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Lighten Your Limbs With Friends
Hello all. I have Diabetes 2 and have avoided exercise for over 2 1/2 years. I am overweight and know that I need to get moving and lose weight. I have always had excuses not to do anything much before. I have a treadmill, and I look at it, but I never use it. A few weeks ago, I decided that it is time to lighten my limbs. I received my Mayo newsletter. and it included a twelve-week Exercise Plan. It was like fate that I had decided to exercise and Mayo dropped the perfect routine in my lap. Because it's 12 weeks and not years and years, as some plans are, the Mayo is doable. They're not asking me to run a marathon!
It's a way to get stronger and healthier. However, one part was missing: I need to be accountable to somebody else. I would love for other Connects to join me so that we could celebrate our success each week. I don't want to wait to January when all we hear is "New Year, New You." So I thought it would be good to start before the bombardment of ads for gym equipment and promises to lose many pounds too fast (and gain it back even faster). I needed a plan that will work for me and anybody else, and Mayo has given it to us.
Let's get a jump on 2019 by finishing strong in 2018. If we start the first week on Friday, November 2, 2018 (only four days from now), it will propel us through the weekend and keep us going. Just think: By January 25th, we will have completed the 12 weeks. Just when other people are trying to keep their exercise resolutions, we'll have finished 12 weeks. We'll be lighter, heathier, and stronger. We also will have gotten into the habit of exercising and hopefully, do another 12 weeks. Doesn't that sound good? To be able to say, "I'm healthier and feel so much better and have lighter limbs." For the first time I am excited to exercise, but I need others to come along with me. I need the accountability.
Please join me and give it a try. Come along with me so we can say it's not just my 12 weeks, but it's our 12 weeks. The first week asks us to do 5 minutes of warm up, five minutes of brisk walking, and five minutes of cool down. That's only 15 minutes. I can do that! The walking is the speed that you are comfortable with. The warm up and cool down are just slower walking. It can be outside, in your house, at a gym---wherever you feel comfortable and whatever time of day is convenient. Nothing required except determination and desire to make it 12 weeks.
I'll post the exercise times for each week once we get started. Let's give this gift to ourselves and improve throughout the holidays. If you have any questions, send me a note, and I'll answer what I have from Mayo.
Everybody's walking! Sounds great to me.
@retiredteacher
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So sorry to hear of your new medical problems. May you and your husband both have better news in the weeks to come. Please let us know how everything's going. Think it's particularly hard when you both are having problems! As I tell my husband, we need to take turns at the sympathy trough!!
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2 Reactions@trishanna I appreciate your kind words. Actually there are no new problems, just a continuation of the old. Nothing is different; sometimes old problems come to light and that adds to what's already going on. My husband's heart problems have been forefront since 2011, which isn't decades and my diabetes is just three years old. Because we were never sickly, it seems like a very long time to deal with medical problems now. Doctors love to say it's part of aging; I don't really buy that, as I was still teaching a few years ago. But, we deal with what comes and do the best we can one day at a time.
I hope you and your husband are well.
Carol @retiredteacher
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1 Reaction"It's part of aging" seems to be a standard reply - unfortunate because it blinds doctors to possible problems perhaps exacerbated by aging but not the cause. I've just been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, blamed on heredity (maybe) and "old age" (maybe). But the real culprit, I believe, was my polycystic ovary disease, virtually ignored by my doctors, but a known cause of diabetes. As folks say, though, it is what it is, and we just keep on keeping on!!! Take care!
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2 Reactions@marvinjsturing Great news! I hope things work out so that your donor is acceptable or perhaps can do a paired donation. I am sure you must be anxious to put this behind you, but I have heard that the wait is longer for kidneys than it is for livers.
Keep us up to date.
JK
Hello All:
With the holidays approaching, some of us, who should be watching carbs will undoubtedly not be so successful. The temptation of all of those wonderful foods and smells might cause us to lose our resolve. If that happens, what should we do to get back on the right road to eating?
Mayo Clinic recently posted an article on that very topic. Here is the link,
https://diet.mayoclinic.org/diet/motivate/setback-recovery-tips?xid=nl_nl_mayo_clinic_diet_2019-11-22_18687484&utm_source=Newsletters&nl_key=nl_mayo_clinic_diet&utm_content=2019-11-22&utm_campaign=The_Mayo_Clinic_Diet
If I have a setback, I have decided not to let negative thoughts overcome me and I will make better decisions about food in the future. I'll exercise the next day and get back to my dietary goals.
So, if you have a setback, what will you do?
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2 ReactionsI plan my work load so I can afford calorie wise to eat the pumpkin pie because it is good food, relatively speaking. I don't care for all the potatoes, gravy and stuffing because it is so heavy and makes me sleepy. So I skip that and eat more veggie foods. I make sure they are on the menu. I also skip the corn casserole my daughter makes because it is a big no no. Then I have the cheesecake instead of my evening glass of milk and the numbers are not bad the next morning because I worked hard getting ready for the dinner. And I enjoyed the whole thing. I don't really have negative thoughts because I am choosing well for me. Being very active helps everything. I think of my life as a success story rather than feel bad about myself. I am alive and my husband died. I am winning in life. Doris
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2 ReactionsYour attitude and your planning are just great, @dorisena. Thanks for adding to this conversation!
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1 ReactionThanks so much for supporting me as well. After living a sometimes miserable life for so many years, and being so lonely for the past few years now that the grandchildren are grown, I really appreciate communicating with friends and cheering everyone on! I taught kids in the community for so many years, and I had support from a few friends who have now died. All my husband's family is gone, and my siblings and parents. You are my family today. Dorisena
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1 Reaction@hopeful33250 Great topic, I plan to go back and read that link when I have a bit more time.
Yep, I will succumb to many of the yummy things but since I am bringing dessert for Thanksgiving I will probably make something that's not too tempting for me! I will bring an appetizer too and plan to do crudites and dip. I make a fairly healthy dip that has white beans in it and yogurt (all pureed in the food processor) so having some does not leave me too guilt-ridden. Since I have sporadic lactose intolerance I won't eat much cheese either.
Since the stuffing honestly cannot compare with my own (I know that sounds boastful but mine is really great, says everyone) I am not too tempted by that either. Only my son knows my "secret ingredient".
JK
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2 ReactionsYou've got a great plan, @contentandwell. I know what you mean about stuffing if it is not your recipe!
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