Category: Uncategorized

Jump Rope

I’m throwing way back to jumping rope as a kid today.  I loved jumping rope – I didn’t need anyone else to play and for a kid with OCD tendencies, I loved seeing how many jumps I could go before I missed.

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My new jump rope

My trainer made us jump rope in kickboxing class a couple weeks ago – and I seem to be hooked again.  I just bought a jump rope and I’m loving it!  I’m jumping in the garage so I don’t freak out the neighbors but it’s still big fun.  Note –  I learned the hard way to wear shoes since the rope is covered with little plastic “tubes” and they HURT when you land on them!

Bonus?  All the jumping may help me with my weight!  Want to try?  Get your own rope and start jumping!  Need a little more motivation?  Check this out:

Plateaus

I’ve hit a plateau.   Or if I’m honest, maybe I fell off the wagon with my eating and workout habits.  In my mid-50’s, it isn’t easy to maintain my weight anymore.

Weighing InIt used to be easy for me – no matter what I ate or did my weight stayed pretty stable.  In fact, I had a hard time keeping weight on in my late 20s and early 30s!  But boy has the old metabolism changed with the onset of menopause.  Between the hormones and my last sedentary job, my weight was up nearly 50 pounds from where it was in my 30s.  So about 3 years ago, I made a conscious effort to change.  I became a gym regular and started watching my diet closer.  And I was rewarded with a 20 pound weight loss.  I was at a healthy weight and I felt good – but lately the weight has been creeping back up again.

Part of it is that life has been a little stressful over the last year between career issues and my Dad passing away and I haven’t been as careful about my diet or exercise as I had been.  But I’m back on track now and hoping my pants fit better over the next few weeks.

My point is, it’s easy to fall off the wagon – the trick is getting back on.    Want some advice on managing weight when you’re older?  Check out these resources:

Apollo 11

Apollo 11This week marks the 49th anniversary of the first steps on the moon.  I have a vested interest in the event having grown up in Wapakoneta, Ohio – home of Neil Armstrong.  And I also count myself fortunate that the Armstrongs were family friends – so in spite of the fact that I was only 6 years old, I vividly remember being at Neil’s parents’ house for his homecoming party after the Apollo 11 mission.

Apollo 11 launched July 16, 1969 with mission commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins on board.  It was the second space flight for each of the astronauts with each having their inaugural flights in the Gemini program.  The official call signs for the modules of Apollo 11 were Columbia for the command module and Eagle for the lunar lander.

The mission went fairly smoothly on the flight out to the moon – and then came the lunar landing on July 20th.  The computers on the Eagle famously overloaded which lead to Armstrong taking the controls for a manual landing with only seconds of fuel to spare before the mission would have needed to be aborted.  The mission schedule called for a 4 hour sleep period after the landing but thinking that the landing excitement would have kept them from sleeping, Armstrong and Aldrin immediately began preparations for their walk on the moon.

Apollo_11_first_stepOn his way down the 9 rung lunar module ladder, Armstrong deployed a remote TV camera allowing the world to see the grainy video of “one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”  About 20 minutes later, Aldrin joined Armstrong on the moon’s surface and they began their mission to gather moon rock and soil samples, set up a seismographic device and set up a retroreflector device that would allow precise measurement of the distance between the earth and the moon.  After an hour and a half on the moon’s surface – which incidentally also included a phone call from President Nixon – Aldrin returned to the lunar module followed by Armstrong about 40 minutes later.

In all, Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the moon’s surface before the Eagle blasted off to rejoin Collins and Columbia for the trip back to Earth.  Spashdown came on July 24th in the Pacific Ocean.

Want to know more about Apollo 11?  Check out these sites:

And because it’s in my hometown – also check out the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum website.

Can’t wait to go home for the 50th Anniversary Moon Festival in Wapakoneta next year!

 

Fortune Telling

I have no idea why I’ve been thinking about it, but remember when we were kids and made paper fortune tellers?  Sort of a low-tech Magic 8-Ball?  Let’s relive that today and make one.  I know I could use the answers to life’s questions today and this is as good of a method to find them as any!

If you never made one, here’s a video showing you how to do it – Enjoy!

Yawn….

