A routine?  Webster’s Compact Dictionary gives the following definition:  A regular procedure; customary or prescribed; like or using a routine – routinely.  But here is what is interesting – there is also Routinize – in the dictionary.  It means:  to make routine; reduce to a routine.  So there are a few ways to look at the word – routine.  When you are talking about exercise, which one does the best job of describing what you, yourself, are doing.  Me – I think routine meets what I am trying to do.  A regular procedure, either walking or using my Resistance Chair Exercise System, is good and fits.  Customary – doing it every day no matter what – well I am probably falling a bit short in that arena.  Prescribed – now that fits me to a tee.  I have been “prescribed” by my surgeon to either walk or use the Resistance Chair System every day.  So what about “routinize”?  Is that the same as “routinely”?  Well – you might be surprised to learn they are actually two different things.  Routinize actually means what I quoted above – To make a routine or “reduce” (pardon the pun) to a routine.  So you might set up a routine like I have done, to either walk or use the Resistance Chair System everyday.  But there is no specific time of day given?  That might be the piece I am missing???  Perhaps if I do that, then I have routinized my efforts???  OK – All of this aside – just “doing it” every day is the point of exercising.  Making it a part of your daily schedule is necessary if you are dieting?  Why?  Because exercising daily is something we all need to do to keep in shape and to maintain good health and a good quality of life.  Just ask someone eho has lost excess weight and kept it off – they will tell you exercise is important.  They will tell you all of things they “fixed” about their health when they lost the weight – things like lowering blood pressure, having better blood sugars or even going into remission with diabetes, less/fewer aches and pains in joints etc. etc. etc.  So – now you know about routines and “routinize” and the difference?  Set up your routine, what ever it is and “routinize” it :0)!  Karen/Tikki

Lend Me Your Ear!

OK – This is about support and motivation. I missed the exercise this AM – actually the second day in a row. I know, I know – this is an excuse and I just have to get my sorry ass outta bed in the AM so I can do at least 1/2 hour on the Resistance Chair. I’ve thought about walking to work – it is somewhat uphill and down so it is really uphill both ways but it is only about 1/2 mile – maybe a bit more if I stop at the Post office on the way in the morning. I SHOULD be able to do that – right. The issue for me is my balance. It just simply is not that good that I would trust myself for that distance. And, of course, I won’t know unless I try it. I could use my cane that I got in Mexico 2 years ago – at least I would look colorful while walking :0)! I could try this tomorrow AM and see how it goes and ask my husband to come and get me at noon if it proves to be too much. I need to clean at the office tomorrow too and that is definitely exercise. What should I do??? Check in tomorrow night and find out !

I am following my diet so far today and have stayed within my calorie count of 1200 or less. I took out some salmon for tomorrow night. Of course, my husband won’t eat that so I have a very small steak thawing for him. One of my goals is to weigh less than my husband at some point in my life. The man eats to live and I live to eat :0)! His nutrition is terrible with all the snacking he does and the Coke he drinks and his smoking – Uffda! He really needs to own stock in CocaCola :0)!

I have been sleeping very well at night – at least 6 hours before I have to get up and use the bathroom. All things considered, it is because of sleeping in Goodnighties PJs and using my Buckwheat Pillow. If you have never heard of Buckwheat pillows or tried sleeping with one – you do not know what you are missing. The first time I heard about them was about 15 years ago or so – give or take 5 years – more likely to be 20 years rather than 10 years. Anyway – I heard they were good for absorbing heat – HOLD ON – a pillow that would absorb all the heat my body would generate during nightsweats – THANKS to menopause!!! We are so blessed as women to have to deal with childbirth and then when the uterus dries up we get menopause – Thanks to Eve and that darn apple :0)! So – naturally I had to try one. After I got it and used it the first night – Well – my guardian angel had to be watching over me that night – no wet pillow – although it did nothing to stop the nightsweats :0(! Not much does – they are just over when they are over and not one minute before – no matter how much we women want them gone! Now that alone sold me on the value of the pillow. But – hang on – there’s another benefit here that was immediately apparent in the morning – well -actually the night before when I put my head on the pillow. This pillow molded itself around my head and actually kept doing so throughout the night – no more pluffing and plumping to get it just right at various times during the night. Is that an unexpected bonus or what!!! Since then I have purchased several more pillows for the bed – my side only – a neck pillow for the rocker etc. Here’s my saying – You can have my first born but – nobody and I mean NOBODY – touches my pillow. It goes where I go- I don’t care if it means another suitcase and a fee for that second bag – it goes – no matter what. If you are interested, you can check out one of my websites – www.buckwheatpillowsonline.com and see what you think. The other product I mentioned earlier is the Goodnighties stuff. You can check that out on www.goodnighties.com. The material feels so great on my skin and it is so soft and silky. I would recommend the PJs as the gown is more like a top than a gown – just not long enough for a gown in my book. However I do wear that under my nightie and that works quite well. This fabric also absorbs moisture and other nasty things floating around in the air that we are most likely not aware of. So it is great that the manufacturers of this product do know about that stuff and have developed a product that works to get rid of the effects on us . Great little product – check them out too.

