I’m going to post tonight, even though tomorrow AM is weigh-in time, just because I have the time now and am too tired to do anything else!  It has been an intense two weeks…especially last week, when I actually ran intervals outside and enjoyed it!  Also contradanced in my great new shoes and was so pleased that my feet didn’t hurt AT ALL afterward.  And I got back to the jog trampoline and found that I could do it for longer periods (10-12 minutes).  Last year I usually had to rest after 5 minutes.

But now work is upon me with a vengeance and I am fighting for time to exercise and fighting the urge to snack, which always comes upon me when I am overworked and a bit stressed.  I did indulge the munchies over the weekend but am now back on track and determined not to gain back the weight I have lost.  Not to worry, I still have treats, just not in huge portions.

You will note that I did some gardening…mainly weed pulling, in preparation to digging peat into the garden and planting some new acquisitions.  More about that when I do it…but I will share a photo of my blooming petunia which cheers me on to get the rest of the garden in shape!

petunia in noontime shade

August 18-25
Wed. 6134 steps (3556 aerobic – 1.44 mi. outside, 25 cardio min.)
Thurs. 10819 steps (7716 aerobic – 3.04 mi. outside, 58 cardio min.)
Fri. 13064 steps (2747 aerobic – 1 mi. Leslie w. 2 lb. weights),  1.5 hrs. contradancing!
Sat. 17128 steps (10254 aerobic – 3 mi. Leslie, 2.22 mi. outside w. intervals)  woo hoo!
Sun. 11191 steps (6310 aerobic – 3 mi. Leslie, 42 cardio min.); pushups ag. wall, thighmaster, shoulder presses
Mon. 7347 steps (5101 aerobic – 2 mi. Leslie, 10 min. jog trampoline – 41 min. total); some floor exercises & some lifting 5 lb. weights
Tues. 6501 steps (5263 aerobic – 2 mi. Leslie, 12 min. jog trampoline – 41 min. total)
Wed. weigh-in Aug. 26 – 139.5 lbs.

August 26-31
Wed. 7011 steps (3171 aerobic, 1.44 mi. outside); 4×20 cardioglide; close-arm wall pushups 4×8
Thurs. 9241 steps (4938 aerobic, 2 mi. LS, 1.2 mi. outside, 41 cardio min.)
Fri. 10855 steps (6256 aerobic, 3.04 mi. outside, 51 cardio min.)
Sat. 7704 steps (5 hours gardening, 180 cardio min.)
Sun.9538 steps (3788 aerobic, 1.6 mi. outside, 28 cardio min.)
Mon. 10275 steps (7003 aerobic, 2.88 mi. outside, 53 cardio min.)
Tues. 10402 steps (6632 aerobic, 2.84 mi. outside, 52 cardio min.)
Wed. Sept. 1 weigh-in – I am hoping not to be heavier!  I’ll leave a comment and let you know.

We had lovely autumn temperatures last week, but this week it is back in the upper 80s – low 90s, groan!  However, there are numerous signs of autumn and here is one…

berries on a neighbor's tree

Soon it will really be autumn, but nights are already arriving earlier, by 8:15 or so.   So I’m trying to walk outside now while I can!  OK, off to read your blogs and comment.  I  know that Lynn and Claude have continued to have rough times with knee issues, etc.   Such a shame.  I’m sure that eventually things will smooth out for you two.   Hugs from me!

I tried to avoid going back to the doctor’s as long as I could, which was a mistake, since when I made an appointment, my usual doctor was on her vacation and I had to deal with someone who turned out to be quite obnoxious and not helpful at all. He prescribed medicine that I knew I didn’t tolerate well, and when I mentioned it, said that he had no other solution and basically treated me like I was some sort of hypochondriac, which after two weeks of pain and complaining I was ready to believe I was!

After a couple of days of taking the medication, my face was swollen and I felt generally unwell and stopped it. Made an appointment with another doctor (charming), who prescribed a different medication.

Meanwhile, I had to travel to Normandy to check out on a leak that had destroyed part of my bedroom there, take photos of clothes that were full of mould and get rid of them, etc.

The only nice (if windy) day while I was in Normandy

All this to tell you that I did manage some strength exercise, mainly working on reinforcing the muscles in my thighs, since those are supposed to support your knees. Also arms reinforcement, but definitely almost never reaching my 10,000 steps goal during all that period.
Depressing.
But hopefully, I have now the situation back to normal or almost, am leaving Thursday for a trip to Berlin with my friend Barbara who is one of the great people I met through flickr.
I doubt that I’ll be posting next week as we’ll be walking the streets of Berlin, but don’t let it hinder you from posting

However, on the positive side–it’s a beautiful day here. Hope you are all well and staying active.

