Jewish Musings, Thursday, 1/26/2017

[savtele]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting - you are welcome to do that but you are also welcome to chime in!

[savtele]

Boker Tov All! I'm tired, I've had a long day, Natalie is resting comfortably, and tomorrow (Thursday) I have a 9 AM Dr. appt, after which I will take mom up to see Natalie. We'll take Sub sandwiches or something - a few foot-longs will feed whatever crowd shows up there (I also made glazed lemon cupcakes, as lemon is Natalie's favorite) I just listened to the president's interview with David Muir - that was almost more exhausting than the whole day put together! All my congressmen heard from me today. (I'm sorry, we don't want to pay for the wall. Mexico is going to pay us back? How? I will have taco delivery to my door?) Our southern border looks like we are in prison now - chain-link fence with razor-wire on top. But enough of this!

Louise, you mentioned yesterday that you are working out & are thinking of having the food delivery again! I think it's a good idea - you liked it the last time, it worked well for you. And YAY for being almost back to where you were, exercise-wise, before your injury!

Which brings me to today's question: have any of you ever worked with a trainer for a short time, just to ensure you don't re-injure yourself? I think we are all old enough to have old injuries (perhaps in our 20 or 30s) that come back to haunt us at times. Our bodies don't forget anything we've ever done to them! Until the weather gets nice, I'm sort of stuck working out in the gym (tomorrow I will stop by on my way home) then, when it starts to get warm, I'll do what I've always done & park at the library (1/2 mile from the gym) for my cardio exercise.

Have a good day ladies. I already know what my dr. will say. I'm too fat, but my #s are good! (ok, that's what I HOPE she will say)

[hollygail]

No, I've never worked with a trainer. I remember being shown how to use the exercise machines at a gym (eons ago), but only on my first visit (so maybe at two or three gyms in my life). A year and a half ago, I joined two gyms (thank you, Silver Sneakers), one near my house, the other where DH is a member, and neither of those two had anyone show me how to use any of the machines (of course, to be fair, I do know how to work a treadmill, and I know how to go from a locker room to and from the pool and jacuzzi, which is basically all I do at a gym).

Second night at a Holiday Inn. The first night, there was no guest in the next room (we have adjoining rooms, which is a terrible, horrible, very bad thing). Last night, however, the television next door was not only ON all night long, but LOUD!!! I am sleep-deprived and in a very bad mood. At around 4:20 I put on my jacket and a pair of shoes (over the sweat suit I was wearing for pajamas) and walked to the lobby (we're on the ground floor), but there was no clerk at the desk (there was a man sleeping in a chair in the lobby, but I didn't know whether he was the desk clerk, a janitorial person, some random man off the street...). I was ready to ask a desk clerk to wake up the guest in room 105 to have him/her/them TURN OFF THE F*&%$#$%^^&&** TV. Alas... However, at 5:15, I got up, took a shower, got dressed and walked there again. This time, the man ALL NIGHT in room 105 and that I had telephoned room 105 twice (no answer either time) and that the noise had kept me awake all night (slight exaggeration, but only slight); I added that my husband is a heavy sleeper and that it had bothered him too... The clerk called, and the man answered. He asked him to turn the TV down. I would have preferred had he told him there were complaints and to turn it the you-know-what off, but I don't run the world... The clerk asked me to let him know if, in three minutes, it was still loud. I walked back to our room, but as I passed 105, I could still hear the TV from the hallway. I went back to the lobby and had the clerk walk to the guy's room with me. He knocked on the door, rather quietly, I thought. No answer. So he knocked again, longer but just as quietly. The guy opened the door. The clerk asked him to turn it down and the man said he had. The clerk asked him to turn it down a little more and at that moment (you all know me, right? "shy" is not in my job description) I piped up with "it kept me up all night" looking directly at the guest. He didn't respond. I'm back in my room, and I don't hear his TV at all now.

