Exercising the Pilates Way.

Picture of Joseph Pilates at around age 50!


Pilates Has been around in the United states since 1926. Joseph Pilates moved to New York City in 1926 and opened a studio. It seemed to be a exercise for the actors and dancers. Movie choreographers embraced his matwork exercise,which he called "The Art of Contrology". His style of exercise was very helpful for posture and flexibility. When a lay person first heard of Pilates it was associated with a machine. The kind in Health clubs, too expensive for the common person. Over the years pilates has become more reachable for the common person. Nowadays one can get a machine that is portable! Bringing the Pilates into your own home.

It is not the machine I wish to write about, rather the Matwork. There are 34 original exercises. I have several DVDs and a book called the Pilates Directory. I find the floor exercise to be very good. If you are limited to certain types of exercises , Pilates offers a Very Low impact routine. It is my mode of choice nowadays. I was born with Scoliosis (Curvature of the spine). Because of this condition it is hard for me to do some exercises, my spine is not that limber! I found that when I did Pilates the back did not hurt and I had no aches after a 30-45 minute workout. Pilates main work is to develop a strong center core. Working these muscles help your posture , strengthening the back, and keeping the organs in place. Believe it or not you also loose fat cells, by breath control while preforming the exercise.
Pilates lived til he was 87 years old. Joseph trained several people who carry on his work. And with today technology there is no reason not to try Pilates in your own homes. With in 10 sessions you will feel the difference, by 20 you will notice a change and in 30 you will have a new look!
Run to the store, the Library, or check the internet for DVDs to try out Pilates. Happy Exercising to the New Fit You.

Shopping Update.......I did it!!

Update......I made it to the store. My Daughter went with me. I stayed focus and got the meat we needed. Plus school items for lunches. Tomorrow I get to go to the Dairy and Veggie center. Healthy eating...back on track.

Depression versus Weight control

I have really gone off the track. It is not that I have been gaining weight as much as I have not been in control of my habits. I have the backwards sliding syndrome. You know the one, childhood comfort foods. Or a better description, Preteen eating. When you could eat anything and it would not effect you!! It has been a Struggle to continue to loose weight. The plateau is not my problem! I have been really missing Mom. So, my depression is the real problem. I just do not feel like cooking, eating or shopping for food. Therefore when I need to eat, whatever I have in the house get eaten. And there is a lot of Chocolate!!! Okay hear comes the justification. Chocolate helps lower your blood pressure. Chocolate is good for the Memory , a new study showed ... dark chocolate has been associated in boosting the memory skills. The antioxidants in dark chocolate are good for health, keeps you from getting sick. The more antioxidants the better,right? So,the problem lies in... if that's the only thing in the house then I am in trouble!!!

The mourning period is different for everyone, I just get an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. Mom and I were a "loose the weight" team, I no longer have that. We went on Adkins together and lost over 40 pounds each. Then mom got cancer and Adkins went out the window. Comfort food came back into our lives. Dealing with the Chemo and Pain caused the food choices to be more child like. So, I gain weight, Mom lost weight. After the first chemo go round I just wanted to get back to loosing the weight. I tried the Southbeach plan. Something in the food, probably the Soy or Splenda, caused a reaction to my skin. I looked like I was being beat up. My eyes were in trouble. One year going to the eye doctors and being put on Steroids. Only to be a temporary fix. I stopped all the soy and Splenda products. Went back to raw sugars and heath food items. One year later my eyes and skin are finally better. Now this is the largest problem. Every Diet, Protein, low calorie or Diet control drinks have Soy or Splenda(sucralose)in them. Some have Maltitol Syrup in them which does havoc in my bowels. All the Programs, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrasystem and others have the products I listed.Therefore I have to make every thing from scratch.

Back to the cause, My depression is interfering with my weight control.I get so down that I can't even finish shopping. I will leave the cart and come home with nothing. Anything can trigger that feeling!! I really hope I will be able to shop tomorrow. My Cupboards are getting bare and the refrigerator is looking empty.

Fitness Friday-"Calgon Take Me Away!"

This week started out on a good foot. I have been down emotionally this week, (Missing my Mom). Some Days are like that. My routine I wanted to be in, Just did not pan out. Monday my daughter had no school. Tuesday I had meetings, hubby decided New tires were need for my car. Went 45 minutes away to have them installed, got home and had to go back. The tires were unbalanced and I would not be able to make a Trip to Virginia planed for Thursday. There went that day. Wednesday I had laundry, pack, need money (to the bank),Shop(Daughter told me on Tuesday night need bathing suit for trip). Urrugh, Calgon Take Me away. Stress! stress! stress!. Comfort food,Ahhh... Better now.

Come In and Sign In Please......

