Exercise

The reason I began this diet in the first place was because my weight had become TOO HEAVY for my knees. Maybe I should have cared, but I did NOT care that my weight affected my appearance. AT least I didn't care enough to do anything.

But as my weight creeped up, my knees began to complain about it. Especially did they complain if I picked up extra water weight. Something about fluid gain makes you miserable all over. It even affects your moods.

One day when I clocked out at work, my knees actually started SCREAMING. I was afraid I was not even going to be able to walk out of the store to my car. A fellow worker who was leaving at the same time had an empty shopping cart she was going to push to the front. I asked to "use it". I used it as a "walker" to get myself out of the store. By the time I got to the front, the pain in my knees had alleviated enough that I was able to walk across the parking lot without the aid of the shopping cart.

That day my weight had "bounced up" to 210.5. It's not unusual for me to sometimes pick up a fluid gain of 3-5 pounds. But adding that fluid to 207 was just TOO MUCH.

That "crisis" --needing the cart to get me out of the store-- was my "wake up call". I knew I had to quit preferring my taste buds over my knees.

First, I got serious about my knees. I thought I needed to strengthen them. Then, it occurred to me that probably what I needed to do was NOT to workout my knees, but to strengthen my legs --above and below the knee-- so that they were doing more of the work. I began doing some leg strengthening exercises intermittently. I also did some "light-weight" stuff to help my knees.

A friend gave me a DVD of Leslie Sansome Inhome One Mile Walk. That really worked well for me because, with my knees tending to give out SUDDENLY, I was afraid to GO FOR a walk that took me very far from the house.

When I started this One Mile Walk, I could hardly get through half of it. I've done it enough now that I can make it through and even do the arm movements. It has been a great energizer for me. I'm not sure if it has helped in my weight loss. I really don't seem to get around to doing it but about two or three times a week. And it's only 16 minutes, so it can't be helping weight loss a lot. But IT HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS AID TO MY ENERGY LEVELS.

Energy to do what you have to do just makes life better all around.