Last night was one of those nights when I just couldn’t sleep.  I’m working on about 3 hours of sleep right now – yay!  It’s OK for right now but that 8PM kickboxing class is going to be rough tonight!  We all have occasional sleepless nights but when does a sleepless night become insomnia?

insomnia (1)Most sleep experts define insomnia as difficulty falling or staying asleep with the type  based on its frequency/duration.  We’ve probably all experienced acute insomnia which is characterized as brief and generally caused by life circumstances/stress.  Acute insomnia generally resolves on its own without medical intervention.   I’m diagnosing myself with this type of insomnia – and I’m guessing I’ll have no trouble sleeping tonight after I get home from the gym.

On the other hand, chronic insomnia is generally defined as interrupted sleep which happens at least 3 nights a week that lasts at least 3 months.  This kind of insomnia can have various causes like changes in environment, unhealthy living habits, underlying medical conditions to name a few.   Treatment can involve behavioral, psychological, or medical elements (or some combination of them).  If you have chronic insomnia, it’s best to work with a doctor to put together an effective treatment plan to get you back to a healthy sleep pattern.

Some fun facts about sleep:

  • According to a study published on the ScienceDirect.com website, about 12% of us dream in black & white rather than color.
  • Most people forget their dreams within 5 minutes of waking about 50% of the time.  After another 5 minutes, 90% of the memory of most dreams is gone.  Freud said that was because dreams represent repressed thought so our brains try to get rid of them.   But hey – that’s Freud!
  • Mild snoring is nearly universal.  Think you don’t snore?  At one time or another you do!
  • Humans are the only species that will voluntarily delay sleep.
  • Lack of sleep can lead to overeating.  True!  Sleep deprivation leads to a drop in the hormone that regulates appetite.  That’s why a good weight loss program should not only addresses diet and exercise, but should also include promotion of healthy sleep habits.

If you know me, you know I generally avoid caffeine because it’s kinder to everyone around me but today I may need to make an exception!  Coffee anyone?

Summer To Do’s

summer storyNow that the 4th of July is in the rear view mirror, it’s time to take summer seriously.  So I’m putting together a list of things that are summer staples – things you should definitely do before the summer slips by and is over.  Here goes:

  • Take a trip to the pool or the beach.  What is summer without the water and a chance to work on our tan?
  • Blow bubbles with the kids.  Or with your pets.
  • Go to an amusement park.  Ride that roller coaster!  (Or maybe just the carousel?)
  • Go to a festival or fair.  Win a prize playing a game, eat junk food and enjoy the people watching!
  • Catch a lightning bug.  You don’t even have to put it in a jar!
  • Go to the Dairy Queen or local ice cream place and get a cone to eat outside.
  • Have some corn on the cob.
  • Eat a slice of watermelon and see how far you can spit the seeds!
  • Walk barefoot in the grass.  Even better right after it rains…
  • Eat a popsicle.  Or 12.  I’m not judging.
  • Go to a baseball game.  I’m partial to the Cubs but I also like watching the kids at the local park.
  • Go for a hike.  And try to make it somewhere that you aren’t hiking on concrete!
  • Go to the zoo.
  • Sit in the sun and read a good book.
  • Watch a sunset.

That’s my list – any other suggestions?  Let me know in the comments!

Locusts. Or Cicadas.

While I was on my Founding Fathers theme weeks, I noticed the first sound of fall – cicada.  We called them locusts when I was growing up but that was a misconception.  One of my aunts used to say it was 6 weeks to fall when you started hearing the locust.  So did they start singing later in the summer back then?  If so, by my aunt’s reckoning fall would be coming in mid-August this year!  But I’m getting off subject – locust and cicada are not the same insect.  In fact, they’re barely related.

CicadaCicada are from the superfamily Cicadoidea of the insect world – are part of the Hemiptera order or true bugs.  They closely related to aphids and bed bugs (EW!).  Cicadas have prominent eyes, short antennae and transparent wings.  Typically, they live in trees and feed on watery sap.  There are annual species of cicada that emerge every year and there are periodic species that spend most of their lives as larvae underground and only emerge every 13 or 17 years.

Locust.jpgLocusts are a type of grasshopper from the insect order of Acrididae and they’re most memorable for their voracious appetites and swarming behavior.  Remember the plague of locusts from the Bible story of Moses?  Typical locusts.  In adulthood, they move in swarms of millions or even billions of insects – but fortunately for us here in North America, there are no species of swarming locusts located here.

So why do we so often call cicadas locusts?  The confusion goes back to colonial times when periodical cicadas (like the 17 year cicada) showed up in huge numbers that were mistaken for swarms.

Want to know more about cicada and locust?  Check out these links:

As for me, I’m just going to wait for the cicada to start singing this evening – it’s a nice sound don’t you think?