Mileage Monday

I think my FitBit Flex is going to keep me moving. I feel guilty when I log into my FitBit account and see my low step count for the day. Right now, I have a goal of 5,000 steps a day. I might set that a bit higher eventually. Five thousand steps isn’t a lot for the “normal” person, but with someone with cerebral palsy, that’s pretty good.

I exercised five days this past week, and my body feels. it. I took Saturday off, but we ended up walking around Costco for about an hour, and that in itself is exercise for me. Hard floors, lots of people, and a big store can fit the bill for a workout. I did a mile on the elliptical today, and my legs are now tired. I need to make sure I stand up and move around the rest of the day though or else they’ll lock up and be very stiff. Will be on the floor later to stretch it all out too. That helps.

I’ve got five pictures for the last week from the virtual walk site. I have about 4.7 miles to go to reach the town of Emmalena, KY in Knott county. I should easily be able to get there this week. Here are the pictures!

Mile 630.6 (watp for 1 mile)                                      631.6 (Elliptical for 1 mile)

                   

Mile 634.6 (watp for 3.1 miles)                                  Mile 635.6 (Elliptical for 1 mile)

                   

Mile 636.6 (Elliptical for 1 mile)



(photo credit - http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html)

I’ll be doing a “first impressions” post on my FitBit Flex sometime this week. I’m still getting used to it and learning about it. But so far, I love it.

Keep moving!

Mileage Monday

Been a while since my last post again. Oops. I actually am still dealing with an achy left shoulder. I haven’t done any strength training for over a month. I think I’m going to try some light exercises maybe today. Or else at least pop in my Pilates DVD. I haven’t done that DVD in years (literally). I should probably do a review on that DVD, even if it is an old one.

Speaking of reviews, I’m planning to do a review in a few months about something I just received. I’ve been wanting a FitBit for years, and my husband surprised me with one last week. I now have a FitBit Flex. I’ve had it less than a week, and I love it so far! Way too early to write up a review on it though. But my first impressions are very positive. I’m now thinking about getting the FitBit scale, which is called Aria. We’ll see though.

On to the mileage part of this post. Since my last entry, I’m passed through the town of Mallie, KY in Knott county. I have about 2 miles until I get to Hindman, KY in Knott county. Here are the latest pictures from the Virtual Walk site.

Mile 624.6 (watp for 1 mile, elliptical for 1 mile)           Mile 625.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                      

Mile 626.6 (Elliptical for 1 mile)                                     Mile 627.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                      

Mile 628.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                    Mile 629.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                      

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

I want to know what’s going on in this last picture. Lots of cars over there on the left!

Happy Labor Day! Keep moving!

Mileage Monday

It’s the beginning of another week. Seems like summer is flying by. I know some kids are already back in school. Seems crazy that they start this early. Summer is not my favorite season, for more than one reason. But, there’s only a few more weeks until things start to pick up again for the fall. Fall and winter are my favorites. Thankfully, our summer temperatures never got too hot. Oh yes, we’ve had some hot days, and will have some more hot ones before the end of summer. We’ve only had a handful of days over 115. Staying around 105 to 108 for the most part though. We even had a high of 95 last week (or was it the week before?). I’m not complaining.

This summer, we’ve had our fair share of strangeness. A few wildfires broke out in our area. We get wildfires every year, but none ever this close to us. Normally, they stay about 60 or more miles away, but we’ve had two that have reached the Palm Springs area, and that’s only 25 to 30 miles of us. We had some nasty smoke and ash from both fires, but they’re gone now. The Silver fire is the most recent one, and it’s now 95% contained. Hopefully this is the end of fire season.

I did get some exercise in last week. I’m taking some time off from strength training to let my left shoulder heal. Not sure what I did to it, but I think due to a combination of some of my strength training moves and how I vacuum, I pulled something. It’s feeling a bit better, but I’m taking one more week off from strength training. I’m also going to go through my arm exercises and get rid of a few. I know of of a couple that would only re-aggravate it, so bye bye to them.

Since I got my cervical pillow, I’ve had a lot less issues with my neck. It seems to be keeping my neck aligned all night. I still get aches and pains, but nowhere near as bad I used to. So, that was a good $20 spent.