Remember that TV show What's my Line? A Person would sign in and then questions from a panelist of four actors began (sometimes they were blind folded). The object was to guess what the person did. Well with Bloggers it is similar. One will visit the blogs to learn about that persons Life. You have to visit often to learn more. Entrecard is the Panelist means. One signs in and starts searching with questions in mind. With the changes at Entrecard I have been thinking, What will happen if Entrecard decides My blogs are not worthy of their site? How will visitors still follow my Blogs? If you Visit my Blog you leave a link, whether through EC , Blog Comments , Blog catalog or Goggle Followers, and I visit you! One thing I have been doing, as of this week, is signing in as a follower on the sites I like. when there isn't a follower sign in, I've been bookmarking them and adding to my favorites. If you visit and like my blogs please Sign in as A Goggle Follower located the right section side. You can do this on All of My Blogs, At Home,CookBook, BookReviews, Getting Fit, and Family Fitness. I want to continue to Visit your Blogs to learn more about your Life, At my Age the memory is not so good... At least that is what my teenager keep reminding me of. Now if you can not sign in on the Followers Sections, Leave your URL in the comments section. Thanks, Ya'll come back now.

A New ExerciseTool Added

Look up on the Banner. I found this tool in Blogosphere land. Added it to my page in hope of reminding me to exercise. Another way to stay accountable. The goal is to give thirty minutes per day to some sort of exercise. The runner will move daily. Now for your help! When you visit and see the runner in the same place as the day before,Give me a shout. There is a shout box on the right side, under the EC drop box. Simply say: noticed runner not moving or what ever your fancy. Keep in mind my young daughter views this page,so keep it clean. My goal is to loose 10 lbs by June. That I think I can do. Now off to Wii I go!!!

Fess up Friday- It Flew Out the Window!!

Here I go flying out the window. Yeh your right, that 5:30 am Exercising never happened. With Spring Break, sleeping in, visiting Dad and any other excuse the early morning routine just did not Happen. So now this was my routine this week; Up at 6am, turn computer on, started Coffee, made lunch for daughter, logged in on blog site, checked e-mail, put laundry on, make beds, got dressed, picked up clothes off the floor(My Daughters-Still can't get her to put them away),Check Bathrooms(4 of them),Start surfing and Dropping EC, Vacuum, write and post Blogs, Fold and hang Laundry items,Put them away, Walk around home,walk around outside, Drop More ECs, check on e-mail, Fix dinner and so on. Some of that can be consider exercise,huh. I try to use the Pedometer and still it zeros it self out. Now that can mean I walk more then it can register. I think I take that reasoning. On the calorie burner scale my day burns about 3000 cal per day. Still not enough to be on the loosing side. Maybe this next week will be better.

I am starting this Fess Up Friday post this is the second one. Here's how it works. Post something you need to fess up, Maybe you didn't eat healthy,your exercise plan went out the window or you just goofed up. It is hard to stay on track if we just keep telling ourselves "Oh Well". Learning from ours and others goofs can strengthen all of us on our road to a healthier you. so lets have some laughs, tears and fun sharing Our week Goofs. Link your site through Mister Linky and place your Post on your blog. Let the Fun begin.

Eating Out on Mars! WW#1

A link to the recipe "Haley's Comet Green Beans" Part of my Eating on Mars Series. Hubby says "never seen a overweight Martian, they are all fit and Healthy". Healthy Martian food it is! Trek on over and try it out! Cyberspace is the way to travel.Join us for a Martian Spring and Summer. If you go to NYC be sure to visit Mars 2112 for a fun Rocket trip and a meal on Mars. An Out of this World Fun time.

Healthy Cupboards?

Are your cupboards Healthy? Heard a statement made, less than 30% of people check there cupboard for recalled food items. I admit I am one who doesn't check. If we want to keep out families fit and healthy,we should be checking. My logic is if we haven't been sick and are eating the items, then it should be fine. Then I got to thinking, how many times has my family had loose bowels, been stuffed up, had a bloated feeling , Stomach ache, Low grade fever, headache, body ache or just felt rundown. Humm.... all of these can be related to bad food! Yes it could be the flu But, ask yourself, Is it always FLU SEASON!! We blame too much of our sick feelings on the Flu or weather. Maybe it is the food in our Cupboards. Go ahead check the expiration date and the recalls. Let's make our cupboards Healthier. Are you in the 30% who does not check?

Exercising on the Plane?

Southwest is getting aboard,up your heart rate on a flight.lol

Family Eating Out Pick for The Month

OutBack Steak House. Have you eaten there Lately? The menu is eating Healthly friendly, with lot of Vegetables and grill food. We are getting into the Grilling season. I just love the smell of Food on the grill. An Island Life is having a give away,it's a Outback $25.00 Card. "Let's go OutBack Tonight".

Pedometer + Me= 0.00- Fess up Friday

This is my First Fess Up Friday post. Here's how it works. Post something you need to fess up, Maybe you didn't eat healthy,your exercise plan went out the window or you just goofed up. It is hard to stay on track if we just keep telling ourselves "Oh Well". Learning from ours and others goofs can strengthen all of us on our road to a healthier you. so lets have some laughs, tears and fun sharing Our week Goofs. After your post come back and link up through Mister Linky. Let the Fun begin.

