Weigh to Goal~ Something I Never DO...

10-17-10 This is me today beginning this modest goal...

I rarely ever do this "I want to lose XYZ amount of weight by_________"

So I am trying a modest objective.

It began because of something I did not follow through on that of being this past week despite my intentions, I did not get one day of real walking in although I did small increments of some movement. Somehow the week got a'weigh from me.

But now I learned my eldest daughter's Commencement is January 14,2011 in California and oh course I will be attending with rings on my fingers & bells on my toes! She has worked so hard for this.

They (my daughters, SIL and 8 of the 9 grandchildren have seen nothing but a few pictures of me since the surgery. The people who see me locally comments all the time about my weight release.

But now it is the appropriate time to gear up. I am writing this not as a commitment, but a contract to myself to move more to walk a bit further.

My goal will be to release about 30 pounds before travel. It only comes to 10 pounds per month or 2.5 pounds a week.

Since I will be heading to the West Coast after Commencement, I will travel onto the Pacific Northwest to vist my son & his family & if I dare perhaps a fast "holla" to a friend in Washington State on my return back. I love the train so it will be fun to gadabout.

And to see family & friends especially in the case of the ones in the PNW it will be over a year, 2 in some since I've seen them all.

So back to walking I go. Fortunately our winters are temperate & I like walking in the cold. I will do that before beginning the rest of my day so I won't get distracted. There will have to be some tweaking on time because as much as I like chill I will not be doing the 7am in the dead of winter.

For cardiovascular relief...

Do what you Wanna! A la New Orleans second line!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E1VBCcA76E

Dancing, dancing, DANCING Machine...Yeah baby!

Two-stepping may add fun to aerobic workouts, studies show
By Serena Gordon,HealthDay Reporter
www.sparkspeople.com

FRIDAY, June 5 (HealthDay News) -- One reason many people don't stick with exercise is that it's often not that interesting. But what if you could dance your way to improved health?
Two new studies suggest that you just might be able to do that.


Presented recently at the American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Seattle, one study found that salsa dancing could improve cardiovascular fitness, and the other found that less vigorous ballroom dances such as the fox trot or tango -- although not as much of a workout as salsa -- can add 2,000 steps or so to a person's daily walking total.


"Learning to dance can be a fun, social, local and friendly way to enjoy low-intensity physical activity and skill learning," said the author of the second study, Stephen Cobley, a senior lecturer in skill acquisition and sport/exercise psychology at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.


Dancing, or at least watching dancing on TV, has soared in popularity recently. In the United States, "Dancing with the Stars" draws a significant audience each week, and its British counterpart, "Strictly Come Dancing," has more than 8 million viewers, according to Cobley.
Because this show was drawing so many viewers in the U.K., Cobley and his colleagues thought to capitalize on its popularity and conducted a study by offering a 12-week series of introductory ballroom dancing lessons to a group of sedentary adults.


The average age of the 27 study participants was 53, and most -- 22 -- were women. The once-a-week, two-hour classes were led by an instructor and included dances such as the tango, fox trot and cha-cha.


The classes replaced what was usually sedentary time for the participants and added about 2,000 steps to their daily total, the researchers said. Experts recommend 10,000 steps a day for good health.


"Ten thousand steps per day is the recommendation, but how many seniors are getting that?" asked sports and lifestyle nutritionist Molly Kimball, from the Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. "Two thousand steps is still good, and every little bit helps."


But, she said, different dances, such as the salsa, would provide a much greater aerobic workout.

Salsa was the focus of the other study, in which Italian researchers measured heart rate and oxygen consumption in dancers who were doing a typical salsa during lessons, salsa dancing at a night club or doing a group dance called rueda de casino.


The study included 11 pairs of dancers who were, on average, 36 years old. Maximum heart rate increased between 58 and 75 percent for those doing any of the three dances, and oxygen consumption went up between 41 percent and 56 percent, depending on the dance. Nightclub salsa dancing appeared to be the most aerobic of the three dances, though all increased heart rate and oxygen consumption, the study found.


"Salsa is a spirited dance," study author Gian Pietro Emerenziani, from the University of the Studies of Rome, in Italy, said in a statement. "With this form of dance, you are clearly getting a workout. All three types of salsa in our study, practiced frequently, will have a positive impact on health and fitness."


And dancing has other things going for it, fitness-wise.


"With dancing, you don't necessarily have to go to the gym, you don't have to run in the heat, but you're still benefiting," Kimball said. The trick, however, is to make sure you're not swapping dancing for a higher-intensity exercise, she said.


She suggests that new dancers check their heart rate while dancing to make sure they're getting the same workout they got from a spinning class or a run.


Another caveat, she said, is to make sure you don't negate the benefits of all your two-stepping by having high-calorie drinks or snacks while you're out sashaying the night away.

Laughter as emotional aerobics

Corny one liners, but true:

The Economy Is So Bad...


CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.


McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.

A truckload of Americans got caught sneaking into Mexico.

The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

People in Africa are donating money to Americans.

Motel Six won't leave the light on.

The Mafia is laying off judges.

Ah ha ha ha ha-Emotional Aerobics...

For ones who did not want to believe me:

Laughter Can Boost Heart Health

Research finds it improves blood flow and may help ward off high blood pressure

FRIDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- New research lends weight to the old adage that laughter can be powerful medicine, particularly when it comes to your heart.

Two studies presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting in Seattle found that laughter not only can reduce stress, which can damage the heart, it can lead to improved blood flow, which can help ward off high blood pressure.

The first study included a small group of healthy adults who were asked to watch either a comedy or documentary film. They were then checked for activity of the carotid arteries -- the main arteries in the neck that bring blood to the brain and face -- during the films.

People who watched the comedy displayed improved "arterial compliance" -- the amount of blood that moves through the arteries at a given time. Decreased arterial compliance is often linked with high blood pressure and heart disease, according to an American College of Sports

Medicine news release.

"Arterial compliance was improved for a full 24 hours after subjects watched a funny movie," said lead researcher Jun Sugawara. "Laughing is likely not the complete solution to a healthy heart, but it appears to contribute to positive effects."

The second study focused on vascular function and the dilation of blood vessels. When a second group of adults watched either a comedy or a serious documentary, there was more dilation of blood vessels during the comedy. Constricted blood vessels can be a cause of high blood pressure, the news release said.

"Not only did comedies improve vascular dilation, but watching a documentary about a depressing subject was actually harmful to the blood vessels," said Takashi Tarumi, lead researcher on the second study. "These documentaries constricted blood vessels by about 18 percent."

In both studies, the beneficial effects of laughter lasted for 24 hours, the researchers said.
The college's annual meeting concludes May 30.

For more on healthy lifestyles for heart health, visit the American Heart Association.

Content by:

SOURCE: May 29, 2009, news release, American College of Sports Medicine