walking – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

Week 22 to Wellness

July 18, 2022July 18, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in Health and Fitness, July 2022

I am still pretty much in a holding pattern as far as progress is going! I am not terribly concerned or even disgruntled by this. I am not losing ground, which is good and I figure for the time being the progress is just going on beneath the surface.

My blood pressure is still holding really good. I have been averaging 120/76 over the past month and that was with a couple of little spikes. I don’t know if the improvements is due to my daily workouts or the beet juice but I will keep doing both.

I am also still doing the sauerkraut. I don’t know if it is helping my digestion any but it is sauerkraut and I love it and it came highly recommended so sticking with that as well.

I have been partaking in a cold shower every day or two and I can’t say how much I am enjoying them! I don’t even like hot showers but I feel SO good after a cold shower. It reminds me of a Mark Manson quote that Genie shared with me a couple of weeks ago.. “Wanting positive experience is a negative experience, accepting negative experience is a positive experience.” So much more profound than “No pain no gain.” 🙂

And the good news this week! After a couple of ‘challenging’ walks with Molly this weekend, we had a great one this morning. If she hadn’t gotten excited and jumped all over the hard hats at the Regent Park exit it would have been an A+ for her. To be fair, I think they wait for her now and they do get as excited as she does when they see us coming, so it isn’t ALL her.

***We walked all three parks again and the only other visitors we met out and about were a couple of old crows.*** 😢

***Molly was proud of herself today – and deservedly so.***

The weather was perfect! The mosquitoes were tolerable. The litter was not too bad. All in all a beautiful way to start the day, and again not something I plan to drop from my daily routine.

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞

Congratulations!

June 30, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in June 2022

You would think they would offer options before counting your calories. Like… Are you carrying groceries or an infant? Are you walking with a young child who may or may not want to walk? Are you pulling, pushing, dragging a big a$$ puppy who is trying to get overly friendly with every baby, man, woman, child, cat, dog, and police car in it’s path? 🤦

Take care and have a great rest of your day!

Week 19

June 27, 2022July 17, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in Health and Fitness, June 2022

It has been nineteen weeks since I started my current, and most successful ever, fitness journey.

I have three things of note on my weekly update! 🤗

#One – My husband came home sick a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know if it was a chest flu or what, but he was miserable. I did feel so bad for him BUT for the first time since I met Dan twenty-five years ago, I did not catch whatever he had. Not a single sniffle! Dan is back on his feet and feeling much better, so I can be happy for him now, as well. 🥰

#Two – I am shedding noticeably less hair this week than I have been for the past couple of years. I don’t know if it is because my health is better or because I started using Dove hair fall rescue shampoo, but YAY!

#Three – Molly and I have started daily walks! 🌟

***I am harnessed up and*** ***ready to go!*** (No idea why she looks so small. She isn’t.)

On Saturday, we took a short walk around the block. Molly did not appreciate the traffic, the people, and she was particularly taken aback by the other dog yards. It did not go well.

Yesterday, I took Molly to the ball diamonds across the street and she did MUCH better. By the time we returned home, she was walking beside me like a pro.

This morning, I decided we should go back to the ball diamonds to reinforce yesterday’s training. Molly did great until we got half way to the diamonds and a particularly raucous bird startled her. 🙄 She had almost pulled herself together when there was a loud BANG. It was probably a vehicle but it really sounded like a gunshot. WELL, that did it for Molly! She spun around and decided to hightail it home. The good news is, I stayed on my feet and managed to hold onto her.

When we got out of the park, Molly calmed right down and decided she was ready to go for a nice walk afterall. We walked to the end of our street and turned onto Sherwood. It was about 8 A.M. and Sherwood is pretty busy at the best of times. Molly didn’t mind the cars, SUVs, and half-tons. Then she saw a semi. She came to a screeching halt and sat trembling as it went by. This was repeated when she saw the bus. When the garbage truck rattled by, I think she upped the drama queen routine by experiencing a short fainting spell. 😞

We turned right on Elphinstone. The traffic was a bit less of an issue as there were vehicles parked along the side of street, between us and the semis, buses, and garbage trucks. Things were uneventful until we turned onto MacKinley. We met up with a few pedestrians and Molly wanted to be a little too friendly. I kept her in check and I was feeling pretty good about how well we were doing. Molly and me, walking down the street like pros!

Then, for probably the LAST time ever, Molly drifted right. I didn’t see her coming into my path and I stepped on her foot. Molly let out a high pitched YIPE and stopped dead in her tracks. I did not. I went head over tea kettle and did a totally imperfect faceplant. Fortunately, for me (not so much for her), I landed on top of Molly.

I scrambled to my feet (I can do that now, because I am in such good shape), Molly stumbled to hers, and we proceeded home – each on our own side of the sidewalk!

