Fitness Notes from MadDadKeith

Success is Beyond the Finish Line

2011-10-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

While I was tightening the laces on my shoes a young woman pushing her baby in a stroller took off down the trail. About a minute later I took off in the opposite direction. Sand Plum Trail is a meandering trail that is a mile long. It meanders around an area about an eighth of a mile in size, and is marked of in quarter-of-a-mile increments. She went clockwise. I went counter-clock wise. And, for me, it was slow going for the first quarter of a mile. I was just not into this walk. However, once I passed the first quarter of a mile I picked up my pase. I never know how long I am going to walk. There is always something back at the house that I need or want to do. And, these days, I just cannot find the enthusiasim for walking. The only thing that gets me through my walks are my desire to loose weight, and build stamina. And, I guess that is true for everyone. I have spent almost my entire life abusing my health. It is hard to change that pattern of behavior. By the time I retired from my sedentary trucker's lifestyle I had no muscle mass anywhere in my body. I have now lost 50 pounds, more or less, and plan to loose another 30. I am achieving my goals, but taking more time to do it than I wanted it to take. My biggest setback has been the Oklahoma winter and summer. I did good last spring, and I am back up to as many as 5 miles/day of walking here in the fall.By the time I had reached the 1/2 mile point I was up to my normal walking speed. I am naturally a slow walker, and even the 18 and 1/2 minutes that it takes me to walk a brisk mile is a fast pase for me. Now, by the time I had the finish line in site the young lady and her baby were walking past where we began, and starting another trip around the trail. Until that point I was considering making this a 1 mile trek, and coming back later for another. Seeing them start another round pushed me unenthusiastically into another round. Actually, I thought I would go to the first 1/4 mile marker, turn around and be satisfied with 1.5 miles for the walk. But, the closer I got to my turnaround point the better I felt. And, when I reached that turn around point I kept going. So, I now have a 2 mile start on the day, and I plan to take a least one more walk at some point during the day. When I take the walk will depend on what I can get accomplished at home. But, somehow, I will find the desire to keep going until I reach my goals.Three Steps to Success.1.) Set your goals.2.) Remind yourself constantly of why you have set your goals.3.) Keep pushing toward your goals. It will always be that little bit of extra effort that gets you closer to your goals.Three More Steps to Success1.) Keep it simple.2.) Keep it fun.3.) Get it done.

Self-Inflicted Wounds

2011-04-03T10:18:00.001-07:00

Back in February, I started out having a discussion with my doctor about my sleep apnea. She asked me if I was using my CPAP machine. I said no, I did not seem to need it. She started talking about my readouts show that my heart seemed to be doing fine, but wondered why I told her that I have times that my heart seemed to stop beating sometimes, and I would become short of breath. What it boiled down to was that this stuff was not happening when I was trying to sleep. I was simply getting emotional about stuff that I would think about on a day to day basis.

Now, by writing this down I am simply following my doctors advise. Since our discussion, I have been monitoring the things I am thinking about when these episodes happen. It boils down to only a few things. Here are the reasons in reverse (least problematic) order:
4.) My worry about not being able to work. I am growing more anxious every day about it. My physical health is improving, but my mental anxiety over this situation causes a lot of emotional distress.
3.) My music and my photography. My inability to earn money through working keeps me from being able to buy the toys I need to be able to improve my music and photography.
2.) I start thinking about what it is going to be like this summer when I see people that I have not seen in 40+ years.
1.) I cannot keep from dwelling on the losses I have had that, for the most part, can be attributed to bad decisions that I made, and the career path that I chose.

I am writing all of this down at the suggestion of my doctor. She thinks that my emotional health is more of a problem than my physical health. She thinks that if I write it down I may realize that most of the decisions I have made were good decisions with bad results that could be attributed to how other people reacted to them. At least that is what I think she was saying.

Now for the hard part. Here is a bit of the analysis I have made on each of the 4 areas of concern.

