Reasons not to take a Walk

I have heard a lot of reasons not to take a walk. They are reasonable reasons but not insurmountable reason. Once you apply a little out of the box thinking, they turn from reasons to excuses.

Reason 1. I might have to go to the bathroom and with no bathroom readily available, I would have an accident.

Valid -- Do you have a potty problem? It could be either bowel or bladder -- makes no difference.

First, does taking a walk make your bowel more active. It should and in fact could eliminate the need for those laxatives you have been taking. I can understand not wanting to be a mile from home when the need to move your bowels strikes.

You could go for a walk after your normal elimination.

You could go for a walk in a mall, making small circuits that keep you close to the bathroom until after your bowel has moved.

You could walk in your home. Can't get much closer than that. Just keep moving through the rooms for at least 10 minutes. You could set the kitchen timer. Don't stop to pick up anything. If you feel the need to go to the bathroom, you are right there and can pick up your walk again. Or at that point you could go outside and walk around the block.

Reason 2. This is also valid - I might stumble and fall. Or I might slide and fall on the ice.

I can easily understand reason 2. I have taken 2 pretty nasty falls in my neighborhood. The sidewalks are so uneven that tripping is a real problem. I now walk in the street. I can't do that with the grandchildren, so some sidewalk walks are necessary.

Wear good shoes that are closed front and back to reduce the incident of slides and stumbles. Tennis shoes are a good choice.

Much as you would like to just look at the scenery - keep an eye on the ground in front of your feet.

The safer option is to walk at the mall. But you can't drive to the mall -- ok back to walk around the house. Set the timer and just know that you will keep walking until it dings.

Go for 10 minute walks - I find that longer than that in a house-walk is just too boring. If you are lucky enough to have a treadmill, so much the better and the longer if you want. You will get just as much benefit from three 10 minute walks as from a 30 minute walk.

Treadmills are good if you have the available floor space. That might be as good Santa present.

You can throw in some aerobics in your house-walk if you have some steps. Put on some music and you can do a few dance steps and swirls if you have the floor space. You don't want to knock over a lamp. If you just can't miss that TV show, hey how much will you miss walking around the rooms near the TV.

A 19th century Jesuit priest called Anthony de Mello wrote a book called 'One Minute Wisdom' that upset the church. They didn't like that it mixed Eastern and Western philosophies.

Here is a short quote from that book

To the disciples who were always asking for words of wisdom the Master said, "Wisdom is not expressed in words. It reveals itself in action."

But when he saw them plunge headlong into activity, he laughed aloud and said, "That isn't action. That's motion."

courtesy http://www.kickstartdaily.com


Well your house-walk may not bring you wisdom, but it will bring you health with motion. And the action part - that is putting an exercise plan into practice. Wisdom would indicate the need for health.

until next time Smile
Sharon
AnswersForYourHealth

Sick - been there done that

After several weeks of "rest" I am attempting to return to some of my old schedule. It is difficult to write a health column when you are sick.

There are two important reasons why writing about health becomes almost impossible when you are sick. The first is the obvious -- you don't feel good and you are tired all the time. the second is a mental attitude.

If I write about being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle, then it follows that I must walk the talk. I should be healthy.

Just like too many people, I work too much and rest too little. I generally get my 6-8 hours of sleep but my waking hours are filled with too many need to do things.

When I was attacked by allergies, something I almost never have to deal with, my sinuses became clogged and my sleep suffered. If you can't breathe and you wake up coughing, you are not getting restful healing sleep. That started a down hill spiral. I was still trying to do all the so called necessary things every day - and failing. that leads to guilt and that leads to worry and that leads to even less restful healing sleep.

We had our vacation scheduled for the last 2 weeks of September. We have a time share condo in Ruidoso New Mexico. We have not been there in the last 12 years because we have either traded it out or rented it out.

So poor sick me, feeling sorry for myself and feeling guilty, took off for the mountains. Shock -- I have become a flat lander and going to an elevation of 7000 feet really put my ability to breathe on challenge mode. I found myself walking much slower. My by now sinus infection left me breathing through my mouth and sleeping on a concrete hard bed reduced my sleep time to about 3 hours total.

For the first 3 days, I fretted. I had nothing to do with my hands, I had no computer. I had the constant nagging feeling that I should be doing something.

A mountain hike that once took only 30 minutes doubled in time and effort. I could see all those around me having the same problem, but some how felt I should be different.

I love the mountains and the smell of pine. Our condo is at the very top of a mountain and when it storms as it did one night, the clouds come right to the deck. That was the only time I could smell the pines. We went from a climate that is normally 60% humidity to one that was less than 10%. Seems like everyone was suffering from dry nose.

After stopping for a few days with relatives in New Mexico we are home. Thank God for my water bed and a return to a good nights sleep. Being back to my normal elevation of 800 feet has almost returned my breathing to normal. Still struggling with the allergies and my sinus infection.

For the last week, I have not made a daily to do list. I have gone to work as required but that is the only thing I have made myself do. I am so far behind I will never catch up --- so the only thing to do is not try to catch up.

I am not starting over, I am just living today and doing what I can do today. Yesterday I moved some furniture around and last night when my husband got home from work he remarked that I must be feeling better.

