[OT] Tips for Coping

On 2004-12-04, Jeanette penned:

Seanette Blaylock wrote in message
...

Walking works well for me, and I can pick my own music. :-)

Yeah, me too. We went for a two hour walk along the seafront today, with a
nice cafe at the 'turning back' point. It was lovely.


I thought you said you didn't like exercise? A two hour walk is nothing to
sniff at! Especially if you were in the sand, which really works your legs.

Anyway, to each his own. A nice long walk on the beach sounds like a
wonderful way to keep sanity in one's life =)

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-05, CatNipped penned:
wrote in message
...

I do miss more "fun" exercising - I used to ride my bike all the time, go
hiking regularly, swim laps, and go dancing. But I have a lot more pain now
than I did when I was younger, so I don't enjoy those things the way I used
to. Walking is the best thing for me, and I walk miles on that treadmill!

Joyce

I know exactly what you mean. I had cartilage removed from my right knee
when I smashed it in a skating accident when I was young - then the left
knee got bad (I think from favoring the lame right one). Then, since I had
been overweight my whole life, my hips and back started giving me problems
starting about 5 or 10 years ago. So, exercise is anything but enjoyable
since it hurts the whole time I'm doing it. I do it now just for the health
benefits and not the fun it used to be when I was younger. Man it sucks to
be old!!! ;


I have knee problems, too, although not as severe as yours (I never had
anything removed). My knees definitely get worse when I've been gaining fat.
The good news, though, is that they also get better when I manage to lose it.
Right now, they hurt =/

Curious: have you tried a chiropractor? Over the course of a year, I went
from having a perfect back to having lower back aches every evening, and
sometimes all day. I went to a really good chiro, and progressed from twice a
week to now going twice a month. It really helps (especially for someone with
a desk job who plays ice hockey and other aggressive sports whenever she gets
a chance).

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-04, penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

I often think about this article:
http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/wantawife.html

I remember that article! Read it in a Women's Studies course in college.
Wouldn't we all love to have wives?

I've often thought that our traditional family structure might do well to
give way to a structure where two couples jointly raise their kids, with
some number of them working and some number doing the home stuff. But I
guess that's just crazy talk.

I'm sure many people will tell you that's crazy talk, but don't believe it.
It wasn't that long ago that most families stayed together in what we now
call the "extended family" - grandparents, maybe an aunt or uncle, cousins,
spouses, etc. But in reality, the nuclear family we all take for granted now
is more like a "truncated family". It's not how people lived together for
thousands of years.


The trick is to have legal support for alternate insurance and inheritance
schemes. With as much emphasis on supposed "family values" as there is right
now, I won't hold my breath.

My company and my husband's insurance plans both support a single "domestic
partner" of either sex. Unfortunately, though, they restrict it to a
non-relative. So you can't, say, live with your sister and cover her
insurance. I really don't understand this seemingly artificial restriction.

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-07, badwilson penned:

wrote in message
...
badwilson wrote:

If I go for 3 or more days without a workout, I feel terrible,
physically and emotionally.

I know what you mean. I get this sensation that feels like I'm filled
with little pellets or something, like I'm turning into a beanbag.
(I don't know if that makes any sense at all, or if I just sound
weird!)

Yes, it makes sense. I always feel fidgety and don't sleep well.
Then, after not sleeping well for a few nights, I lose energy. This
is bad because at that point it gets harder to start exercising again.

My legs start twitching. Literally. I can feel small areas of my quads
"jumping". Talk about disconcerting! It takes more than three days of
inactivity to get to that point, though. Usually I'm just in a ****-poor mood
and can't tell why. Then I find some exercise outlet and afterwards, I'm all
better. It took me a while to connect those dots.


You definitely should! I find this website enormously motivating. And a
very entertaining read: http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

-- Britta

That's an awesome site. I've been there many a time. I can't believe some of
the misconceptions people have about women and exercise. Thank the powers
that be that I wasn't raised in the context of such inanities!

