Category: My Life

***Update***

Well it looks like a torn meniscus. I will have an MRI next week and then we will know for sure, how badly injured it is and where we go from there.

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Okay, I am not the most athletic person I know, I have never claimed to be, but yesterday I proved that although I would like to believe I am Peekaboo Street, I’m more like Klutz-a-boo Avenue!

The day started out okay as we arrived at Waterville Valley. The lodge was loaded with kids from the local schools, who were participating in races, a light snow was falling. We had arrived a bit early affording me the time to get ready at a leisurely pace. Our friends arrived and we talked and joked and laughed as we got ready to ski.

The first run was so nice. I felt pretty good. I must say that although I ski, I do not ski “pretty”. My friend, Carol, she skis pretty. Boy I love to watch her! Me? Well the best that you can say is that I get down the mountain!

Yesterday? Not so much.

On our third run I was bringing up the rear of our ski group when I screwed up and caught an edge and down I went. Bing, Bang, Boom!

Yes, you could say that was a bit painful, but the worst part? I couldn’t ski down the mountain, I had to go in the toboggan to the first aid center. Now this is not the way I wanted to go on my first toboggan ride. I had sort of planned that to be with laughing people, on a snowy day and after several “nice runs” we would all sit around and drink hot chocolate.

Not me, I rode down wrapped in an emergency blanket, being pulled by a young man who was young enough to be my son! Hubby met me at the bottom with our friends, where they collected all my gear, and put me in the back of our station wagon and headed off to the Emergency Room at the local hospital. The good news is, nothing is broken, the bad news is…..it hurts like heck!

So today I’m going over to see the P.A. at Hubby’s knee surgeon’s office and I will find out what I have done. I’m a little less sore today and since I spent the night in ice, the swelling is down.

I have to say, I am really embarrassed by this, but since I always share the good, the bad and the embarrassing with you, dear reader, I knew I had to write this down. Call this the confession of the stupid skier!

PS: I’ll let you all know what the doctor says….

I have been on my “healthy lifestyle plan” since the first of the year. I haven’t written about my struggles aside from a few times where I think I have mentioned sore bones, so today I thought I would update you on my progress.

You know I refuse to call this a diet. After all, if I do that then I will fail. I need to rework the way I eat and hopefully by doing this I can finally control my weight longterm.

I’m cooking some really fun meals with a lot of fresh vegetables, and I’ve been adapting old recipes to slim them down. I also make myself the most wonderful salad everyday at lunch. I really look forward to that. I have also found that I actually can drink water if I get the flavored varieties. Unfortunately I am one of those people who finds plain water just too….plain and not enjoyable, but a flavored water helps me to get that liquid in.

I found a great way to work some chocolate back into my diet. By skiing in sub-zero temperatures, for two and a half hours, I can safely have a sugar free hot chocolate!

Okay, back to the nitty gritty. I started exercising right after the first of the year. I’ve been either going to the gym or up to the mountain to ski. I have also cut out the fats, bad carbs and in between snacks I have, for years adored. I have also started drinking more tea. It calms me.

So, how have I done? In the month I have been on my “healthy lifestyle plan“, I have lost 11 pounds and I have really gained back quite a bit of my strength.

I have been using the elliptical machine, the stationary bike, swimming and best of all, lifting weights!

Here I am with two of my favorite weights!

Who says there are no perks when you are lifting weights?

I rolled over at 7:30 and tried not to wake up. Since I began this “get in shape” routine, last week, I have worked out every day but Sunday. I am getting good results already, but the feeling of being overwhelmingly exhausted has not left me. I also find that lifting my legs to walk up the stairs is a real ordeal. Okay, maybe it’s too soon to say that the results are good.

As I sat in the ladies locker room at the health club, after my shower this morning, I felt a sudden rush of heat. Yes, there is nothing more delightful than a hot flash after a hard workout and shower.

That was when I laughed.

Yes, I think I have lost my mind. Suddenly hot flashes seemed extraordinarily humorous to me. You see, I spent most all of my life feeling cold. My brother in-law once teased me about wearing knee socks in the summer, but quite honestly I needed them. I was also the woman who has slept next to Hubby all these years in the summer, when he is completely naked and sweating and there I lie in flannel pajamas, socks and a comforter! So this new body change, called a “hot flash” is a real hoot.

I’m not claiming that suddenly I am like 99.9% of the population in the world. I still have cold feet, and I still wear flannel to bed. It’s just that I have these moments when I feel as if I have run a marathon on a hot summer day and my face is red and the sweat is pouring off my brow.

They bothered me at first and then one day, I realized that these “hot flashes” actually crack me up! I mean this is definitely a great example of the good Lord having a sense of humor! And…..that the good Lord is a man!

