Walking and Exercise

Guest_1055 · ‎27-01-2016

Hey to anyone reading this.

Last night I had an idea about starting a new thread about exercise especially walking. I am aware that walking is very beneficial for our mental, emotional and physical well being. And by actually doing it....well it can make a huge difference to how we cope with the storms that we face in life.

OK, I am not real good at disciplining myself to walk, and have to really push myself to do it. And sometimes it is even hard to leave this bedroom. Anyway I am not a beginner walker, as I have stuck to sort of a plan before. So I know that it does make me feel somewhat better. But I only stayed on the plan for a couple of months, then gave up.....for whatever reason. So here I am again wanting desperately to not fail this time.

So I guess this thread is for anyone that does walk, anyone that is struggling to walk because of depression or anxiety issues. And anyone else really......

I am unsure of the outcome of all this. But my ideas included: Sharing about things we have found out about exercise especially about walking. Writing down the reasons that one would chose to walk ( like something to help motivate). Being accountable in same way. Sharing about the places where we actually do walk, like the beach, gym, around the block, with the dog, out to the clothesline and back. And any other useful tips that could help others. So here we go......

Elizabeth CP · ‎11-12-2016

I did a short walk with my son & his family at a nearby reservoir. These grandkids don't walk far unlike the rest so it was very slow but it was nice weather. After tea & walked with my husband who wanted to go a different way than usual. We walked up a different set of steps & returned via my normal steps. I feel my heart pumping going up steps so I think it is good for me. On the way back there was hard rubbish on the nature strip. Someone had a pile of plastic trellis/fencing so I rolled it up & brought it home. I thought it would be good on the fence to grow climbers on or to support vegetables. Too useful to throw away.

Guest_1055 · ‎11-12-2016

Hey Elizabeth, that sounds like a nice walk with your hubby and grandchildren. I agree that does sound like a good find of yours, the plastics trellis. That is something that I would most likely do, pick useful stuff up.

Shell xx

Doolhof · ‎12-12-2016

Hi Kaitoa,

Thanks for your lovely message. I will look up IMOVE. Seems to be I must clock up a few Incidental Movements at night as well. I toss an turn quite a lot and some nights I have the leg shakes! Ha. Ha.

Didn't do a great deal of exercise Sunday, Saturday was gardening day, used a whole heap of different muscles that day!

This morning I will be wandering around the arena again with the horses. As it is supposed to be almost 35 degrees here, I think they will be stopping at lunch time!

Cheers to you and to everyone else, from Mrs. Dools

Doolhof · ‎12-12-2016

Good morning everyone,

I just remembered a walk I had at about midnight Saturday.

We were at a party for one of my husband's friends. I only knew two ladies. In the end the music was so loud conversation was impossible anyway, and it was freezing cold outside so not at all encouraging to sit out there and try to chat.

My back was getting stiff and sore so I decided to go for a walk. Some of the people in the neighbourhood had some beautiful Christmas light displays. Walking up and down the hills in that area soon warmed me up!

I also have a little pedal contraption I bought from a chemist ages ago, I will try to get that out and use it more as well. I can pedal away while I am watching t.v. or reading. You can put it on the table and use it for your arms as well.

Motivation! Now where did I hide my motivation? Ha. Ha.

Cheers all from Mrs. Dools

CheeseSlices · ‎12-12-2016

Thanks for the suggestion shelley anne, I do use my phone to distract myself in public - but I also fall a lot. The first time I did this at the pool I tripped over the curb and hit my chin, knees and hands. Obviously bleeding I could not enter the pool and each time I get quite shaky and dizzy (anxiety yes).

I am better to go places where no one knows me or I will never see those people again, but the community pool is a hub. Anything that happens will be infront of people I am supposed to be trying to make friends with. Sometimes I poo myself and I get very worried that people will lock me up/take me to hospital. I often cry in public and my words can be bad if I start to panic. I'd really like someone to come with me the first few times so I can find everything (toilets, water etc) if I spaz out while in there. Once the pool people know me then it wont be so scary as they wont freak out if I cry/spew/poo. I just cant communicate this to anyone.

I went shopping again yesterday. I got separated from my carer. He told me the plan was to go to the green shop. So when we got separated, I went to the green shop. I started shopping thinking he would catch up with me (He carries my phone and wallet). After an hour I got to the check out and still couldnt find him. I had to ditch the full shopping trolley of food. I couldnt find him at the car so I started walking to my mothers house (10km away). He found me and I got in so much trouble, apparently he thought I was in a toilet being raped.

Today is full on cleaning so I guess that counts as exercise in here? The garden was great until some bird went to town on my flowers so now I have to clear the lot. I am in a lot of pain.