4.) I need to understand that I am now living off of the money that I paid into the system for my retirement. I need to understand that the condition I am in is the reason that I paid part of every paycheck I ever had into this system. I am now collecting what I paid for. I should be enjoying my retirement instead of being worried that I don't deserve it.
3.) My music is improving. Just keep working with the tools I have. Have some confidence in myself. Working at improving myself is easy. Having confidence is not. I have always given pieces of my life away because I thought other people deserved things more that I did. I have always felt that I was less than equal to everyone else. All I can do with my photography is just keep shooting, and hope that one day I can get the equipment that I need. I need to understand that I have the artistic ability. I have produced some excellent work under severe time constraints. And, what I lack most is experience on the business side. But, I can learn that. The art was self-taught. The business acumen can be self taught.
2.) If I put myself in a situation that is too emotionally packed for me I am definately running a risk that my heart may not be able to recover from. My doctor has suggested that instead of seeing everyone at once at a major reunion I should try to use my retirement time to make some trips to visit one or two of them at a time. And, although I would love to see everyone at the same time, I am thinking that she is probably right in this situation. I have already had a pretty rough time this morning just from sitting down to write this note. So, I may have to forego a class reunion.
1.) Nothing has affected me more than the hard decisions I have made throughout my life regarding my children, grandchildren, mother and father, brothers and sisters, and my extended family. This is the part of my life that has dominated every decision I have ever made. It is what turned that punk from a small town in Oklahoma into whatever it is that I am today. And, I am finding it too hard to even write about. I am the youngest of six children. One of my brothers died before I was born. All three of my brothers are now with God. I cannot speak about what the rest of my family went through. All I can say is that being the youngest of the family is probably what instilled my feelings of not deserving what everyone else had, not being as good as others. I can honestly say that the fits that I threw, and all of the bad actions that I went through in my youth was those of a scared kid trying to tell the world that I was as good as anyone else. Somehow, I lost the fighting spirit of my youth, and accepted my feelings of inadaquacies. That was my downfall. I cannot undo the past. I have to concentrate on the future. My conversations with God is what is bringing me through these episodes with the knowledge that if God was mad at me for the decisions I have made he has already punished me for the wrongs that I have done. I also know that he is the only one that can return to me the losses I have suffered.

Nutrition Rules to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle

2010-12-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

Because I am realizing that my body is trying to shut down on me again I have become bound and determined to get back on track with my fitness program of proper diet and exercise. I am finally learning to listen when my body talks to me.

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Nutrition Rules to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle

1. Eat every 2-3 hours. These meals should contain complete protein, vegetables and fruit.

2. For weight loss, have complex carbohydrates for breakfast and one hour after a work out only. For maximum muscle building you should also have simple carbohydrates such as dextrose and maldextrin with complete protein during and after exercise. For both weight loss and muscle gain, ingest complete protein, vegetable, fruit and complex carbohydrate meal one hour later. These carbohydrates are rich in fiber which will help you feel full longer.

3. Take greens plus/V8 as a vegetable supplement if you can't prepare vegetables during the day.

4. 25-35% of your diet should be good fats. These include extra virgin olive oil, salmon/fish oil, or other monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Try supplementing with flaxmeal or high DHA/EPA fish oil daily.

5. Only drink water, dark teas, red wine (one glass a night) and coffee.

6. Plan out your meals every Sunday. It will help keep you on the right track for success. Try and pack meals for the work week on this day in containers that are easy to bring to work.

Becoming a Personal Trainer

2010-10-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

The knowledge and craze among people to stay fit and look attractive is increasing. With passing time they have become more body conscious and have been investing in gyms and personal training to stay fit and healthy. So if you are passionate about keeping your body fit and are inquisitive about what factors play an important role then starting your career as a personal trainer would solve your purpose. There is several personal training courses that would help you gets the kind of training you are looking for. Fitness experts are an important part of fitness and healthcare industry. Today earning a handsome income is very easy being a personal trainer.

