Category Archives: A to Z Blogging Challenge

E is for Exercise

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I do a lot of exercise. Believe it or not, I even like it! I’ve been a walker for a lot of years. For most of my walking miles, David has been with me and I think of it as our alone time where it’s just us and no distractions. But even when David hasn’t been home, I still walk. 

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I was waiting to lose down to a certain weight to start running again. I used to run a lot in the early 1990s but felt like I was just too heavy to run now even though my walks were getting faster and faster and I had friends on the runkeeper app encouraging me to just run.

When we moved here, I left the scale behind. Because I had no idea if I was at the magical number that would allow me to begin running, I just started running. And it was hard. No, it was HARD. 😀 I ran quite a lot of distance back in the day and I just don’t remember it being so hard back then. Of course I was 25 years younger so that could’ve had something to do with it. But I persevered telling myself, “pretty soon, this will be your warm up”.

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Now, I’m not there yet but I have been able to to gradually increase my mileage and I’m now up to two miles a day. Best of all, I’m getting air all the way down to the bottom of my lungs the whole run. Which is great since I like to breathe.

And cycling. How I love that. I’ve been doing that twice a week since I got my bike. I go a little further each time and it’s just fun. 

Every day living here in Downtown San Jose, involves a lot of exercise. Unless I have the dog or  something really heavy, I always take the stairs. Our apartment is on the third floor and the garage is even one floor further down. I walk every where downtown. Library, grocery store, post office, dinner. It’s great. I’ve been more active here than I have been in a lot of years.

And I like it. I really do. I love feeling strong when I’m walking down the street. I love feeling accomplished when I get done with a run or bike ride. I know this is good for my health but it’s also good for my mind. I am a rare person who doesn’t wear headphones while exercising. I have deep discussions with my inner self and I come to a lot of conclusions, make a lot of plans this way.

If you don’t exercise every day let me encourage you to give it a try. Even just a ten minute walk to start is better than nothing at all. Then work your way up little by little until you are enjoying more physical and mental well being. You’ll be glad you did! 😀

D is for Devine Grind

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I was excited when I learned that for the Saturdays in April’s A to Z Challenge, I could find coffee places to visit. Today, the first Saturday, is D and Devine Grind is right around the corner from where we live. I walk by all the time and was happy to finally go inside.

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We were greeted by Winifred, the owner. I was excited to see an almond croissant and told her that I was going to have one in honor of my half-birthday. She asked me what a half birthday was and seemed tickled at the idea and wished me a happy half birthday. Noticing her accent, I asked her where she was from. She told me Nigeria. At that point, David jumped in because he’s done a lot of work in Nigeria and they chatted about that for a little bit.

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We placed our order which Winifred offered to heat up for us. Then we took our coffee outside to sit. It was such a lovely morning and I’ve felt “outside eating” deprived for a long time and sit outside every chance we get.

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The almond croissant was delicious! I haven’t really eaten sugar like that since before September 1, 2014 and it made me feel a little wasted but it was such a nice treat along with the delicious coffee.

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David got a breakfast burrito that had eggs, sausage, hash browns and cheese, served with a side of salsa. He said it was really good, too.

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When we came back inside to drop off our dishes and say good bye, we got a chance to meet Winifred’s husband, Joseph. They are such nice people and our experience at Devine Grind is one I’ll look forward to replicating many times in the coming months! 🙂

 

C is for Cycling

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I had two conditions for moving to California. One, that we could live downtown and two, that I could have a bike. Well, I’ve got them both. 

I love, love, love living downtown and I also love this bike. Even though I’m pretty sure it’s the wrong kind. I went to get a bike a week or so after we got here. I was actually looking for a different one but they didn’t have it. So I chose this bike. 

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I chose it because it’s pink and black, it was there, it was a good price and it didn’t have skinny little tries on it. I must admit that at my weight, I’m terrified of those skinny little tires. I’m pretty sure they make Fatties for folks like me. 😉

Anyway, I do like this bike. It’s pretty and it’s a nice ride except it’s almost too easy. I understand, from my novice point of view, that there must really be a difference between a bike made for the street and a bike made for off road. I really would like a bike that is a little harder to ride. 

