Yesterday I blogged about how I was needing to listen to my body and reduce my physical activity while I wait for a small operation to remove a lump on a muscle on my back that is causing me pain and inflammation when I exercise. 
This has made active participation in the round 2 of 12WBT, I had enrolled in, impossible.

I have been pleased with how I have managed to listen to my body, having learned from my past mistakes when I have not slowed down when my body told me it needed to and making things worse and thus, taking longer to recover. 
This time I am listening to my body.

I have been able to maintain my weight perfectly even with the reduced physical activity.
This has been largely done by not thinking 'dieting', (something I refuse to do), but thinking delicious, nutritious and portion controlled for my body's needs.

I have also worked very hard to keep myself emotionally satisfied during this semi sedentary period of my life. 
The actions I took to achieve this were to:-
* Toured home from QLD to Victoria, 3,000 K
* Soaked in hot thermal spa pools in Morree over a one week holiday in the area.
* Spring Clean the house (OK that was almost more than my body was up to doing, but less exercise that the 12WBT program.
* I wrote a 10,000 word short story and I am having it published.
* Re worked the themes for all of my 10 blog/web sites, radically altering 6 of them and making them add free (as this one will be) from now on, a vote f confidence in my own ability to earn some income from my writing without needing to accept adds that clutter my blog. 
* Discovery walks (gentle exercise)of the Rivers and lakes around our summer home in the Goulburn valley.
* Reading more fiction and non fiction that I have had time to do for years and loving it. I keep a book with me and read during every moment I have to sit and wait (hospital outpatient visit's etc.) better that 10 year old magazines,lol :-).
* Gave my front and back gardens the after winter tidy up, a few pretty flowering seedlings added and the spring vegetable garden planted and more gentle exercise and stretches.

Mostly I have kept myself feeling like I am moving forward and achieving great things rather than dwelling on a temporary physical setback.

I am believing in a positive outcome from the operation.
If a negative outcome thought enters my mind, I decide my mind is simple being too idle and I get stuck into something I love doing.

At this stage of my life,nutrition and fitness, are the high priority in my mind.
My belief is that my body will find it's own best weight if I continue to nurture and care for it.

I am so turned off by obsessions over what the scales say.  How much do I weigh?  I do not know, I do not care. I DO CARE about my fitness and I am working on maintaining and improving this as a lifelong goal. the goal is NOT to be a certain kilo weight on the scale.

The only scale that interests me is the BALANCED LIFE scale. 

Right now my balance is a little 'off', due to the rest prior to surgery factor.

I am however adapting as best I can to this by listening to my body.

I am listening to my bodies need for food and responding to my stomach hunger, eating only when i am hungry and stopping when I am satisfied and not eating the same amount I did when I was more active, out of habit or emotional hunger.

I have gone to great lengths to ensure I have satisfied my emotional hunger.

I can look back on the past few months as a great success and a time of fantastic achievement even if there was no running or long swims to brag about, lol :-), or feel exhilarated by doing last winter. 
I had a great winter, just the same.

I now know I can manage my weight even when I have to slow down for a little while.

I still get out and walk as much as I can, bend and stretch, I am probably as active as most women of my age, I am simply not following any of the 12WBT exercise program now.
I enjoy reading about how my 12WBT friends are going and encouraging people to get active, make that extra effort and  enjoy the benefits of a fit body. :-).

The image above is from a card made from the image of an original oil painting I created.
If you are interested in my creative works, my home page is http://www.KathrynShell.com

I have been tying my own jogger shoe laces this way for the past three years and find it gives me a firm  fit.  I was shown how to do this when I bought them.

We are returning home to our summer retreat  with my husband Reg a lot healthier than when we left for this tour, due largly to good shoes and lots of walking. We bought our summer retreat a few years ago, pulled up the grubby mismatched carpet and put down new timber look, cheap laminate flooring, that I love.

Last year I spent $350. on the same brand, different style of show, for my husband who was very unfit having wasted a lot of muscle after a debilitating bout of whooping cough that that then turned into weakness and pain throughout all his joints and muscles. He was in a bad way, and was walking, hunched over and very slow, using a walking stick and only managing short distances.  He did have a fantastic attitude and he put those new shoes on and made every possible effort to improve

I know it sounds funny to say I ‘inspected’, him naked this morning, lol J, but I did, and although he is thin, he has regained some muscle definition on his legs and buttocks where 6 months ago he looked wasted away.   He now wears a pedometer and walks 10,000 steps every day and takes pride in this J.   The difference, between him having slipped into the frail elderly,  as a result of an illness and having stayed there, getting worse as a result of lack of exercise and him regaining, fitness and the joy of life, was positive, mental attitude.

‘Just do it’, even when, it was hard, and a decent pair of well fitting shoes, ‘hang the cost’.  

The greatest wealth we have is our health.

My man turns 70 this month and I have my friend and companion back J due to his determination of spirit and a pair of properly fitted shoes that helped him get walking again. 

