Health and Fitness Update

It's been a while, and I'm still working steadily towards improving those cholesterol and blood pressure figures that I didn't like at my last doctor visit. Granted, the doctor wasn't concerned and I trust her, but improving my diet and exercise routine can't be a bad thing.

I've been faithful to my dietary changes. They weren't drastic, after all, so that's been easy except for how much I miss cheese. What I've done is cut hamburgers and pizza down to once a month and cut out cheese completely except for pizza. My diet is fairly healthy otherwise. I've discovered flax seed and flax seed meal and have altered my oatmeal muffin recipe to include those. I eat one of those with a meal many days. Tasty.

I have not been faithful to my goal of walking 30 minutes each day. I'm not sure why... I do 30 minutes of cardio using YouTube videos, but I'm not convinced that's the same.  I do yoga every day, weights (dumbbells) 3 times a week, and Tai Chi every day using various YouTube videos. I wear my weight vest while engaging in these activities as well as while doing the heel drops.

My insomnia hasn't improved at all. I've tried a few phone apps and am currently using the free versions of Headspace and Insight Timer. It's been years since I practiced meditation, and these are helpful. Bob suggested a Netflix series from Headspace, and I'm working my way through those. I bought a blood pressure monitor and small cuff and am taking my blood pressure every morning just to get a sense of how consistent it is. It does give lower readings than the number I got at the doctor's office. I'll take the monitor with me to my next doctor visit and get her opinion on it.

I've added some supplements -fish oil, milk thistle, Co Q10, for example- and will report everything I'm taking to my doctor when I go back in December. I've been careful to look at each one online and only add ones there's general agreement on as being helpful for cholesterol or blood pressure, but I'm still thinking she may say most aren't helpful. I'll trust her judgment on that and eliminate ones she doesn't recommend.

In the meantime, it's time or past time for medical tests like colonoscopy, mammagram, and bone density scan, so I'm having those done. The only one I'm concerned about is the bone density scan, but I'll know soon enough if my efforts to stave off bone loss are helping at all.

Thanks to all of you who have suggested additions to my plan. I'm always open to suggestions.

Health and Fitness

My last doctor visit showed increased blood pressure and increased cholesterol. Bummer. I thought I'd post a bit monthly about the steps I'm taking to deal with this and see if anybody else might have some advice.

I've had high cholesterol scores before, and usually just giving up cheese is enough to bring it down. I've never had high blood pressure before and am placing part of the blame on my persistent insomnia over the past year and seeing a new-to-me doctor. But I'm going to try and take a fuller approach to improving my health before my re-check in December.

The Husband's health insurance offers suggestions and the ability to track good habits online, and I'm using that right now. They want me to eat more calories, which is ridiculous since I'm only 4'9" tall and weigh 98 pounds, but these online apps just won't provide info on a plan that's under 1200 calories. It does look like I need to eat more protein. I do eat protein every day, just not enough to satisfy this app. 

I already wear a weight vest and do Yoga daily, do strength training with dumbbells 3 or 4 times a week, do Tai Chi and Qi Gong several times a week using Youtube videos, among other things, so "exercise more" isn't really a helpful idea. I'm not currently walking, though, so I'm adding 30 minutes a day of walking to my schedule 5 days a week. I was surprised and disappointed my first day when it took me 25 minutes to walk a mile. I'm down to a mile in 19 minutes now, so I'm pleased I'm making some progress.

I tend to like good-for-me foods and eat those every day, but I also like bad-for-me foods. I'm cutting back to once a month for hamburgers and pizza and cutting out cheese except for cottage cheese and the monthly pizza. I'm not interested in diets that limit carbs, but limiting red meat and processed foods is part of my plan. I've heard increasing potassium helps lower blood pressure, and I'll be adding bananas and raisins, which are the foods I see recommended that I don't already eat.