A personal trainer gives coaching and training to an individual personally and takes care of his entire body fitness. Personal trainer is well educated about all kinds of exercises for different body parts and diet that will keep the body healthy from inside. Personal training courses will help you learn basics and advanced things that are important to stay fit. A personal trainer with good experience can earn great money. Today everyone is so busy in their work schedule and usually hire personal trainers to tell them how to eat and exercise. This helps them in staying fit and looking attractive.

A personal trainer with certification from a reputed institute can very easily get a job and find a way to start his career. One can start by working at the gyms and spa centers and if you have enough money to start with your own gym you can even do that too.

With personal training courses you get the certification that shows your genuineness to the customers and they feel that you have all the knowledge that takes to be a personal trainer. The customers feel confident about you and his trust in you and your gym starts to build from that very moment. Personal training courses ensure that you acquire skills and education to help your clients stay fit and improve the fitness and power levels. There are many personal training courses like:

Nutrition

Injury Prevention

Fitness Assessment

Anatomy

Basic Aerobics

Cardiovascular Training

You can keep learning and acquiring more skills and certifications as you get more experienced in the field and become a fully skilled and informative personal trainer. This will help you in moving ahead in your career and establishing yourself as a qualified personal trainer.

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Amy Jones, the writer of the article enjoys helping people by providing information on personal training courses australia and personal training courses sydney tips.

More Than Physical Fitness

2010-10-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/

This web site does not endorse any company or product. This post is for your information only. It is your responsibility to obtain the information needed to make an intelligent decision about the advertisement.
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For every disease there is at least a dozen names for that disease. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I believe money is involved with most of every name, and most every diagnosis. For instance, I was diagnosed with "sleep apnea" about 6 years ago. I am recently retired from a 35 year career as an over-the-road trucker. I had to carry a CPAP machine on the truck with me. I have not used that machine since the day I retired. I have been sleeping gloriously well since climbing out of the truck up until the past few days. My machine is in Oklahoma. I am in Nevada. But, I will be able to use that machine next week to see if it helps. Personaly, I believe my current sleep habits are because of Nevada weather, the projects that I have going, and my own social/family situation. These may be part of the "sleep apnea" symptoms, but what I am getting at is that the name "sleep apnea" does not cover all of what is wrong with me. And neither does ADHD, ODD, nor all of the other medical names that medical people come up with. These names are used to briefly describe what doctors believe/know about the symtoms. Moneywise, from there it goes to the free market. what anyone can make you believe is up to you. Selling you cures or medications is the place of the free market. And, so it goes in the world of fitness. You can buy every gimic that comes on the market, but if it's not used it won't make a difference to your health. But, as consumers, we must remember that many of the things we are offered are nothing more than gimics.

Chocolate Milk vs Condoms

2010-09-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

Milk gets trashed. Not good for kids. Huh? Well, do the condoms fit?

Florida School Bans Chocolate Milk

Training and the Military Fitness Center

2010-09-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

It is my opinion that anyone can follow the information contained on this site to achieve top level fitness. In the military fitness is a lifestyle. From the moment you get off of the bus at boot camp you are programed to reach the highest level of physical fitness. And, this is why this has to be one of my top picks for web sites containing information on physical fitness. To top it off, the information in this site will surely be your cheapest way of reaching your highest level of physical fitness.

Military Fitness Center

Jennifer Chamberlin - a Facebook friend

2010-09-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

On Facebook and MySpace I have made a lot of friends who are hard into fitness. I have enjoyed my conversations with these people, and want to promote their fitness activities. To start with I want to introduce you to Jennifer Chamberin. Jennifer is a fitness model turned professional photographer. I have watched her photography business grow for more than a couple of years, and would recomend her services to anyone. Jennifer is a perfect example of a photographer who shoots the subject she knows best. She specializes in working with body builders, and brings their personalities center stage.

You can find Jennifer on Fb and MySpace. She has been a busy lady on both side of the camera.
Jennifer Chamberlin Photography

Fitness is More Than Physical

2010-09-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

Many people would not think that the following link would have anything to do with physical fitness. Wrong. It has everything to do with my weight, my appearance, my physical and mental health. It has everything to do with everything I have done for the past several years, and everything I will probably do for the rest of my life.

