I'm Back!

Sorry about that. What was intended as a little break turned into six months! Thanks to the encouragement of all my friends and family, I'll let you know how things have been going.

Just GREAT!

We had so much fun this past summer and fall since I have felt like being active again.

For our anniversary in July we went to This is the Place Heritage Park. We walked all around the town, rode the train, explored all the tiny pioneer cabins and the beautifully restored buildings. It was all up and down the hillside but it didn't bother me, what a surprise.


Then accompanied our daughter, Kristin for her birthday and we enjoyed Snowbird. I got on the alpine slide 3 times and the zip line down the mountain twice. Felt like a kid again!



















See the beautiful garden Robert and I had this year, yummy vegetables to enjoy too. It was so much fun to pick the many varieties of tomatoes we grew and tons of squash and garlic. Want some?



















Since I couldn't find any support group to my liking for diabetes, I started my own at the Riverton Senior Center.




It was a lot of fun to visit with others who want to stop diabetes in it's tracks. We encouraged each other and got help from some professionals so it wasn't just the blind leading the blind. It really wasn't hard to put it together.




We went camping for the first time in 20 years up in the Uintas with our kids and grand-kids. We saw deer and mosquitoes up close, what a treat!





In the fall I started attended the Silver Sneakers class again at the rec center, my funnest way to exercise. Good friends, good music, good instructors!





Then we got our mission call to serve an inner-city mission for 18 months. This was my secret goal for the year.

Our family has turned into an energetic bunch since our focus has changed into doing things rather than watching things. More to come!

New Milestones!

Okay now I've reached a new point in my diabetes adventure. This week was my last paid personal trainer session. since January I've worked with Laura Buttars at the South Jordan Rec Center (well accept the two months recovering from my broken shoulder).






She really made a big change in my attitude and personal fitness. Her continued nudging gave me new confidence to try new things with my body. Because of that confidence, I feel at home in the gym and the equipment is no longer a scarey jungle of contraptions!










I'm ready for a change now and have joined the Siver Sneakers
group at the South Jordan Rec Center. They are an energic bunch, and I'll have to work hard to keep up with them. They meet every morning and do arobics, yoga or swim.











Also, to help me stay on track, I've organized a diabetes support group. We started getting together three weeks ago. The Riverton Senior Center offered classroom space in their brand new building.



We meet every Thursday morning at 10:00 AM at the Riverton Senior Center. Most weeks we have a guest speaker who gives us updated information on diet, exercise, medical issues, equipment, etc. The meetings only last half an hour so come join us if you need a little kick to get it going, like I did. We have a great discussion and learn more about what we can do to defeat our diabetes. You don't have to be a senior to attend and it's free!

Come join with me at any of the above activities, it's so fun! Have a great holiday and summer-remember be active.

RUNNING A LITTLE!

I needed a boost this week. I am getting off track and I admit to resorting to some of my previous bad habits. So I thought I would ask my personal trainer for some help. Then she tells me she featured me on her own professional blog this weekend. What a motivation! Thanks Laura Butters for your encouragement and guidance in sustaining my good health.



Laura is helping me with weights and strength training. I've tried to keep my endurance up during the recovery by riding my stationary bike, but now I need to kick it in.





At the gym today Laura asked me to run a full lap. I've run half a lap several times, surprising myself, but never a full lap. Together we did it!




Then she said for my cool-down she wanted me to walk two laps, run one, walk two more and then run another. I ended up running four full laps, walking between. Yea me!



I'm not sure I cooled down doing it, but it sure felt great.

After 3 weeks in a sling and 3 weeks of therapy I'm back. I've been working out in the gym for two weeks now after my orthopedic doctor gave me his blessing. Dr. John Brady helped me get through my broken shoulder (sports injury , I might add). What a blessing!

To get going in the right direction I've set the following new goal and keys to reaching them:

Eat more healthy - Plan at least four healthy main meals per week and make sure food is available to prepare them. Also have other healthy options for breakfast, lunch and snacks in the house.

Track - Use Livestrong.com to track anything I eat.

Test - Check my blood sugar daily at different times to ensure I am in good control.

Report - Weigh in and report directly to someone each week. Any suggestions?


Though not quite as good as new, I'm working toward it.

P.S. I'd like to give a shout out to the men in my life in honor of Father's Day yesterday.

My dear father, at 91, continues to set an enduring example to me.

Robert was so attentive to me when I needed his help. We have become closer the last few months, depending more on each other. (I helped him pour cement last week.)

My five sons and son-in-law are great husbands and fathers to their families. They are raising amazing children. They are so willing to help Robert and I with our yard work or anything else regularly.

And of course the wives, who are wind beneath their wings! Love you all.

Finally gratitude goes to my Heavenly Father for this amazing body and it's ability to heal.