I've tried everything I know of aside from prescription meds for the insomnia and nothing worked. I'm trying a different app on my phone (My Life) for short calming and directed breathing activities and hope that using it twice a day will relieve some of the stress I honestly didn't realize I was feeling.

We'll see.

Happy International Day of Yoga

Namaste. Enjoy the International Day of Yoga by doing some yoga. Here are some easy beginner poses:

Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

Raised Hands Pose

Corpse Pose (Savasana)

usually shown on the floor, this pose can also be done on your bed

International Yoga Day

Happy International Yoga Day!

I've loved yoga since I was in high school and continue doing it both because I love it and because it's good for my health. I have a series of poses I do every day shown on my blog here. I also like the videos online that have an entire yoga session in one video, and sometimes I use one of those instead. I've gotten to where I prefer video yoga sessions that are at least 30 minutes long.

This one is for beginners or senior adults and is 30 minutes long:

There are chair yoga options readily available if that's where you'd like to start. Here's one from the popular Yoga with Adriene Youtube channel:

Here's one from Yoga with Kassandra:

Many others are available using a chair yoga Google search.

I'd love to know if you do yoga.

Yoga Challenges

I've been doing yoga off and on since I was in high school. I've become more dedicated to my practice in the last few years, with a focus on poses that improve strength. When I re-started my regular practice I did some research and planned a program I thought suited my later-in-life needs. Lately I realized that I had been using those same poses in the same order for so long that I was more mindless than mindful in my practice, and I resolved to change that during this year. I serendipitously came across two different 30-day challenges by teachers on Youtube that I've followed and trusted. I did them both during January, and I highly recommend either -or both- series.

Fightmaster Yoga has a 30-day challenge specifically for beginners. I went to bed at night looking forward to joining her for a video the next morning. This is Day 1:

and the other days follow in the playlist there or at this link. From her Youtube page: "Beginners yoga 30 day challenge is a perfect program for the beginner and for those who want to deepen their practice."

The next 30-day series is from Yoga With Adriene. Here is her Day 1:

and the other videos can be accessed via the playlist here. The Yoga with Adriene series is more advanced and required more adaptations for me to use it, but adaptations are actually simple to insert as you can just stay in the pose you could do right before the pose you can't or you can just attempt her more advanced posture while staying within the ability of your own body. She encourages an openness that makes the adaptations feel fine. But the series isn't geared to beginners like the Fightmaster one is.

I missed several days and am still not finished with either series, but I'll get back to them soon.

I'm saving these in a folder and will use both series again later in the year. I subscribe to both of these channels on Youtube and have signed up for notifications so that I get an email when a new video is published. Yoga has many, many health benefits, can be adapted for any fitness level, and is both calming and energizing. I'd encourage you to check them out if it's an appropriate activity for you. (My practice is doctor-approved for me by the doctors I've had over the years.)

If these videos are beyond your current ability, try chair yoga. There are many videos in the search results at that link.

My Exercise Routine

I'm putting this all in one place, gradually having found videos of each of the exercises, so I can make sure none of them fall off my radar. I'm going to add this link to the sidebar on the right with my other exercise links.

I don't really know what I'm doing here and haven't seen a physical therapist or trainer, but I've tried to put together a plan that will help my balance and functional strength and maybe even slow my bone loss. I welcome suggestions and recommendations. I know some of these are probably duplicating others and that I could most likely make better use of my time by eliminating some of these, but I have no idea what that would look like.

I also do yoga 7 days a week, using the poses illustrated on my blog post here, holding each of those poses for 30 seconds.

