AF Daily Monday 8/1

[momof3]

Jack Rabbit as Queenie Greenie would say!!

Great lower body workout and run this morning before the heat arrives!!

I am on my way to NC to pick my daughter up tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see her.

Nothing else comes to the mind at the moment.

Later,
M3

[Doggygirl]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Good morning M3!! So is your daughter having a great time? Have you talked to her? I can't wait to hear more about here experience! Wow you are awesome with your early workouts. I was up early and I've......read a fashion magazine and had some breakfast.

Hey M3 - I have a question for you. (or anyone else who might have ideas!!!) I have never been very flexible. Even in my child athlete days, I was just never one of the girls who could easily do the splits, back bends, etc. I could manage to do those things back then, but not with the ease and flexibility of some. You can only imagine how stiff everything is now that I am 29!!!! I am wondering if there is a program (DVD?) to help me work on that at a VERY basic level. I have a couple of novice yoga DVD's, and even those are beyond what I can do! Not only can I not get down on my knees and sit on my heels, it takes TWO blocks under my butt for me to get there. Maybe I should just keep working on that, but maybe there is a DVD you recommend that is for REALLY REALLY inflexible people. (Yoga For Inflexible People is really hard for me!)

Well, I'm going to get off of here soon and start the tutorial for the on-line learning. Lav, thank you for your vote of confidence yesterday! If you can do it, maybe I can too.

One thing is for sure, there is be no AL in my life today.

DG

[Lavande]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Good morning Abbers!

August, huh? Good, July was starting to burn me out with all this heatwave nonsense
Although the forecast is the same for this week I'm hoping for something better!

M3, I hope your daughter has loved her camp experience & has wonderful things to report to you tomorrow.

DG, I can no longer do even the simplest yoga moves.......side effect of aging = inflexible hip joints Sitting still for too long is a killer for me (hips & knees) so I do have to keep moving in any way possible for me. I think you'll love the online classes. Seriously, when I returned to school at the age of 29 I found the teenagers to be a total pain in the butt, annoying as hell. I just wanted to tell them to shut up & go to their rooms :H Adult students are managing jobs, homes, kids, husbands, etc. & don't have time for the kiddie BS! You will do great, I'm sure!

OK, time to get animals fed & watered & get some work started
Wishing everyone a great AF Monday!

Lav

[Treya]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

HI mom of 3,
Is that you in your avatar? If so, I'm impressed! lol. Early morning runs must be very invigorating.
Hi Lavande, sorry for all you folks in the midst of a heatwave. It's a pleasant 22 degrees here.
DG,
The great thing about yoga is that it's a non competitive form of exercise. It's not about judging yourself more or less bendy than the guy sitting next to you. In fact it's not about judging at all. Just accpeting that where you're at as being exactly right -whether that requires 2 blocks or 5 blocks. Yoga will get you there. To practise is all that's required. Somewhere quiet and comfy!
:l

[Kaslo]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Good morning Abstineros, M3 I wondered the same as Treya, if that is you in your avatar.... if so, you look very fit! Lav, I actually LIKE teenagers, loud, opinionated, enthusiastic, self absorbed though they may be, there is something kind of endearingly honest about them.Still I am glad that is over for me, and my young women are grown up. Mostly. Lol!!

DG, a fashion mag is a hell of a workout IMHO. I am inflexible too. One of the many reasons I quit the booze, it was not helping me with early arthritis. I have to be reasobably fit for my job, so I walk, swim, and do simple stretch exercises. Every day on the stretching. Every second day on the walking....Cant do yoga because I simply cant sit cross legged, so if someone has some advice for me on how to do yoga ex-lotus, I would love to know.

Going to Champion Lakes this morning. Its BC Day, a provincial holiday... yippieee!!

I survived an evening and dinner with friends who drink last night, I noticed they got a bit silly before they slowed down / quit for the night. Otherwise fun, both couples are moving away, so kind of sad. I had my cooler spritzer thing, and felt great this morning. Thank GOD for an AF existence.

[Doggygirl]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Whew! I think I will be able to figure out the on-line learning thing. The practice course is now complete.

Remember I was told by the enthusiastic 12 year old students that there are OLD people in my classes. FIFTY!!!! :H So hopefully enough 29 year olds to :b&d: the teens.

