I need to lose weight. All success stories start with a plan.
Day 1 - Went to the mega store to buy a DVD and hand weights. When did stores get so big? You need a moving sidewalk to get around these stores. That was a workout in itself. Found the hand weights. Carried them to car.
Day 2 - Unwrapped DVD. First was the outer cellophane wrapper. But it was so tight I couldn't get my fingernail under the edge of it even if I could see it, which I couldn't - CAUSE I'M OVER 50! After much swearing and chipped nails, managed to remove wrapper. Ready to workout. Oops, found layer of tape on the edge. Another chipped nail, and that tape now off. Go to open DVD. Nope, still MORE tape at top edge. Isn't the outer seal enough? Too frustrated to exercise; walked to freezer and ate ice cream.
Day 3 - Had to figure out the 2 remotes. One turns on TV, the other the DVD player. But the TV has to be reconfigured to accept viewing DVDs. Hmm, which button to choose? Had to dig out mat for floor. Blow off inch of dust encasing mat. Find tennis shoes. Where are they? Are they still called tennis shoes? Gym shoes? Running shoes? More dust. Where did I put the hand weights? By the time I figure out TV, DVD player, remote controls and find gear, I realize I'm too tired, again, to exercise.
Day 4 - Went through closet to find old exercise clothes. Put on stretch Nike pants. I look like sausage in casing. Remove stretch pants and find old pair of sweat pants and tee shirt. Dog needs to go outside. Take her for quick walk while yelling the entire way for her to quit eating goose droppings. Get dog back indoors. She needs to eat. Feed dog and decide to feed fish while I'm at it. Start DVD. Have to watch ten minutes of previews, medical instructions and introduction before actual program begins. No buttons on remote to bypass all of this nonsense as DVD does not allow this. Time to fix dinner before husband gets home from work. After dinner, too full to exercise.
Day 5 - No more excuses; this is IT! Start program. Holy crap; this lady has no compassion. Unfortunately I don't sweat so I feel like a pressure cooker ready to explode. The jumping jacks alone winded me. Why do I suddenly feel I need guidance with walking, running, jumping. Kids do this for hours with a smile and my body parts are flapping in too many directions at one time. Did you ever break a thermometer as a kid and watch the mercury and try to clean it up? Harnessing my flying fat was kinda like containing mercury in one spot.
Day 6 and beyond - yes I did manage to go from Level 1 onto the final Level 3 and have begrudgingly continued to exercise.
Do I do it every day? No. Will I ever enjoy it? Possibly. While it has taken three months and I'm only down ten pounds, I have continued to see results. It is encouraging to know I can still have success when I put my mind to it, which is a joyous feeling.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Technology Overload
Don't you miss a slower paced lifestyle? Like sitting on the front porch, waving to the neighbors as they pass by. While I realize that technology has given us freedom by making some chores faster, it seems it has also stripped us of our basic freedom of just being.
I'm exhausted having to constantly learn something new. Whatever happened to just using a product without having to read an entire tome on how to operate it correctly? I'm getting older and retain less (with the exception of water) and by the time I learn everything, the manufacturer has come out with an entirely new technology. It's driving me crazy. I can't even watch a movie without having someone with a PhD, my husband or a 5-year old nearby to operate the movie for me.
Now I have two controllers each with about 450 buttons. I bet the original astronauts didn't have as many buttons to press. I have to make sure to use the washroom before I watch a movie because if I'm lucky enough to figure out which buttons to use to get the movie started, I can never seem to figure out which ones pause the movie. What are all those buttons for? I mean, come on, there's start, stop, pause, mute, channel changer and volume. What are the other 873 buttons for?
The cartoon, "The Jetson's" must have been what prompted the invention of microwaves. When Jiffy-Pop came out, I thought that was pretty neat, until our present day method. I can't wait 'til I'm eighty to see how it will be made then. I say they'll bio-engineer kernels that you put in your mouth and the heat of your body will cause each kernel to pop. No waste. When you're full, you put the rest of the kernels back in the jar until you're ready for them. Still, there's nothing like the smell of popcorn on the range as you move the pot back and forth over the flames to rupture those mouth-watering kernels of pleasure.
