Lighten Your Limbs With Friends

Posted by Retired Teacher @retiredteacher, Oct 28, 2018

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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@marvinjsturing All right! Walking with Leslie now; that's terrific. You are right; she does have more moves than the treadmill, but they are doable too. She has different programs lasting different times, so you can take it slowly and then some are longer and faster. I like moving my arms as I walk, which I can't do on the treadmill---have to hold on! It's great that your wife is walking with you and Leslie. That makes it more fun. It will be like the treadmill; eventually, you'll build up time and can switch to tread when you want to. As they say, any exercise is good for us, so we need to continue and add what we can. I'll continue to pray for your possible donors and maybe by June you'll be in shape, and you'll have a donor. We'll think positively for that.
I walked with Willie today--started another week.
Carol

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@retiredteacher

@marvinjsturing All right! Walking with Leslie now; that's terrific. You are right; she does have more moves than the treadmill, but they are doable too. She has different programs lasting different times, so you can take it slowly and then some are longer and faster. I like moving my arms as I walk, which I can't do on the treadmill---have to hold on! It's great that your wife is walking with you and Leslie. That makes it more fun. It will be like the treadmill; eventually, you'll build up time and can switch to tread when you want to. As they say, any exercise is good for us, so we need to continue and add what we can. I'll continue to pray for your possible donors and maybe by June you'll be in shape, and you'll have a donor. We'll think positively for that.
I walked with Willie today--started another week.
Carol

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@marvinjsturing Is this walking with Leslie thing a video or audio? It sounds interesting.
JK

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@retiredteacher

@marvinjsturing All right! Walking with Leslie now; that's terrific. You are right; she does have more moves than the treadmill, but they are doable too. She has different programs lasting different times, so you can take it slowly and then some are longer and faster. I like moving my arms as I walk, which I can't do on the treadmill---have to hold on! It's great that your wife is walking with you and Leslie. That makes it more fun. It will be like the treadmill; eventually, you'll build up time and can switch to tread when you want to. As they say, any exercise is good for us, so we need to continue and add what we can. I'll continue to pray for your possible donors and maybe by June you'll be in shape, and you'll have a donor. We'll think positively for that.
I walked with Willie today--started another week.
Carol

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@retiredteacher I hold on, on the treadmill too but I do like swinging my arms. The Wednesday, Friday water instructor has us swinging our arms all thru the class to keep the cardio up. She also is always reminding us too, to hold in our stomachs. That’s good for the core.
JK

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@contentandwell

@marvinjsturing Is this walking with Leslie thing a video or audio? It sounds interesting.
JK

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It is a video (DVD) "Walk Away The Pounds" There are 2 programs on the DVD - a 1 mile walk and a 2 mile walk (copyright 2001)

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@marvinjsturing

It is a video (DVD) "Walk Away The Pounds" There are 2 programs on the DVD - a 1 mile walk and a 2 mile walk (copyright 2001)

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@marvinjsturing. I have that one too. I also have two others that are good. They all have the basic similar moves and then each one changes the other moves. They are really good for people like me who like inside exercise as opposed to outside or a gym.
Walking with Willie today, though. I have a too high blood reading this morning, so need something to hold on to when walking or I might fall.
Have a good weekend.
Carol

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@marvinjsturing

It is a video (DVD) "Walk Away The Pounds" There are 2 programs on the DVD - a 1 mile walk and a 2 mile walk (copyright 2001)

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@marvinjsturing so, you couldn’t easily walk outside with it. Too bad.

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@retiredteacher

@marvinjsturing. I have that one too. I also have two others that are good. They all have the basic similar moves and then each one changes the other moves. They are really good for people like me who like inside exercise as opposed to outside or a gym.
Walking with Willie today, though. I have a too high blood reading this morning, so need something to hold on to when walking or I might fall.
Have a good weekend.
Carol

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@jk The Leslie videos are better than walking outside because you have to keep moving to participate in the video class. It is hard work! Outside, the walk is too easy to become a stroll, or if a neighbor stops to chat, it ruins the move from warm up to intensity and then cool down. I have always been told that to exercise properly, there needs to be consistency---like a story: a beginning, a middle, and an end. I find Leslie tapes challenging, and they provide that variety that keeps people moving.
Carol

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@marvinjsturing How are you? Are you still Walking with Willie and me? I have continued, and it has definitely helped. I had my endocrinologist appointment today, and my sugar was 114, which is good, and my A1C is 5.9-- really good, and I had lost 5 pounds--very good! So I had a report to celebrate. I hope that by exercising and eating right, that I will have lost more weight by my next appointment, and maybe my A1C will be even lower. Sounds great to me. I hope you are doing well too and that you are getting closer to your transplant.
Carol

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@retiredteacher

@marvinjsturing How are you? Are you still Walking with Willie and me? I have continued, and it has definitely helped. I had my endocrinologist appointment today, and my sugar was 114, which is good, and my A1C is 5.9-- really good, and I had lost 5 pounds--very good! So I had a report to celebrate. I hope that by exercising and eating right, that I will have lost more weight by my next appointment, and maybe my A1C will be even lower. Sounds great to me. I hope you are doing well too and that you are getting closer to your transplant.
Carol

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@retiredteacher Carol, I am still with you. We went to visit our son last week, so I didn't get all my walks in. It's OK to take a break once in a while. Back at it this week. My last A1C was 4.9 which looks really good, but I have been told that the A1C test is not very accurate for people with chronic kidney disease. I now have 2 people who are working on becoming a kidney donor for me. If everything works out, it may be possible that my transplant will happen this summer. I want to be as healthy as possible before that time in hope that recovery after surgery will be much smoother.

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@marvinjsturing

@retiredteacher Carol, I am still with you. We went to visit our son last week, so I didn't get all my walks in. It's OK to take a break once in a while. Back at it this week. My last A1C was 4.9 which looks really good, but I have been told that the A1C test is not very accurate for people with chronic kidney disease. I now have 2 people who are working on becoming a kidney donor for me. If everything works out, it may be possible that my transplant will happen this summer. I want to be as healthy as possible before that time in hope that recovery after surgery will be much smoother.

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What good news, @marvinjsturing!

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