Standing:

Standing Hip Flexion:

Hip Abduction:

Hip Extension:

Front Knee Raise (I rest weights on my legs during these):

Squats:

Sumo Squat:

Bicep Curl:

Lateral arm raises:

Front Arm Raises:

Reverse Fly:

Shoulder Press:

Bent-Over Two-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension:

Horizontal Row:

Lunge:

Hands and Knees:

Bird dog (hold for 30 seconds each side):

Floor:

Seated:

90/90 Hip Stretch:

Tailor Sit:

Tricep Dip:

On my back:

Straight Leg Raise:

Single leg bridge (I do a regular bridge as part of my yoga practice):

Hip Abduction with strap:

Thigh Squeeze (I use a towel instead of a ball):

Triceps Extension:

Dead Bug:

Dumbbell Pullover:

Pelvic Tilts:

Incline Bench Press (I use a ball):

Figure 4 stretch, both sides:

Knee to Chest:

Side-lying:

Clam:

Hip Abduction:

Hip Adduction:

Side Plank (arms extended):

On my stomach:

either this T-M-Y on a ball (I use light weights with these):

or this I-T-W-Y on the floor:

Reverse Snow Angels:

Pushups:

On the stairs:

Standing Calf Raise:

Crossover Step-up:

Seated on chair:

Scapular Squeeze:

Yoga Classes on Youtube

In celebration of National Yoga Month: These videos include both floor and standing poses in well-balanced routines.

The Do Yoga With Me Youtube channel has an hour-long chair yoga video for seniors that emphasizes arm and wrist strengthening but includes some stretches and some leg and ankle strengthening. I do it standing and add a bit of weights to some of the activities. They also have a 23-minute "Yoga with Ron Stewart: Morning Wake Up and Move!" video that I've liked.

Yoga with Adriene has many wonderful videos, including this 40-minute Vinyasa for strength:

Full Length Gentle Yoga Class for Beginners and Seniors, parts 1, 2, and 3, from The Mat Project:

Those videos above are not a sequence but are separate routines that can be practiced independently of one another. The second one is perhaps a bit more advanced.

Yoga with Tim has a 1-hour class:

Yogasync.tv has a video with clear instruction for 20 postures:

Melissa West spends a lot more time talking before she starts the actual yoga poses to suit me, but I like some of her videos.

Standing Yoga Pose Videos

Be careful out there. 

It's not like I know what I'm doing, so I can't advise you. 

I adapt to suit my own needs. 

Please know your own body, know your own limitations, and do what's best for you.

These are all sequences from a variety of teachers that focus on standing poses. They all came from Youtube channels.

from Yoga Journal:

20 minutes:

a playlist of standing yoga poses from Ekhart Yoga:

from Five Parks Yoga:

from Christina Sell:

from Tim Senesi:

from Yoga Upload:

Links to Exercise Plans

I'm continuing to gather resources, although I find myself remembering enough exercises to make up a routine without using any of them as I exercise. I continue to do yoga every day and weight training 3 days a week. I wish I could afford a personal trainer, but I'm grateful for the information freely available online.

VeryWell.com has an illustrated list of 10 that provide a whole body workout (though I don't do the last one at all) that is very doable and includes instructions for increasing the difficulty level as you are able. They also have a 30-minute whole body exercise plan. It's 16 steps, and I don't do #s 14 or 15.

AmericanBoneHealth.org has an exercise plan that's easy to do and helpful in strengthening the whole body. There are 15 exercises in the series, and they include some old favorites like the bridge and the pelvic tilt and squats and some I'd never done before.

MelioGuide.com has lists of appropriate exercises for people with osteoporosis. They are divided into ability levels and most -but not all- have links to instructions. There are numerous videos demonstrating the exercises she recommends at her Youtube channel.

Lower Body Exercise, part 3

These are more video exercise routines for the lower body. This first one is from Melissa Bender's Youtube channel and focuses on leg, butt and thigh muscles:

These exercises from Bob and Brad ("the most famous physical therapists on the internet. in our opinion, of course"):

focus on knee strengthening but get in some hip strengthening, too. I do like this channel. The therapists are fun to watch, have a variety of offerings (including occasional product reviews and reviews of other channels), and have exercises that are appropriate for me with explanations of adaptations and progressions.