OK – I’ve given my sales pitch. What are your recommendations for getting the ass outta bed in the am and for a solution to that walking/balance problem? I need some motivation and support here – Now it’s your turn? Karen/Tikki

OK – So you need to sit.  Try that at any gym or wellness center.  Well – they may have a rowing machine and a bike but not much else for strengthening or stretching.  So what should you do?  There are chair exercises out there but they also are not strengthening or stretching types of exercise.  What’s the difference?  Stretching prepares your body for more strenuous exercise by warming up the muscles – sort of like primping the pump so to speak.  Strengthening exercises involve increasing the resistance your muscles feel while exercising.  One of the better ways to accomplish this is with the use of Resistance Bands.  You have probably seen these before – most likely in a physical rehab setting.  Because they work so well, they are used extensively in physical rehab settings.   If you have lots of money to invest you can purchase a Bowflex.   Something a bit cheaper might be a year long membership in a gym or Wellness Center.   But that is still expensive for a lot of people.  What are the alternatives?  Let me know what your thoughts are?

Do What?  Dieting?  Well no, not really.  But then nothing will change and you will still be fat – oh excuse me – pleasing plump ;0)!  Unfortunately it is very true that nothing will change unless you want it to – PERIOD!!!  No ifs ands or buts.  And another thing – will power has nothing to do with it – let me repeat – will power has nothing to do with it – my apologies to anyone out there who has the name Will Power.

So now what – you want to change but how you ask?  Well – the first step is to start keeping track of everything – EVERYTHING – you put in your mouth.  Then put the caloric count next to that – and add it up at the end of the day.  Most people with average metabolisms burn up about 1800 – 2400 calories a day just with everyday activities – some more and some less.  So – if you are taking in more calories than you expend, well, my friend, that adds up to weight gain.  So you don’t want to carry around a tablet and record everything you eat?  You have a memory – use it!  At some point during the day you will be next to or near by a piece of paper and a pencil – then you write down your information.  Will this require some effort on your part – you bet – but how will you know where you are at if you don’t know where you started???

When someone plans a trip, they generally use a road map to get from point A to point B.  Your food Diary is your road map from being overweight (fat) to monitoring and losing weight (getting healthier).  Getting healthier is what it is about for many people.  Excess weight can lead to so many medical conditions – I’ll bet you can even name them so I won’t do that here.

Dieting – Oh No!  The first step is to establish a baseline of your eating habits and then you will know where your next stop is on this journey!

OK – no one wants to talk about it but most women experience those wonderful hot flashes, thanks to Eve in that garden.  Waking up during the night, first hot – then cold, throwing the sheets off and on like a two year old who just discovered the light switch on the wall.  When someone told me about a Buckwheat pillow that would absorb heat and keep your head cool all night – well – had to find one quickly and see if it worked.  Voila – it worked.  In fact it worked so well, I almost ended up in a prison in Chili.  You see -  you can have my first born but no one touches my pillow.

As we were exiting a cruise ship in Chili, for a 4 day extended stay in that beautiful country, I was carrying my pillow off the ship, thinking it would give me more room in the suitcase for “other things” – BIG MISTAKE.  The customs man stops us and wants to see what is in the pillow case (the easiest way to carry a buckwheat pillow is to carry it like a sack of flour) because it is illegal to bring any type of food product into that country – and it looks like I am carrying something like that in my pillow case.  Well – actually – it is an agricultural product but in processed form.  The poor customs guy doesn’t speak English and my Spanish is – well – el zippo!  As I said earlier – no one touches my pillow – and – we have 4 more days (and nights) in this country before flying home.  He’s trying to confiscate my pillow as  an “illegal food product” and I’m trying to “save” my pillow from extinction.

The Cruise ship’s Anthropologist is quietly observing this from a distance and she finally steps in to explain that the pillow is a processed product called Buckwheat hulls and is not really a food product – it is used for comfort as in a neck pillow.  Silently I’m thanking her for not broadcasting it’s real use – to “cool off” hot flashes at night.  Finally the head customs agent arrives and he speaks English.  He recognizes a woman in distress and approaches carefully, explaining the need to “check out” the pillow with an iron clad guarantee it will be returned to me at my hotel in Sanitago, Chili at the end of the day.  My husband is standing nearby, shaking his head and muttering “You’re going to get arrested – just give ‘em the damn pillow”.

