Happy Thursday friends~I can hardly believe it is already Thursday, where has the week gone?  So I have to say I didn't go to the gym yesterday but did take Hunter on three walks, equaling about 2.5 miles or so.  This morning, bright and early I went to the class, at my gym, I started on Tuesday.  I have never done Curves but from my understanding, this class is formatted after them; we have eight stations and do four reps at each station. The reps last only 45 seconds each and the class is only 45 min.  Today's focus was on legs and I thought "oh good, this should be o.k."; huh! Let me just state that other than walking, I haven't done any serious exercise for about 6-8 mos-doesn't paint a pretty picture, does it.  Initially I thought that a gal can easily do reps for 45 seconds; let me tell you when you don't like the particular rep, it seems like forever.  Today's class was tough, girls; there are two ladies that are at least 5-8 yrs older than I am and they stay for Pilates afterwards.  Wow is all I can say.  I'm hoping that my progress won't be too impeded next week when I only do the class once; I do plan on doing it here at home on Thursday though.  So after I got home from the gym, Hunter and I went on our walk with our bff's; it was only about a mile today but, I think seriously, every little bit should help. I am being more careful about my food intake; you know I love to eat and so really trying to cut out the junk stuff-although there are Peanut M&M's in the house.  A girl does need chocolate, doesn't she!
My goal in this exercise is firstly to get in better shape-especially before biking season and just to slow the aging process.
I hope you are having a great week, it is almost over for those who are working outside the home.  This weekend is supposed to be bitter cold; I'm not thrilled because we start obedience training again-so I will just layer, layer layer. 
Hugs to you! Noreen & Hunter

Who Me???Couldn't Be

What a funny title but you will understand once I begin to unravel this tale. Last Saturday I was at my favorite coffee spot visiting with a favorite friend when a neighbor of hers walked up and joined us. My friend mentioned that her neighbor has been giving "yoga"classes to the ladies in their development and they asked me to come and join them this morning. I sat, wondering. how to answer and my girlfriend assured me that it wasn't new age or anything weird so I said I'd think about it. O.k., you must understand I haven't done yoga since I was a tree-huggin, peace-lovin hippie wanna be in the 70's, when I was in really good shape and very limber. Over the years I've drawn some conclusions about the "far- eastern" classes that clash with my own walk of faith. I have also been told it is very good for arthritis and also aging in general and heard many traditional doctors suggest it to patients. Also, about 12 years ago I had a back injury that resulted in sciatica and have stayed away from anything that might strain my back.
After talking to the teacher, I decided that I would go and see if I could do any moves at all. I knew my girlfriend would be there and she assured me that it was mainly just stretching exercises. I was pleasantly surprised because it was just that, a lot of stretches and extensions but no "eastern"influences at all. I do not have the flexibility that I had 30 years ago and I couldn't move like the other gals but it was relaxing and I enjoyed the company. I even got a head and neck massage at the end and was able to really focus on my Lord during this time. Plus the best part was that it was free! I could definitely feel some parts of my back this afternoon and it will be interesting to see how sore I am during the next few days. I agreed to go back next week again but my body will tell me yes or no. One of my husbands favorite expressions is "his mind is still 20 something while his body is 56", it will be interesting to see if that holds true for me. Trying this also made me realize I shouldn't automatically rule exercise out if I haven't tried it. I'm sure there will be more to this story as time goes on; who knows it might even help me get in better shape. I still like walking the best but this might be something for winter.