I feel like my whole month was spent traveling – first to Arizona for vacation and then to FL to help my MIL pack up and sell a house - and now even my normal routine feels odd. And my cats don’t recognize me. 
But I’m happy to report that I’m only up one pound with all the eating and exercise challenges -- and there were some bigtime challenges. I was stuck in an ‘over 55 community’ in FL and their ‘fitness center’ was a few pieces of cardio equipment and a bunch of chatty old guys. When I showed up on the first morning (iPod and water bottle in hand), I was informed by the ‘regulars’ that Mary Lou rides the bike at 7 am and Betty Sue gets the elliptical before she leaves for Meals On Wheels and basically was nicely told that the equipment was all reserved. Great. But I managed and also did some things with their small DB collection that they had apparently never seen before (tee hee).
Food was tough too, especially when DH and I were traveling in the Navajo Nation. Lots of Navajo fry bread and tacos, not so much grilled chicken and steamed veggies. I was struck by the tremendous rate of obesity on the reservation, but I guess it’s not surprising once you learn how hard it was to survive – how much sheer physical labor it took – less than a hundred years ago. Nowadays the food hasn’t changed but the lifestyle sure has. True for the rest of us too, no?
But I got by without too much damage and it’s wonderful to be home. I have one more trip left, but it’s just a quickie to a client conference in Tucson with DH and then I should be home all the way until the holidays.
So of course I’ve been inspired to make some lists. Three months left in the year, end of the year approaching … it’s a scenario just crying out for goals, don’t ya think??
Mine are focused on a major house purge, finishing my shoulder rehab, and ideally losing ten pounds (I say ‘ideally’ because I just don’t know if it’s possible). Catching up on sleep would be good too. 
How about the rest of you? Are you as bad as I am with lists? Can you pass up a nice new legal pad without planning out the rest of your life?
Any goals for the end of 2006? ***************************
On a different note, I had a stress test last week, my first ever. The cardiologist who supervised the test and I was talking (since it took forever to get my heart rate up where he wanted it to be due to all the cardio I do) and I wanted to pass along his concerns. He himself is 67, in great shape, and does cardio every day.
He says that heart disease is still the #1 killer of women but that we women aren’t doing nearly enough cardiovascular exercise. He says that our focus is all on dieting and losing weight and we’re losing sight of the big health picture. Diet is a piece of the puzzle but so is exercise and if our goal is to live healthy lifestyles, daily exercise MUST be a part of it.
He talked about women he sees who are my age (51) and normal weight but who can’t last on a treadmill more than a few minutes without hitting their max heart rate. Their whole cardiovascular systems are deconditioned and prone to disease. Yikes!
So I asked him about those controversial government exercise recommendations that came out last year – remember, the 60 – 90 minutes per day for weight loss and maintenance – and he heartily endorsed them in the strongest possible terms.
He was passionate enough on the subject that I’m passing his message on to you … a healthy lifestyle includes more than healthy eating; it also includes big doses of daily exercise, for basic good health and as a way to defeat the biggest killer of women. Let’s take good care of our hearts, ladies!
Off my soapbox
…. we’d love to hear from everyone, old and new – what’s going on in your world?
Congratulations! And keep using that treadmill!
and weights 
) and I intend to keep it that way! 
... I really can't believe how fast the whole year has gone by...
maybe it'll help maybe it won't who knows... 
It's just one medical problem after another! First my wrists, so no more weight lifting. Then my knees started aching so no more running. Then they ached even when I was on the bike, so I laid off for a little while. Right when I was picking up biking again I had my wrist surgery, and with my wrist wrapped up not only could I not grip the bike handles, but since I wasn't supposed to get the dressing wet I didn't want to sweat all over it. And of course I came down with a nasty cold as soon as they took it off, and it's pretty difficult to exercise with a head and nose full of snot. 