My Troubled Son

Quote of the Day

2010-08-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the others willing to let them. - Robert Frost

Getting on Track

2010-08-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I got 3 miles in yesterday, but none so far today. I have planned about a two mile walk for later today. I also plan to do some simple exercises. These days I cannot go without the sleep my body wants. This is the only reason that I believe the doctors are right about my sleep apnea diagnosis. My diet has improved since I have been off of the road, but I have to cut way back on my salt intake. My problem with salt comes, not only from the food, but from the 2 beers each day with V8 juice doused with salt.

All In It's On Time

2010-06-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

My biological makeup is that of a day person. I have always accomplished more by sleeping until 06:00 and working until the job was done. But, I now live in Vegas, and it is just a little on the warm side here. So, I am going to try to reset my biological clock to sleep during the day, and do my work after dark. I am lucky in that I am retired, and working on my own projects now. So, I am my own boss, finally. Hey, this feels good now that I am accepting my situation.

Most of this day was spent getting rid of spyware, malware and viruses. But, I think I got it done. The problem arose simply because I have not been updating my protection in the past two months. I all added up to my computer driving me crazy for the past couple of days.

One thing that has always puzzled me about authors is how they managed to make a living when first starting out. How can they concentrate on writing a book that may not sell if they have a family to feed, or even if they just have to feed and shelter themselves? I once had a photographer put me down because he was able to become a successful self-employed photographer over-night by himself. Now,my question is - how can you make chocolate milk without the chocolate?

But, now I am back to work. I have a couple of writing projects going, and I am back to work posting on my blogs. My biggest project, however, is still my photography, and I am back to work editing and posting my photos. The reason I am back to work and looking forward to the future is that the answers to many of my self-perceived problems are finally being given to me. Thank you God!!!

The Way Things Are

2010-06-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

Yukky stuff first:
I failed part (cardiogram) of a physical for employment this morning. I think it was not enough oxygen to the bottom half of the heart.

Bad stuff:
I cannot collect a VA "disability" pension and a "disability" check from Soc. Sec. at the same time. One will negate the other dollar for dollar. If my VA "disability" check is $900 and Soc.Sec. "disability" check is $1000 I can keep $1000. The way it stands now my Soc.Sec. check is for more than the VA check, so I would keep Soc.Sec. and drop VA.

Good stuff:
I am being told that I can collect a full VA "disability" pension check and my full Soc. Sec. "retirement" check with no penalties. The difference lies in the fact that one is for "disability" and one is for "retirement".

If I go to work:
I will loose both "disability" checks, and will not be able to get either one of them once I retire. It may also cost me whatever back-pay I may have coming on a Soc. Sec. disability check.

Results:
It might be pretty stupid of me to go to work at all siince I have little faith that I can put in the kind of hours that will be required of me, I feel the smart think is to take retirement.

Knowing When to Quit

2010-04-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

Ten minutes into today's walk I had to stop for about a minute. I was able to continue, but there had been about 15 to 20 seconds of discomfort in my chest. I won't call it pain, but I think it would have become pain if I had continued. However, after it subsided I was able to continue my walk at a moderate speed. I walked a little over a mile on the asphalt, done about 10 minutes weight training, and walked another 1/2 mile on the treadmilll. If I feel up to it later I will try to do at least another mile and more weights. Or, I will just relax for the evening. I am slowly learning that the key to good health is knowing when to quit.

Me - Today

2010-04-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

Slowly I am getting there.

Career Blockage

2010-04-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Spending a lot of time in vegetation mode with my brain right now. I am still walking 2+ miles, and exercising a bit each day, but my failure to find a job outside of the trucking industry has me a little depressed. I do not mind going back on the road as much as I mind the fact that no one wants to hire me to do anything else. Much of it has to do with the job market, and the economy. And, much of it has to do with my age. But, I think the door actually closed on a career outside of trucking the day I started driving a truck. Since that day I have not found a more rewarding career for me. Photography, music and writing are my strong points outside of trucking. However, I have learned in the last four months that I do not want to work for someone else at these endeavers. I will not give up the idea of freelancing with my photography or writing. And, I will return to my musical roots as soon as I can. But, everybody has to eat and pay their bills. So, it looks as though I either go back out on the road, or I retire.

