Pentagenarians & Beyond: April 20, 2025

This morning I did JS HiiT Walk, 30 minutes, 228 calories, average heart rate 140, and maximum heart rate 165.

Judy, great job with 45 minutes of Peloton Full Body Strength and 45 minutes of restorative yoga.

Diane Sue, nice job with LMR Functional Mobility Fusion. I’m glad that you looked up the vertebral procedure.

Cathy, nice job with 4DS High Intensity Step and Restorative Yoga.

Hello to Valerie and Shannon.
 
oday I did CDorner Step basic cardio 80's that she did today. I got to 20 minutes and it stopped playing and said it was live. So I did not get the last 10 minutes, 118 calories, heart rate 114/146, 2,152 steps. I did LMR cardio bonus, 15 minutes, 105 calories, heart rate 144/170, 1,087 steps. I finished with LMR yoga mix sun salutations and warrior, 23 minutes and estimated 55 calories as I forgot to stop my Garmin. That was the only yoga mix I have not tried. It will not be a favorite for me. I almost did CDorner mobility today, but she told what was in it and I did not want that much on hands and movement. I guess I got the same with Cathe anyway. Total time was 58 minutes, 281 calories, 3,239 steps.

Valerie, I was running the stuff this morning to my husband. At this point I was just scheduled to have the doctor that does it and think about it. I will run it by my daughter, and she will probably talk to her friends that are both doctors. Just for some feedback. My daughter has a lot of aging derm patients that share with her other things. I can wait and think about it. This has been going on for several years. Pain has just been bad lately and it was the only reason I decided to try the leflunomide which I now am not taking. It seems there specialists are sparce or further out in suburb city areas. The one my primary gave me is located on about an hour drive for me near my arthritis doctor. There are no rheumatologists near me. I wish there was. I was happy when I found a place linked to the big hospital group to go to get my Chest CT rather than drive to the heart hospital. I am getting my calcium score at the heart hospital in June and they have changed to downtown but do it on Saturdays at the heart hospital so I am going there. Oh, and my primary told me to check and see if the pulmonolgist has my old CT scans to compare with the new ones. This is because I am through 3 doctors now checking those nodules in the lungs for several years. Original doctor said if nothing changed after the 5th one and extending time between that I would not need to come back if not changed. They moved all of the pulmonolgists out of the heart hospital during covid. She said all of the records do not always end up in the last doctors hands and it is like starting the whole watch those nodules routine from scratch. Some wisdom on that one.

Cathy, nice work on the High Intensity step from 4 Day split. That one I have pulled out here and there. I really like it. Or I would mix both step workouts together.

Caroline, nice work on Jessica Smith Hiit Walk. I keep eyeing her Walking Strong 3 and those would probably be pretty safe to do.
 
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We did a park walk this morning at the state park. a lovely morning, sunny and calm and quiet except for birds. . a lot of the walk goes along top edge of a bluff with occasional spots to see the water below. i spotted a sea lion this morning swimming along just under the surface. Ive seen them before usually on a dock in a big group, barking . this was just one swimming just under the surface and coming up occasionally for air with a whoosh sound. looked like a giant cigar! I heard the sound first and thought maybe a whale, but no luck. we can get elephant seals but this was a plain old sea lion. about 90 minutes walk.

different areas of the country can differ in what each specialty covers. I looked up vertebroplasty. im not familiar with it. I dont know which specialty does it. I can see why you want to have thoroughly researched it before you decide if its worth doing it or not. it sounds like the skill of the person doing the procedure is important.
I have a rheumatologist. she started me on plaquenil. Shes in the same medical group as my primary and my endocrinologist. it helps for access to their notes and their communication with each other. also easier to access their notes for me since they go into the same MY Chart. I've been on plaquenil 2-3 weeks. I haven't noticed anything good or bad.
absolutely get as many professional opinions as you can. formal appts but just plain old word- of- mouth. we live in the Greater Seattle area so there are loads of specialists. sometimes too many possible people and its just confusing. i had my husband with me for all appointments. two sets of ears are better than one. his being a doctor didnt matter. he was very good at not making the choice of who to use and we agreed on who was the best choice. i used "balance sheets".... things I like listed on one side and things I didnt on the other side.
 