I did my qigong this morning. I am wide awake now.

Elizabeth CP · ‎12-12-2016

Hi fellow walkers, I went for a walk before breakfast to avoid the heat. Later I had a GP appt. to get results back. I think I need to change GPs It wasn't very helpful. I did the normal walk to the steps & did them 3 times including trying to do 2 steps @ a time to increase the intensity. I couldn't maintain this for long.

Mr Dools you are doing well!!! As for motivation I read a book recently & it said that we often have difficulty staying motivated. It takes a lot of emotional energy to remind ourselves to do things & to encourage ourselves to do things we think we should do. The authors suggestion was to gradually change things so we end up doing things we should be doing automatically so we don't have to think about it. For example if you normally walk to the station to go to work you don't think about it whereas trying to go for a walk in the afternoon requires reminding yourself & having to deal with competing demands. Leaving things you need for a desirable activity so you see them & start doing it is helpful. I have decided that each week in January my husband & I will go somewhere new so we an explore. I am going to write a list of places we can go with info to get there so whenever the weather is suitable we can go without having to plan it. Benefits are I am doing something I enjoy. Hopefully I can set it up with the information ahead of time so it is easy to go on the spur of the moment & I will automatically get in decent exercise because if I'm exploring I always walk to see as much as possible without having to motivate myself to exercise. Lastly it should help me maintain my weight because I won't have access to the fridge & my mind will be taken up with the activity so I will only eat when I'm hungry.

Maybe instead of motivating ourselves to exercise we should be thinking I would like to see X or I I'd like to visit Y. That way we are focused on doing something we enjoy & the walking or other exercise comes automatically.

Doolhof · ‎13-12-2016

Hi CheeseSlices,

I have tears in my eyes reading your story. I so hope you find people who can be there and support you in all you need. Don't blame yourself for what happened at the shops, the carer should have been with you the whole time. There may have been a reason he left you, hope it was a good one.

Regarding the pool, hopefully you can get someone to help there as well. Speaking to the pool staff might be a start. You could also ask if they have a quitter time. The pool I went to was very quiet just after lunch, I would have the whole pool to myself most of the time.

It must be embarrassing to loose control of your bowels. I have the bladder problem so get that! I am wondering if there are adult waterproof pads you could wear, a bit like the nappies kids wear in the pool. If you bought a pair of bather shorts, no one would know you had one on.

You could ask the chemist about this, or find their number and phone them to make enquiries. You may find products on the internet as well. Some companies have trial samples, you might be able to get something to try first.

It is wonderful you are wanting to get to the pool, hopefully some of these suggestions will help you.

You were mentioning birds in the garden, I have a couple of large birds in our garden...they are our hens. I put out some mulch the other day and the chooks spread it all over the place and away from the plants! Ha. Ha. Same thing with the mounds of compost material. I need to train them to scatter it towards the plants and not away from them!

Wishing you well with getting to the pool!

Cheers for now from Mrs. Dools

Doolhof · ‎13-12-2016

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for the suggestion about how to find motivation and ideas on how to incorporate exercise into every day activities.

I had thought of leaving the house with my husband in the early mornings on his way to work and have him drop me off out of town. That way my only way back is to walk! He is always running late though and is not all that accommodating.

Guess I won't know until I ask him!

Maybe that can be part of my New Year's ideas!

Cheers for now from Mrs. Dools

SourceShield · ‎13-12-2016

Evening Folks!

Bundy and I did our evening walk.

I also danced for 2 hours today...and loved it!.

Dinner was some delicious homemade Malaysian Style Fried Rice w/ homemade dim sims!

I'm rather proud of my dim sims tonight.

They looked and tasted good.

Keep moving forward beautiful people.

Stay loving and kind.

MuchJoyfulness

Kaitoa

Guest_9809 · ‎13-12-2016

Hi to all the walkers / exercisers.

I too did a short walk with my dog Tammie this evening. No rabbits to be found though, much to her disappointment. But we will keep trying, she is ever eager is my Tammie, when it comes to her favourite food.

Plus I did 15 mins on the stationery exercise bike. Normally I can barely manage 5 minutes before giving up feeling as though I am running on empty. But today I seemed to actually have some energy ... so 15 mins was relatively easy going. How good was that? What a pleasant change that was.

Kaitoa - the dim sims sound delicious! Steamed or deep fried? I prefer my dim sims steamed now, but used to like them deep fried. I guess your tastes change as you get older?

My dinner, in between walks and cycling, was a selection of cold meats and salads. One salad of which is the pumpkin and green leaf salad I posted to the "whats cooking good looking thread". Its still just as good!

Taurus xx