On to the virtual walk stats. I’ve passed through the city of Melvin, KY in Floyd county, and have about 4.5 miles until I get to Mallie, KY in Knott county. I’ve gone a total of 622.6 miles, and I’m going strong. Here are the pictures from last week.

Mile 619.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                 Mile 620.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                   

Mile 621.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                  Mile 622.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                   

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!

One Disturbed (sick, sick, sick) Woman

(photo credit – FoxNews.com)

I read this story last week, and planned to write a blog post on it, but every time I re-read the story, I got so angry, I couldn’t write about it without fuming. So I apologize ahead of time if this blog post turns into a rant. Tina’s recent post reminded me I haven’t written about this yet.

OK, so this woman, Chloe Jennings-White fantasizes about being disabled. She wants to be a paraplegic so badly that she’s looking for a surgeon to perform an operation to make her legs stop working. This woman has a “rare psychological condition” called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID). She has actually found a doctor who will perform the surgery (Hippocratic oath?), but she doesn’t have the $25,000 for the procedure.

I can’t access the entire article anymore, but in it, Chloe says she’s never been comfortable with the fact that her legs work normally. At the age of four, her aunt had an accident and had to use leg braces. From then on, Chloe wanted braces also. She wanted them so badly she hand-made some for herself to “pretend”.

She also uses a wheel chair to “pretend” to be paralyzed. She pretended in secret for years, and finally divulged her secret to her partner. The woman she lives with now does all the housework, and helps Chloe do things. Chloe also has gone so far as riding her bike off of a four-foot stage, landing on her neck in order to paralyze herself.

Chloe also enjoys skiing. She admits to going skiing sometimes because of the possibility she will have an accident and become paralyzed. She skis recklessly, and scares her family.

I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around this. A completely healthy able-bodied woman wanting to damage herself to be stuck in a chair the rest of her life?

Tina made a good point in her blog. Tina said that in the video, Chloe uses a wheelchair, but when she gets to a spot where it’s difficult to maneuver the chair where she wants to go, she stands up and pushes it to where she wants to go. Tina can’t do that. I remember when I watched the video, Chole was “transferring” herself from the bed to the chair. She tries not to move her legs, but when she scoots herself into position, her legs help her out.

OK. So let’s say Chloe does have this surgery (it still boggles my mind that any sane doctor would agree to do this), and ends up paralyzed. What happens when she can’t get her chair to go where she wants it to go? What happens when, as a result of the surgery, she’s in pain the rest of her life? Even if she’s not in pain from the surgery, your butt is going to be sore from sitting for so long. You won’t be able to stand up and stretch your legs.

Paraplegics can ski, but it won’t be same. So, Chloe’s passion for skiing will have to be altered. Her partner won’t be able to help her 24 hours a day (I assume she works for a living), so how will Chloe manage to do things? That’s one (one in a million) thing that bugs me. Paraplegics can manage housework and they also go out and work for a living. But, even without the surgery, Chloe has her partner do everything.

You get the picture here. Chloe is a sick, sick, woman and needs help. She does see a psychotherapist, but he indulges Chloe with her fantasies. He allows her to use a wheelchair at the sessions.

I could go on and on about how angry this woman makes me. I’m not alone in my feelings. Many disabled people feel she is insane, being ridiculous, or just being lazy. I hope she doesn’t end up getting this surgery, but if she does, I don’t want to hear her regrets. She won’t have my sympathy.

I think this is the full video from the news story. She’s got several clip on YouTube, but I can’t stomach to watch her anymore.

YouTube

http://youtu.be/O5o2hFrUk4g

Fox News

Fox News link to The Sun’s story.

Mileage Monday!

Another slow week for mileage, and I can’t think why. Need to get back into the habit of moving everyday, even if it is for only 10 minutes. Here are the two (yes two) pictures from the virtual walk site from last week.

Mile 614.8 (watp for 2 miles)                                Mile 616.8 (watp for 2)

               

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Passed through Melvin, KY and have about 10 miles until I hit Mallie, KY in Floyd county.

Keep moving!

