My Ideas on Exercise

Ok. Update time. So - I still live where I live.  And enjoying every bit of it. I  am far from  living in the best part of the world. I simply know how to enjoy the things given me no matter how cheap they are. People like me see a rainbow everywhere we go. But I prefer to let the embedded  pictures tell you what I experience and see, from the sea to the parks, from my shoes to the fish I baked. I sometimes wonder why some  claim to suffer from fear, anxiety or depression. If you just go out there in an early  morning and walk those legs and open your eyes, you’d realize life is not bad at all.

The last few weeks were hectic for me. There was the website I am working on. There were books I read ( bio of Elon Musk, Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint) and immersion into my ‘programming zone’. Yes I had some extra days off. But then, I suddenly became needed at work  the following week. From the  ‘programming zone’  I switched to my daily work of treating patients in the hospital ( which is a completely different zone, I tell ya).  I am  getting used to this lifestyle now. Sudden work and sudden off work. Good thing is,  I am tapering  off at work and start doing things that I enjoy. Unfortunately, I have to work around my  less income.

But I am about to blog  a few things I heard and saw in the last few days.

I had a few stroke patients who 1) one of them claims she did gardening under this Florida heat for more than 3 hours 2) another claims that he biked or worked out more than 2 hours (again under the Florida heat - BTW, this guy also skips his BP medicines) both of them are blaming  super hot Florida for their strokes and both seem to be recovering well. Obviously they are both active.

Let me be clear that I am not establishing a direct correlation between ‘heat/overdoing tasks’ and stroke ok? It just so happens that the two patients (or their families) that I saw last week were blaming the heat for their strokes. There are other factors to consider before  categorically attributing some stroke to one specific factor. Like blood pressure, heart condition, BP, DM, previous strokes, palpitations etc. But  to err on the side of caution, I guess it is safe for people way over 50 years old or so (like me)  to be careful when doing activities outdoors. I once ran 5 miles and on my way to my place I saw how dirty the landscape  was and I instantly went into my landscaping mode that involved a lot of bending, pulling weeds etcetera and at one point I thought I’d pass out. Yeah, it was that very hot and humid. And stupid for my part. True we can easily get carried away but it’s better to withdraw early and reschedule a heavy task (no matter how enjoyable) for another day just to give the body a break and to recuperate.

An old car is an old car. I will not subject an old car to non-stop ‘round the US’  trip. That’s what I subscribe to. Friends lets be firm about certain things to make sure we don’t jeopardize our health:

1. Avoid stress.

2. Avoid over doing things.

3. Avoid sudden change in lifestyle (such as running a marathon after months of inactivity or playing golf the whole day due to being on vacation mode).

4. Be careful about sudden transitioning such as getting up abruptly from laying down, or bending too long and then quickly standing (gardening).

5. Be sensible dealing with the weather.

6. Most of all, take your medications and don’t alter without informing your MD.
7. Most of all, be active, eat good, enjoy life. Have an activity-filled week ahead of you.