Fitness: Getting Started or, Yes You Can

Yes, getting started is hard.

You are overweight and discouraged. Dieting is hard enough. And now you are menopausal on top of everything else. It's more important than ever to get an exercise program together that you can live with.

You don't have to run a marathon, or swim the English Channel, or ride a bike from Maine to Florida. Even though you already know what to do, I'll spell it out for you:

What you do have to do is move your body every day.

You can start with easy steps - literally - by simply walking more in your everyday life. Take one extra flight of stairs, get off the bus two blocks before your stop, park your car at the far end of the lot, walk around the block after lunch, walk to someone's office instead of calling.

Once you start doing these things, you'll find that it seems ridiculous to wait for the elevator for a few flights of stairs, to wait for the local bus when you can walk, to fight for a close parking spot at the store, to eat a meal without moving afterward, or to waste time on the phone when you can get your questions answered quickly with the added benefit of personal interaction.

Every little bit helps in getting you started to the more fit, more healthy you.

As a certain athletic apparel company notes: Just Do It.

My Menopause Symptoms - and Yours

I'm like a walking textbook of menopause symptoms. *sigh* But here's the thing, and it's really important - why didn't I know what the symptoms were before they started? Because no one talks about it, that's why.

Here is a basic list of symptoms, culled from various places around the web:

• A change in the pattern of periods. Shorter or longer, lighter or heavier, more or less time between periods - you know your body and when there is a change. You may still be able to get pregnant at this time, due to the irregularities
• Hot flashes and/or night sweats. Sometimes these can be followed by a chill
• Trouble sleeping through the night, with or without night sweats
• Vaginal dryness
• Mood swings, feeling crabby and crying spells, which may be caused by lack of sleep
• Quick, unreasonable anger
• Feeling mixed-up, confused or unfocused
• Short term memory problems
• Hair loss or thinning on your head
• Hair growth on your face
• Racing heart
• Low energy
• Breast tenderness
• Headaches
• Dry eyes
• Itching
• Joint and muscle aches and pains, especially in the morning
• Change in sex drive
• Bladder control problems

I'm not a medical professional, but I think it's reasonable that if you are experiencing any one symptom that is interfering with your life; and/or at least three of the above, that you go to the doctor and begin to discuss how to handle this change in your body.

As always, our gal Oprah has compiled lots of the newest info on her website http://www.oprah.com/. She's a lifesaver, right?

I'm Running in a Relay Marathon!

Here's my big secret - I committed to running in the Jersey Shore Relay Marathon. We have a team of five and each of us runs one leg of the 26-mile-385-yard course.

I'm running the shortest leg - 3.41 miles - and I'm terrified that I won't be able to do it and will humiliate myself. In fact, just writing this brought on a hot flash.

Our team has only two rules:

1. No walking
2. No one over 75 can pass you

That shouldn't be too hard, right? But I have seen some fast 75+ year olds, so I'm a little worried. Seriously - I don't want to have to trip a senior citizen.

I'm less nervous when I know what to expect. So here is my plan:

1. Add .25 mile every week so that I'm running 4 miles at the beginning of April.
2. Walk or bicycle whenever possible to increase endurance.
3. In early April, go down and run my part of the course.

It feels like a HUGE deal to me to be doing this. I suspect I'm being just a wee bit dramatic, but...

Every journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step, right? (Repeat ad nauseum)