I’ve written here before about my efforts to lose weight. Even given that I should lose 20 lbs or more, I’m still pretty healthy. I exercise twice a week at my daughter’s Pilates studio. And that works my mind, body, and spirit. I love Pilates. It’s helping me keep my 5’2’’ in height! I walk 10 thousand steps a day, more days of the week than not. (last week I missed it on two days, that was unusual.)
To get those 10 K steps, I go to Walmart and walk there. Walking Charley morning and evening and regular around the house & errand stuff won’t get it. 
Like many of you, I sit in front of a computer for hours. My FitBit beeps at me when I need to get up and move, but I mostly ignore that and count on getting a bunch of steps at one time.
(Humm. That’s a lot like my writing. I like to do big bunches of words at one time, rather than taking advantage of short time periods to write.)
My Pilates daughter has a paddle board and I envied her the smoothness and the calmness of that activity. I can’t stand up on the thing because I have trouble kneeling, but I found I could sit on it. And so I did. It was fun and calming. 
So, then I decided I had to have a kayak. I couldn’t decide whether to get one you sit down into or one more on top like the paddle board. I tried several in the store. Ultimately going with the least expensive which put me more down inside, but not with the top up around my waist. That would make me crazy. I’ve just had it a week and have thoroughly enjoyed paddling around our boat house and past the neighbors on both sides. Not very adventuresome yet. 😊 Talk about great exercise! I expect I may develop Popeye arms! (Does everyone know who that is?)
Besides exercising, Bob and I try to eat healthy. Fort Worth is a Blue Zones city, and we get lots of information from them about how to be healthy. For instance, eating certain foods daily can help prevent Cancer. (Or not, but you know it can’t hurt.) Those are called G-BOMBS. That stands for Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds. Pretty easy to do and tastes good too.
You may be wondering why I chose this topic. Walking in Walmart, I see lots of overweight people. Recently, I’ve heard several sad stories about people with Alzheimer’s, brain cancer, or being hit by a car. You know bad stuff. I’m blessed, and I know it. Bob and I are in our early 70s. At some point, we’ll die. In the meantime, I want to try to live as healthy a life as I can for as long as I can. It’s all about choices. No one forced me to eat a 450-calorie oatmeal cookie from Sprouts the other day. But oh, my goodness it was yummy!
So it’s salads for us tonight.
None of my characters in my books are overweight. They may talk about watching what they eat or exercising, but they look good. I remember reading a book about an overweight character. I empathized with her, but not to the point I wanted to read more books about her. Because my books are inter-generational, my main characters’ parents sometimes struggle with health issues. In my WIP, ACT OF SURVIVAL, the heroine has almost developed an eating disorder because of her husband’s psychological abuse. Do topics of health/weight show up in your writings? What kinds of things do you do to stay healthy? Love to hear from you.
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Word by Word 
Inspiring post…that salad looks delicious. Thanks for sharing, Marsha 🙂
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Hey, Joanne. Appreciate the comment. The salad was from our trip to New Orleans. I ate lots of salads with shrimp on top. Luscious! Thanks for stopping by.
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Nice work on staying fit, Marsha! I somehow let my very athletic self slip into a sedentary lifestyle and now I’m paying the price. But with the help of my chiropractor and PT I’m on my way back to health. My goal is to start riding horses again in August and I’m stoked! I also plan to do some paddle boarding since I tried it once and loved it 😀
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Hey, Kathryn.I’m glad you’re getting a handle on pain because that keeps us from moving, which causes more pain. Vicious circle. My feet give me trouble and I just have to push through it. I know how important horses are to you. August isn’t far off. Good for you. Please share pics. Paddle boarding just looks serene, especially when a person is standing on the board and gliding along. Thanks for stopping by.
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I work out too, Marsha, but with Handsome’s in and out of hospitals over the past two years, I’ve done more sitting. So I cut back on eating. Hoping that makes a huge difference. I love kayaking and you look like you are having a good time.
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Hey, Vicki. You’re a better person than I. When my ankle broke and it was 2 months with the foot up above my heart, a writer friend who’d experienced the same thing, told me to cut back on eating. Did I? No, just used that food like a pacifier to sooth my crushed body and spirit. Such a bad patient I am, and oh yeah, did those pounds pile on. Glad Handsome is doing better. Thanks for stopping by.
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Marsha, you’re an inspiration (and I love the salad too). I have three acres, a garden, chickens and dogs so they keep me moving (especially in the morning). When it gets hot, then it’s computer time … till it cools off anyway.
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Hey, McKenna. How cool to have a garden. I assume you just scoop things from there and put them on your plate! The taste must be divine. So glad we now have restaurants focusing on local produce. Even here in Fort Worth, though I see more of that in New England. I think this post is a physician heal thyself kind of thing. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
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I’m one of those roly-poly, there’s more of me to love, girls, but I’m okay with it. I’ve been overweight most of my life and it doesn’t seem to matter what I do to get rid of it, lol.
Paddleboarding does look fun, and lets you see things from a whole new perspective into the bargain!
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Jacquie, I think you can be healthy and carry some extra pounds. We all get “gifted” with a certain body type. When you’re only 5 ‘2″, you have limitations. More important is to be comfortable in your own skin. I weighed a whole bunch less in my younger years and thought I was fat. That wasn’t healthy.
You’re right about perspective. It’s so fun to see the houses from the lake side. Thanks so much for stopping by.
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