Health and fitness

Since my last post with regard to health and fitness, it seemed not a lot happened for quite some time. My decision to make sure I changed my food intake and exercise just didn’t seem to get me very far. I wasn’t failing exactly, but I wasn’t progressing and it seemed my weight continued to increase, although very slowly. My exercise intentions finally started to stick a bit better in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been using my bicycle as often as possible instead of taking the car on short trips. Today I cycled off to the pharmacy to get something for Lego Lover’s throat and the trip there was only marginally longer than driving. So I saved fuel and wear and tear on the car…and I expended a few calories at the same time.

The bicycle is getting far more use lately so I hope to continue to that habit. I did have a bit of a setback on Friday when I rode up to the shops, locked my bike and returned to find it moved…Some teenager had picked the lock and moved it but left the lock and my helmet in the same place. He had a bit of an attitude and was openly bragging about his act. Too bad he didn’t put his talents to better use. So I will be driving off to find a better lock this week before use it for anything longer than a very quick stop.

I’ve noticed my legs are getting a lot stronger since I’ve been riding so I am using higher gears to work them even harder. I’ve also started a new exercise routine at home, which will be beneficial when the days get too inclement for cycling or much walking. On Thursday we bought the new Wii Fit board and program to go with our Wii console. I have to say it’s pretty good so far. One of the things it does really well is work on posture and balance. I can already feel some difference after only four workouts. There are four sets of exercises (balance, aerobic, muscle,  and yoga) which are presented mostly as games. Some of it is pretty easy while other parts are pretty hard. But it’s mostly fun to do and so far has not been boring. There are even activities to jog on the spot which give a surprisingly good workout. I’ve only managed a three minute jog so far and that just about kills me…But the games fanatic has worked up to five minutes already and he is less fit than I am.

Anyway, the exercises there, along with the cycling has started toning my legs quite a bit. I am also finding that the muscle and yoga exercises are helping with my kneecap instability. I dislocated this about a year ago and it’s never quite healed completely. But I’ve noticed they are more stable in the last few days. Maybe this will be the right balance for me.

The rest of my health has been mostly okay. My blood sugars have never been bad but they were running a bit higher until my exercise started to become more regular recently. Now I am getting more consistent readings. I’m taking Nexium for reflux issues because I still get a bit of a cough after eating too much of the wrong foods. This was quite bad a couple months ago but doesn’t seem to bother me so much now. In turn, my ear problems haven’t been as bad so it’s been kind of good, especially when winter will be upon us soon.  The only negative at the moment is some sort of stomach bug that mostly causes lots of discomfort and sometimes mild/moderate pain in the stomach and head (not long after eating).

And now I am off to sleep because I am feeling quite tired at the moment.