My iPhone is my lifeline to the world and yet what's wrong with this picture? It's supposed keep us connected, but I see it pulling everyone apart. You see ten kids together each on their phone talking to other people. Why don't they talk with the people they're with or go be with the people they're talking to? I get in an elevator packed with 50 people in a 4x4 space only to see everyone whip out their phones and opposable thumbs start pounding. People don't converse anymore face to face. We call a company only to press numbers to get to information. I see people in lines at the store doing returns and never once look at the person at the cash register or ask how their day was.
Don't you miss the party line? (No kids, that's not the congo line or the bunny hop that you do at a wedding.) Ah, those were the days for true entertainment. Soap operas couldn't give us as much as the party line could. You just quietly lifted up that handset and listened to the neighbor to hear what was going on in their lives.
If I ever need a human connection, I visit my mother and we go Wal-Marting. Yes, it's become a verb. We went to buy a couple of items and spent two hours talking to people she knew. In the thirty years I've lived in my present town, I would venture to guess I haven't run into people I know more than ten times. I really miss that small town feeling.
We have become a world in where if we can't call it, click it, or cook it in less than 9.3 seconds, we feel like we're losing time. We are losing time; time with neighbors, co-workers, loved ones. For one night a week let's put down our technology and tune in to each other. And then perhaps, technology won't drive us nearly as crazy.
I'm exhausted having to constantly learn something new. Whatever happened to just using a product without having to read an entire tome on how to operate it correctly? I'm getting older and retain less (with the exception of water) and by the time I learn everything, the manufacturer has come out with an entirely new technology. It's driving me crazy. I can't even watch a movie without having someone with a PhD, my husband or a 5-year old nearby to operate the movie for me.
Now I have two controllers each with about 450 buttons. I bet the original astronauts didn't have as many buttons to press. I have to make sure to use the washroom before I watch a movie because if I'm lucky enough to figure out which buttons to use to get the movie started, I can never seem to figure out which ones pause the movie. What are all those buttons for? I mean, come on, there's start, stop, pause, mute, channel changer and volume. What are the other 873 buttons for?
The cartoon, "The Jetson's" must have been what prompted the invention of microwaves. When Jiffy-Pop came out, I thought that was pretty neat, until our present day method. I can't wait 'til I'm eighty to see how it will be made then. I say they'll bio-engineer kernels that you put in your mouth and the heat of your body will cause each kernel to pop. No waste. When you're full, you put the rest of the kernels back in the jar until you're ready for them. Still, there's nothing like the smell of popcorn on the range as you move the pot back and forth over the flames to rupture those mouth-watering kernels of pleasure.
My iPhone is my lifeline to the world and yet what's wrong with this picture? It's supposed keep us connected, but I see it pulling everyone apart. You see ten kids together each on their phone talking to other people. Why don't they talk with the people they're with or go be with the people they're talking to? I get in an elevator packed with 50 people in a 4x4 space only to see everyone whip out their phones and opposable thumbs start pounding. People don't converse anymore face to face. We call a company only to press numbers to get to information. I see people in lines at the store doing returns and never once look at the person at the cash register or ask how their day was.
Don't you miss the party line? (No kids, that's not the congo line or the bunny hop that you do at a wedding.) Ah, those were the days for true entertainment. Soap operas couldn't give us as much as the party line could. You just quietly lifted up that handset and listened to the neighbor to hear what was going on in their lives.
If I ever need a human connection, I visit my mother and we go Wal-Marting. Yes, it's become a verb. We went to buy a couple of items and spent two hours talking to people she knew. In the thirty years I've lived in my present town, I would venture to guess I haven't run into people I know more than ten times. I really miss that small town feeling.
We have become a world in where if we can't call it, click it, or cook it in less than 9.3 seconds, we feel like we're losing time. We are losing time; time with neighbors, co-workers, loved ones. For one night a week let's put down our technology and tune in to each other. And then perhaps, technology won't drive us nearly as crazy.
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