A Sunday Morning Walk in the Neighborhood

As part of my exercise program, I try to walk once or twice a week. I like getting out in the sunshine and just taking the time to commune with nature. I am in a large metropolitan area, but we still have our points of beauty. I believe that it is important that we take the time to appreciate what is around us. So for today, I am going to share with you a few pictures that I took along the way.

I just love the color of these flowers. They really pick up the neighborhood. One of the reasons I like to walk is that I feel better when I get back to the apartment. It is the splashes of color, the interesting scenes that we observe, and quite frankly some of the people in the neighborhood. I did not take pictures of my neighbors this trip however.

This arch just wants to make you go in and ring the doorbell. It is colorful, beautiful and most of all welcoming. Every time I pass this entrance, I want to take a picture, so today I did. And I am just getting started on my walk.

This wall with the pink and purple flowers really caught my attention. The morning sun just seemed to draw your attention to them. I love the way they are just peeping over the wall. By the time I took this picture, I was about half-way through my walk. I was feeling good and could feel my energy coming back.

Today I ventured into a new neighborhood. I saw this tree or bush, and fell in love with it. The flowers, the sunlight, the bigness of it. WOW!! I had to get a picture. Behind it was another tree with purple flowers. Now I have to admit, I love flowers, trees, plants, etc. I just don't know their names.

As I was walking, listening to music that was uplifting, I saw this tree over the fence or house or whatever. I had seen it before when I was in the car and was specifically looking for it.

From the street it is really striking. I just had to find it and get a picture. The one before it was approaching  the house and the other was after I had passed it. Now it was  time for me to move back into my own neighborhood and head for home.In the next block, someone honked their horn and waved to me. It was one of my tax clients. What a pleasant surprise.  I have one more picture to show you.

This rose reminded me of peppermint, a taste that I think leaves a fresh taste in your mouth. I loved the flower. And so with that I returned to my apartment, feeling better because I had taken the time to go out and explore my neighborhood. So take the time, explore. Stop to smell the roses along the way. You will feel better for it. And remember, walking is one of the best exercises for losing weight

I hope you enjoyed my pictures. I look forward to any comments, or questions you might have. Remember the way of the tortoise is slow and steady. In the end, we win, we win!!

Choose to Move Your Body

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat right, exercise and get enough rest. You need to burn more calories than you take in by moving your body. How you do it is up to you. The key is to move. This is especially important for those of us who are over 60. It helps keep us fit and feeling better.

From my observation, people who are active tend to live longer and to be healthier. Once we start moving, it seems to get easier. So starting today, if you have not been exercising, find some ways to do it that are fun.
It can be as easy as taking an extra step or going the longer way around. Just move!

I love to swim. The Aqua Fit (water aerobics) classes that I am taking fit nicely into that. I love being in the water. I can jump in the water. I cannot jump on dry land yet... With water aerobics, you have the resistance of the water to help you. In a class you also have an instructor and fellow classmates to help you along and encourage you. The good news is that I can see my progress as well when I work with my trainer, Amanda Espinoza, in the gym.

Now, I decided a year ago to get a trainer when I joined the gym. It is a choice. I needed someone to guide me and hold me accountable. It has been great. We work hard on the equipment, and I can feel my body getting stronger. I still have a long way to go. The other nice thing about the gym I attend is the people who encourage me. These are strangers who have watched me work out week after week after week. It does my heart good, and it encourages me to continue working hard.

This Saturday, I upped my exercise program. I started taking line dancing classes at the Jocelyn Center, a Senior Citizen Center in Burbank, Ca. It was great fun. I have always loved to dance. I am left handed and sometimes have a problem with left and right, but I kept on going any way. I loved the music, the movement of the dances and the fellowship of other dancers. Everyone encouraged one another. It was nice.

I am striving to keep my life in balance. I want to add another class at the gym, but feel I need to get this one going first.  Last summer I was at the gym 5 mornings a week. This year, I am there three mornings a week.  I am working a couple of afternoons a week and blogging as often as I can. While I feel I need to add more exercise into my lifestyle, I am trying to do it gradually. The focus is making a life style change, It is not about the exercising and eating better. It is about changing my life to a healthier life style---one step at a time. Remember slow and steady wins the race.

My recommendation to you are
1. Find something that helps you move, that you enjoy, and then to do it.
2. Find an exercise buddy to go with you. Find people who will support you in your endeavor to get fit. If someone does not support you in this endeavor, I suggest you spend less time with them. Now if it is your spouse, keep this in mind. If you start moving, they may just decide to follow you. You do not have to spend a lot of money. You can get a good pair of walking shoes and walk around the neighborhood. Some malls even have groups of people that meet and walk in air conditioned comfort. So do yourself a favor and start to move.
3. Move your body, take more steps and enjoy what you are doing to get into better shape.

