How Much Is Five Pounds?

I had my six month doctor's appointment today, and the bad news is that I gained five pounds in the last six months.

So the doctor mentioned that as a bad thing. So now I need to try to shed it in the next six months. It's going to take all the determination I can muster. Plus the discipline to get to the gym and do my exercises regularly.

I was there tonight, got it done. It was helpful to me that an Elvis concert movie ("Elvis On Tour") was on the TV at my machine, so that made the time speed by. But I can't depend on that happening everyday!

Anyway, I want to have good health as much as I can. So I need to buckle down and get serious about doing the right things. No more Hershey Kisses, of which I had maybe 15 today.

Exercising Like Crazy

I had a doctor's visit today and everything checked out pretty well. According to him, and it's just one doctor's opinion, I'm essentially in perfect health. So that's nice to hear.

I've actually lost the conviction I had as a kid that nothing bad could happen to me, but with this kind of report maybe I wasn't too far off. I know what could happen now. Famous last words. Then my family, broken up over my sudden demise would go, Look at his last blog post. Nothing bad could happen to him. Struck down just like that.

To my family (after my demise), don't be so superstitious. No one's getting ready to strike me dead for having a tad bit of confidence. The doctor made me do it.

I had dropped off from doing very much exercise and he seemed to know I wasn't exercising as much. But I've resolved to be more faithful. So to that end I went to the exercise place and exercised like crazy tonight. It helped that I had some good music to rock out to, plus the confidence from my visit with him this morning. I went farther and faster than I have for a couple months.

Exercise And Tension

I'm thinking of going and exercising vigorously. I've been neglectful of my exercising duties, and that means that money I'm paying for the health club is being wasted.

But I have some tension, and was thinking I ought to go and do an hour -- an entire hour (unheard of) -- on the treadmill. That sounds like a very long time. But I just might do it. Don't push me. I might.

I have the time. I could do it. There's nothing standing in my way. Except the block in my mind saying, "Ugh!"

OK ... I'm going to hit the button to "Publish" this, then I'm going!

My Exercise Place

The place where I go to exercise seems like they're overrun with members now. It seems like it might be time to expand.

There's a few treadmills and they were all being used tonight. There's a few ellipticals and a couple were free, one of which I took. The other stuff was being used too, but I didn't look around that much to make a survey.

There's a guy there -- I believe he's called a boot camp guy -- and he was putting his clients through their paces. For quite a while they were all women but now I see there's a few men doing his bidding as well. He's got them running around, out the door, out in the parking lot, then back in. They'll be holding hand weights and running on their hands and feet a while. It all looks quite taxing.

I'm starting to see a few people out there about every time I'm there. Which makes me think maybe they're there a lot more often than that, since I'm not there at the same time everyday. Could it be that someone would be there four or five hours a day? There's one woman I'm seeing all the time. She's probably between 50-60, with pretty blond hair, and she's there virtually every time I go. I noticed she wasn't spending much time on each thing. She was at the bicycle next to me for about five minutes, then over on the treadmill for less than five minutes, then wandering around from thing to thing.

We made eye contact a couple times, which I generally try not to do. Unless someone speaks to me or I see someone I know. I thought maybe she was talking to me once, but maybe she was talking to herself. I'd rather not talk or make eye contact, because then it becomes a social outing. And I'd hate her to think I'm "interested," because I'm definitely not.

Anyway, I was bouncing right along on the elliptical. Sometimes I'm very tired, wanting to give up. Tonight I was working it. I was listening to Kelly Clarkson's new CD (on my Ipod) and it's a good one for exercise. So I ended up in 15 minutes (plus 3 minutes cool down) with 2.03 miles.

Germs On The Treadmill

I have a rare cold. I'm not one to get sick, actually, so when it happens I'm very surprised.

It's not a comfortable feeling but it doesn't get me down. I'm really looking at it halfway pleasantly, because it just reminds me of how well I always am. But I'm wondering how I got it.

There's one thing that's been weighing on my mind. And that's the very unfortunate coincidence of reading last week that you're not supposed to blow your nose anymore. That it's bad for you. So I've been sniffling and snorting and sneezing. And, yes, I have broken down and blown it a few times. To be technical, I believe it said it was OK to blow one nostril at a time, which I've been doing occasionally. Once, though, I'm pretty sure I did both at the same time.

How did I get this? Someone at work suggested that maybe I got it from the exercise place. The thought already had crossed my mind. You have all these strangers -- 24 hours a day -- working out, sweating, wiping themselves, coughing (perhaps), holding on to the grips of the treadmill or the handles of the elliptical. It's a wonder I'm not always sick!

You're supposed to clean off the equipment with a disinfectant towel, which I always do, but I notice not everyone does. (It's like cleaning up poop after your dog goes in the yard. I'm very conscientious and regular about it. But there are neighbors who don't give it a thought.) So what happens to me, maybe I touch my face, whatever, now I have a cold.

I'm very wary about germs but not to the point of disabling me. Plus I know that disinfectant towels might miss some, and with the way that certain germs are not wiped out, whatever doesn't kill them only makes them stronger. The strong survive and repopulate the treadmill. Then their strong offspring are immune to the disinfectant towels. Pretty soon they're strong enough they're working out themselves on the equipment and we're standing in line till they're through.

Everything is germy. But most of us have developed some immunity. The catbox, the garbage, the dog's droppings, the sponge in the sink, the toilets, bacon packages, the list goes on and on.