It’s now 45 minutes later, everyone else is on our tour bus, waiting for u,s so reluctantly I surrender my pillow to customs and hope for the best.  On the tour bus, no one says anything to me, not even hubby – they also know not to ruffle the feathers of a woman in deep distress.  Later that night while our group is dining at a wonderful restaurant in Santiago, several fellow passengers (mostly women) inquire about the issue with the pillow.  To them I confide the real reason for the fuss – the hot flashes – and they all nod with total sympathy and understanding while the men just shake their heads.  Upon returning from that restaurant to our room – there it is – my pillow – as promised along with a phone message from the Customs Agent apologizing for the inconvenience and hoping the experience would not spoil my impression of his country.  Spoil my impression of Chili – not as long as I have my pillow and can sleep for the next four nights.  The pillow went in the suitcase before we went through customs in Miami.   Now it  always goes in the suitcase, no matter what.

I still have that pillow, even though the cruise was almost 12 years ago.  I think so much of these pillows that I now sell them online at www.buckwheatpillowsonline.com. If you have a story about your pillow or an experience with a buckwheat pillow, please write about it here – would love to hear from you.  Tikki

Did you know we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping?  Sleeping gives the neurons in our brain time to repair and rejuvenate themselves.  Exercise?  What’s the connection there?  Actually a good workout does help you feel energized throughout the day.  Make an exercise appointment with yourself.  The best time for that workout?  You might be surprised to learn the best time is early afternoons.  Your energy will peak  at the right time to avoid those afternoon drowsies and it will deepen your sleep that night.   So – how do you exercise in the early afternoon?  If you are lucky enough to have your own office, you might invest in the Resistance Chair Exercise System.

Resistance Chair with Mini-bike and Shoulder Stretcher

It’s convenient (folds up and rolls away), affordable (less than a gym membership) and uses resistance bands to optimize your exercise experience.  You can check this out at www.resistancechairsystem.com.

If you do not have your own office, you can still invest in this chair and use it when you get home from work.  Exercise right before bedtime is a no-no.  Our body does need a few hours of rest to calm down after working out.  Your body will feel tired at the end of the day.  And when it’s time to nestle into your bed, be sure you are using a buckwheat pillow (www.buckwheatpillowsonline.com) for the ultimate sleeping comfort.   Exercising – Oh Yes :0)!  Tikki

Twin Size Buckwheat Pillow

Trouble Sleeping?  Are you able to go to sleep but then wake up during the night and can’t get back to sleep?  Or do you have trouble just getting to sleep to begin with?  Whether you have trouble with onset of sleep or interrupted sleep, there are things you can do to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep.  For example:  If you watch a scary movie right before bed you may have restless sleep and even nightmares or if you are drinking lots of caffeinated beverages in the evening, you may have trouble getting to sleep.  An uncomfortable pillow may also keep you up.  Or it you are having night sweats (Hot Flashes), your pillow may be damp or even sopping wet.  A buckwheat pillow absorbs the heat from your head and you will have a drier pillow.  You may find a buckwheat pillow to your liking at www.buckwheatpillowsonline.com.

Sleeping Tip #1

Go to bed and get up at the same time

If you have a family and both parents work outside of the home, you will be challenged by this.  It may be easier to do the wake up at the same time because of school and jobs.  And then the weekend arrives and everyone wants to sleep in.  These are things you can do to make sure you wake up at the same time every day.  Put your alarm across the room so you have to get out of bed to shut it off.  Get an old fashioned alarm with the bells on the top – it will jolt you out of bed with its loud dinging.  Going to bed at the same time – well that depends on when the game at school ends, when the teenager comes in the door, when the baby finally goes to sleep etc.  So do the best job you can with this – go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time as much as possible!  Tikki

Why a Buckwheat Pillow?  Depends on what your needs are!  Are you looking for a pillow that conforms to your body?  Your head? A pillow that absorbs heat? A pillow for under your knees? Or just a plain old comfortable pillow for everyday use?  How about a neck pillow?

Buckwheat Neck Pillow

No matter what kind of pillow you are looking for, www.buckwheatpillowsonline.com has what you are looking for.  Just about everyone I know has a pillow story.  Mine involves arguing with a customs agent in Chili – and I lived to tell about it.  Check out the section entitled Pillow Stories to find out how I survived that ordeal???  And then share your pillow story with me.   Looking  forward to communicating with you next time – until then – Tikki.