I'M BACK!

I've returned from my exciting trip to Washington DC and Baltimore, MD this week. My sister and I spent 8 days there, my first time on the east coast. It was eye opening. We certainly did our share of walking through the town too as we wanted to see all the inner harbor sites near our hotel.





Every morning and evening we walked to breakfast to a different resturant to sample as many different meals as we could (within our tastes).

Fish was prepared so many different ways, crab cakes, fish pasta, grilled salmon salad, fish stew, crab cream soup, and fish pizza to name some of the things we saw or tried.

Inspite of fish being a relatively healthy food, we observed many overweight people. You can make any food high calorie I guess.

I tried to eat new things that were still within my goals, though I made a few allowances for some of the special meals like the buffet dinner cruise on Chesapeak Bay.

On my whole trip, I never saw a single family home, only apartment buildings and row houses.




While my sister was in her conference, I took the opportunity to travel the "safe" tourist line buses and see the city of Baltimore. I was the only tourist I could identify on the bus. Mostly they were filled with ordinary citizens, mom with babies, students, early shift workers and shoppers. It was neat to sit among such a different ethnic group and observe.

We really enjoyed the Baltimore Inner Habor area with it's many beautiful buildings, ships, monument and memorials.

There is a strong Polish and Jewish community there so many landmarks were dedicated to their difficult but enduring hertiage. The Holocaulst Memorial was particularly moving with a reverent feel.

Washington DC was such a sight to see!

Even though we were able to spend just one day there, I saw the Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jefferson and Linclon Memorials up close. We took the first tour of the day inside the nation's capitol, what an historic building.

Well I gained a few souvenior pounds on the trip but my sweet sister and I had a great trip.



I learned a lot. I was able to keep my diabetes in check by watching what I ate and with all the exercise. The extra pounds are coming off now that I'm back to my routine.

LIFE GOES ON!

I must admit that after my fall I felt so limited. It wasn't so bad at first with all the attention, but it got old really fast. Having to depend other people help you dress,
do laundry, drive me around, tie my shoes etc, is a little more than depressing. I sort of threw myself a little pity party every couple days.



There is a silver lining that I have learned from this, and here it is... LIFE GOES ON. I've learned that bad things happen and you just get over it, because life passes you by if you don't.








Look at all these beautiful faces.




I threw a pretty mean Easter egg hunt for all my grandkids on the Saturday before Easter. They all had a great time. I was pretty proud of my effort, not bad for a one-armed Grandma.





I can't do as much as I was doing before, but in an effort to stay positive, I am making the most of what I can do.



Here I am riding my stationary bike.



And the good news is...I've continued to lose weight despite decreasing my activity level a lot. Can't complain about that! It might be a loss of muscle mass, but still...No one complains when the scale tips to a lower number.

I haven't let this deter me from taking my much anticipated trip to Baltimore and Washington DC. My sister Cindy and I leave on May 10th. I'm not planning to just sit around in the hotel either. We have 7 days of tours and adventure awaiting us. I am really excited about that too.




I will be slightly limited for 3 to 6 weeks more, but I am suprised at how well I am doing just three weeks after a broken bone at 62 years old.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been helping with meals, curling hair, shopping, driving, wound care, tying shoes, and etc. You're wonderful!



And a special thanks to my husband who is always near and mostly willing to do anything. He's learned a lot of new skills these last three weeks and is now quite domesticated!

Spinning Forward Falling Down

I'm so excited! I bought a new bike April 8 after looking for the perfect one for weeks. It's true that you never really forget how to ride a bike. What a wonderful sensation, almost like flying! Robert got one too, so you'll see us breezing around town this Spring together. At least I thought you would, until...

Monday morning I went out for a quick zip in the neighborhood. I got to the end of the street. I turned the corner and attempted to mount a driveway to get up onto the sidewalk. I came at the driveway sort of sideways and the bike tire slipped on the lip of the driveway. The bike slid out from under me and I fell flat on my face on the pavement.

My hip hit the ground first then my elbow which jammed my shoulder. There I was, 62 years old, laying in the street. No one around, so much pain and shock and awe. Thankfully I decided to take my phone with me, so I called Robert while I was laying face down on the pavement. He informed me that he had been expecting my call and would be right down to scrape me off the street.

He packed me and the bike in the car and after stopping back at home so he could get dressed, took me to the Emergency Room. Oh my goodness I was in unbelievable pain.
It was 10 out of 10 on the pain scale. I tried my best to hold back my emotions, but I was a total loss.

The hospital staff was very comforting and sympathetic.
They were however, very impressed by my sports related injuries. I guess they don't get many 62 year old overweight diabetic women who come in because of a sports related injury. I was pretty proud of that.

