Staying the Course -- 01/01/2018

[Superbob]

Top of the year to all who are Staying the Course!

Wind chills mid-teens right now (yes, in coastal South Carolina) -- so New Year's Day walk will have to wait til afternoon. Elliedawg seems to understand.

Collecting thoughts about fitness and other goals for 2018. Senior fitness class cranks back up tomorrow, As wonderful as it is, I am realizing twice a week class plus daily dawgwalks are not quite enough regular exercise. Maybe I should check out an additional class at the family "Y," or maybe I should do the neighborhood workout room solo. I do find I get more out of group classes.

After weighing in at cardio's two days after Christmas, I have a goal of losing 10 pounds by my next cardio appointment in June. I think that's doable.

A good deal of couch-potatoing this New Year's Day though, with the biggest football games -- Georgia/Oklahoma and Clemson/Alabama on the tube, plus South Carolina/Michigan. Veritable pigskin cornucopia!

Well, Happy New Year cheers to all! Looking forward to hearing from y'all this first week of 2018....

-- Superbob

 

[Superman]

Happy New Year!!

Good luck in your goals this coming year. Fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid the processed stuff (have whole grains for breads and cereals). Healthy lean meats. The weight should be no problem.

Starting off the New Year at 198! Woo-Hoo! Some time off of work, so I've been able to hit the gym six of the previous eight days. I do believe this is the lowest I've been this millennium. Got married in 1999 and weighed about 193'ish if memory serves. Ran a 25k in 2000 weighing about 200'ish - but that was a healthy and fit 200. Then came the kids. My wife did the work, I put on the sympathy weight. Although I don't know what I was sympathetic too. She always lost pregnancy weight and still looks amazing five kids later. In the intervening years, I peaked somewhere north of 240. I lift a 45 lb plate and can't believe that I was carrying that on me all the time at one point. Pretty sure I've mentioned elsewhere where I was this year, so no need to rehash.

I think for this year, my resolution was started early. I just need to work on "Staying the Course" (to borrow a phrase).

Big 10 is rolling in the bowl season. Undefeated as a conference. Although, being a Spartan fan, I would be just fine if South Carolina added a blemish to that record. I'll be in your corner on that one.

Clark

 

[honeybunny]

Happy New Year! Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2018!!

 

[Paleowoman]

Happy New Year from me !

I'm very busy with the training walks and resistance training I'm doing. Absolutley shattered, especially as my heart rate is lower on the training walks now. Not sure I'm supposed to feel so tired, will speak to the therapist tomorrow.

Weather here horrible - windy and rainy, but thankfully not as cold as it has been.

 

[MartinF]

Happy New Year all. Today is my birthday, 40th anniversary of my 21st is what I have been told it is. Anyway this year I will give another effort into making some upper body weight training part of my weekly routine. I typically do 15-18 miles of walking/running per week and need to get that up to 20. I'm also going to keep a walking/running log this year.

We survived a 4 day cruise but I haven't stepped on the scales yet. The ship had a track, 11 laps to the mile, and we did 3 miles on two of the days.

Superman, I'm with you on the South Carolina/Michigan game. I graduated from MSU. And congrats on the 198!

Hope we all have a great 2018!

 

[Agian]

Happy New Year to all my wonderful valve comrades.

 

[jwinter]

Happy New Year everyone! I don't make resolutions anymore as I always try to help others, be positive. and leave the health advice up to me and all the doctors I have gotten to see in the last 6 years. Moderation, I have discovered, is the key to most things regarding living a full life.

It is good to read the success stories here regarding staying the course. Such a good group of sharing.

-32 here this morning and Molly the pup just has the worst time. Wants and has to go out and then her toe pads get so cold she runs for the house. Within a few minutes she is standing at the door again whining to get out. Lather, rinse, and repeat........

We have our annual meeting at park in AZ next week so hoping to escape by end of this week. Mid 30's(above 0) and nice for traveling if we can just get through Wyoming. Seems like storms come up there out of nowhere. Looks ok through Denver and New Mexico so we will probably try to make as many miles as we can, quickly.. Not going to lie to you, I am still not up to par but if iron is back in my system we are going to load and go.

Have a good week friends!

 

[epstns]

I'm back to fight another year of aging. I hit the magic 70 last November, so I am determined to hold off the inevitable. I'm still working full-time (50+ hours/week) so I can't yet increase my exercise duration, and with my knees and my meds/pacemaker, I can't increase my exercise intensity much, but I am determined to keep on stayin' the course! I plan to enter semi-retirement at the end of March, which should afford me the time to exercise more, so I will do my best to hold the fort until then.

I had picked up about 5-8 extra pounds through November and early December, but as of this morning I am back part way down, resting at the upper limit of my "normal" weight range. That is, I believe, a very good place to be, as I can now eat my normal, healthy diet and get back to my exercise routine 5 days/week. Maybe I can dial up the intensity a bit, but that will have to come gradually as I get back into a daily routine after all of the holidays and trips these past two months.