Thanks for reading this. I hope it gives you some ideas. Doing what you enjoy, especially if it helps improve your health, is a great way to spend time. What are you doing to move? Let me know. I appreciate your questions and comments.

Getting the "I Can Do" Spirit

Do you have an "I can do" spirit? Or, are you always saying "No, I can't"?  I think our greatest stumbling block is our attitude. If we think we can, we have a much better shot of sticking to the your plan and being successful. It is not about your successes or failures of the past, it is about right now! Yes, we can learn and grow from these experiences, but we need to move on from them as well. Think about Thomas Edison. It took him 10,000 trials to get the light bulb invented. Now that is a great example of the "can do" spirit. He just kept on trying. Sure he may have had his moments of discouragement, but he never said "I can't do it" and quit trying. He kept on going.

We need to exercise our mental muscles as well as our physical ones. I am one of those people who lost weight, even kept it off for awhile, then started gaining. In retrospect, I let life get to me rather than exercising my mind and staying focused. It takes effort to lose weight. You have to change your eating habits, you need to exercise your body and to change your concept of yourself. If you do not change your habits in all three of those areas, you are setting yourself up for failure. I know many other persons who lost a lot of weight and a year or two latter, those pounds found them and brought along their friends.


So what can we do? First of all, we need to watch our words and thoughts. What we say and think is as important as what we eat. When you identify thoughts and words that are negative, you need to immediately think of something that is positive. It does get easier with practice. Remember the "I can do" Spirit.

Second, you need to listen to what people around you are saying. If they are negative, then you have a choice. Block out what they say or spend less time with them. Do not get caught up in their negative thinking, and do not feed theirs with your own. If something is not working, find a way to change it. You have the power to do it. Remember the "I can do it Spirit."

Third, feed the positive. Start out each day naming three things that you are thankful for. End each day with three things that went right during the day or three more things that you are thankful for. This does not mean that you ignore the problems. You can't. But you can turn your thinking around about them. I find that if I read something positive at the end of the evening, I am more relaxed and can get to sleep faster. If I read a mystery the last thing at night, guess what I do? I relive the mystery. I do love reading them, I just don't finish the day with them. You can also start a praise or grateful journal. Write down those things in your life that are right. When the I can't do attitude begins to creep in, get the journal out and remember all the good things. We were not build to be double minded. Keep the "I can do" Spirit in the forefront.

With the "I can do" Spirit, the solutions to things seem to come easier. I think I can do, then I find a way that I can do it. It is not a Pollyanna attitude, it is an "I can do" attitude that allows you to find the solutions and not get mired down.

If you try the can do spirit for thirty days, you have developed a new habit and maybe a new outlook on life. After all, you can do it.

I would love to hear from you if you would like to share any of your can do experience. Thanks for reading this.

Image of Happy Running Turtle courtesy of wpclipart.com

Getting Started Again

I am a tax professional and I really love my job. Since last July, I've lost 30 pounds.
Every year from January to April 15, my life is devoted to taxes.  During that time my eating habits go down hill. This year I only gained back six pounds. Not bad after gaining 20 pounds the previous year. So now I'm getting started on my weight loss journey... again. I can do this. It may take longer, it may be slower, but I can do it. Like the moral of the Hare and the Tortoise, "Slow and Steady Wins The Race."

I also learned some things about how to stay on the path.

1. Exercise is important. Before I started my journey, I was a couch potato. I did not get enough exercise. Now I work with a wonderful trainer, Amanda Espinoza twice a week. What a difference it has made in my life.
2. Portion control is essential. I find that I must measure my food. It is really easy to get carried away if I don't.
3. The body, mind and spirit are connected.  I also have excess baggage (mentally and physically) that I need to let go of and I do not intend to find it again.
4. Quality vs Quantity. I'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables to my diet.

My journey is one of exercise, portion control, and cleaning up the mess. I find that I tent to start things slowly, but gain momentum as I go along. I watch the Biggest Loser Show and while  I want to lose pounds as quickly as many of the contestants do, I am not on the show and I have a life. I am going to dance to my own tune. I will be my own pace setter. I will celebrate my accomplishments and be kind to myself should I falter.

I hope you will join me on your own journey to turn your life around after 60. If you are under 60 more power to you. The sooner you get started the sooner you will finish. Let's Go!