Back Here and There

First: Back at the weekend, hooray!

Back on the bike
I did get on the bike again last night (pause for applause), for 12 minutes this time. Build up to real time, right? I had to pause part way through, because after I dropped my yarn, I didn't notice at first that it was wrapping around a pedal. All the exercisers have this problem, right? Knitting and biking aren't so compatible, it's true, but if that's what it takes to get me on the bike, I'll make it work. I don't like riding the bike*, of course: it's boring and uncomfortable, and I get sweaty and breathless and achy, and why go through all that when nothing positive happens, right? But it does have the advantage of being in my home, ready whenever I am. For that matter, it's free, and not just "already paid for" but "free hand-me-down, let me deliver it to you" free.

*I like the idea of riding outdoors, on a nice day, in a pretty area, but for regular exercise that's a fantasy, in this part of the world anyway. You know I'm not stoic.

I appreciate the "in my home, ready whenever I am" part now more than before, because, the Y. Oh, the Y. Over two weeks after I toured it, I keep not going to the Y, even for my free trial week. I've thought about it, planned on it, tried on my swimsuit and put it, with a towel and flip flops, in a bag in the car ... and I haven't gone, largely because my schedule, aka life, gets in the way of synching with its schedule (the pool schedule, specifically). I'm still pondering the issue, because the bottom line is that if it isn't simple I won't do it. I tried putting it on my calendar, to plan ahead and get used to the idea of fitting it in, and I can't take it. My calendar in October is already such a stressful thing, and this was not making November any easier for me to face. Do you know how long I've been trying to fit in an oil change? I'm usually early for those, and it's been weeks. If exercise planning raises my blood pressure more than exercising lowers it...

 

So, could I get to the point where the biking is enough exercise? How much is enough*? I have read about the benefits of making something (that you don't want to do, I mean) part of your everyday schedule, thus removing the deal-making procrastination, and I think for me, exercise is one of those instances when I'd have to make it every day. It's just too easy, if I say I'll do it three or four times a week, to say "not tonight" on any given night. If, however, I set myself the goal of at least 15 minutes every day, say, and then a couple of times a week work up to doing more (half an hour?), that would have to be good, right? Would it have any noticeable effect? I want to think it would, but there's that definition of insanity again.

*Don't answer, I know: it depends. Well, do answer if you have a better answer!

 

Back on the smoothie bandwagon 

A few years ago, I was making smoothies regularly, enough that on a visit to my parents, I converted my mother to the habit, but over time I sort of stopped (and she went on making them, actually, so some good came out of that). I was talking to someone about them recently, and decided I should try to pick up that habit again, and get more fruit into my diet. I finally started toward the end of September, and man, they are good. Kind of a pain, with the clean-up*, but yum. I make them pretty simple: start with (usually orange) juice, add some non-fat vanilla yogurt, slice in a banana, then add frozen fruit. Strawberries are my favorite, but I also got some peaches, and those are good too. In the past I've tried raspberries (and found them too seedy) and blueberries, which I remember not liking too much although of course seeds weren't the issue, and I'm sure I tried others that I'm not thinking of now. Pineapple, I remember, did not blend well. Mixed berries are a nice change, but strawberries are still my favorite.

*Strawberries are delicious but the seeds are so tenacious. I need staff, really I do; it would make all this healthy nonsense much easier.

 

One thing that makes me feel less like a grown-up, though, is carrying my 24-ounce Tervis Tumbler with the Bruins logo and bright yellow top, filled with pink or yellow slush, among people carrying sleek traveling mugs of coffee. Oh well. I should give up on feeling like a grown-up, I guess.

One funny thing is that the first week, I was making just the right amount to fill the glass, and then I was making too much. The only difference is that, since I got a really big bag of frozen strawberries at Costco, I'm not pouring them in, but taking them from the bag (since hoisting a 6-pound bag up seemed unnecessary). Weird that I can eyeball it one way and not the other, though. One morning, I poured too much in the glass, so when I put the top on, a big blob went {splort} onto my shirt. I was Not Amused. This was, in fact, one of those moments when it's better that I live alone, for anyone trying to talk to me (or, god forbid, laugh at what happened) would have seen this face:

I'm doing a bit better with the amounts now, but I try to remember to make the smoothie before my shower. Just to be safe.

 

Back to better mental health

I've tried not to worry about Carlos's health before the facts were in, while there was nothing I could do. The test results were inconclusive, so we went to the next step, and he had his ultrasound today--and nothing bad turned up. May I be the first to wish you a Happy No Tumor Day? We are celebrating with treats here, but feel free to choose your own celebratory method. Unfortunately, that leaves us with the "blood in the urine, no known cause" thing, so he's getting another two weeks of antibiotics for insurance, and he'll get the urine checked again in a few months, and we'll see. I have taken to reminding him that he needs to live, if not forever, then at least many many years, and he's smart enough not to argue with me.

What a good boy.