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Hi, ladies. Let's see. Tuesday I did Ilaria's Body Strikes 2, my favorite of the three. She's got a good sense of humor in that one. Yesterday I did my own yoga routine that did not include one single sun salutation. Hallelujah! I may switch to that way of doing yoga from now on, and throw in LMR Functional Mobility every so often. I've got lots of work, and I'm sorry I don't have time for personals. I hope everyone is doing well. Have a fantastic day!
 
Today I did STS 2 Lower Body 2, express. My time was 30 minutes with 92 calories burned. My average heart rate was 105 and maximum heart rate was 128. I had planned to do an added stretch but something came up that I had to deal with and I ran out of time.

Diane Sue, nice job with CDorner Basic Step, LMR Cardio bonus, and LMR Yoga mix. Jessica’s WS 3 is a good series to turn to. She has a variety of workouts that aren’t too hard on the body.

Shannon, great job with Body Strikes 2 and your own yoga.

Hello to Valerie, Judy, and Cathy.
 
We did a trail ride this morning, early when it was still cold. theres a bridge over a creek about 1.5 miles in to the ride where we always stop and adjust clothing. saw our first pair of mergansers there. at the halfway point we stop on a bridge over where two rivers join, and there we saw a whole lot of mergansers. 15 to twenty floating and feeding. no wonder we saw so many ducklings here last year. weve seen mergs on this river every year but never before so many adults who must be working their way up the river for good spots to nest..Such a nice morning.
 
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Wednesday was a rest day, I did 45 minutes of Yin Yoga. Yesterday I did 25 minutes of rowing and a 20-minute strength workout. Today I went for a walk and will do some stretching and core work later.

Diane Sue-Great job with LMR Functional Mobility Fusion, CDorner Step, LMR cardio bonus, and LMR yoga mix. I agree with Carolyn, WS 3 is a good series. Lots of variety and no dread factor.

Cathy-Great job with Stretch Max, High Intensity Step, and Restorative Yoga.

Carolyn-Great job with JS HiiT Walk and STS 2 Lower Body 2, express.

Valerie-Great job with your park walk and trail ride.

Shannon-Great job with Body Strikes 2 and your yoga.

Things will be pretty busy here next week but I will try to check in. I hope everyone has a nice weekend.
 
Hi, ladies. Just popping in for a second - still lots to do at work. Yesterday I did Pyramid Pump, total body, up only premix, followed by the abs that are on that disc. Six-pack #1, I think. I probably won't have time for a workout today. I need to go grocery shopping after work. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'll help my mom with some outdoors projects. She did too much yesterday, and her compressed vertebra (healed more or less, but of course permanently damaged) is causing her a lot of pain. I have told her several times to pace herself and not do so much in a day, but she won't listen. Sigh. Anyhow, I hope everyone has a very nice weekend. I'll see you on Monday.
 
Shopped yesterday. This morning I did Live In the Ring, and then PUB Up Only. Had to use the DVD for it. Apparently Intensity and everything before it are workouts that didn't get as chaptered for OnDemand as they are on the DVD's. No premixes are available, and I can't create it, because the chapters are broken into each body part, rather than each weight increment. So there's only one chapter for Chest, where in the newer workouts there would be 5 chapters. One for each change of weights. We got to 80 yesterday and it's 75 today so I've been out walking quite a bit. Lots of bird activity. Some a lot are migrants just pausing as they pass through, but some are birds we'll have all summer. Today we had a grosbeak back, we get a couple pairs that stay around all summer. We have a fair amount of chipmunks, some red squirrels and black squirrels, but one of the chipmunks has personality to spare. Very feisty and he'll run at the birds, much bigger than him, like Blue Jays and back them off from "his" prime feeding area. He's tried several times to run off the red squirrel, but that one runs off the black squirrels and the chipmunk may keep trying but I don't think he's winning that one. I can see approximately where he seems to live in the tree line and sometimes he'll go across the yard through the fence and others he goes up through the trees to the tree line. No idea what prompts him to choose one over the other in the moment.