Monday: 1 hour walking

Tuesday: 10,483 steps

Wednesday: 2 hours 15 min. walking (tried to use my pedometer, but it stopped counting at 7,000 steps and then counted backwards to 5,000, at which pointed I resisted the urge to throw it in the garbage)

Thursday: 25 min. walking, but 5 hours standing and working in the charity shop

Friday: 15 min. walking

Saturday: 1 hour 15 min. walking

Sunday: neit

Monday: 9,221 steps

Tuesday: 11,628 steps

Wednesday: nothing much worth mentioning

Thursday: 6,973 steps

Friday: 20 minutes walking

Saturday: 13,748 steps (the half of which were while carrying moving cartons and potted plants while helping a friend move to a new apartment. Also a lot of those steps were going up and down stairs to her third floor apartment.)

Sunday: plan to recover from today’s move!

P.S. There have been two or three occasions when my pedometer has started counting backwards. Once happened when I was riding my bicycle. Have any of you had this problem before?

I went for an orthopedic appointment this past Thursday but didn’t learn much. Xrays showed that I have some arthritis in my knees but it’s not severe–so why does my knee hurt so much all of a sudden?  I got  a few minutes with a nurse practitioner who just wanted to give me a cortisone shot and usher me out the door–no real explanation or exploration of what was going on, no inclination to answer questions or talk about long term treatment/prevention of recurrence, etc.

I asserted myself and in the end got a referral for an MRI and no cortisone shot. It may well be that cortisone is the best treatment but I want it to be a decision based on more than a quick glance at an xray. I also decided I didn’t want to continue working with that particular orthopedic practice and have made an appointment to see a physician at a practice affiliated with a teaching hospital in Boston–hopefully that will give me clearer answers–but I need to wait 2 more weeks.

OK–that’s my rant for the day.

Only exercise continues to be my leg lifts and stretches. I found a gym near where I work that has 2 “endless pools” which are basically like treadmills for swimmers–a small pool where you swim in place against a current. It’s about as tedious as a walking treadmill–but it is convenient, I would pay just a small fee to use the pool, the water is kept fairly warm, and I don’t need to join the gym–so I’m going to try that out next week.

Meanwhile, my cat is taking advantage of increased lap availability (although it’s tricky to work at my laptop with a fat cat curled on top of me).

I started a new morning programme with strength exercise from SparkPeople and rather like that it makes a change.

One of the things I find difficult with exercise is monotony and in a way, you always go back to the same stuff. So between Leslie Sansone, taking walks outside, the elliptic and the stuff I find at SparkPeople, I do get variety
Here’s my record for the week from August 9 2010 to August 15 2010

Monday:15mn flexibility ex, 2x15reps single leg squats with chair, 2x15reps wall pushups, 2x15reps boxer, abs 3×20 reps crunches, 3×20 reps reverse crunches, 40mn cardio walking, 11800steps
Tuesday: 15mn flexibility exercise, arms reinforcement: 5×60, cardio 36mn on elliptic, 10 squats, 2×10 thighmaster, 12423 steps
Wednesday: 15mn flexibility ex, 2x15reps single leg squats with chair, 2x15reps wall pushups, 2x15reps boxer, abs 2×20 reps crunches, 2×20 reps reverse crunches, 25mn cardio on elliptic, 10000 steps
Thursday: 15mn flexibility, arms reinforcement: 5×60 reps, 15 squats, 2×10 thighmaster, 40mn cardio on elliptic, 5mn stretching, one-hour Feldenkrais class, 11812 steps
Friday:15mn flexibility, 14000 steps, 10mn cardio
Saturday: 15mn flexibility ex, 2x15reps single leg squats with chair, 2x15reps wall pushups, 2x15reps boxer, abs 2×20 reps crunches, 2×20 reps reverse crunches, 28mn cardiowalk, 10600 steps
Sunday: 15mn flexibility, arms reinforcement: 5×60 reps, 15 squats, LS 3 miles, 35mn cardio, 5mn stretching, 10116steps

Back to work big time.  Hymns for Year A need to be chosen – I’ve done 4 months, 6 months to go.  If I do this now I can make decisions about choir anthems for the year too which makes life much easier later on.  It is probably my last Year A since hopefully 3 years from now I will be retired! 

