As I told you last month, my husband and I have changed to a new, healthier way of eating and are trying to walk most every day in an effort to extend the intense enjoyment of our lives together.
We take this on after more than 30 years of sedentary working and now sendentary retirement – a fairly daunting task. (My New Year’s resolution is also to look like Julia Roberts.)
We’ve been walking at one of our local parks. There’s a “walking trail,” which is a lie. It SHOULD be called the ‘hiking trail,’ in that it goes up and down, over rocks and brambles, and there are several places where this old lady is huffing and puffing at such a rate my pedometer’s aerobics section loves me.
Today, since my husband gets bored easily, we tried a new part of the park. There was a ‘road’ where we saw a car drive in the last time we were there and my husband was curious. The fact that they had barricaded the entrance to the road with four large boulders since we saw the car enticed him further. So we parked our truck beside the boulders and entered.
The short version is that we walked about a mile and I lived through it. The longer version is that, once we came to the end of the road, the only way out was either back the way we came (my choice), or up the hill to the park (my husband’s choice.).
It’s a good thing we didn’t bring a dog this time because we REALLY had to work to climb up the hill. Even my husband had a difficult time. He went ahead of me part of the way, then behind me part of the way, depending on how hard that part of the climb was. He held my hand to help me up part of it, and we thankfully found a couple of rocks I could sit on and wheeze.
By the time we got to the top, I sounded pretty dramatic. We made it up to a place where there was a ledge to sit on. My husband decided that he should walk down and get the truck and come back for me. I nodded – there simply wasn’t enough breath for me to answer.
As I rested, though, I calmed down and got my breathing under control. I got up and started walking down the road to where our truck was. Since I wasn’t having to climb anymore, the road down seemed easy and was actually helpful on cooling off more slowly. I walked about 2/3 of the way to the truck before he was there for me to climb in.
I have to admit that when we got home, all I wanted to do was sit in my recliner and drink a HUGE glass of water. Then I ALMOST took a nap….
In March we’re joining the local athletic club, so that’ll be a good addition to the walks we’re taking now. I’m hoping that by the summer, I’ll be much stronger, and may actually look forward to this.
For now, though, living through it is all I can manage.
We’ve been walking most days now since the 17th of January, when my husband was in the ER with shortness of breath for what turned out to be a bad reaction to blood pressure medication.
We both feel good that we’ve decided to clean up our act and do what we can to ensure that whatever years we have let to share are wonderful. :0)
Progress otherwise:
- Husband has lost 20 lbs!
- Walking isn’t bothering him at all.
Me:
- Even though I had a wonderful massage recently, and my massage therapist pulls on my head and limbs, I’m not any taller…
- I still don’t look a THING like Julia Roberts :0(
- I’ve lost a little over 16 lbs. (I’ll get another ‘reward bear’ in 4 more lbs!)
- Lost 5.75 inches
- Am down 4 in BMI readings
LONG way to go. Making up for age (will be 65 in March) and the sedentary living and working will take some time. We’ve made the first step, though – we’re getting the lard off, and we’re getting stronger! HOORAY!