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-07, Yowie penned:
"Jeanette" wrote in message
news

I suspect that 'foof'ing is much easier for a tall lass like yourself than
it is for me. I'm only five foot two, and I usually end up shouting for
help.

Its all in the wrist action. And of course, you need a cat or two to help
:-)


Yeah, I'm 5'5 and can do the 'foof.' I can't handle folding sheets, though;
that requires hubby's assistance.


--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-04, Cheryl Perkins penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
snip
Saying that you don't like exercise because you don't like gyms is like ...
um ... saying you don't care for food because you don't like microwave
meals. To me, anyway. Gyms are a pale shadow of the real deal.

I actually rather like doing stuff at the gym, which I started going to
about six months ago. I usually make myself do something on a bike for 20-30
minutes, because it's good for the heart, and then use however many machines
I feel inclined to or have time for. I tend to emphasize the machines that
work the arms, because I walk a lot and what with that and the stationary
bike, I figure my legs are OK.

I used to hate exercise because I associated it with team sports which I
hate because I don't really care which side wins, and I also don't have very
good eye-hand coordination and tend to duck if I see a ball heading towards
me, instead of catching or hitting it. Then I got back into swimming (I'd
learned the basics as a child), aerobics, tai chi and yoga (not all at the
same time!) which I liked. The gym is more flexible (no set class times or
lengths!) and my employer pays a good bit of the cost of membership at one
practically next door to my workplace. So I decided to give it a try.

I have a different set of problems; I am not innately coordinated, but am
extremely competitive. Actually, I don't care who wins, but I do care about
doing my best, and I get frustrated if I feel I could be doing better, or if
it seems that others of my team aren't really trying.

Have you ever seen the Dharma & Greg episode where he tries to join Dharma's
softball team, the Sheep, and ****es them all off by trying to get them to
care about winning? I'm more like Greg than Dharma in that respect ... But
then, I'm more like Dharma in that I *hate* it when people get all negative.
My ice hockey team got beaten pretty badly this weekend, but I felt that I and
most of the rest of the team had done our best. One of the guys was all ****y
about how poorly we were doing, and I ended up confronting him about it. It's
rec league, not NHL, folks! No scouts are in the stands. *It doesn't
matter* whether we win or lose; what does matter is that we tried our best,
and that is what we did.

Martial arts really helped me; it's one of the few physical activities you can
do as a kid where you don't have to worry about letting your team down, and
you don't compete with other people. It's more about internal development
than external, and (with a good teacher, anyway) it's about improving
yourself, not comparing yourself to others in your class. I remember my
teacher saying that I'd started off with three left feet, and now only had
two! That was after I received my first degree black belt.

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-06, Yowie penned:

I'd like to try Yoga or Tai Chi, but like almost anythign that seems to be
"women's interest" stuff, the classes around here are all during the day.
Then again, by the time I get home from work, I'm already exhausted, and by
the time dinner is organised and Cary is in bed, all I can do is flop in
front of a TV or Monitor for an hour or so before I fall into bed. I don't
know when I'm supposed to find the time to excercise!


I read a series of good tips on exercise somewhere. Probably in one of those
awful "women's" magazines sitting around at the doctor's. Anyway, one good
point they made is to not let yourself sit down before you exercise. Either
choose a gym you can get to directly from work, or have your exercise gear all
set up and ready to go at home. Once you park yourself on that couch, it's
almost impossible to get moving again.

With kids, of course, that "simple solution" is just not that simple. On the
other hand, it sometimes seems to me that a bit of exercise gives me more
energy, in the long run.

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-04, penned:

[snip]

It's kind of funny - whenever I say that to people, they always try to
suggest all kinds of other things I might try, like swimming, bicycling,
team sports, etc., as though I've never thought of those things myself or
tried them. They also seem to miss the part where I say "the treadmill works
out for me very well", and are for some reason trying to fix my "problem". I
guess they're thinking about how boring *they* find the treadmill. But
really, everyone has a different way of approaching exercise, and finding
something that works well for them.

