Exercise And Pace Yourself #108

I am going to continue discussing more about healthy foods than exercising for a while.  It has become more difficult for me to really discuss much in detail about exercising simply because my workouts have become very routine.  I will continue to go over exercise importance to you out there who are heart patients.  I do believe in you developing a regular workout routine and that being very important to your overall recovery and health.   When I say workout routine I am speaking about the exercises you do.  It can be nothing more than walking your neighborhood, doing aerobics in front of the TV, whatever you can do.  It does not have to be at a fitness center, health club, or gym.   I really would hope you could evolve it to a formal program, but it is more important to you and your family that you become as active as you can in order to return to a normal for you lifestyle.   Now speaking only for myself I am not sure that I will ever be as totally active as before.   Maybe a better way to say it is I have limits on what I can do in terms of the more effort exerted, the more tiring it becomes for me. You have to keep in mind I workout at least 5 days a week, most weeks 6 days.  And these are cardiovascular and strength building exercises.  Most of my strength building exercises are designed and performed to increase and improve my total heart and blood circulation.   The point I am attempting to make is without all the effort I have put into cardiovascular exercise I am not sure how I would really be doing, and what activities I consider normal would be possible for me to do.  One thing that has helped me is that I now know my physical limitations and can recognize and accept the point in time when I should stop and rest.   Yesterday my grandson and I spent some time working outside trimming  tree limbs and clearing some overgrowth.   We really enjoy doing that together.  I paced myself and took several short breaks.  We sometimes will sit and talk about whatever comes to mind as I rest.  He seems to enjoy that as much as I.  And when I reach the point that I call "I'm done," we put all of our tools up and save the rest of the work for another day.   I realize most of you have similar activities you once enjoyed doing that you want to be able to continue to do.   Hopefully your weight, healthy food, and exercise goals will help you to do those things again.

Molasses are a sweet food that is actually good for you.  Molasses contain significant amounts of a variety of minerals.   Are they an important part of my diet?  No, but I do eat molasses and it does serve a good purpose for me.  When I get that urge for a sweet snack and I will pour a small amount of molasses over sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, uncooked oatmeal and mix in a small bowl and eat it and enjoy it as much as I would a chocolate candy bar.   Molasses is a good source of iron, calcium, copper, manganese, potassium, magnesium and is fat-free.  Sulphur is sometimes used in the processing, so be sure and select "unsulphured molasses," to avoid that chemical.

More about heart healthy diets next time.