Good home remedies for athlete's foot

2010-03-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

By Danelle Karth

Athlete's foot is a fungus that often makes its appearance as peeling between the toes, burning, itching, and sometimes even redness. It can be treated in several manners, including over the counter options, but there are also several home remedies that take care of it quickly and inexpensively. Anti-Fungal Soap. While only a small amount of cases are small enough that simply washing your feet...
read more:
http://www.helium.com/items/904504-good-home-remedies-for-athletes-foot

See more Health & Fitness articles at:
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Well, a good day so far. One mile walk on asphalt before cooking breakfast for four, a short article/post on O'Bama's revamp of education, two more miles on the treadmill, and about a half hour of weight training. And, maybe I will get some more exercise in sometime today.
Now, the following graphic was taken from Helium. I am experimenting to see how I can best serve readers of this blog. Please let me know if you like seeing these things. I do not want to over-advertise on any of my sites.
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Discipline

2010-03-06T05:06:00.000-08:00

Discipline. It takes discipline to maintain any endeavor in a positive direction. And, discipline, is what I have not had for the past few days. It is a good thing that I put in a six mile walk last weekend, because in the past six days I have done only about half of the walking that I should have done. What’s worse is the fact that I drank a six pack of beer with tomato juice and lots of salt. So, I am now paying for it this morning. But, I have had a busy morning so far. I have written one article. I have put a mile in on the treadmill. I am now posting this. Then I will eat breakfast, and head out on a 240 mile round trip. And, when I get back I hope to have enough discipline to walk another two miles before I edit and post more photos, and do more writing. But, let me tell you, I can feel the results of eating that salt. And, now I have to get it out of my system.
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I plan to expand this post into an article either later today, or once I get a few of my problems squared away.

Good Health - The Proven Way

2010-02-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

Ugh!

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I will be integrating information from this website into my overall health plan:
http://www.military.com/fitness-center/military-fitness/workouts/archive
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Except for the fact that I seem to feel better everyday I would think that I am making no progress in my persuit of health. The fact is my body is telling me that things are getting better. Truthfully, almost every muscle and joint on my body is going through changes. I think this is why after an especially active day, my knees feel like I someone hit me there with a hammer, when I am trying to stand up. But, after I walk around a bit they are fine. Best of all, the parts on the inside of my body are cooperating with me a lot more. Without going into graphic detail I will just say that my improved (still lots of room for improvement) diet, my walking exercises, and the few calisthenics that I do is helping all of my bodily functions. So, I am satisfied, but hungry for more. I am looking forward to the afternoon. I will have my chores done, and will be able to pursue what seems to be becoming an addiction - good health.

Learning the Healthy Way to Live

2010-02-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

This is your humble (and fat) correspondent. The photo was taken back in April, 2009. Basically it is also what I looked like when I retired from a 35 year trucking career on November 7, 2009.

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Losing weight the right way is not a crash diet. It is a simple philosophy that if you burn enough energy to shed more calories than you take in you will loose weight. I am not totally satisfied with my weight loss, but I understand the reasons for my setbacks. And, they are just setbacks. These are my 3 setbacks:

1.) I still do not have the energy that I need. This keeps me from moving around any more than I do. I am getting stronger every day, but this will take time.

2.) Inclement weather is keeping me locked in my home. Day before yesterday I went for a walk, but quickly turned back due to the cold.

3.) My diet is still not sufficient in energy producing foods. I am working on this, and have made great strides. Someday soon I will post a blog about the diet I have had for the past 25 years. You feed your dog and cat much more nutritional foods that I ate.

But, I am happy that I have improved as much as I have. As a matter of fact, yesterday was the first day of exercising that I was actually able to work up a sweat. And, I did it again today. These two days have been very exhilarating for me. That alone means I am making progress.