This morning, as I rode into a strong north wind, I got the resistance I wanted although my fingers about broke off from being so cold. I try to hit all of the hills I can find to give myself a little bit of a tougher workout.

I do know I will get another bike some day soon. When I get that one, I will go to someone knowledgeable, tell them what I want to do with it, share my fears about the tires popping and let them help me select a bike that’s appropriate for what I want to use it for. 

Until then, I’ll continue to ride the bike I have and love every minute of it. Because riding this bike now is just as fun as riding one was when I was a kid. 🙂

*This was written after my Tuesday a.m. bike ride. 

 

B is for Bananas

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It was about a year ago that David and I went to Banana Island. Banana Island, you ask? Where is that? Well, Banana Island is essentially a cleanse where you eat only bananas. We did it for three weeks and we felt amazing. 

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I figured it was an easy way to get started on the high carb, low fat, raw vegan lifestyle and I was right. It’s the only thing I ever did where I didn’t have sugar withdrawal.  Now, bananas are a HUGE part of our lives and we go through a lot of them each week.

Because we eat so many bananas each day, we always have to have some ripening. Since we moved, we still haven’t gotten far enough ahead of the game to have some to freeze and make ice cream out of which is a deficiency I need to correct. Soon. Spooning banana ice cream (frozen bananas put through the juicer with a blank = soft serve) off of celery sticks is a taste treat like no other. I also saw a recipe for mint chocolate chip ice cream yesterday that I’d like to try. Anyway, I digress.

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Bananas are super good for you. We wait to eat them until they have brown spots on them. This makes them easier to digest and gives you a whole range of health benefits. 

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The other day, I got the surprise of a lifetime when I opened a banana and found twins inside! Trust me, I’ve eaten a lot of bananas in my 54 years and I’ve never seen this before. I was so weirdly excited. 

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I have blogged about bananas before but in the event you missed why I eat so many, the reason is because they are calorically dense. I’m a pretty large (5’11’ on a large frame) and extremely active person. If I eat a pound of lettuce, which is a lot of food, it’s still only around 100 calories which isn’t good enough. The bananas help to keep my calorie levels up. 

They are also a good workout. When I buy a case of bananas, 15 bunches, it’s somewhere around 40 pounds. I have to squat those babies eight times to get them from the car to the apartment. 🙂 

So, anyway, that’s the story of bananas in my life. I love them, they fill me up, they’re delicious. 🙂

A is for Athletic Mission

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After a rough start, our gym Athletic Mission Baseball Academy is off and running.

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It’s finally an actual school baseball season and it’s so exciting to hear reports of how great our clients are doing every day. 

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Geoff employs techniques in training that are very different from the information that’s been taught by everyone else. After being injured in college, he spent years educating himself on what causes injury and how to improve as a player without injury. These are the techniques he’s using to train our clients and they’re working!

Even at a young age, kids come in expecting that their arm is going to hurt after a game. But it doesn’t have to be this way. As they learn the new techniques, they are able to put them into practice  and see improvement quickly. Which is awesome if you’re someone like me who gets impatient waiting for anything. 😉

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One of my favorite things we have is the Neurotracker. Although it was originally designed to help kids with ADHD focus, it’s been shown to help with athletic performance and many of the professional hockey and football teams use it. We’re actually the only facility in the midwest offering the Neurotracker to youth athletes and I’ve been sitting on pins and needles waiting to see the outcome. And not on the field. As a mom, I was really curious to see how it would help our athletes in the classroom. Geoff says that it’s been really great for our pitchers on the field and that many of the kids are reporting better grades. While we can’t absolutely prove the Neurotracker helped in the classroom, it’s one factor that wasn’t there before so it makes me happy to see it helping that way, too. 

It’s great to see Geoff’s passion for the game  (and for the guys) coming through when he talks to me. But it’s even more exciting to sit back and read the reports from parents and kids when they have a really good game and their improvement is so evident. 

Walt Disney said, “Observe the masses and do the opposite.” 

“This defines us,” Geoff says.

I love it. 🙂