12 Oakdale

 Yes, I’m in good shape, for my age, as the doctors always have to add. However, 10 pounds less makes my pants fit better. Back on the eat less, exercise more plan. January 6th: 170.0#  I’ve begun my arm exercises again and am trying a NYT’s stretching program for lower backs. Mine is fine, and I plan to keep it that way. January 13th: 172.0# Sigh, definitely not the right direction. At least I’ve started walking daily and added my shoulder exercises back to my routines. February 3rd: 172.5# Double sigh, but no surprise. I have reestablished my morning exercises, varying from shoulders to stretching to some more core. We moved the stationary bike to the lanai. I ride every few days. February 24th: 172# Up and down, wavering around 172. We have walked every day this past week, except Wednesday, when it rained all day. March 10th: 177# Ouch. I knew our low-impact birding trip definitely would impact my weight. Too much enjoying eating casado (beans, rice, protein, plantains, a...

Our exercising is paying off. After sleeping in the nice, flat bed at the hotel last weekend, I decided I could put up with the sag in our bed no longer. Not only did I roll towards the center, I slept in fear that it would collapse. We’d already tried to reinforce the center support with t-bars on its wooden legs. They just bent the other direction. While watching a video of building a deck on a house in the Canadian woods (as long as I’m riding the stationary bike, I allow myself to watch silly things), I learned about joist supports. Aha, exactly what we need to fix the bed. A trip to Lowes for the hardware and 2x4s, and we were ready to go. Of course, the job didn’t go exactly as I hoped, which it never does, however, we fixed the bed. More importantly, I was able to get down and up from the floor fairly easily. All those sit-ups and leg lifts were worth the whining. The next day, we had a second chance to use our re-found muscles when we wrestled with a quick setup tent/screen roo...

The road sign on the road out of Key West said, “Drive Carefully. So Far, 14 People Have Lost Their Lives in Traffic Accidents”. Since it was only January 14th, we assumed that was left over from last year. I changed my mind the second time I had to slam on my brakes and pull off the road for a jerk passing in the other direction and almost hitting me. Our stay at Bahia Honda confirmed I prefer warmer weather to go to the beach. The water is just too cool for me to enjoy a swim. I’m going to make reservations or go back to Venice Beach in late spring. Because all the days blur together: Thursday: Drove down, lunch at Chicken Chop Chop at Fort Pierce Plaza on the Turnpike; saw invasive African rainbow lizards in the palms there; arrived at Bahia Honda State Park, Cabin 2, handicapped accessible; dinner of barley and mushrooms; exercised. Really windy but clear. Friday: Windy and clear, 70’s. Breakfast in cabin; morning walk along Atlantic-side beach while Grant sat; lunch of leftovers; ...

I’ve hired a personal trainer. It’s come to that. Ever since Grant fell off his bike, we’ve fallen off the exercise wagon. Yes, we occasionally rode our stationary bike, and we talked about taking walks. Our fat cells had little to fear. An intervention was needed.  I texted every trainer recommended on NextDoor, a neighborhood-based app, telling them we were a couple of old geezers who wanted  needed to work on our cores. Two texted they were available, two had full schedules, and two never responded. We hired Denny for 6 weekly sessions. I wanted to continue my preference for hiring women, however Grant was frightened by Delia after she said she’d make it fun with dance moves. He’s stilled scarred from our ballroom dance lessons experience.  We’ve had 2 appointments with Denny. I can actually feel an ab respond when I remember to pull in my stomach. On the other hand, my knee is killing me from our homework of getting up off the floor 5 times each day. Feeling cocky abo...