Time for another 12 week trial

Time to consider new strategies. I face limitations as to how long I can be on my feet before back and joint pain shuts me down. My right ankle can experience a pinch nerve at any time. On uneven ground it is too easy to fall. I will stop there because you might think I'm complaining. As Samwise Gamgee used to say, "I

don't mean to Mr. Frodo"
So maybe I can take many short walks each day to reach 60 minutes a day. I may add strength training into these minutes as well. Different symbols for 1, 2, 3, 4 minute walks for my stick notes. Keep track of a few walks at night on my phone and on my computer during the day. Include walking during TV time late at night. Never really sit too long.
Keep biking separate for aerobic work. Later separate strength fitness from walking. So in a few weeks it should look like 60 minutes of walking each day. 20 to 30 minutes of Biking 3-5 days a week. After 12 weeks access for changes. Walking can be a continuous program with Leslie Sansone. I don't fall with these and balance is challenged and different muscles used. Walking with fatman exercises such as lunges, dips and squats, pushups, sit ups.  Lots of water.
I am eating half my carbs and smaller portions. Two smaller meals with a fruit and veggies back in the middle of the day.

up to 12 miles an hr

Right off the bat walking 20, 30, 45 60 minutes each day is a good day. 60 minutes is 6,000 steps. On days I bike those steps will rise. Each time I try these things, something works and something does not. a twelve week program is easy enough to commit to. Joint challenges will occur.
My mobility works like a charm. Easy to load and unload. Easy to set up. I can lift machine by self easy enough, but it is a snap with the two of us, Barb taking the light and I the end with battery and seat. I tooled around home depot. Speed can be controlled for unexpected stops and shopping leisure. In the grocery store and mall outstanding. Indoors I haven't put it into faster gear. Full throttle at level 1 goes faster than walkers. It is a feel thing but most of the time i go at half throttle. Outdoors on trail I can move at about 12 miles an hour in fast mode. It is a little fun.

Reporting for duty sir

In a health blog such was mine, I am grateful to be reporting progress in lifestyle gains. For you as a reader it has to be somewhat on the boring side, and I get it. We do want to move on to things.  But on the other hand I disclose my battles because I think they are quite common to all of us as we age. My motivation really is share what I find is working for me and it is really a work in progress.
What I have experienced is aging really can slow you down. All my years falling has come back to bite me, but giving into it isn't the answer. So with that in mind, how am I progressing this week?
I will share two stickies I keep on my computer to track a few things.

One thing I want to do is 150 min. of exercise that improves my aerobic capacity, strength and flexibility. Another thing I want to do is to keep walking in a way where I do not fall and improve my balance as well. With cerebral palsy I can lose the ability to balance like many people do in there 70's and 80's. Balance can improve but with an impairment the progress can be a bit slower. As you get older you may find balance issues you never had before. Take heart you can recover balance with a little know how and practice.
This week on my bike I did more intense workouts for aerobics. I applied an virtual walk walking an Hawaiian coast with the wonderful sound of the ocean and scene on my TV screen.  I also played an audio mystery and the time flew. Hearing the ocean was cool.
Every day I took short walks and a couple household shores. Granted the walks were only 80 to 100 feet, but I took them anyway. Included in thee walks was stair climbing. I also had brief workouts in home walking with moves side to side and backwards, kicking and high knee lifts. The movement include upper body movements all designed to move everything and balance. There was strength moves as well with TRX, body exercises, bands and weights. Well, I made my 150 minutes and then some and I can see the more I put into the easier it is.

A side benefit is less pain. Right now I can walk for 4 minutes rather than 2 or 3 before pain hits and my knees feel better. Biking with the support from the recumbent bike is pain free. Breathing is better and balance. It is still ongoing.
Don't get hung up about what you can do and not. You can break up the fitness any way it works for you. I am a big fan of a recumbent bike, they are easy to step into and the resistance is easy to more challenging resistance. TV, music, audiobooks, ambient sounds help the time on the bike. In outdoor biking has its own enjoyments. Assisted mother with bike actually is fun. Keep walking.

Improving fitness

This is what I did aerobically this
week. Goal will be to increase
aerobic walking.

Guidelines for adults our goal is to strive for 30 minutes a day of exercise. Walking, running, swimming, biking all good ways to get us moving. The guideline of 150 minutes a week is reached with 5 days of walking. The benefits of exercise this way are one of the best ways we dealt with the stuff that means us harm. Exercise helps, the heart, the brain, the immune system, weight control, balance, blood sugar, memory. What ever is part of our aging story.
Guidelines are goals which may mean we are starting somewhere below those goals and hope to build ourselves up to reaching those goals. There are many reasons why we find ourselves unable to reach them. It is also possible we may have to change how we exercise, from running to walking, from swimming to water aerobics, from walking to biking, from biking on a two wheeler to a trike. There may be other changes as well.
Your goals may have to be defined between you and your doctor. Shorter walks in your 80's and 90's have been reported to be of tremendous value. When I started this blog I worked with the foundation of aerobic, strength, and flexibility. In aging balance becomes part of fitness equation.
The more time I am up and moving the better my balance is.
So here is the biggest thing of all - do it! Keep walking

Is it time to clean the closet?