Within minutes Kristin, Scott and Laura (Rick's Wife) were all standing over me at the hospital. It felt so reassuring to have my kids there to help me and to have Robert and Scott give me a blessing.

The doctor's were afraid that it would take surgery to repair the damage that had been done. We were told that it was possibly my hip, arm or shoulder or some combonation of the three. After several rounds of X-Rays and two doses of Morphine for pain, the diagnosis came. I had broken my shoulder.


The good news is that it wouldn't take surgery or even casting to fix. I'd just have to have my arm immobolized in a sling for the next 6-8 weeks. No biggie, but no more riding bikes for the next several months.

I had so much fun on my bike before hand and I DO want to get back on and ride again although I am apprehensive about it. But the bike is in cold storage for the next little while.

After spending the afternoon in the hospital ER they sent us back home with pain pills and a sling. Here I am, still standing after all I had been through.
Nothing is going to stop me from achieving my ulitmate goals of living a healthy, full, fun and adventurous life all while fighting against diabetes.

The main reason I bought the bike was because I signed up to ride in the Diabetes Tour de Cure in June. I along with several members of my family planned to ride in the Tour de Cure to raise funds to find a cure for Diabetes.

We want to help educate and find a cure so that all can live better by overcoming this disasterous disease. I know you will want to help too. Since diabetes effects many of us including me and our oldest grandson, Jeffrey. I want to do all I can to stop this dreadful disease.

I'm afraid the lifestyles we live, along with unexplained triggers, may put many of us in jeopardy for contracting it. Seeing my grandson and his parents learn how to deal with Type 1 Diabetes has been difficult. He was diagnosed it when he was just five. He is now 13 and is doing pretty well thanks to his parents and many advancements in diabetes technology. We are encouraged he will live a full active life.

We thank our Heavenly Father for the research being done to improve his life, mine and tens of millions of others like us. With that background, you may understand why supporting American Diabetes Association is so important to me. Will you help?

I will not be able to participate in the race (this year) thanks to my broken shoulder, but my daughter Kristin and her husband Steve are and still have not met their fund raising goals. Scott and Jeffrey are also riding, but have met thier fundraising goals. Please contribute to Kristin and Steve's ride and help me help them and millions of others fight diabetes. Also, say a little prayer that I will be able to heal from this injury quickly and be able to get back to doing the things I love including riding my new bike.

Donate to Kristin's Ride against DiabetesDonate to Steve's Ride against Diabetes

Updates this week:

Got off my weight loss plateau by losing 3 pounds

The doctor eliminated one of my diabetes medications completely! Yea!

I've found more ways to move including a little running, I don't think my podiatrist will believe it!

ENJOYING NEW FREEDOM IN THE SPRING!

Spring is finally here! I feel a new spring in my step too, literally. My shoes were starting to get loose so I bought a new pair that fit me better and laced up my old shoes tighter.

To underscore my foot changes, I have very little foot pain and no leg cramps as compared to almost constant pain a few months ago. Last fall, I couldn't walk across the uneven lawn because it hurt my feet too much. A walk around the block was too far and was so discouraging. I attribute the turn around to improved new eating habits with lots more exercise.

So here's the latest update on my quest to conquer diabetes

• lost 2 1/4 inches waist measurement
• lost 2 3/4 inches hip measurement
• gained 2 1/2 lbs lean body muscle
• lost 4% body fat
• lost 12 pounds

Yesterday I attended the grand opening of the beautiful Herriman Rec Center with my family. Here are three of my darling grand daughters who ran with me.

I pushed my year old granddaughter around the crazy indoor track, catching up with several family members in the fun run. When we saw them ahead, I started running. I think they were kinda shocked to see I could run and pass them up.


The rec center offered a number of special classes too. Kristin, Leslie and I enjoyed participating in the Zumba dance class. I was overwhelmed to see that I could move along with my girls in such a fun activity. Of course I didn't last as long as they could, but it was really a lively exercise option. We learned how to shake it to the fast paced music!


Robert and I started cleaning up the garden and yard this week. It felt so good to be able to weld around the wheel barrow with ease. I walked up and down our little hill in the backyard, something I had a lot of foot pain doing last fall.



During the week we rode the bikes provided by Kristin and Steve around the neighborhood several miles. We even rode to the nearby bike shop and bought new bike helmets. I made me feel more secure. So fun to breeze all around!



There are nice little things to notice as I make gradual improvements in my lifestyle. The blood sugar numbers are more consistent with only a rare high. I'm hoping the doctor will adjust my medication again, as I have several lows each week now.

Another important change I've noticed is the guilt of not taking care of my health is leaving. I can concentrate on other things because I'm not discouraged about what my body is doing. I promise to keep trying even when I fall short of my goals some days. I pray the Lord will continue to bless me to reach my best self.

It's time for a great new start, IT'S SPRING!