A Sidekick

I did it. For the first time this year I rode my bicycle. Because both tires were totally flat, there was no way I could ride without first putting air in the tires. So there I was, zipping along in my car, holding onto the front tire with my trunk ajar.  Miraculously, I was able to stuff about ¾ of the bike inside.

But when I got to the gas station, I struggled trying to remove the bike from my tiny trunk. So, instead, I pulled my car close enough to the air pump. After  a few quick blast of air, I was all set to go on my journey. That's when I started thinking. 

I thought about the rides I took with my pals during my youth. We used to ride bikes around our West Philadelphia neighborhood, and partly through Cobbs Creek Park almost every weekend, and sometimes after class when the weather was warm. Back then riding was totally about friendship. We didn’t care or even consider the fact that we were exercising and becoming physically fit. We rode because we liked to spend time together. And despite not talking, we were connecting. Becoming fit was sort of a sidekick, one that never crossed my mind.   

This time around, I hopped on the seat of my bike and began peddling up the hill toward Belmont Avenue all alone, except for random strangers. Nevertheless, I am feeling good.

I rode up and down the hills in and around Fairmount Park long enough not only to push my heart rate up, but to enjoy the beautiful summer-like weather. I puffed, but kept a steady pace, peddling up every hill except one.  

Life Matters: Weight Management

Life Matters: Weight Management: Every now and then someone will ask me, “How do you stay so slim?” I tell them, it’s not always easy, but I’ve learned to eat less than I ...

Venting Matters

My boyfriend claims he's listening to me even though I claim he isn't. More often than we like to be, we are apart. But when I get to the point when I feel completely isolated from him, I tell him so.

Well, according to him--he expects it, and accepts it, too.  He says he knows and expects that it is time for me to complain. And then realizing that he expects me to complain, I become annoyed. I am annoyed because by saying he expects and accepts it implies that I am simply venting. I am not. But I am becoming frustrated.

That's when the sound of my voice changes, I enunciate every single word, and I omit contractions altogether. Satisfied, having made myself perfectly clear, I continue to voice my concerns. Again, this is not venting.  Instead, I am not simply expressing my concerns just for the sake of being listened to. No, I am instead expressing my discontent in a manner suitable for discussion with the intent of gaining a resolution. In other words, I want results--I want what I am complaining about to end.

I am not venting because I know that venting is complaining about something that will not and cannot change. Venting, you see, is a way to stir up the necessary ingredients to gain sympathy.

Venting is an outlet--a way to let others, anyone who will listen, usually a girlfriend--someone who will hear your complaints because they have them too.

Weight Management II

Hearing, "I'm carrying more weight." to offer a reason why one can't, and/or won't keep up is simply, unreasonable. I mean, really?

By now, everyone is weight conscious. But apparently, not everyone understands weight management. I, like many of the people I know, have access to many modes of media.  And because I do, I use it to learn many things. One is weight management. Thankfully we live in a nation where media reports on various opportunities to lose excess weight and how to control weight. 

I have learned that eating more fruits, and vegetables than red meat is one way of controlling weight. While another way is to move. Exercise.  And by the way, by exercise, I mean whatever it takes to get up from the sofa, or chair.

In Philadelphia we have a fairly decent transportation system. And even though it could benefit from lots and lots, and lots of improvement, I take it five days a week. It gets me to work, period. Any way, I get off and walk about six blocks to my work site, and then I walk up a mere two flights to my cubicle. That's just about all the exercise I get. Nonetheless, it's an opportunity for me to move. It's my chance to help regulate and/or stabilize my weight. I could, instead, take two buses and get off at a bus stop that is right in front of my building; and then take the elevator the rest of the way. I don't.

And that is why I maybe "lighter" than some of my friends. They're the ones who have excuses why they don't walk and why they don't take the stairs. Oh, I forgot to mention, I take the stairs instead of the elevator to my six-floor apartment just about four days during the week. And sometimes, I'm carrying more weight--groceries. You see it's yet another opportunity to move--Okay, I admit it: I'm an opportunist--unlike many of my friends, I guess.

But like most of them, I don't have an income that allows for discretionary spending. So, I cannot afford to pay health club fees. But I can afford to walk. The issue becomes how to walk, and even when.

There is a stroll and then there is a walk. I walk briskly to rev up my heart rate; it's best when trying to lose weight and/or manage weight. I know this because I read a lot.

By now, nearly everyone knows that walking is one of, if not, the best ways to manage weight. It may not be the quickest route, but it is the most simplest...sans those bound to a wheelchair. Since I walk often, I like to spice up my walk, so every now and then I ask a friend to come along. Well, that doesn't always give me the boost  I expect.

Just a few hours ago, I called a walking buddy. She agreed to come along with me to the store. 
While walking at a moderately brisk pace, I turn my head awaiting a reply during our conversation. I find that she is more than a few paces behind, which explains why, there was no reply. I call to her and say, Hey whatcha doin' back there? To my dismay, she responded, "I have more weight than you."