Duro-Med Cervical Pillow Review

(Duro-Med Cervical Pillow – photo credit amazon.com)

I bought the Duro-Med Cervical Pillow about three weeks ago, and so far I think it is helping. The true test will be the next several weeks. I bought the pillow a few days after my last chiropractor appointment, and I think my neck was already starting to shift out of alignment.

Before I got the pillow, I was experiencing neck pain, upper back pain, and shoulder pain. I was warned by the chiropractor that these types of pillows were hard, and it would take some getting used to. He was right. However, when it first arrived, I laid down on it, and my neck instantly released. The stress and tension went away, and it had my head a little bit higher so my shoulder and upper back weren’t being squished.

It does indeed take some getting used to. It is a firm pillow, on the verge of being hard. But I got used to it within four to five days. I wasn’t nearly as sore as I was in the mornings. I used to wake up, and my left shoulder would take a few hours to feel normal, and even then it would ache throughout the day.

I did have to put my own pillow case on it though. It does come with a washable cover, but the zipper is jangly and loud, so I just use my own now. Using my own pillow case did make it a bit softer too.

One side has a larger curve than the other, and I do use the larger curve. I feel like I get more support using the larger side. I would recommend this pillow if you have a pinched nerve in your neck, or have any type of neck, upper back, or shoulder pain.

I will say it again, this is a very firm pillow, so don’t get frustrated or annoyed when you use it. Give it a few days to a week to make up your mind. If you’re a Prime Member on Amazon, this pillow goes for about $20. I got mine for $5 since I had a few Amazon gift cards on my account.

Since it is so firm, I do experience some ear pain (not a lot), so I make sure to turn over regularly throughout the night. That’s the most annoying part of the pillow that I can think of.

Overall I do like mine. The next several weeks will be the test for any shoulder pain. I had a chiropractor appointment this morning, and my neck was actually pretty good. It surprised me, since it’s been a whole month since my last appointment. It barely needed to be adjusted. The appointment did relieve my shoulder pain though. So we’ll see what happens from here on out.

Leslie Sansone Videos On YouTube

You already know I own two of Leslie Sansone’s DVDs. I have her 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk and her 5K With A Twist. And you all know that the 5K With A Twist is my favorite. I much prefer her when she’s by herself, and not talking to her friends in the background. I do the 5K With A Twist DVD several times a week, and I love the “boosts” (jogging in place) at the end of every mile. I wanted to find more boosts.

YouTube to the rescue. In the last week or so, I’ve found four videos, two of which I know I’ll be keeping, the other two I might get rid of. Here are the two that I like.

Start Walking 2 Mile

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I like this one because it’s only 30 minutes, and she’s by herself. I’ve only done it once, and I enjoyed it. She has some moves in this video that I haven’t done before, so I like the variety. I still moderate some of the moves so I don’t end up on my butt. I remember talking before about the “double side steps” in her DVDs. I have a hard time with those, so I normally do singles. When I did this video, I tried the doubles, and it was easier than I remember. So, I’ll be doing doubles from now on.

Walk away the pounds with Leslie Sansone - Walk Slim: 4 Fast Miles

This one is a longer one, and again, I’ve only done it once. She does have people behind her that she talks to and laughs with, but it has several “boosts”. This is a four mile walk and takes about 45 minutes. It may get annoying as I do it more, but we’ll see. It’s a bit faster i n pace than the 5K With A Twist DVD. The DVD is 3.1 miles and takes about 43 minutes. So you’re getting in an extra mile (well, .9 mile) in this video.

Walk Indoors – Interval

This one I don’t think I’ll be keeping. She has people behind her, and she laughs. I enjoy Leslie, but her laugh drives me bananas. This is only a one mile workout, and I only plan to do just one mile on my sluggish days. I’ll give it one more shot, but it might go bye-bye.

1 Mile Brisk/Fast Walk

I’m guessing this was taped off of someone’s TV, and it’s only a one mile walk. I like this one because it’s a little faster than the 5K With A Twist. Even though it’s not good quality, I think I’ll keep it.

If I find any others that I like, I’ll be sure to do another post on them. Keep moving. You can do a mile in just 15 minutes if you feel like you don’t want to exercise. This is a good way to stay in motion.