I do miss more "fun" exercising - I used to ride my bike all the time, go
hiking regularly, swim laps, and go dancing. But I have a lot more pain now
than I did when I was younger, so I don't enjoy those things the way I used
to. Walking is the best thing for me, and I walk miles on that treadmill!

Here, I know the exercise that's best for you ...

Apologies to you, and anyone else I may have annoyed. I have gotten so
much good out of my activities that I tend to evangelize. I do believe
that, all else being equal, some exercise is better than no exercise.
But everyone has their own needs, personalities, and physical
considerations. I guess I'm a bit of a thrill-seeker when it comes to
working out. I remember calling my mom to tell her that I'd gotten a
mountain bike. She kind of sighed, and I said, "Mom, you know I don't
like any form of exercise that doesn't have at least a little risk of
blood!" It sounds funny, but it's true. I've gotten the strangest
looks from people when walk into a room with massive bruises, scabs, or
just big ol' bandages. I guess I was supposed to stop playing rough
when my age appeared as double-digits. Oh well. At least I'm having
fun.


--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

I have knee problems, too, although not as severe as yours (I never had
anything removed). My knees definitely get worse when I've been gaining
fat.
The good news, though, is that they also get better when I manage to lose
it.
Right now, they hurt =/

There's a new procedure, a "cartilage transplant" - but I'm *so* tired of
having surgeries that I don't think I could go though another that wasn't
absolutely necessary to save my life. However, not having cartilage in a
joint is a guarantee of osteoarthritis, so maybe when the pain gets bad
enough I'll consider it.

Curious: have you tried a chiropractor? Over the course of a year, I went
from having a perfect back to having lower back aches every evening, and
sometimes all day. I went to a really good chiro, and progressed from
twice a
week to now going twice a month. It really helps (especially for someone
with
a desk job who plays ice hockey and other aggressive sports whenever she
gets
a chance).

I tried chiropracty years ago and didn't find that it helped any. Of
course, since then, I found out that I have fibromyalgia, so I don't think
*anything* I do is going to help reduce the pain.

Hugs,

CatNipped

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2004-12-07, Yowie penned:
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

What's a doona? Is that what I call a comforter?

Probably something similar. They're also known as duvets or
eiderdowns. The
more expensive ones are like a big sack filled with feathers, the
cheaper
ones have wadding instead. They slip into a giant cotton bag much
like a
giant pillow case, and you use then instead of the top sheet and
blankets. I
think they ar emuch nicer to sleep under than the blanket and
sheet combo,
and they are certainly make it easier to make the bed. You just
have to
*foof* and its done - no tucking in or smoothing or anything.


Ahh. My parents have those (my mom's German). I adore them, but my
husband
is allergic to feathers (like, can't have them in the same room
allergic), and
the wadding just doesn't ensconce you the way down does. I know;
when I was a
small child, my mom wouldn't let me have the real feathers until I
was old
enough to, say, have the presence of mind not to puke on my covers
when I woke
up sick.

I love those things. Except for the occasional poke from a feather
sticking
through. I did visit relatives in Germany this year, and I have to
admit that
those blankets were one of the big plusses to the trip =)

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

Ohhh, you need one like I just got. It doesn't have feathers but it's
not polyester filled either. It's filled with 100% silk. A matted
sheet of tiny threads. The duvet is very light and less than an inch
thick but it's very warm. The silk is inside a cotton cover like the
eiderdowns are. Then you put the whole thing into a duvet cover. But
the best part is that the filling doesn't move into the bottom like
feathers do.
You may wonder why we need a duvet in Thailand. It's because we like
to sleep with the aircon on, even when it's cool out (it is winter and
goes down to about 18C at night) because the aircon takes out the
humidity. So it's pretty cold in the room and this duvet is the best
:-)
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's
covered in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album