Lost one more pound this week, despite being a slug on the weekend – probably  mostly thanks to 5 miles of intense Leslie yesterday.  It’s always hard for me not to pig out right after I have lost some weight – I didn’t but it was a bit of a struggle!

One thing about the Leslie DVDs, I can see how the lateral motion could stress out a knee, if you weren’t used to it and got a bit too enthusiastic.  I love the results of it though – my butt has never looked better! 

August 11-17
Wed. 10864 steps (6739 aerobic, 2 mi. LS, 1.02 outside miles, 46 cardio mins.)
Thurs. 7845 steps (3951 aerobic, 2 mi. LS, 29 cardio min.)
Fri. 12112 steps (4489 aerobic, 3 mi. LS, 38 cardio min.)
Sat. 2388 steps (no aerobic – no excuse)
Sun. 1226 steps (forgot pedometer – but no aerobic really)
Mon. 8076 steps (5241 aerobic, 3 LS intense miles, 38 cardio min.) 1 of these miles used hand weights but you could add them anywhere in her workouts.
Tues. 13292 steps (8619 aerobic, 5 LS “advanced” miles, 66 cardio min.)  3 of these miles used strength training aids.
Wed. weigh-in Aug. 18 – 141 lbs.

I can feel the stress hovering in the wings but it’s not here yet.  Once I start scheduling people, it will get crazier.  Forewarned is forearmed…

I do think the Leslie has more effect than just plain walking.  Although I plan a long walk today if weather cooperates!  I miss being outside…

Best wishes, everybody, especially to Lynn and her knee.  I will post again on strength training when I have something to say…

Thursday: walking, 4.39 km (2.73 miles) – 1 hour,  8,330 steps

Saturday, gardening, 4 hours

Monday: cycling, 9.2 km (5.7 miles) – 32 minutes; walking,  3.51 km (2.2 m) – 51 minutes; Stairs, 5 flights —- 10,789 steps!

I’ve posted some more pictures of my gardens. It has been a bit dry and some of the plants, e.g., bleeding hearts, Jacob’s ladder and some of the ferns are done for the year so they are looking a bit brown.

Who ever it was that suggested the walkmeter on the iPhone, you had a wonderful suggestion.  I love it. It is satisfying the gadget person in me; it makes graphs of the elevation changes along with a street map of your path, etc.!

The PT last week got me, briefly, on a stationary bike but it hurt my knee. I’m seeing the PT again on Tuesday and I’ll ask about trying the bike again. I asked about swimming–and the PT said it was worth a try–but I’m reluctant to spend the money on a gym membership if I do indeed end up needing some kind of surgery, where swimming might be out for a period of time. I have an orthopedic evaluation next Thursday so hopefully I’ll know a bit more by next weekend.

Bad news is, I was sick for several days – nothing serious but this virus did hit me rather hard.  I’ve been back to normal for a couple of days now.  Good news is, I lost weight!  142 lbs. at yesterday’s weigh-in.  Go figure – it’s true I didn’t want to eat much while sick, but I also didn’t exercise at all as you can see.  However, I think the regular Leslie mile in AM must have had some cumulative impact.

So here’s the scoop!

August 3-10
Wed. 9543 steps (5868 aerobic, 3 LS miles, 42 cardio minutes)
Thurs. 10145 steps (7535 aerobic, 3 LS miles, 1.01 outside mile, 52 cardio min.)
Fri. 7194 steps (3581 aerobic, 1.44 outside miles, 27 cardio min.) – getting sick
Sat. 902 steps – really sick
Sun. 2081 steps – still sick
Mon. 3397 steps – a bit better but no energy
Tues. 8988 steps (5359 aerobic, 1.44 outside mi., 1 LS mile, 44 cardio min.)
Wed. weigh-in August 11 – 142 lbs. woo hoo!

I’m keeping track of the small amount of strength training I do on sparkpeople – there isn’t really enough to report now – so unless I get into a regular routine I won’t record it here.  Maybe that will happen as the new work year progresses – maybe not – I’m fairly happy with the balanced workout I get from the Leslie Sansone DVDs & will just hope to keep that up.  I discovered yesterday that my neighbor tries to do 3 fast miles every evening (she’s 10 years younger than me & she really moves!) so I may try to join her for some of that.

Have a great week, everyone, and welcome, Nancy!