 

My 3 R's for Healthy Living, in my 64th Year of Life,
Pledge to Myself and the Man I Love.
Research, Responsibility & Respect.

Maintain my RESEARCH so I have the knowledge of calories, amount and type of fat, refined sugars, chemical additives & portion control in what I am eating.
Know I can still be active despite most injuries or illness and the right form of exercise is good therapy and protective of lifestyle disease. Get and follow, expert advice to maintain and build on our aim to be "Strong Seniors".

I take RESPONSIBILITY for having the right attitude, commitment and RESPONSIBILITY for what goes in our mouths and for ensuring I form healthy habits, get 7 hours sleep each night and do three strength training sessions, three cardio work out sessions and one flexibility training session each week, including stretches in these work outs.  I will ensure I break my sedentary creative work with at least three active sessions each day. I accept the RESPONSIBILITY   of helping Reg stay interested in life so he does not want to sleep too much and enjoys staying active and alert. I understand that being RESPONSIBLE for our health has nothing to do with being motivated, having everything in life ideal or perfect, I Need to maintain a RESPONSIBILITY to care for ourselves, at all times, not just when it is easy or convenient to do so.

& finally I will  RESPECT myself so I can be the best I can be.
I see RESPECT as covering the physical-exercise/nutrition and my emotional/creative needs. Out of respect for my creative needs I am setting a minimum creativity target to achieve 6 days a week.  My creativity can be in any form I choose, eg; painting, gardening, cooking, home decor, sewing, and currently with a commitment to write novels I have set an initial 1,500 creative word count target per day.
I pledge to show the person I love and care for, more  RESPECT. I understand my taking the carer role places him at an emotional disadvantage, I know how I would hate to not feel my ideas are respected, I need to show more respect to others.

I pledge that I will Research for the knowledge, help and strength I need to do these things, take responsibility to follow through and show respect to myself and my man, by doing what I have pledged to do, in this wonderful,  64th year of my life.

Kathy Shell

I'm having a few issues that interfere with Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation training.

I have not said a lot about it, but two months ago I discovered a painful lump over a muscle on my flank.  I weighted up then if I would do the 12WBT or try to have surgery to remove it immediately as it was painful and swollen.  It turned out that I would need to commute 200 kilometers to see a surgeon, one wasn’t even available here in north Queensland until September and I have no one to mind Reg while I have surgery. Even if it is minor surgery, I need someone to look after him so I decided to put it to the back of my mind, as I was told by the local GP ere and I also believe, it will be a benign fatty lipoma.  I have had one removed from my groin, years ago. 'Bull' to any doctor who says that these are not painful, it does depend where they are, mine seems to wrap around a nerve and cause a lot of hot swelling and inflammation that is aggravated by exercise.  This week I am afraid that aside from some walks, I have been in bed rest, just managing the inflammation trying to keep it to a minimum without going on to antinflamitory, medication.

So that’s the bad news, my excuse as to why I am not exercising very much at the moment.

I am striving to be positive, to pat myself on the back for what I do achieve, and accept what I cannot and fix what can be fixed when I get closer to family, so they can keep an eye on Reg while I get this sorted out. 
I am aiming to be back in Victoria, on September 1st and trying to get in to see a surgeon ASAP to get this removed and get back to normal.

So I am making the very best I can, of my current, need to rest my back muscles, (so as not to stir up a hornet’s nest in there), situation and I have thrown myself into preparation to write a novel.  Takes my mind off the muscles in my back being painful at the slightest movement now.  I believe in making life as positive as possible. J. I am also telling myself that a tortoise will achieve goal too, by staying on course.

I am searching for books to read in this resting time. I love Agatha Christie. Her sleuths’, the person who solves the crime, were always a little quirky, Miss Marples or Hercule Poirot, maybe my sleuth could have a quirk for always wearing pink ties.
Lol J. I am actually looking into developing a few extra sensory, perception, abilities in my hero, as the ‘eccentric factor’, in their character. I am using this rest time as positively as I can.

I am even suggesting to Reg, that we return to Victoria, while it is still winter down there, and get this issue fixed up, sooner, I hate having to be inactive to this extent and I would hate interupting Reg's holiday. Yes I have a lot to think about. 

 If you are a woman who exercises, get ready to do some math.

Last week, researchers at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago announced a new formula for calculating a woman’s maximum heart rate, a measure commonly used by athletes to pace themselves and monitor their progress. In a study of nearly 5,500 healthy women, scientists discovered that a decades-old formula for calculating heart rate is largely inaccurate for women, resulting in a number that is too high.

The news may be a vindication to many women who have struggled to keep up with lofty target heart rates espoused by personal trainers and programmed into treadmill displays.


The commonly used formula subtracts a person’s age from 220. But based on the data collected in the Chicago study, the right formula for calculating a woman’s maximum heart rate is a little more complicated: 206 minus 88 percent of a woman’s age.