It was time to put up or shut up, and since I live in a house with my husband, who wasn’t about to let me forget my New Years resolution this soon, I actually started my “Year Of Living Healthfully” today.

Hubby reminded me last night. He placed the application for the Health Club on the breakfast bar with a pen. He also “noticed” what I was eating on New Years Day (still a holiday, right?), so I knew I was sunk.

I packed a bag with sneakers, a towel, a stretchy leotard type thing that I’ve had for years, and my swim suit. After eating my diet breakfast this morning, off to the gym we went.

I have to tell you, I’m a shy sort of girl. I don’t like changing my clothes in front of anyone, Hubby laughs because he says he’s not sure I am totally comfortable changing in front of him. Needless to say, since gaining back some of this weight, he is probably right.

I put on a cheerful face and off we went. I signed in, and tried not to feel as if I were signing my death warrant, however, tonight I am here to tell you, I sure feel like I did.

I rode bikes, I walked on treadmills, I pushed weighed, I pulled weighs, I lifted a little. I walked some more. Then I changed into my swim suit and did laps. Actually the pool part was the best. Warm water soothing all the places that had already started to ache.

Now the really tough part. Showering, and getting from the showers to the changing area without anyone seeing me. You see, my towel was too small. I am not sure what I was thinking when I packed it, but this thing only covered about 1/2 my body! So I raced from the showers to the dressing room, opened my combination lock in record time, and got into my clothes with the speed of a teenager who attempts to put out his cigarette and clear the smoke, when he hears his parents drive up early from a movie!

Thankfully, I was able to get into my unmentionables before anyone walked in on me. I quickly finished dressing, and did my hair and then chatted nervously with a few women who had come in to change.

Tonight I feel as if I have been worked over by a prize fighter. Everything sort of hurts, aches and feels heavy, reminding me that what I once got away with in my 20’s I can’t get away with now in my (eeek!) late 40’s.

Day 1 of the “Year Of Living Healthfully” has ended with me eating correctly all day and exercising more than I have in about three years!

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Annoying

Poison Ivy! All I have to do is look at it and I get it! Which is why, it is annoying!

The after Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches seem to be getting to me. (burp!) During the afternoon on Monday, I began to literally feel quite ill. Not the “uh-oh, I have food poisoning” kind of ill, but the “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” kind of ill.

I started with a tall glass of Alka Seltzer. I swear it made me feel even worse. Next I tried some Tums and even those couldn’t cure the beast brewing bile in my belly. Then I tried some Pepto. Nothing was working at all, so I decided to just quit eating.

Well, technically I didn’t quit. I made myself a bowl of Cream of Wheat for dinner and some toast. I’d hoped that would sit okay, but I could feel those little gurgles that told me, all was not well.

The thing is, I’m having to face the fact that I’m just getting old. (At least my stomach is, anyway.) I simply cannot eat what I used to. I’ve always loved spicy foods, in fact, the spicier the better, but lately I’m lucky if I can hack salt and pepper on my eggs. So what gives?

There simply has to be an up side to getting old. I mean, you get wrinkles, gray hair, a bulging waistline, and arthritis. Now I have to suffer the inability to eat spicy food as well? This just isn’t fair!

Somehow your golden years should be full of wild parties, spicy foods and food orgies, the ones that you couldn’t indulge in during your youth because those oh so small and derrière hugging jeans would simply not allow it.

Nearing the age of 50, one should be able to enjoy their life, and eat what they want, without the repercussions of acid reflux.

When (if), I get to Heaven I plan to have a really serious talk with the “Big Guy” about the design of the average middle aged woman!

As today is my birthday, I was trying to gather my thoughts and put into words why it’s great to be 48, when I found myself sort of stumped. Sure, I could start with a joke like:

It’s great to be 48 because you never have to worry about getting carded when buying liquor and having to dig around in the bottom of your purse and not being able to find your ID. (Trust me, no one asks to see it anymore!)

But I don’t drink so the joke was somewhat contrived and hollow. Then I thought of one that was a little bit funnier:

It’s great to be 48 because menopause hits and you no longer have to spend thousands of dollars on vacations to heat up your body in the Caribbean. A hot flash at 2 AM does the same thing for free!

But that didn’t do it for me either.

I think the best way to describe why it is great to be 48 is that I am all grown up. I know who I am, what I want in my life and I love the people and the pets I am sharing my life with. My life is good, I am happy and in return, I am well loved.

I remember in my youth thinking that 48 was VERY OLD, one foot in the grave, but now I feel young and vital and full of life. 48 is just the beginning!

Yes, it is Great To Be 48!!!