Kaz I am like you - no hip flexibility so sitting cross legged is not very cross legged for me.

I do want to work on improving it even if only a little.

Zoom zoom. Glad to be unhung!

DG

[momof3]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Hello All,

Back again before another Zoom, Zoom. Yes, that is me in the avatar...around my 1 year anniversary of being AF!!

DG and Lav, I am hoping my daughter had a great time too. I have not heard a word from her. She was/will be at base camp on the first and last night of camp; the remaining time she is in back country and sleeping in a tents!! Can't wait to see her and I so hope that things went well with her. Letting go of expectations and trying to breathe.

DG, Everything that you are doing for flexibility sounds very good. I have found the various yoga poses to be the best for flexibility. I have learned that if you really want to improve flexibility, it has to be consistent. Once per week won't do it. Three or four times will be a great improvement. Every day will be transformational. With that said, I have learned in my yoga training thus far that people are structurally different and there will be some stretches that they just won't be able to achieve. So, what to aim for is progress and to do modifications (for example, there are modifications for lotus Kaslo to get the same type of hip opening--lay on your back with knees bent; cross your right ankle over your left knee; lift the left leg that is still on the floor up, with knee still bent and pull it up toward your chest; switch legs). I am very tight in the hamstrings and my lower back due to years of running and not stretching out properly. Pigeon pose is also a good alternative to lotus. So I cannot bend over at the waist and have my chest touch my thighs like I see others do. But, I can certainly bend over alot more than I used to. You'll also get alot more out of the stretch when you are warm from other exercise or even a heated room.

Hey Treya and Kas....living the good AF life!!!

M3

[universal]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Hi Aberoos! Day 60 for me today! Woo hoo! Back on track. I had a craving for wine last night but it passed quickly enough once I ate a chocolate bar! (tee hee hee oopps)
W
I used to be a gymnast and I was very flexible but I am finding now that I can't even do a backbend without hurting myself. I think once we age our muscles just don't let us do those things anymore.

Boo is going insane today, running around the trailer like a madman! We are heading home today for a couple of days and then I'll be back up. It's brutally hot here though and I don't even feel like going to the pool so I'll veg inside in the air conditioning.

Hope everyone has a fabbie AF day!

[momof3]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

:cheering:Whoot!! Whoot!! Congratulations Uni on 60 Days. Hope you do a little something for yourself to celebrate today. So very happy for you!!:goodjob:

[ItsJustMe]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Hey All!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was a little strange. I was ?ill at ease? all weekend and no motivation to do anything at all. This was the 2nd weekend AF so maybe that has something to do with it. I was at the grocery store. I passed by the beer section and the idea of purchasing some briefly passed through my head. This is really strange because I don?t even like beer and would have never even thought about buying any in the past. Or, maybe I am just getting old and my brain is misfiring. Anyway, I felt strange all weekend long!

I did manage to do some major BBQ this weekend. I smoked a pork butt on Saturday and beef brisket on Sunday. The beef took a lot longer than I thought it would and we ended up eating dinner at 10PM. That was just wonderful for my weight loss program!

Kaslo, awesome pic. I ?tried? a Kayak once. It was not a pleasant experience. Of course I was doing this in the ocean fighting the wind and surf so that could have been part of it.

Lav ? hope things go the way you want them on Tues.

Uni ? Big Congrats on 60 Days!!! I have 47 more days before I am where you are. That seems like forever.

Ok, got to get some work done. I?ll see what is up with the gang later today.

IJM Thought of the Day: Did you know the word 'politics' is made up of the words 'poli' meaning 'many' in Latin, and 'tics' as in 'bloodsucking creatures??

Have a great day!
IJM

[Determinator]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Happy Un-hung Monday ABeroooooos!

thanks for the nice kickstart Mom3 and enjoy your daughter for sure.

