is to keep moving. Sitting in a chair does more damage than any other bad habit I have. I also know that I eat more when I am just sitting in my chair. So plan for this week, keep moving, keep busy, stay out of the kitchen.
I spent Sunday rehearsing with a friend for Fall Rally in Augusta. I hope to see all of you there and you will get to see us make total fools of ourselves once again. I hope I get motivated so much it will take me through the holidays and well into next year and I can start watching those pounds fall off! (Wouldn't it be ghastly if they actually fell off all over the floor and we had that mess to clean up? Yuck!)
I hope to see all of you at the rally.
ROCK ON everyone!

Humor for today:
Senior Citizen Alphabet
A for arthritis
B for bad back
C is for chest pains, perhaps cardiac?
D is for dental decay and decline,
E is for eyesight- can't read the top line
F is for fissures and fluid retention
G is for gas (which I'd rather not mention)
H is for high blood pressure (I'd rather have low)
I is for incisions with scars you can show
J is for joints, that now fail to flex
L is for libido--what happened to sex?
Wait! I forgot about K!
K is for my knees that crack when they're bent
(Please forgive me, my Memory ain't worth a cent)
N is for neurosis, pinched nerves and stiff neck
O is for osteo-and all bones that crack
P is for prescriptions, I have quite a few
Give me another pill, I'll be good as new!
Q is for queasiness. Fatal or flu?
R is for reflux- one meal turns into two
S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears
T is for tinnitus- I hear bells in my ears
U is for urinary: difficulties with flow
V is for vertigo, that's "dizzy" you know
W is for worry, now what's going 'round?
X is for X-ray- and what might be found
Y is for another year I've left behind
Z is for zest that I still have in my mind.
Have survived all the symptoms my body's deployed,
And kept twenty-six doctors gainfully employed!

thanks for whomever sent me this via e-mail and to whomever out there in the world wide web that wrote it!

Plan for today:
Breakfast: egg, toast, tea
Snack: jello
Lunch: grilled cheese, baked chips
Snack: apple
Dinner: tuna casserole
Snack: ice cream bar

Exercise: Gym- treadmill 35 minutes. No bike today, some young man had the audacity to use my bike when I wanted it!!!
Yoga for the rest of us DVD; Mr. G's long, long list!