My Last post was on the Pedometer(see below). I confess,I do not Know how to operate it!! Something simple and I can not work it. I can fix toilets and replace light blubs,but can not operate a simple two button Pedometer! Wore it all day,funny the same thing happened as the ones before. I would notice the number on the pedometer than later would see it 0.00. Okay I am walking! Maybe the buttons are not in a conducive place for my body. I will continue to try it. Maybe today it will work. Any suggestion for Me?

Pedometers do they Work?

Visited a site in March,enBloom . Answered a question,actually the only one to answer it, about boosting your workout with Walking. It was a Fitness Friday Post. Pedometers were the issue. Article titled:

"How Can You Boost Your Workout"

How can a Pedometer help us increase our cardio workouts. Anyone who post a comment would be entered to receive a Pedometer. Now I have used Pedometer in the past,have found them not to be reliable. Perhaps I had cheep ones.

The article stated; "The best way to add a pedometer to your walking program is to first count, then assess, your daily steps after one full week of use to establish your baseline. You then increase that number incrementally. For many of us,10,000 steps a day (roughly the equivalent of 5 miles) is a lofty goal......A pedometer when combined with goal-setting is an easy way to track your progress and also motivate you to stay active on a given day until you’ve met your goal."
Now need I say "I won" the Pedometer. The kind of drawing one likes, you're the only one in the running(lol). Received the Pedometer in the mail on wednesday. Started using it on Thursday. It will be interesting to see if adding the Pedometer to my Daily routine will make a difference.

Time 2 Eat Heathier for Easter

Okay it's a Day late,I was on vacation. You can still participate. Auntie E's Easter Ham This is a different Take on Ham. The link will take you to the Recipe. This is part of my Monday-Menu link. If you wish to join me in A New Recipe on Mondays,post a new recipe on your site and link below. If not, enjoy the recipes on Mondays and please leave a comment for me.

Fitness Friday -Need Another Wii Day

You know that phase " Not enough Days in the Week". That's how I feel. The days just flew by. Was up early 05:30 every day. Even did most of my household chores early. Just do not know what happened. It must have been the Sandman,he put me in a trance. Do not know what happened between the start and end . It's all a Blur!!! Heard the Wii calling the first part of the Week, then grew a deaf ear. Now here I am at the end of the week. Blogging about the week. Did I loose weight? Well I maintain the weight from last Friday. However, did beat my daughter in most of the activities. I really do not like this competition going on between us. Will have to get over it!! So, this week I will not let that Sandman control my drive. I will Wii every day in the morning before starting my household chores. Will not get on this computer before I Wii. So my plan is to get a protein bar and play Wii Fit at 5:30 am. That will give me 30 minutes before the household gets up. Now can anyone tell me how to log Bowling and tennis time on the Wii Fit Time Log?
New info on Logging extra exercise to Wii Log. thank you Cynthia

If I Could Blog Back Time-Thursdays

Lola's Dinner Is starting a If I could Blog Back Time-Thursdays link. I got to thinking how I could do that on my Get fit site. A Word came to my mind,Bowling. During the 60's I lived in Rochester New York, we had a bowling alley up the street.Bowling was big ,there were leagues. One could sign up for a league at the alley. Bowlers with they league shirts were all around. Remember the Lavern and Shirley TV show.

My middle brother and I would walk or ride our bikes to the alley. I Loved Bowling. Was pretty good at it. My brother was a competitor. Boy did we have some tough games. I will have to say he won a lot, and never would let me forget it. When I won,which wasn't much, he would give some excuse. Maybe his arm was tired or he wasn't feeling good. He even join one of those league, so he could get better. Even talked me into joining a league. Saturday was league day. Those are good memories. Now I am sure I can beat him at Wii bowling!! He doesn't even know how to Wii!.I will have to "blog back time" and get him to play at my Wii Bowling Alley.

Start The Day Healthy!

Trying to get a teenager to Eat Breakfast can be tricky. Breakfast at my home is hit or miss. The Daughter will not eat on School day mornings. Last night she asked me to Straighten her hair in the morning. Told her "you have to get up at 05:45". she agreed. What a prefect time to make her favorite food, Dee's Buttermilk Pancakes with Chocolate chips. When she got up I had the Pancakes cooked and on the table. Didn't have to say a word, she dug right in. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. One sleeps for about 7-10 hours, no fuel for the body during that time. At night our bodies work hard at repairing cells, organs and making sure every thing is working right. It is like a fast for 7-12 hours. Consider once you arise from your sleep,one does not go eat immediately. A Shower ,a cup of coffee, and getting dressed are the priorities. Therefore the fast could be 12 hours or longer. Now the body need fuel to start the day. The longer you go without food, your body will go into starvation mode. This is when it will store everything you eat. Storing it in Fat Cells for later use. And we all know how hard it is to get rid of those cells!
So,breaking the Fast is important. Eating Breakfast will help you loose weight. Enjoy Breakfast.