The Sandcastle

10,000 steps. That’s how many steps the pros say you should walk each day for maximum health benefits. Now, I may have some OCD characteristics but counting my steps all day is not one of them. What to do; what to do.

For most people the answer is a pedometer. The challenge there is first you measure your stride–how long is your step? My answer–it depends. What is the terrain–smooth or rough, level or hilly? What type of day am I having in relationship to how my body feels? Am I indoors or out? If outdoors, what is the weather like? Can you imagine trying to measure your stride for each of these conditions then remembering to adjust your pedometer for each change? Not happening!

So when I saw this,

http://www.fitbit.com/product, I was tempted. But, it is expensive. So I just stayed tempted.

Then my sleep got worse. Have you ever tried to explain to a doctor how you sleep? How long it takes you to go to sleep? How often you wake up? How many hours you have to spend in bed to get enough actual sleep?

Well, the FitBit can monitor that as well. And make charts and graphs you can print out to take with you to your next doctor’s appointment.

So, we finally decided I should buy one. It’s a pretty cool little gadget and we all know how I like gadgets, right? So, during the day it sits in my pocket and measures my steps without me having to do anything more than put it in my pocket. And at night it slips into a soft wristband and measures my sleep. And whenever I pass near my computer it wirelessly updates the data there. And every few days I put it on the base station when I’ll be sitting at my computer for awhile so it can recharge the battery.

I’ve been wearing it for a week now. My weekly report says I wake up from 10 to 18 times per night.

No wonder I always feel tired!

And those steps? I have a LONG way to go to get to 10,000 per day. That’s about five miles for a person with an average stride, you know. And our apartment, while being much larger than the RV, isn’t really all THAT big. Guess I need to join those who put on their headphones and walk the halls. 🙂

TTYL,

Linda

ps. Down another 1.8 pounds this week but that number is somewhat skewed by the fact that I slept too late to eat breakfast before my WW meeting today. What can I say? When I went to bed in the wee hours this morning they were predicting thunderstorms with hail all morning so I didn’t set my alarm. Imagine my surprise to wake up to sunny and clear. So, I rushed off to my meeting to get some badly needed reinforcement. A meeting where the leader quoted from an article saying those who skip breakfast are 450% more likely to be obese! Some days I can’t win for losing.

I was at an event one evening when, during some down time, I decided to check my email. In my in box was an invitation to meet some friends for dinner on the way to the event I was already attending. So, I wrote back with my “too late” reply and watched as the recipients laughed together over my delayed response to their invitation.

See, I’m retired. I don’t feel a need to be instantly available 24/7.

As I taught our daughter many years ago at our dinner table, “Just because the phone is ringing, that doesn’t mean we have to answer it. If it’s important, they will call back”

Do you have alerts turned on? Do you feel compelled to answer every email the instant it arrives in your in box? Why? Who do you think should get to decide how you use the minutes in your day?

TTYL,

Linda

ps. Weight still mostly going down with an occasional uptick.

Yes, I finally started exercising fairly regularly. Most mornings I do a few minutes of calisthenics. Following the Primal Body guidelines, I’m trying to do mostly exercises where my own body weight creates the resistance. Things like push-ups which I have to do against the wall since I can’t kneel on my metal knees to get to/from a standard pushup position.

I want to add pull-ups. But I have no place to do them. OK, let’s clarify that. I have lots of space but no bar. You can buy a bar that fits over a door frame but our door frames go right to the ceiling so there is no “over” available.

I knew from our before moving in tour of this apartment complex that there is a workout room with equipment in it so when Dave decided he’d go check out the equipment I sent my camera with him and this is what he came back with.

     

See any place to do pull-ups there?

Nope, me neither.

Soon it will be warm enough to go looking for a park playground that has pull-up bars, though, right? And since we all know I can’t actually DO a pull-up, I can start then with the preparing your body to do pull ups exercises shown here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz1rltuLn6c. Wish me luck.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. I’m on the weight roller coaster at the moment–lots of ups and downs. Fortunately, I’m losing more than I’m gaining so the trend is still the right direction but I’d sure like to see another long downward trend.

 

The money from selling the previous RV has arrived so it’s time to order my next one. I have never had any doubt about what brand this one would be: a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter cargo van (http://www.mbsprinterusa.com/shopping-tools/build-and-equip) converted by Sportsmobile (http://sportsmobile.com/) to my design.

That didn’t make ordering the van as easy as I expected it to be. I knew I wanted the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 11,030 pounds but I thought I could get by with the regular 170″ wheelbase one. Nope. When I started playing with roof layouts I discovered I couldn’t get everything I wanted on the roof without having equipment shading my solar panels. That’s not a good thing. So I’m going with the tallest and longest one on the chart above. It’s also the one on the very right of the chart below.

My special order items list for the van is not a long list but it does include some very important items. Like an upgraded suspension package for vehicles that carry weight up high. A trailer hitch package. Cruise control. Upgraded seats for long driving day comfort that swivel so the driver/passenger seats (Mercedez-Benz calls the passenger seat a co-driver seat since these are cargo vans) can become part of my living space. And a few more details like that.

Most of these vans are Arctic White. I ordered Grey White, instead.

Because it looks like Arizona dirt so maybe I won’t feel compelled to wash it so often during my snowbirding seasons. And so I can pick mine out of the crowd at gatherings.

So that’s done. Now to work some more on the interior design. I only have three to five months to finalize it before the van arrives.

TTYL,

Linda

 

ps. Down another pound this week. I like this trend.

Other than an occasional comment that I believe we are in the Decline and Fall of the American Empire, I usually stay out of political discussions. But I just read something that helped me understand what is happening that I thought might interest you.

I’m currently reading on my iPad “The Story of Mankind” by Hendrik van Loon and I’m up to the part of the Roman Empire. Van Loon has been describing the different forms of government and how they developed. According to him Democracy exists when people take an active part in their government: voting for wise people to lead them. When the people stop taking an active part the Plutocrats can take over. The Plutocrats, which translates to rich men, then decide how the government should be run to make the best profit for themselves. The result is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Can anyone give me some examples of how this has been happening here? Anything like companies that default leaving their stockholders holding worthless paper but the owners walk away with golden parachutes? Banks that fail taking people’s savings with them while the top guys somehow have enough money to start over? Politicians with good pay and benefits while typical employees lose theirs? Or anything like that?

We appear to me to be living in a Plutocracy. What are we willing to do to try to get back to being a Democracy? Anything? Anyone?

TTYL,

Linda

ps. I forgot to put up a post yesterday to let you all know I am alive and well so here’s one from my files. I finally broke through that up and down weight bit so am now firmly on the right side of having lost 35 pounds. I had to add some exercise to my life to do it but I did it. So, I just keep on keeping on.