Still walking, I turned completely around to respond. I wanted to say, Yes, I am "lighter" than you are and the reason I am is very likely because I walk more than you and, therefore, faster than you. Instead, I tried to convey to her that walking often, and briskly helps me to management my weight.

Even though I have plans to resume a more active lifestyle, I currently eat more healthily in addition to walking. And if you're reading this and thinking: It's genetics. Well, that's not altogether true.

Relaxed Hair

I vaguely remember when I decided to grow out, and then cut off the remainder of my chemically relaxed hair. But I can certainly remember why I went back to using a relaxer.

The first time I began relaxing my hair was so long ago I can’t remember how I began relaxing my mother’s hair too. Nevertheless, I spent about an hour several times each year to retouch my kinky roots making my hair silky and smooth, as well as aesthetically appealing when I got it wet. In other words, my relaxed hair retained a style I preferred, and it is easier to maintain than when my hair  was in its natural state.

Non relaxed hair required lots of care--I spent hours each day trying to keep it from tangling, and becoming matted.  Furthermore, my hair style rarely lasted through the day. And, even though some believe natural hair is manageable in hot, and humid weather, it is not. My twist out became puffy and styless. And even when I paid a stylist to straighten my hair without using a chemical, the pressed hair style deteriorated in a day or two causing me much angst and more.

My lifestyle of fitness changed the day I quit relaxing my hair. I stopped swimming, playing tennis, and cycling too. Because sweating is a natural part of execise, immediate hair care is required.

With a relaxer, it’s simply washing, drying, and then styling my hair—easily accomplished in an hour, or less, and without having to pay and wait for an appointment with a hair stylist.

Weight Management

Every now and then someone will ask me, “How do you stay so slim?”  I tell them, it’s not always easy, but I’ve learned to eat less than I used to when I was in my thirties. That’s about the age I noticed that I could no longer eat the entire pint of ice cream every evening for dessert and still fit into a size 2 pencil skirt. And even after cutting back on the ice cream, I began noticing that same skirt got snug around my hips.

Everyone kept telling me, “You’re filling in finally—you’re becoming a woman—it’s natural for women to put on weight.” I was in my thirties and just becoming a woman I thought to myself.  Could that be true—women have no means to control, and manage weight? I didn’t want to settle for that. I didn’t want to believe that putting on extra weight was just a simple fact of life. So I sought to challenge the so-called fact of life.

Call it an obsession, but I learned that managing my weight is entirely within my control. As a matter of fact, it’s one of few things in life that is…

So instead of accepting what many others have, I began paying attention to my scale—I weighed myself every morning. Depending on what I ate the scale tilted up or down beneath my weight.  I learned right away which foods caused me to weigh more. It was just that simple. So in order to control my weight—I ate according to the numbers on my scale.  

Nowadays— I eat most of my meals from a salad plate.  Instead of cutting out all the delicious foods I had grown accustomed to eating on a regular basis, I eat macaroni and cheese, pasta, meatballs and red sauce, chicken pot pie, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, rice pudding, and other desserts such as chocolate mousse on occasion. Sensible foods, like vegetables, and fruits, I eat everyday.

Summer time dining is the best time of the year for me. I love the outdoors and I adore sunshine—As a result, I am relaxed and much calmer than at any other time of the year. My appetite is somewhat suppressed.

Still, no matter the time of year, winter, spring, summer, or fall, I eat when I am hungry, not because of the hour of the day.  

Generally, I enjoy a bowl of soup—I like lentil, tomato, or split pea (nothing creamy) and a few slices of pepper jack cheese, avocado, and tomato between a couple slices of rye bread with mustard.

But more often than not, I choose and actually prefer wild salmon, shrimp, or tuna to red meat. I add grilled fish to a mixture of salad greens, or have a side order of fresh vegetables. Satiety is met with a plate of grilled fish atop mixed greens, tomatoes and olives. Sometimes, usually in cool weather, I have brown rice, Trader Joe's has a delicious jasmine brown rice.  Yams, like beans offer a tremendous amount of nutrients, and lucky for me, I love them both.  

Like most everyone, I crave sweets. But, instead of eating a substitue, I fulfill my craving. Otherwise, I'll eat more than I would have. There are those days when I have to have ice cream; and if I buy it  from the super market,  it has got to be Haagen Dazs' vanilla Swiss almond ice cream. Along with the entire pint, I eat half of a  10 ounce bag of Lay's sea salt and cracked pepper potato chips, my favorite.

I have found, too, that managing my weight is doable because I don't buy my favorite junk foods (ice cream and potatoe chips), unless they are on sale. I mean really, why pay $4 for a pint of ice cream every week?

If you're interested to know how I manage to keep my weight down even during the harsh winter, that time of  year I practically hibernate--I'll be posting again soon. So please come back--I'll let you in on how my weight stays below 116lbs. even with my clunky boots and winter sweater on.