As many of you know, I finished up 2021 with an overnight hospital stay for a dislocated shoulder. I've gone through Physical Therapy and was released in April, but my arm is still weak. The therapist tells me that it will take a year for it to completely heal.
My husband recently had a 4th shoulder surgery and will begin Physical Therapy soon. With our local therapy place, I can go with hubby and work on arm strengthening with the machines while he works on his therapy.
Did this come about by accident? No! It came about by thinking of the best possible way to help regain not just function, but strength in my own arm.
As far as my hubby is concerned, I am pretty sure he'll be in physical therapy for a while, so we can still go together.
What about the rest of our bodies? Do we have a plan for activity, keeping fit, and working toward continued health? We have a lose plan, so we need to get that a bit more solid...
...like a type of non-negotiable type of thing we do daily for movement. Sometimes just walking around the block isn't enough. So, we're needing to take a good, long, hard look at our goals, and take in to account our blood test results to see how everything looks. We'll make plans for activity according to how our blood work looks. Neither of us are interested in running a marathon or a tri-athelon, so realistically for us, walking here in southern Georgia works well in the 70º range. This is where it isn't too hot, and it isn't too cold. Then we can take our dogs with us, too.
We plan to do xy & z, but we need to also plan for the unplanned, spontaneous fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants things too. Those fun all the sudden things. But, for now, we work on canning foods in season while he does PT, take walks when the temperatures are not "hotter than the surface of the sun", and work on muscle group exercises inside, at home and at the gym.
Now, under "every day" circumstances, I probably would have opted to do more manual exercises here at our home. However, as I type this post, the temperature is 81º at 10AM.
What about long-term goals? Everyone seems to be trying to push back the clock in an effort to look younger. However, we're taking things in stride by simply moving daily. For me, that means simply increasing my daily steps. I don't have a pedometer or an iwatch. I do have a phone that I try to keep in my pocket to count my steps and that's what I try to use as a reference. It helps me to know if I'm on target to reach my goal. What is my goal? I'm up to 5,000 steps per day, except Sundays which is my day of rest. Some days are way more than that, around 7,000, but usually end up between 4,800 to 7,000. I would like to get up to 10,000 each day, so that's my goal for the next 6 months.
What will this do? For me, it will help to bring my HDL levels up more. Once again, I'm not aspiring to a marathon, so I'm getting these steps in naturally by taking care of things, people, and critters around my house. I add in a couple blocks as needed, or at the gym, but it's mostly around my house.
The rest of those blood work numbers will naturally get healthier too with increased steps and a bit of an adjustment in our daily food intake here and there.
So the main goal is greater health so that we can enjoy our life, where ever we are. We also want to be able to move our bodies easier. Sometimes when things like arthritis steps in, we are sore and slow to get up and get moving. When we moved to Georgia in 2015, the drastic weather changes in Pennsylvania took a toll on our backs. The barometric pressure was terrible! But, as we acclimated to Georgia, we've gradually been able to move easier. Couple that with daily 2 ounces of NingXia Red which helps with inflammation and we're doing much better!
Do you have a chair DVD that you do daily? Great! When I had surgery on my knee in 2016, I couldn't walk a mile a day, so I had to do something else. That's what we need to do throughout all of life is just simply make adjustments. If you can do the P90X, then that's great! Every one of us is on a different level of ability. The important thing is that you are moving however your body can move.
What are you doing to move your body daily?
Love & God Bless,
What are you doing to move your body daily?
Love & God Bless,
Regina Graham
I am not a doctor. I cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat anyone
for any disease or sickness.
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