Lower Body Exercises, part 2

Here are more videos I like to rotate or that I regularly use exercises from:

I do all of the exercises in the video below but don't use this video. This is a great series of leg exercises (like the ones in the Michelle Kenway video I posted in Lower Body Exercises, part 1), fairly easy to do but still effective:

Sofia Davis has a leg strength exercise program that includes warm-up:

The actual exercise session starts at 6:45. I use dumbbells instead of kettle bells.

This 20-minute video has basic leg-strengthening and stretching exercises for runners. I don't run but find the exercises helpful:

The video above is from the Medi Weightloss Youtube channel.

Lower Body Exercises, part 1

This especially focuses on leg strengthening, but includes the broader lower body when I see videos that cover that. There are 2 more posts on this subject (part 2, part 3).

ElderGym.com has a series of 12 leg exercises they recommend.

Yoga for Healthy Aging has a sequence of yoga poses for lower body strengthening.

Michelle Kenway offers leg-strengthening exercises particularly intended for women with pelvic floor issues, but I find them helpful and easy:

Ekhart Yoga has a playlist of yoga videos targeting leg strength:

Five Parks Yoga has videos designed to work your legs:

from Yoga Upload:

The following 2 videos are from one of my favorite channels Fitness Blender.

10 minutes:

10 minutes:

Upper Body Strength, part 3

Again as in parts 1 and 2 of this little trio of posts, these videos are from the Fitness Blender Youtube channel. They have a large number of videos online, and I've found some of them (well, most of them, to be honest) much too challenging for me. There are plenty, though, that are suitable for my age, small size, and strength and endurance limitations.

The ones in this post don't require any equipment.

6 minutes:

9 minutes:

22 minutes:

Upper Body Strength, part 2

These are from Fitness Blender, a Youtube channel I've found incredibly helpful, and are the same style as their videos in part 1 but don't include the warm-ups or cool-downs:

The first one is specifically targeted for functional upper body strength rather than for toning.

27 minutes:

Below are seven more videos of varying length from that same channel.

9 minutes:

9 minutes:

12 minutes:

16 minutes:

20 minutes:

28 minutes:

35 minutes:

Upper Body Strength

I do some kind of upper body strength exercise three times each week. I have a set of resistance bands, but I've never liked using them. I'm not sure why I don't like them, but give me my little dumbbells any day. If you prefer written programs without the video, I've found plenty of those online, too. VeryWell.com, for example has a 10-exercise upper body routine with photographs and clear instructions, WomensRunning.com has instructions for 6 exercises they recommend, WikiHow has an illustrated article, and there are plenty of others.

Video, though, that's my favorite, because I can have the moving model to follow while still being able to adapt as needed.

There are 2 more posts on this subject: part 2, part 3)

The Fitness Blender Youtube channel has a lot of videos that are much too challenging for me -I get worn out just looking at them- but I've found quite a few that I like to use. These include warm-ups and cool-downs.

The first one is specifically targeted for functional upper body strength rather than for toning.

38 minutes:

Below are three more embedded from that channel:

30 minutes:

38 minutes:

40 minutes:

50 minutes:

This link is to a Fitness Blender video at Youtube that focuses on exercises to improve posture and prevent hunched shoulders. I hope I can maintain, and maybe even build, strength. I want to avoid frailty if at all possible.

Walking for Miles and Miles and Miles, Inside

Last month I posted 1-Mile walking videos I use. This post covers walking videos that take up to an hour. The first several of these are from Leslie Sansone. I have a number of her videos and have found her approach remarkably useful over the years.

2-Mile Fat Burning:

3-Mile Fat Burning:

3-Mile Walk Strong:

5K:

She has videos with longer walks, and I'd recommend those DVDs.

