Working My Butt Off

After a week of Physical Therapy and doing all of my exercises religiously my shoulder is showing some improvement. It no longer keeps me awake ALL night long. I have a new exercise that is a real killer, you take a towel and sling it over your back and then grab it behind your back with your bad arm..and then draw that arm up the center of your back. UFFda..sometimes I say bad words. Mike the Physical Therapist thinks I may have a frozen shoulder..no googling that one for me..cause I bet it is something I cannot recover from in just a few weeks of therapy.

We have an area upstairs..actually it is my area for this and that and "junk." This area is suppose to have built in single beds for the grands..eventually.  I have a queen size mattress that came out of a motor home, they plop it on the floor and they line up like cord wood on it..it will hold at least three of them!  Somehow Far Guys Elliptical ended up in my area..along with his dreaded scale.  The exercise area upstairs is getting more popular. Chance loves that people come over to exercise.. I guess the area upstairs just evolved one torture machine at a time. First the Elliptical, then Jo said "I don't really have room for my Total Gym..we should bring it over to you.. I could use it at your house! "
Then Stacey said, "I have my Moms ( she who sees Robins first)  old treadmill, Mom said you might want it, if you don't want it then we are taking it to the dump. " So my junk area has been transformed to an exercise area.  If you take a Sauna after you exercise we could be considered a SPA!

 
We could use a stationary bike..that is one that the Physical Therapist suggests. I will keep an eye out for some different equipment at garage sales.  The other day as I was walking through the Physical Therapy Gym, I wondered what they do with all their old equipment?? I also saw a person getting a back-rub with a thing on a roller..I asked Mike what I had to do to myself to get a back-rub like that..he said "Have a heart attack." Guess not. I have eight minutes while Mike does the ultra sound treatment on my shoulder to pick his brain. I am certain that I am just the highlight of his entire day!

He has a Gordon Setter named Murphy! A dog person! I showed him one of Chances photographs. Now I try not to talk the entire time.. and this is what I have learned from Mike. Some things I knew..somethings I just needed to have validated by a professional...and since I have him captive while he does my ultrasound treatment I am going to get my moneys worth.

Water is important in your diet.
When you exercise you should vary your routine..or your body gets used to it.
Take a day off and do some other type of physical activity that you don't normally do.
It is easier for men to lose weight than women.
Diet and Exercise are the only key to weight loss.
Give yourself a day off from your diet too.
Keep your body guessing what you are going to be doing next..it will increase your metabolism.
Always eat breakfast...never ever skip breakfast.
Count your calories..if it touches your lips write it down ( I am not doing this yet..I am just thinking about it)
Keep on keeping on..even if you don't see anything positive happening on the scale..eventually you will.( I asked him how long do you have to wait?.. It varies.)

I can now do my two miles on the elliptical in less than 24 minutes..but it is not pretty.  I am thinking of doing two sessions a day.. I may as well live in my shorts and exercise bra until spring gets here. I am thinking that next summer will probably not be the summer of the bikini.  Perhaps the trip to the nude beaches in the South of France is just a pipe dream..  but you never know..my fat is getting firmer:)

Exercise?

I  have been using the Elliptical exerciser..it is a machine from hell..but it does provide me with low impact exercise.  I can now do a 12 1/2  minute mile.. I may have some fat..but by golly it is going to be firm fat.    My goal is to do two miles in 24 minutes.  It is a work in progress.  It is low impact, so my bad leg does okay,  my good leg helps make up for the weakness in my bad one.   I broke my ankle and leg back in 1979, the Doctors said I would only walk ten years.. twenty if I was really lucky..this year marked thirty.  Funny thing is ..those Doctors  are pushing up daisies and I am still walking!   I find that the Elliptical is better than walking on the uneven ground outdoors..or walking in ice and snow..although I still like going outdoors.  I have a selection of oldies that I  listen to..I crank up the music and sweat.   Every other day is the required goal ..everyday is sometimes an option..especially if I feel real bitchy.. somehow walking my fat butt off makes me less cranky.   It is totally impossible for me to actively bitch when I am puffing like the little engine that could.   The nearest gym is fourteen miles away.  Far Guy and I  went to a gym when we lived in North Dakota.. I loved the variety of the exercise equipment that could be found in a real gym.  For now this machine fits the bill..it does get boring..perhaps I will start reading a really good novel out loud to myself..or move the little TV up there and watch old videos.   That TV is so old..it will not get any channels..but it has a built in VCR. Far Guy is way ahead of me ..he does over two miles in twenty five minutes.  His hips are bad, a few weeks ago he tried running down the driveway..he walked around here limping for three days mumbling "That was a really stupid thing to do.. but the dog was so impressed."   Exercise in Minnesota in the winter..you gotta do some..even if you don't feel like it.  What kind of exercise do you do during the winter months?  :)
*** That monstrosity ended up in my storage area upstairs..the room that is suppose to have custom built bunk beds for the grands.. and that scale..that belongs to Far Guy.