Using the old formula of 220 minus age, at 64 years, my average maximum heart rate is 156 beats per minute. That means my pulse should stay around 132 beats per minute during my workout to achieve a target heart rate of 85 percent. I always aimed for 130; try not to exceed this due to my heart valve issues.   Hence, my calorie burn is far lower according to my Pulsar heart rate monitor watch than younger people doing the same exercise are.But based on the new calculation, my  average maximum heart rate is 149 beats per minute, meaning my desired target heart rate at 85% is just 125.8 (let’s say 126)  beats per minute, 6 beats a minute slower than under the old formula. Although the gap seems small on paper, it can be the difference between an exhilarating workout or a frustrating one that ends in exhaustion, out of breath and not performing all the exercise repetitions, because I am striving beyond the capability of my heart and lungs to work efficiently. This is how I instinctively taught myself how to run 5 kilometres, I stopped thinking of a runs a race and broke into an easy sustainable movement I call a run, I did not strive for speed, just the action and  distance. .“There’s nothing wrong with achieving a higher heart rate with exercise, and if you can maintain that, it’s fine,” said Dr. Martha Gulati, a cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine and preventive medicine at Northwestern, who led the study. “But it might be that some women are getting tired and need to stop or slow down because they’re not able to maintain their heart rate at the higher level. But they’ve been using the wrong numbers.”

I do not need to work below what I am already pushing myself to, but I now feel even more comfortable in not being concerned if my watch does not show me as burning calories like a younger person, in my work outs, I am working well within MY maximum healthy training zone for my age and female sex.

You can read the full report, here:-Formula to asses, maximum heart rate for women.

Just a few brighten a wintery day suggestions from someone who drove north to skip winter. J

Seasonal Affective Disorder   SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a real condition that affects many people to varied degrees.

Wintery grey skies have a lot to do with people’s feelings; sunshine has an emotionally uplifting effect.

This is the sort of thing that would lift my spirits; I would be heading to the sales to buy a nice pair of a little too tight black slacks (I bought 3 pairs J  ), to be wearing by the end of the current 12 week body transformation goal period.

Winter is a time when many people comfort eat, exercise less then want to read 7-dfbx reviews  and look for diets to do in the springtime. This is yo-yo dieters thinking, self abuse, of alternating from self neglect to self deprivation; there is a better way, of balanced consistent, healthy lifestyle.  We just need to plan ways to work through those times we know have a depressing effect on our mood and find ways to counter these effects, preferably before they get us too far down.  It would be very hard for a person in depression to rush out and begin enthusiastically exercising to get an adrenalin rush, but if we begin our exercising and have it instilled as a habit to stop getting depressed, if we are already suffering the blues, try begin by just doing something, anything active, walking, decluttering, a walk and talk with a friend.

If we are feeling emotionally down, then gradually build up to more vigorous, exercise, will give us the emotional lift that comes from exercise. Exercise with friends if you can find a buddy, is the best antidepressant there is J.  I feel great after coming home from a bush walk with Reg, especially if I know I have challenged my ability and exerted an effort to achieve something, in this exerciseJ.

I would treat myself to a pot of fresh herbs and a cyclamen in flower if in the cold climate; a tropical orchid works for me here at Innisfail where we are having a few grey skies and wet days too. I would also be on the lookout for the first pot of flowering tulips in the store, to bring home (but then I adore gardens and flowers, insert what you love), as a brightening  the grey day treat, an alternative to the sweet, fatty or salty foods you might have once eaten for comfort.

I buy the first bunch of daffodils, these are often, sold, for charity, so it is a double feel good lift and the colour yellow makes me think of the spring sunshine on its way. 

Other emotion lifters are, a session of decluttering, it is great incidental activity that burn extra calories, and it’s in preparation for an earlier, pre spring, spring clean and a brighten of the home with some, will not break the budget accessories, while the mid year sales are on.  All these mood lifters can help break the grey day, blues.  As soon as I work through my current great batch of writing, assignments I will have a big declutter of the caravan againJ.  I sorted the pantry cupboards last week and I am making sure we use up as much of the pantry stock as possible over the next two months before the near 4,000-kilometre drive home. I want to lighten off the caravan weight. It feels good to complete a project.

If you are due for your routine checkups, ask your doctor to check your Vit D levels, mine were very low, and needed boosting. In winter especially, a lot of people are not getting enough Vitamin D, it is hard to get enough through diet alone, and if you are not getting enough sunshine on skin at this time of year, your levels may be down and this has a subtle effect on everything including your mood.   

If you are weaning, off, chemicals, refined, carbohydrates, high sugar or saturated, fat, diet and more calories, than you were burning before, you are sure to feel some resistance from your body, try giving yourself, more rewards that are non-food related, and replace one habit that does not support who you want to be now, with one that does. See if any of these ideas work for you and I would love to hear your own, beat the blues, tips, if you would like to comment.

Wishing you, all the best, at getting through, the winter, grey blues. J :-)