Today I will put in my shift at the store and when I get home, if I am exhausted, I will rest not force myself to do housework or yard work. I hope this allergy season will soon pass and that the next one will not be a bother to me. I have a deeper appreciation to how my husband and so many people I know suffer from allergies.

And I have come to terms with writing about health when my own health is not optimum. I am living proof that doing all the right things sometimes cannot keep you healthy. I have not had a cold in years. But the body changes every 7 years and I will now have to deal with allergies at some times.

I will continue to live my life changing and modifying what I do to cope with the changes in the environment around me. And I will continue to write about health. I will continue to read and share with you what I learn, what I know from personal experience, and what I question in mainstream medicine.

When my head finally clears up and my old energy is back, I will probably return to trying to do to much. I hope not, I hope I have learned to just take some time and do nothing.

until next time smile
Sharon
(c) Answers For Your Health

The Over Stressed Heart

Yes diet and exercise have a major impact on your heart health. But your mental outlook can be the killer.

Stress comes from many sources but the capacity to deal with stress is only in your brain and your response to the stress.

The British Medical Journal published a study done on women asking the question Do you feel that you are being treated unfairly. Those that responded yes ended up with a 50% higher rate of heart disease including stroke and heart attack.

The victim mentality and heart attack.

When you play the victim, you deal with your stress by suppressing it and blaming others for any defects in your own life and body. Nothing is your fault because someone else or the government or your parents or global warming is to blame. If it is not your fault, you can do nothing to change it--whatever it is.

Herein lies the problem. Your negative thoughts and all the negative speaking you do is impacting your brain and it in turn is sending out all the little enzymes and adrenaline to cope with the stress. When you are venting your anger at the price of gas to your friends, your brain must respond with the chemicals it thinks you need. You may think you are feeling better by venting, but in truth, you are destroying your own heart.

Since stress is necessary to life, you need to find your balance. Can you save a few
gallons of gas by walking? You then take matters into your own hands. You cannot change the price of gas by calling the gas company, although I do recommend that approach as well.

You can only change your own consumption of that gas. A good brisk walk will use up that stress caused release of chemicals in your body and you will therefore be healthier.

It is the victim mentality that ages the body, brings on the wrinkles and destroys the heart.

We have all said it --- It is not fair. But if that is your daily mantra, you have opened the door to heart attack (not to mention cancer).

No one can tell you what stress amount you can handle. No one can tell you what should stress you and what should not. Reaction to stress is as individual as fingerprints.

However, a universal truth is that not dealing effectively with stress will kill you. And playing the victim takes all the power of controlling your own survival out of your hands.

****
Our garage sale went well. Did not sell the few big items we had but we can run a newspaper ad for those. We made enough to pay for the gas and food for the upcoming "vacation" to visit my husband's family next week. For 3 days of that vacation, we will be camping and I am looking forward to peace and quiet and doing nothing. I have picked a couple of books to take.

until next time - smile
Sharon
(c) Answers For Your Health.com

Stressed - Let Someone Else Do It

After an accident, a woman stepped forward and prepared to help
the victim. She was asked to step aside by a man who announced,
"Step back please! I've had a course in first aid and I'm
trained in CPR."

The woman watched his procedures for a few moments, then tapped
him on the shoulder.

"When you get to the part about calling a doctor," she said,
"I'm already here!"

*********
I love this joke on more than one level. Today that level is stress. Are you trying to do more than you need to do? Is there someone else more qualified or even just someone who has a little more time than you do?

Why are you trying to do it all? Ok there is a question of self - esteem. You want those around you to know that you are the best. There is a question of control. They won't do it your way or to your specifications.

If in the past you have done it all, then THEY already know how good you are. Now it is time to step aside and let them have a chance to become great. You can even explain to them if necessary that you are stepping aside on any given issue to allow them to develop their skills.

Accept that what you try to control is in reality controlling you.

Unless you have some compulsive obsessive issues, it really is not that hard to let go of your way and see how someone else's way can work. It does not mean that you are less, it means that you are opening the time to advance yourself. It means that you are fulfilling the ulitmate purpose we all have which is to be - a teacher.

If you know CPR -- great. Use it when there is no doctor, use it while waiting for the ambulance. But, don't assume that no one else knows CPR and don't assume that you are the only one who can save the situation.

Personal note about me - I have a certain way that I clean the kitchen after a meal. No one else in my family does it quite the same. I have tried to do it all the time to avoid getting angry because it was not done to my specs. I have let go.

I do not like that the stove top is not wiped, but I remind the person who cleaned that wiping the stove is necessary to avoid food poisoning. I do not like that the floor is not swept but I have been told that since I sweep in the morning, why do it at night.

Since I work nights, there is no choice. Others in my family must cook and clean. Because I do not step in when I get home and fix what was left undone, I believe they are getting better.

My daughters clean like my mother did. I guess it is natural for every generation to rebel against the previous and do things different.

Will the house fall down because it is not cleaned my way? No and I have learned to turn a blind eye and I am a much happier person. You ought to see how well a 4 year old can make a bed!

until next time - smile
Sharon
(c)copyright Answers For Your Health