At least I don't have numerous classes to teach today. I have one girl to tutor at 2:00, then a Rosh Chodesh gathering tonight at the shul where I teach on Saturdays (and last Tuesday night).

On a brighter note, DH got a phone call yesterday from one of the gazillion people who either are working on our house or supervising the work on the house. The air quality testing personnel will be at our house today at 10:30. The woman on the phone didn't say when we'd hear the results, but I'm hoping the test results will be available by noon, that they will be good enough for us to move back, and that we will be able to move back in TODAY. Keep your fingers crossed for us, please, ladies.

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well. My stomach is upset, so I am going to have chicken soup and noodles for lunch. I will try and get a nap later.

If I feel better this afternoon, I will write some more. Have a peaceful day, Lee

[louise]

Holly, what a nightmare! As if the whole situation wasn'tbadenough without. I hope your neighbor behave tonight.

Lee - you, chicken noodle soup is just the ticket. I hope you are feeling better soon.

I work with a trainer at my home for the strength training I do - she was a longtime member at my shul awhile back and she discounts the rate. With my 2 injuries this year I tend to back off with the weights but have learned that it is better for me to modify the exercise than skip it (obviously unless the pain is high). She has added some exercises to strengthen the small muscles around my knees to try and take some of the stress off (like losing 50 pounds would surely do). When I was in PT for my arm/shoulder I told the therapist what exercises I had been doing when I tore my meniscus - she didn't think that was it. She said it's more likely wear and tear. The body is getting older. So, yes, I agree we have to treat ourselves with care. I'm working out with less weight than I did a year ago - I get down on myself about that but then I remind myself that I am still working out and I'm way past the days when I was pumpin' cans of pumpkin!

If you work out at a gym and they have trainers available there it would probably be a good idea to have someone watch you do your workout a time or two - the trainer could not only tell you if you are doing whatever it is correctly but might also make suggestions that would help you progress.

Not going back on the delivery food - it was already very expensive and they quoted me a price 20% higher now! I still had 9 days left so I told them I would just finish out my old program. I could still use the 9 days to help me back into eating better.

[gazelle18]

I just started with a trainer and it makes a huge difference. She has already pointed out lots I have been doing wrong, and has pushed me to do things I had no idea I could do.

For example , I was doing planks in my big class. My position was incorrect, which made the plank not as effective AND was hurting my shoulder!

[happysavta]

I've worked with a trainer, but only briefly, in the past. I belong to 24 Hour Fitness and private trainers are really expensive. There are trainers in the gym all the time, but unless you have a private lesson, they won't show you anything. Lynne is quite right, though, that having a trainer makes a huge difference in learning to do an exercise correctly and avoiding injury. That's especially true if you want to use the machines.

I saw a few bits of the David Muir interview. I doubt that a border wall with Mexico is going to solve the problem, maybe it will help a little bit. We all know that a large portion of the illegal immigrant problem isn't people entering the U.S. from Mexico. There are a significant number of people who come here on a student or visitor visa and just stay on after the visa expires. We have no tracking system for those who overstay their visa, but we probably should. In this era of international terrorism, it might be wise to enforce strict visa limits. And I also doubt that the wall will be effective in keeping drugs out of the U.S. The drug cartels will find another way - digging tunnels or flying drones under the radar.

Solutions to problems are rarely as one-dimensional or single tier as Mr. Trump wants us to believe. These are very complex problems and they have complex solutions, nothing as simple as "Build a Wall" and the problem goes away. And the insulting manner in which Trump is demanding payment from Mexico will certainly hurt relations with an ally and trading partner. Much more thought needs to go into this before they start putting up a wall.

It's true that Israel built a border wall, but for a different problem. The wall was built to contain the Intefada -to keep the suicide bombers from the Palestinian territories from entering Israel and killing people. It was immensely helpful, but of course, then the terrorists dug tunnels and carried out bombings and killings.

[louise]

OMG - I just had Chobani Simply 100 Strawberry Chocolate Truffle - delicious! The flavors are complicated, not too sweet, and very satisfying.