Life & random thoughts....
Nov. 21st, 2016 09:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osodecanelaI'm not sure what time zone my body is in. It's Monday, I'm in NJ, we got here last Wednesday evening after 14 hours in transit & very little sleep. As someone already with a sleep disorder, the change in time & beds isn't helping.
I'm lounging on the couch in Mom's loft. She's asleep downstairs. After an unsuccessful attempt at starting something sexual, I gave up & got up; my husband remains in the seductive arms of Morpheus. After 5 1/2 hours of horizontal time, I awoke and just couldn't get back to sleep. I guess for now, I get to settle for lounging. And I get to put my thoughts down here.
For clarity's sake, I think I'm going to organize this post with headings.
Body reclamation
I've been working under the assumption that retirement means I no longer have myself on the back burner. I dropped 90 lbs starting in '14 via diet & exercise. I was religious about getting to the gym 3-5 times per week, my go to there the elliptical, a machine that's a gift to the obese and arthritic. I routinely ran 4-6 miles at a clip after a while.
Then life & practice went to hell in a handbasket. My amount of gym time impinged on my all engulfing paperwork & roughly a year ago gym time ground to a halt. I regained about 10 lbs in the last year, not great, but certainly not horrid. However I'm now 90-100 lbs more than I should be, instead of 80-90.
The move & renovations on the house, both the one we're readying to sell & the one we plan to retire to, has been a 'yuuuge' (to quote the president-elect) undertaking & has occupied the bulk of my time. Gym time has remained highly limited, and more often than not, limited to soaking in the spa soothing achy muscles from so much moving crap. I figure all the lifting, sorting, carrying, and schlepping has to count for something towards exercise. It sure as hell has left me good and sore.
Thursday morning while both mom and LJ slept I hiked over to the nearby market to get some genuine coffee to brew while we're here, rather than the disappointing decaf mom had in the house. That translated into a 2.5 mile hike. Once we left for the hotel in the city (Remember the focus of this trip was my nephew's wedding), I hit the gym there, wondering how wobbly the elliptical would leave me, and how long before I would have to stop. I was prepared for 15 min. To my surprise I went a solid 1/2 hour without trouble, covering 2.5 miles. I repeated that Saturday, and threw in 15 minutes of weights for good measure. Sunday morning we needed to pack and get to the post nuptial family brunch, so elliptical time got shortened to 1.5 miles rather than 2.5.
My sister happened in on me halfway thru my Friday morning run. Susan looked at me in tank and shorts and smiled. Unlike mom, who never misses an opportunity to tell me what my problem is and everything I'm doing wrong and how it's killing her, my sister, god bless her, simply said how good it is to see I've maintained my loss. With that she hauled her 105 pound frame onto another machine.
I danced at the wedding. Seriously danced. My husband asked if I wanted to dance and on the floor I took his hand and for the first time in our 35 year marriage, let me lead. Now I have a seriously powerful lead, and in my youth was a swing dancer. Moreover, I'm a head taller than him and (*sigh*) double his weight. Dance we did, startling most of my nieces who didn't know I could dance. I guess few people expect someone of my girth to be so light in my feet. I wound up leading my niece Rebecca, almost as often as I did my husband. Dipping and turning her repeatedly, she giggled most of our time on the floor, then informed my nephew perhaps dance classes would be a good idea.
I didn't dip my husband, though I was tempted. It was I suspect enough of a surprise for some of the wedding guests to see an older same sex couple dancing, as it was. Further I'm not wanting to push my luck with him; it was enough he let me lead.
The upshot is today, do my chest and arms hurt! Between weight lift for the first time in a year, and swing dancing, my upper arm and pecs are not happy. My left calf is a tad sore, though it's minimal, despite having run 7 miles in the past three days, but my arms!
Folks are finally stirring here. I'll post for now and continue later.
I'm lounging on the couch in Mom's loft. She's asleep downstairs. After an unsuccessful attempt at starting something sexual, I gave up & got up; my husband remains in the seductive arms of Morpheus. After 5 1/2 hours of horizontal time, I awoke and just couldn't get back to sleep. I guess for now, I get to settle for lounging. And I get to put my thoughts down here.
For clarity's sake, I think I'm going to organize this post with headings.
Body reclamation
I've been working under the assumption that retirement means I no longer have myself on the back burner. I dropped 90 lbs starting in '14 via diet & exercise. I was religious about getting to the gym 3-5 times per week, my go to there the elliptical, a machine that's a gift to the obese and arthritic. I routinely ran 4-6 miles at a clip after a while.
Then life & practice went to hell in a handbasket. My amount of gym time impinged on my all engulfing paperwork & roughly a year ago gym time ground to a halt. I regained about 10 lbs in the last year, not great, but certainly not horrid. However I'm now 90-100 lbs more than I should be, instead of 80-90.
The move & renovations on the house, both the one we're readying to sell & the one we plan to retire to, has been a 'yuuuge' (to quote the president-elect) undertaking & has occupied the bulk of my time. Gym time has remained highly limited, and more often than not, limited to soaking in the spa soothing achy muscles from so much moving crap. I figure all the lifting, sorting, carrying, and schlepping has to count for something towards exercise. It sure as hell has left me good and sore.
Thursday morning while both mom and LJ slept I hiked over to the nearby market to get some genuine coffee to brew while we're here, rather than the disappointing decaf mom had in the house. That translated into a 2.5 mile hike. Once we left for the hotel in the city (Remember the focus of this trip was my nephew's wedding), I hit the gym there, wondering how wobbly the elliptical would leave me, and how long before I would have to stop. I was prepared for 15 min. To my surprise I went a solid 1/2 hour without trouble, covering 2.5 miles. I repeated that Saturday, and threw in 15 minutes of weights for good measure. Sunday morning we needed to pack and get to the post nuptial family brunch, so elliptical time got shortened to 1.5 miles rather than 2.5.
My sister happened in on me halfway thru my Friday morning run. Susan looked at me in tank and shorts and smiled. Unlike mom, who never misses an opportunity to tell me what my problem is and everything I'm doing wrong and how it's killing her, my sister, god bless her, simply said how good it is to see I've maintained my loss. With that she hauled her 105 pound frame onto another machine.
I danced at the wedding. Seriously danced. My husband asked if I wanted to dance and on the floor I took his hand and for the first time in our 35 year marriage, let me lead. Now I have a seriously powerful lead, and in my youth was a swing dancer. Moreover, I'm a head taller than him and (*sigh*) double his weight. Dance we did, startling most of my nieces who didn't know I could dance. I guess few people expect someone of my girth to be so light in my feet. I wound up leading my niece Rebecca, almost as often as I did my husband. Dipping and turning her repeatedly, she giggled most of our time on the floor, then informed my nephew perhaps dance classes would be a good idea.
I didn't dip my husband, though I was tempted. It was I suspect enough of a surprise for some of the wedding guests to see an older same sex couple dancing, as it was. Further I'm not wanting to push my luck with him; it was enough he let me lead.
The upshot is today, do my chest and arms hurt! Between weight lift for the first time in a year, and swing dancing, my upper arm and pecs are not happy. My left calf is a tad sore, though it's minimal, despite having run 7 miles in the past three days, but my arms!
Folks are finally stirring here. I'll post for now and continue later.