Diane Sue it sounds like you are gathering info from great sources so that you can make the best decision about your back. I'm not a fan of Sun Salutations. Especially the way Cathe does them. That's one premix I haven't been able to work up any enthusiasm for doing.

Shannon I think we've discussed before the futility of suggesting things to parents!

Valerie it sound like you've had some great animal sightings lately. My Aunt and Uncle moved to Renton in the 80's. She passed away last year. He's in assisted living now. He worked for Boeing.

Hi Judy and Carolyn.
 
Today I did Step Sync, combos 1 and 2. That was33 minutes and 183 calories burned. My average heart rate was 113 and maximum heart rate was 156.

Valerie, nice job with the trail ride and seeing the mergansers.

Judy, great job with Yin Yoga, rowing, strength workout, and walking.

Shannon, great job with Pyramid Pump total body, up only.

Cathy, nice job with Live in the Ring and PUB, up only.

Hello to Diane Sue.
 
i guess I'm odd person here, always liked sun salutations. haven't done them since the spine surgery. yoga moves make me nervous these days. yoga focuses so much on spine mobility and its mostly off the table for me. i can do some things , but twisting moves are not good so i really have not made much use of the last workout series. i focus on ,more simple direct movements.
cathy we were so pleased to see all the mergs! warblers and other tiny tree top birds are hard to see but ducks are big enough where binoculars aren't even needed although we usually have some along. got to be a little careful riding a bike. usually we do our looking at pause and turn around points.

boeing used to be a bigger employer in this area than they are now. i moved here in early 70's. everything used to be related to boeing. when they moved corporate to chicago and parts/ assembly to NC and elsewhere it was disappointing. used to be a great place to work but their reputation has fallen a bit since. i knew people who worked there and loved it. i dont think its as happy as it once was. not many companies are.
i think ill take today off. just do therapy later today. DH had an orthopedic appt and his knee is ok although astill stiff and sometimes swelling a little. nothing requiring surgery, just a cortisone shot.
 
No workout yesterday. I had my bone density scan and yearly mammo. Today I did Raw Upper Body & Abs, with some adjustments on the abs since I looked up things to not do with fractures, spine issues etc.. This was 42 minutes, heart rate 91/136, 129 calories. I finished with a Youtube spine and back stretch and the foam rolling portion for upper LMR, 25 minutes, 51 calories. Total time 66 minutes, 180 calories. On abs, I did forearm planks, bird dog with a knee in and reverse crunches between the upper moves since I read that the twisting Russian Twist and sit ups to overhead press were not good for the spine.
I went through MY Chart and managed to get most of my stuff through there. So this time I will be able to see my results from yesterday. I actually got to see the report from 3 years ago on the last bone density scan. Also able to get all of my Heart Hospital stuff which my primary was asking me about. The arthritis place has their own app and I did not see how I could get them on My Chart. I already got the mammo and it was okay. Nothing new. They said it may take a week to get the bone density report.

Valerie, Plaquenil made me feel dizzy for a while when I first started taking it and I would end up having to lie down. I started taking one tablet evenings instead of 2 a day and my doctor said that was fine. I do not notice a lot of help, but when I have had to quit for a while it was somewhat noticeable on the pain level. The report I finally saw from 3 years ago said that in the next 10 years I had a 9.3% probability of a major osteoporatic fracture. This was disturbing on my part as all I heard from the doctor is to take 1200 mg calcium and do weight bearing exercise as bone density was lower. Also mentioned a hip fracture could happen. It bothers me since I have been doing weight bearing exercise. There is a lot of bending and twisting in yoga. I usually do the floor premix on the LMR yoga workout. Nice work on the trail ride yesterday.

Caroline nice work on Step Sync combos 1 and 2. I may pull out JS for the lower body workout. I have been going over workouts trying to find stuff that is not a lot of forward bending so my spine can heal.

Cathy, good job on Live In the Ring, and then PUB Up Only. The older dvds all have limited chaptering so when I want to separate portions it is not as easy.

