Just Walking
I was a bit concerned when my triglycerides were elevated to almost 4 times the high normal, especially when my primary care physician had been telling me that I needed to get it under better control. Since then I’ve been walking almost every day as part of my exercise plan. On most days, even when it is cold, I twist my own arm, bundle up, and walk. If it’s raining, snowing, or the wind is blowing hard, I’ll stay at home. I don’t believe that I should make myself so miserable that I refuse to walk at all.
The inspiration that weans me from the warmth of my house is that I look for and photograph scenes I feel are remarkable or beautiful in some artistic way. I look for things that an artist might attempt to either sketch or to paint. I am often rewarded by scenes that I share on Facebook taking my friends along on my walks AND they are able to stay warm inside if they choose. I vary the time of day to see things with new lighting. The varying light causes different shadows or sunlight that reveals different details. There are things of beauty that can I see even on cold, damp, gray days. I walk several different pathways to vary what I see and entice me to continue walking.
Recently my dietician has joined the crowd of people concerned about my health. He’s trying to modify my cholesterol by having me control my diet, rest, and exercise. My diet is undergoing a slight changes AND he’s pushing for me to the exercise as well. I don’t think he recognizes how much exercise I do. Every day I stack at least one load of firewood onto a flatbed wheelbarrow and wheel it into my basement. Then during a 24 hour period, I am going up and down two flights of stairs to tend the furnace every four hour to feed the wood burner.
I’m sure that some people will ask, “Why not take medication to lower it?” Because every drug I’ve tried has caused distress with me with some side effect or another, even the newest one. Most of the older medications cause abdominal cramping. The newest medication doesn’t cause the cramping, but it causes multiple other problems. (PS, and that med costs an arm and a leg.)
So if you follow me on Facebook, you can travel the local trails and roadways too…weather permitting.