Leslie Sansone is not the only one who does the walk-at-home concept at longer distances and times. Here's a 5-mile run and walk:

And this is a 1-hour healthy heart walk:

Walking Inside, One Mile at a Time

I like to walk, but I don't like getting out in cold or wet weather. On those days those walk-in-place videos are helpful. I have a number of Leslie Sansone walking videos of various lengths. She has some shorter videos online:

Here's her 1-Mile Happy Walk:

and her 1-Mile Express Walk:

Jessica Smith has a 1-mile Express Interval Walk here:

and a 1-mile "Turkey Trot" here:

and a 1-Mile Express Abs Walk:

a 1-Mile Walk and Talk on Motivation:

and a 1-Mile Upper Body Circuit Walk:

In another post I'll share videos that are longer than a single mile.

Tai Chi videos

I love Tai Chi and have an on-again, off-again relationship with a class here in town. When I don't have a class I do some Tai Chi at home, using some of the short videos available on youtube or either of the two DVDs I have.

Below are some of the shorter offerings.

There's a 8-minute video featuring Don Fiore here:

This 15-minute video provides instruction in Tai Chi walking:

The embedding feature has been disabled, but you can see (and work with) a woman practicing the 24 form in this 9-minute video at youtube.

This video emphasizes Tai Chi as an aid to stronger bones:

There are a number of videos that I use part of, skipping the introductory material at the beginning once I've watched the complete video once. These are by Dr. Paul Lam:

• Tai Chi for Energy here (8 minutes) and here (35 minutes)
• Tai Chi for Arthritis
• Tai Chi for Beginners (30 minutes)
• The 24 Form (15 minutes)

• Here's a Chris Pei video demonstrating the 24 form (1 hr 10 minutes)

I liked these 2 men's presentation so much I bought a DVD of each of them.

Back Exercises

These are some exercises that are supposed to help strengthen the spine. There are illustrated guides online to exercises if you prefer them to videos. There are 4 back strengthening exercises here at RealSimple.com. KnowYourBack.org, the Mayfield Clinic, and How Stuff Works all have suggestions. WikiHow has several articles, including ones here and here and here. There's a pdf here that contains a series of 11 daily exercises intended to strengthen and condition the spine. There aren't many I can use as-is, and I don't mind adapting to suit me. Please be careful to adapt resources to suit you.

The DoYogaWithMe Youtube channel has a one-hour video on spinal care. It is here at this link. For some reason they have disabled the embedding function.

This physical therapy Youtube channel provides a daily video covering a wide range of subjects with adaptations for fitness/ability level. Here's a recent one with great options for back and core strengthening:

Michele Kenway is a physiotherapist who focuses her suggestions on exercises that are safe for women with pelvic floor issues. They are effective for anybody, though. She has 3 videos that target the back, and they are not difficult at all:

This 14-minute video from The Training Toole Youtube channel is directly focused on osteoporosis exercises for the back:

And there's a video from the Healthy Focus LLC Youtube channel:

that links to an article that provides written instructions for the exercises.

The following 2 videos from the Jessica Valant Pilates Youtube channel are (as is the one directly above) targeted to people who have scoliosis (or a curvature of the spine), although I don't do any of the activities that involve spinal flexion:

The Five Parks Yoga Youtube channel has some videos that I like (though I don't do the cat cow or other poses that require spinal flexion, I don't do shoulder stands, and I modify some of the poses):

Margaret Martin's Youtube channel offers videos demonstrating exercises, and I love this one for back-strengthening specifically for people with osteoporosis:

I do some kind of spine strengthening exercise daily.

Hip Exercises

These are the hip-specific exercises I've chosen in my effort to improve my fitness. VeryWell.com has hip-strengthening exercises here and here.

The rest of these are videos. This one is a series of floor exercises from Michelle Kenway, a Physiotherapist:

These are done seated and standing in the beginning before moving to the floor:

This video -like the one above- is a set of exercises from Doctor Jo for hip arthritis:

These are Doctor Jo's exercises for osteoporosis, but focus on the hip:

These physical therapists demonstrate three hip-strengthening exercises:

It's sometimes hard to divide these exercises into categories, because some of the videos I use are more generally for lower body strength, but these do target the hips.