That is about it for week nineteen. I am still doing my Zumba workouts, drinking my beet juice, and eating my sauerkraut. I am looking forward to many more walks with Molly and can’t wait until we are ready to tackle some more challenging parks and hiking trails.

Take care and have a great day! 💞

Working It!

August 27, 2020August 27, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in life

As summer winds down and Dan has returned to work, things are coming together.

Kat is grounded for a few days with a sore paw (seems to be a bit of a sprain). As long as she is limping, even a little bit, I think it is better for her to stay home and rest when I take my daily walk.

I miss Kat on my walks but it gives me a bit of freedom to pick up the pace and extend my walks. This morning I went 5.5 kilometers! YAY!

I had my five year old grandson Dominic for a few hours yesterday. His father (my son) wanted his middle name to be ‘Danger’ when he was born. There are days when that would have been so appropriate. Yesterday was one of the days! He was full of energy and bad ideas from the minute he arrived. Fortunately, I was able to channel most of that energy into creative and slightly messy activities.

I finally fertilized and soaked all of our cedars. That was a two or three day project but I am glad that it is done.

I scrubbed the deck on the kids’ playhouse, wiped down the railing and polished the lites. I usually have that done much earlier in the season but it was one of those things that I just did not get around to. 🙄

I trimmed and mowed our lawn last evening after Dan went to work. I even got the grass clippings bag hauled to the back gate and into the trash bin! I was so proud of myself. 🤗

I also cleaned all the branches and debris off of our neighbours lawn, mowed it, and swept her driveway. Our neighbour lost her husband a few years ago and a couple of years later suffered a serious stroke. She is in a rehabilitation/longterm care centre. They took a lot of pride in their home and took such good care of it. I do not know why there is no one to maintain it or check up on it now. They both had family living around here. 🤷 We take turns with the neighbour on the other side of it doing what we can – making the lawn looked taken care of. We are just trying to make it look somewhat lived in until someone takes it over.

Hope everyone is having a great week! Take care out there💓

The Power of Peace

August 25, 2020August 25, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in dealingwithstress

When I retired earlier this year I had plans for a grand and productive summer. My ‘to do’ list was impressive, to say the least. I also had high hopes that this would be my year for resolving major personal issues – health, family, finances.

Summer is coming to a close and my ‘to do’ list is more of a ‘didn’t get done’ list. My issues are still there – health, family, finances. My life is not perfect.

But… here is the thing. I have been having a great summer. After decades of stress and anxiety, I have actually experienced moments of profound peace. I have felt totally fearless – in sync with nature and the universe. This is the most amazing and powerful feeling and it is becoming less random and fleeting. My life may not be perfect but it is improving and I am better equipped to deal with any challenges that I am faced with.

I have always enjoyed walking but it is something that I have not done enough of for the past several years. This summer I walked and I walked and I walked. It started off as a means to cope with health issues I was having. Following a bout of pneumonia, I could not seem to recover. I struggled to breathe and my heart would race after the slightest exertion. With respiratory specialists and therapists closed down to prevent the spread of Covid 19, I was left to my own devices. My device of choice was walking. At first, I could barely make it to the end of our block and back. Now I head out before the heat of the day and I walk for miles.

As I walk, I allow my mind to wander wherever it chooses to roam. Whatever chaos my mind decides to pursue mellows as I walk off the miles. Personal problems come into perspective. Global issues fade. There is always a turning point where instead of feeling attacked by fearful thoughts, I feel empowered. I take control and I choose. My choice is always peace.

There is so much anger and fear and hate in this world. I choose to not contribute to it. When my mind pursues anxious thoughts, I focus on peace and love. When I worry about my health, I remind myself that stress will not help my body to recover. Walking will, so I walk. When I get frustrated or concerned about my family, I wrap them in thoughts and feelings of peace and love. When I worry about our finances, I realize how fortunate we are – and I choose to be grateful for all that we have.

When my mind starts rehashing the news of the day or the reactions on social media, I refuse to dwell on these thoughts or add to the noise. I focus on peace and I move on, considering how and why I feel the way I do. I have learned a lot about myself during my walks and have become more focused on my own thoughts and beliefs. It is no longer a matter of fighting the belief of others. It is about my beliefs ringing true. If, or when, I share my thoughts and beliefs, I am no longer seeking validation or holding a do or die attitude about them. They work for me.

Despite my lack of accomplishments this summer, I feel good about how I have used these pasts months. I feel that I have evolved into a stronger, better person. Hopefully, I will knock a few projects off of my ‘still to get done’ list in the coming months. Hopefully my life will continue to improve and my issues will gradually resolve themselves. Either way, I will continue to move forward – one step at a time.