Shannon great job on getting in Pyramid Pump, total body, up only premix, followed by the abs Six-pack #1. I guess I understand your mother wanting to do things and over doing it. It is nice that she has you to help her.

Judy, nice job on Wednesday's 45 minutes of Yin Yoga, yesterday's 25 minutes of rowing and a 20 minute strength workout and today's walk.
 
I did the whole range of therapy work today and half of stacked upper body. i jumped the weight up on what I did and also the reps. dont know why I was still using presses with 10 lbs so I went to 15 and it was fine. diane sue she had me start on 300 mg plaquenil. i take it in the morning . its a about a month now but haven't noticed anything. they tole me not to expect anything soon. its a bit of a stretch since none of my labs indicate even the slightest inflammatory process but my joints are deteriorating. so some kind of sero negative thing? bone density is down a little but not much. they are watching my calcium intake and levels too. getting old sure sucks and my crappy genetics are not helping. I have a followup with rheumatology but I forget when. i think its a televisit. those are nice if the drive is a problem or if its just followup questions and answers.
 
Today I did Live 30 Minute Hiit Express and Restorative Yoga.

Valerie my Uncle is 94 so he retired a long time ago. He was an engineer working on helicopters. Years ago the boys and I did a few weeks of yoga with a PT who was from India and she did the Sun Salutations a bit differently. She told us that children doing Sun Salutations every day a number equal to their age and then when they get to 21, all adults do 21 a day. I've never heard that anywhere since so I have no idea how wide spread that actually is/was.
 
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mostly taking today off. we will ride "something" tomorrow. DH got a cortisone shot in his knee and they said to hold off for a day or two so we did yard things today.

some critter got into our cold frame and tore up all the corn plant starts. dh is really ticked but we cant figure out who did it. it ate a lot of the plant roots so we are guessing a possum or raccoon? at first he was blaming the cat but not likely to eat something like that. its a wooden framed structure so something had to climb in there and its within a fenced garden so not deer.

In yoga class we did sun salutations a bit like burpees/mountain climbers but not as fast. i always liked them. i have decent triceps probably from doing those so often.

Boeing corporate made a decision to spread out their footprint into cheaper labor states. after finagling a big tax benefit here. i know its " just business", but it didnt set well with a lot of people here. when your uncle was working it was a different company. company and employees didnt have an adversarial relationship like they do now.
 
Today I did Jessica Smith Walk Strong 3 Lower Body, 33 minutes, 99 calories, heart rate 90/122. I followed with WS 3 Boogie IT 30 minutes, 196 calories, heart rate 138/184, 3,173 steps, and ended with JS Gentle Yoga knees and hips + a little of another JS stretch, 29 minutes, 58 calories. Total time 92 minutes, 353 calories.

Cathy, nice work on Live Hiit Express today. My husband mentioned the people in Thailand doing Tai Chi all over the place. He said they were not in good shape though. He mentioned it because I had bought a Beach Body Thai Chi set of workouts and was doing them. The irritating thing was that all of the discs were the same workout with a little added on till you did all of them.

Valerie, my hydroxychloroquine is 200 mg gm tablets so I guess two would be 400mg. I just do not tolerate that much so take one. I was sero negative as well. They did bone scans, x rays of my knees, feet and hands and blood work and came up with a whole list of things. There is definitely something going on though. What I don't get is I have taken calcium for years, eat well, make sure I eat foods high in calcium and get the other nutrients, and them telling me to do weight bearing exercise when I have been doing that for years, should be taking care of it instead of it getting worse. Obviously, something is off.
That is sad that some critter tore up your corn starter plants. I thought of you and your sweet corn when I bought corn on the cob for a salad last weekend and it was pale and rather tasteless. I wish you could purchase good corn in grocery stores. I have been eating a salad with greens, corn, grape tomatoes, avocado and some chicken drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice and it has become a favorite meal. Oh, and I put some dill and chives in it. Fresh or dried. Those moves that go through large movements like that and get into the warrior and back to the floor are not as easy as they used to be for me. I used to be good at them and burpees. Could do the move with my knees on my elbows and balance on my hands. My hands would never take it now.
 

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