Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B November 1, 2026

We did a local park walk this morning for 1 hr 20 min. its hilly and quite uneven with gravel, rocks, roots and lots of fallen leaves. my back gets sore and now so does my hip. i see orthopedics next week, a week from today. feels like i will never get there. i always walk with poles. its a little extra calorie burn and definitely keeps my arms moving. ive used poles for 20+ years. they give extra stability, burns a few calories and keep my hands from getting puffy. ive always had that problem and used to keep my hands higher when i hiked but using poles serves multiple purposes.

so United health care owns the medical group where my primary care people work. that alone is a crazy conflict of interest. this year the group stopped taking orders from "outside" their network docs, even if you got most of your care thru them. if they got orders for an xray or CT scan from "outside", they just tossed them. didn't even tell the docs who ordered the tests. it was up to patients who tried to make appts for the ordered tests to get orders re sent elsewhere, after you figured out who could do the ordered test under your insurance plan. . so instead of using a handy facility 5 minutes away that's part of my primary care network, i need to go to the hospital a good distance away and my only option unless i switch to a different physician in their network which is not convenient. health care needs a major redo!!

i used to make bread all the time but we ate more sandwiches then. i made dough in the bread machine and finished it manually. i like bread especially home made but switched to famous Daves bread and am happy. we dont eat enough to make it anymore. i weigh 20-25 lbs less than i did then too. not all due to bread but i eat less than i used to and so it was an all over reduction in intake.
 
TGIF! It probably doesn’t make much difference that it’s Friday to all you retired ladies, but it sure does to me. Whew, what a week. Nothing horrible, just very, very intense. My brain was mush last night, LOL. I didn’t feel capable of counting reps, so I ditched the weight workout and did some relaxing yoga!

Carolyn – good work with RWH Legs.

Judy – Nice job with your Peloton workouts and PT work. I guess the PT work is going to be a lifelong thing? My sister still struggles with sciatica too.

Valerie – your walk sounds lovely. I’m sorry it hurts your back and hip. My hands get puffy if I do long walks in the summer, but not in the winter. I’ll walk for a bit with my arms up over my head, LOL. United Health Care sucks. Excuse my language, but it really does. We’ve had the same problems, had to find new primary care docs, etc.

Hi to Cathy.
 
Backtracking on Wednesday I did STS Disk 2, Thursday I shopped but did do My LMR2 Cardio Combo, then today I did STS Disk 3.

Valerie I have a chocolate issue, but unless I’m traveling it’s not bad. I put dark cocoa powder in my breakfast smoothie, but most days that’s it. I could never eat one bite of chocolate a day. It’s been a long time since I did McDonald’s. In high school we could leave at lunch and had time to go hit the strip which at the time was McD’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Penguin Point (Chicken) and Burger King Chef. We ate so healthy‍♀️ The health system is SO messed up. With the new rates even more people are dropping insurance. My sister has been messing with their budget to make sure they stay under the cap and keep their subsidy. As it is the deductible will be so high that they are really just paying for catastrophic care. We are lucky that we both worked for the state and has access to that insurance still.

Carolyn like chocolat, I have an issue with bread. Those are my two big food cravings!

Judy I’m glad you were able to get some relief from your pain.

Shannon I hope you find a solution for cardio.
 
This morning I had another doctor’s appointment. This one was my annual with Primary Care.

I also have United Healthcare, but I haven’t encountered any of the problems that you have. It’s offered through the State Health Benefits as a part of my retirement. I’ve had the same primary care doctor for over 20 years. United Healthcare doesn’t own the medical practice. Most practices in Georgia are a part of one of the local networks as is the one where I go, rather than a national network like United Healthcare. Emory Healthcare, Piedmont, and Welllstar are the major networks here. I do agree that our healthcare system needs some major improvements.

Judy, great job with the Peloton walk, PT, Peloton Upper Body, and 10 minute ride. I didn’t get my blood work done ahead of my appointment this time. I try to do that so that my doctor has the results at my appointment.

Valerie, because I make my bread from fresh milled flour it has all parts of the wheat retained, unlike whole wheat from the store. It’s another component of my whole grain diet. Overeating it would be very uncomfortable with all of that fiber! It tastes good and is also good for me.

Shannon, I hope that you enjoy your Friday!

Cathy, great job with the STS workouts and LMR2 Cardio Combo.
 

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