DG, to add to the great info posted about stretching let me say in 32 years of martial arts practice I've learned some things about stretching the hard way. we always used to hear to stretch before working out but I've found that to be false and has lead to injury for myself. the joints/ligament fluids circulate about 3 times slower than blood circulates in muscle tissue. You have to warm up BEFORE you stretch or risk tearing something. I know it seems backwards but it's true. a gentle 10 minute warm up of walking up and down steps or a moderately sloped incline would be fine.
I work on my lotus/hip flexors when sitting like I am now at the computer. I prop an ankle up onto my other knee and then tuck the other knee under the desk to hold it with a little tension. holding a little tension for a long time is the key to safe progress in stretching. an analogy: if you yank on a rubber band hard it will likely tear or snap. however if you stretch it around a book and leave it overnight....the next day it will be longer.

Uni i'll gladly join you in a chocolate bar in celebration of your 60 days!!!!!!!!!!!!! xxxxxxxx

I have a private lesson this afternoon for my Filippino martial arts class, then an educational dinner put on by the Weston A Price foundation called 'nourishing our children'. I don't have kids but am concerned for our future with the media/government complex pushing big agriculture/big grain things are looking dim and I'd like to help educate others if possible. maybe I can get active in the local WAP chapter.

be well everyone

[greeneyes]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Hey ho fabbies!

zoom zoomin'! Gotta take care of some things and pack to go out of town on family business tomorrow for a couple days. Not looking forward to that at all. But hey, gotta do what you gotta do!

CONGRATULATIONS ON 60 DAYS, UNI!!!:yougo:

[Doggygirl]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Hey Everybody!!! Look what I found!!! https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...ml#post1156638

Congratulations Uni!!!!

Thanks M3 and also Deter for the stretching suggestions. I guess I will get my Yoga for inflexible People DVD out, and get to work on it. Every other day, at least. I am SO disappointed there is no magic.

Det - you have a lot of passion for the stuff espoused by the Westin Price Foundation so I DO hope you are able to get involved in a local group! The machinery of Big Biz and Big Gov is really scary. As a former smoker, the fact that Big Tobacco somehow got away with saying "nicotine is not addictive" for so many years is just laughable. It speaks to what the BB/BG machinery is truly capable of trying to foist on the public.

IJM. Kayaking in the ocean. Was there any AL involved in this adventure, perhaps? :H:H I'm glad you survived! I love your question of the day for today. How appropriate.

Did volunteering at the mission for lunch today serving food. I've been curious about one of the newer guys in the program there. Very well spoken and well dressed and seems well educated. Today was a slow day so we had a chance to talk a bit. He is married for a long time with children. (never lost those) He is on LOA right now from a management position with an international company - he's been there 10 years. (never lost that) He was "high functioning" as so many of us talk about. (side note: every alkie except for maybe the severely mentally ill was "high functioning" before they became "not high functioning.")

He sobered up previously. He was sober for 5 years. After all that time, he thought he had it all down pat. Didn't need to stay involved with his support structure or put focus on his sobriety every day. Well, last winter he was going through some stress at work. Seems that can never be fully avoided. Since he hadn't been around his people who reminded him that drinking was a bad idea, he thought is was a good idea at some point. Within a couple weeks he was back to his old patterns.

He said he remained "high functioning" this time....right up until the point where he decided to start drinking vodka. Then his wife put her foot down.

Anyway...this was as always, something I appreciate hearing. Sober time is not "curing me." If I drink again, I can expect the same trouble as before, and probably more. I am also reminded that I should stay close to my sobriety plan for the long haul. So...you guys are stuck with me probably for as long as I live.

I give this guy a lot of credit for being willing to do what it takes to get sober again, and to save his family and his job. The program he is in is a very bare bones, no frills program. It is not the Betty Ford clinic in terms of ammenities. But he said he is grateful to be there and to be getting back on the right track.

Well, that is my story for today. Now I need to brave the heat and go see if any tomatoes are FINALLY ripe. I looked up the average temps for Chicago in July and August today. Holy moly we are WAY above average this year it seems! Average in August is 81, so hopefully it will be cooling off soon! :H

One thing is for sure....

DG

[AAthlete]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

Hey guys - happy Monday to all.

DG, thanks for the sobering reminder about what can happen to us when we forget how we got to where we are. Guess that's why we always say we don't want to forget the past, right? Hope everyone has a great finish to their day!

[Determinator]

AF Daily Monday 8/1

yes, great story, thanks Dgirl xxxx