Dr's Orders

I was an awesome athlete as a youngster, as I aged was still happy about my ability to to whatever I wanted to do, when I wanted to. Then I began pushing my body way too hard, I didn't listen to it until I couldn't walk without pain. My daughter Kate is a nurse and I called her looking for a magic bullet to get me back on track. My knees REALLY hurt. Kate's reply: "Ice, heat and rest mom, there is no magic bullet."

I couldn't exercise, I was lucky to walk. I got out of the habit, and life rolled on. Knee braces helped but I couldn't walk a lot without hurting, even with them.

Then I found myself tired all the times and my blood work wasn't as good as it had been. I had to change doctors because mine had moved on. Her prescription: "Exercise 30 mins 5 days a week." Easy enough I love to walk. I found a flat trail and and started. That worked for about 3 days until my knees complained, This time I listened. I found some low impact exercise video's on YouTube and kept exercising. I turns that you can even find exercises that you can do from a chair if you need to.

I kept track of my progress in the notes on my phone. Simple enough, every day of a new week, I put an X if I exercised and and O if I didn't. Easy to keep tack. Like all things that you do on a regular basis it got to be a habit. Then I discovered I got a little cranky when I didn't exercise. Even more surprising than that, I now can walk 5 days a week and I don't need the knee braces. If it's rainy, cold, hot or snowing I can still do my videos'. I have more energy, am happier, healthier and my immune system has improved.

There is a little bit more to this story. My friend Becky had a heart valve replaced. Her recovery seemed good, but she was tired all the times. She began to wonder if another heart

value was collapsing. She went to her cardiologist and found out that her heart is great. His prescription? Exercise 5 days a week, for 30 minutes. She's going to dust off her Wii and use it. She's also planning on putting in some gym time and walking.

I just visited my AFS sister in Argentinian and we had a wonderful time together. Her family and friends make you feel like you are all related. We saw so many beautiful sites, shared much laughter and food. We are looking forward more adventures together. Because of it's obvious benefits, Marci has committed to exercising 5 days a week as well The 3 of us are forming a Facebook group so we can be accountable to each other. Just like the doctor ordered. (and it will be fun)