I have been researching several types of exercise programs, and I think I can implement a portion of at least three programs into my own special blend of exercises. I am doing this because I know where my weaknesses lie, and I do not want to do myself more harm than good by doing things that I should not be doing. Although tomorrow (due to family commitments) may be one of those off days for me, I still plan to start the day with some simple stretching and relaxing exercises. And, if the weather cooperates I may be able to meet my commitments and get my walks done. And, I will do some shopping in the next day or so for a better variety of foods that will include all categories from the four major food groups.

Dead on My Feet: )

2010-02-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

The following post was actually posted on another blog of mine (January 13, 2010) back when I had barely begun my quest for fitness. I may post a few more like this to illustrate the accomplishments and setbacks I have face so far on this journey. And, I will post some photos of my fat ass the way it was, is and will be.
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Getting physically fit will be no picnic for me. I have been walking for 1.5 hours. I walked slow, but steady. The major accomplishment was the fact that I was on my feet that long. It has been over 2 years since I have been able to do that. In my prior profession I was sedentary for most of the 12 to 18 hours per day that I worked. Couple that with heart disease and sleep apnea and you have a life style that can kill you. My weight, since heart surgery in November, 1972, has gone from a fat 220 pounds to a whopping 267 pounds when I retired from trucking in November, 2009. Since then I have lost over 20 pounds, tightened my belt my 3 notches (much of my visible girth was actually from swelling), and have worked my way up to walking 2+ miles per day. Today I walked slow, but still done right around 2 miles through the surrounding neighborhood. I have reasons to hope that by the coming summer I can easily be on my feet, and walking 6 to 8 miles each day. This will enable me to handle employment that will call for that stamina. However, I have a long, long, long way to go.

I will click a couple of self-portraits later today, and show off my - uh, beer gut..

Success and Failure

2010-02-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

Success and Failure - that is the story of each of our lives. I have always looked at life as a journey, not a destination. Life is our chance to learn and grow, to do things right and to do things wrong. I do not think it is possible to learn if you do not make mistakes, and in order to learn from them you should pay the consequences of the mistakes you make. I now believe that I have more than paid for the mistakes I have made in the past. I think it is time for me to let go of the past, and live for today. I should no longer worry about what others think of me. I cannot control those feeling anyway. I can, however, control the direction of my life, and how I live it. Because of things that have changed in my life in the past few months I believe I am in the process of changing my life's path. And, I believe that what I am today is an improvement on what I was yesterday, and that I now have the opportunity to take what I learned from yesterday and make my tomorrows better.

Yesterday's Blog

2010-02-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

This is a brand spanking new blog, and I am starting out with yesterdays post from another blog. But, it was a milestone day for me, and I wanted to share it. In a few days I will get more into detail about what I want this blog to accomplish. That information will probably be put in the sidebar of this blog.
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2 Miles in 40 Minutes

For the shape I started out in three months ago, and with the weather that we have had, I guess I can't complain. But, I can wish that I were doing more. When I retired on November 7, 2009 it was all I could do to get out of my vehicle and walk into the house. I weighed 267 pounds, and for 35 years have led a very sedentary life.

My profession as a truck driver was not much help. Yes, I see a few truckers are taking the time each day to get a little exercise in. And, some of them are taking the time to stop and eat square meals. But, I think very few of them will say that they honestly put the miles in that I did on a day in and day out basis.

At any rate. it was actually late in December before I even felt like starting a regimin of walking. My first walk was about 1/2 mile. I have since worked my way up to a 4 mile day, but only a couple of times. I have had several 3 mile days. But, the cold weather has put a damper in making anymore headway - until today. I now have suitable exercise clothing to use the exercise equipment that is available in the apartment complex where I live. Yeah, my vanity was showing. I did not want to go where other people were working out while I had to wear my jeans and street shoes. So, I will now try to descipline myself to an exercise program that will help me lose weight and gain physical endurance. Also, I may start using the Pilate's Exercise program, mixed in with some Yoga. I am still researching that stuff though.