I want to wish a very Happy New Year to everyone here, too. Mine has started off happily, and I hope it stays that way as I enter my quarterly round of visiting all of my various specialist doctors within the next few weeks.

P.S. It has started to get cooler here. It was -10F or so this morning, with the wind chill somewhere around -25. I haven't pulled out my warmest jacket yet, but if it gets cold, I may have to.

 

[skeptic49]

Happy New Year everyone. Happy birthday Martin F. We're in the midst of a terrible cold spell here in Philadelphia. The Schuylkill River is frozen solid. No relief until next week it seems. I picked up some weight on our QM2 transatlantic crossing before Xmas but I have been able to pull it back off pretty much since. I'm due for my yearly echo in February which will be three years since my double-header OHS. I turn 69 next Tuesday and, while I am getting creaky with age, the heart feels fine, no issues there as far as I can tell. I do light weightlifting three times a week and walk several miles every day. Steve, you are still working full time...wow! I don't know how I ever found time to work and I love not working. We're all different.

Jim

 

[Superbob]

Jim -- great to see you back with us! And I am glad to read that we're all pretty much staying our courses into the new year. Our news here is the winter storm, which had deposited sleet and freezing rain, with now at midnight a coating of snow resembling the icing on a cake. Since the temps won't go far above freezing, ice most likely will stick around for a while. Dawgwalking temporarily suspended. Diving hazardous. Obviously, this is a pretty freaky storm for coastal South Carolina.

 

[Superman]

Diving hazardous.

I don't know. We have all kinds of fun "polar bear" events up in this part of the country when the temps hit below freezing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear_plunge

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

 

[epstns]

Be careful, SB. If there is ice out there, and if you do have to go out, take small steps to keep your traction. We are used to having a lot of snow and ice, sometimes around for days or weeks, so we just walk very carefully. Driving is another matter. I am always more worried about the other drivers' ability to control their cars than I am about myself.

Here in the Upper Rust Belt, our nighttime low temps have been around 0F. When it actually does get COLD, there is a lot less traffic. People just stay home. Those of us who still toil at the alter of the almighty dollar can't have that luxury, though.

 

[Superbob]

Thanks, Steve, good advice. Lot of folks around here have little or no experience driving in these conditions. I am getting caught up on my writing and will tackle decluttering my work space as well.
Superman,, we had our own polar-plunge into the Atlantic here last week. I believe the temps were in the 40s. Nope, I didn't take part; will leave that to the polar bears and people who want to risk hypothermia. : )

 

[dornole]

I have fond memories of a South Carolina snow and ice storm. I was Florida-bound on a bus tour with my college choir when the interstate became impassible and we took refuge along with another hundred or so motorists at the First Baptist Church of Somewhere Along I-95. I slept on the floor in a Sunday School classroom with a metallic gold Wise Man Christmas pageant cape as a blanket. In the morning the fine church folks fed us grits, my first time eating them and I am still a gigantic fan till this day. Then all us northerners ran outside and helped everyone "rock" their cars out of the ruts they'd created in the snow and provided Snow Driving 101 instructions. It certainly was a memorable spring break! Stay careful out there SB. It's different when drivers are experienced and the state and cities actually own salt trucks and plows!

 

[Superbob]

I have fond memories of a South Carolina snow and ice storm. I was Florida-bound on a bus tour with my college choir when the interstate became impassible and we took refuge along with another hundred or so motorists at the First Baptist Church of Somewhere Along I-95. I slept on the floor in a Sunday School classroom with a metallic gold Wise Man Christmas pageant cape as a blanket. In the morning the fine church folks fed us grits, my first time eating them and I am still a gigantic fan till this day. Then all us northerners ran outside and helped everyone "rock" their cars out of the ruts they'd created in the snow and provided Snow Driving 101 instructions. It certainly was a memorable spring break! Stay careful out there SB. It's different when drivers are experienced and the state and cities actually own salt trucks and plows!

Dornole, that is a delightful vignette of North meets South. Hospitality and then helping hands from those given shelter from snow and ice storm -- priceless. I think Snow Driving 101 sounds like a worthwhile enterprise for southern climes (though likely some north of Mason-Dixon could benefit too). Glad you acquired a taste for grits as part of this adventure. Even though I've always been a Southern boy (Virginia most of my life), I think I, too, discovered the merits of grits as a child when we took a vacation trip to, yes,Myrtle Beach. Found that SC restaurants served them 'up as part of breakfast whether you asked for them or not, and -- what do you know! -- they actually were tasty and filling. Shrimp and grits make a delectable dinner too. Thanks again for sharing that heartwarming story!