When it comes to health, we all have challenges. Please challenges are something like having an out of control closet where you've stuffed everything into it. It is gotten so bad you don't even open the door. The space and everything in it has become unusable. The closet takes a life of it's own. You don't even want to go there, I'll just keep it closed. The problem is the closet keeps growing. Stuff will grow in there and it'll move throughout the house. Have you ever been inside a hoarders house. The smell is so bad you can’t stay in there. There is no room to live.

Our health can be like that. If we don't take care of the challenges they can do us in. Health challenges do not go away. Our fear of them will make them larger than they seem. So looking at health from the point of view of the fat-man as a way of looking at challenges we have to meet. There are plenty of stories of courage of people facing life threatening challenges. I know it's scary but take a look at what challenges you. Our personal stories can often be very different. What I have learned or experienced maybe different from what you have gone through. But the principle of the fat Man is to first recognize that a problem exist. Then the next principle is to find out the best things to do about it. Not only are we looking for knowledge but practical strategies and expert support to give us a fighting chance. The third principle of the fat Man is to follow through and put the plan in action. The fourth principle is to make the plan of action work for you. Words like adapting, adjusting, making changes all except the idea that we don't live in a perfect place. Life will continue to happen and we have to be as flexible as we can in facing it. 

We have to take it a day at a time. If we are on the right path, For example if we are taking the right medicine there should be a reasonable time to see improvement. It may take time where we continue to struggle. Sometimes this is unavoidable. When our strategies involve lifestyle changes, what we're looking for is a change of habit. Habits take about five months to develop. Can you be real enough to give something five months. We all are wanting the 30 minutes solution. Life's not a sitcom in change never happens overnight.

If I can give a word of encouragement - last October I did a reevaluation of where I was at. My legs were still healing from injuries from a fall. I knew I had to rethink how to move ahead. I had to find ways that I can exercise without falling. I had to rehab my legs and get a sensible time frame. No more walking on the sidewalk without the use of a walking stick. Learn how to walk with a walking stick. Since my injuries now included back pain it was harder just to dive into something. Quitting or giving up would mean further declining in my heart health. Now this I really rethought. My cardiac doctor told me to go for it. This was not the time to give up. 

So, I introduced biking to my walking schedule. In the last few weeks I posted my online adventures to do interval training and I'm starting to see progress. Adding a recumbent bike is putting my fourth principle in action. The technology they put into the bikes today are a big plus. Learning about interval training in walking and cycling is very encouraging. 

Is it time to clean out your health closet. What challenges do you face? Keep walking

Biked in Southern California this morning, right in my living room.

The guy filming kept camera on the road, I would be sightseeing.
Probably good I wasn't biking outdoors.

In my indoor bike workout today I kept up with the cadence of the bikers moving along the California coast I think. It was a beautiful ride. Matching the beat count of the bikers simulated what you doing you biking on a trail. I've bike for 34 minutes. In afternoon I'll have a strength training workout as I mixup my days. There are plenty of videos of different locations for people bike. The simulation is different then spin training and today I did it off to a recumbent bike which consist of a chair in a portable cycle. The portable cycle is really good for seniors.

One of the nice things I like about biking is that it takes the stress off my back. I am working at extending my times on my feet so that I know for longer walks. Biking right now gives me extended time for conditioning. Fitness when we get older is probably more about adapting then it is competing. Fitness for your heart and body comes in the focus over trying to fit into some old clothes. A young bride and groom trying to fit into their wedding clothes makes sense. Oh when you're older the relaxed fit make sense. 

Last night’s meal was really good. I made the fruit salad which was easy and Barb made some fish and chips without using any oils or fat. I know she baked it but I don't know the recipe. But it was good. Keep walking

Do you know the story of Bethany Hamilton?

Bethany Hamilton

I always like revisiting story that I have read about before. Bethany Hamilton I read about 8 years ago who 11 years ago was attacked by a shark and lost her left arm. She overcame her injury and return to competitive surfing. She is now 24 years old and she still competes. She has recently written a book, Body and Soul in which she reaches out to motivate young girls to live healthier lives. She leads by example and you can see the picture she maintains a fitness level and weight control. She hasn't allowed her loss of a limb to stop the disciplines of a professional athlete. 

She uses the suspension training that I've shared with you and you can see that she can modify to give her body a balanced strength workout that would directly relate to surfing. Can you imagine the coordination and strength it takes to get up on the board when you're catching a wave. I can't do it. I have used a bodyboard and I've been tossed around the California surf like a beached whale. 

My experience with the waves in California's is they are pretty strong. I experience a riptide that was taking me out to sea and it was cool to practice when I learned to swim parallel to the coast and then easily move back into the shore. A riptide isn't very wide but you can't swim directly back in. I am a strong swimmer and I could not directly swim against a riptide. You have to swim a little parallel 20 to 50 feet and then you get waves taking you back in. Every year there's people who drown because they trying to go directly against the current. The Pacific in California is a lot cooler than West Florida in the Gulf so Barb doesn't like going to water. I am trying to navigate the water with CP, Once I'm out A little deeper I'm okay but the waves by the shore they can be pretty strong. 

Bethany says she likes the suspension training because she can take it with her anywhere and she likes working outdoors. Check out a couple videos online about how people use this and remember you can always modify to fit your fitness level. Some people really are quite strong with it but we can use it regardless of our fitness level. Try to look at a couple videos of people who modified for themselves and you'll get the idea. 

Strength training is your program. No matter what tools you use there is away for you to strength training that helps you maintain or increase your strength no matter what your age. Bethany and myself demonstrate that suspension training or strength training can be modified to the disability. Keep walking