Spring is in the air! Pain is self-inflicted now...

I love, love, love this time of year! Spring is absolutely one of my favorite seasons. The whole world seems to come alive in Spring. I also seem to function better. The high pressure cold fronts of winter are farther and fewer between which allows my body some much needed rest from severe pain. The warming temps allow me to move more freely and get outside more too. Spring brings out the best in me.

Today a friend and I started tennis lessons. This is her first time ever to pick up a racket and she totally rocked! She's a natural athlete and very competitive so she's driven to learn fast. I haven't picked up a racket in... well, a LONG time. I was so rusty and almost dead by the end of the lesson. It was not a pretty sight at all. I really enjoy it though. I love the feeling of working hard at something. I like getting stinky and sweaty, it makes me feel like I'm really accomplishing something. I also like the fact that I can have a glass of wine at the end of the day knowing I burned sufficient calories to cover it...

For the most part, I am not a super athlete. I have adopted a saying a late friend of mine always said; "I'm really good at sports that do not involve balls." Yep, think about that... basically, I can run. But I do like to play for fun. Anytime I can have fun with friends I'm game, even if it involves a ball.

My doctor encourages me to be active for so many reasons. You know- the usual, heart, lungs, weight, yada yada; But, also because I took massive doses of prednisone when I was diagnosed with UC. The steroids have taken a toll on my bone density, unfortunately, but with proper diet and exercise I am slowly building this back up. I am surprised by how weak I am still. After several years of trying to get the colitis under control, I was in bad shape physically. I was just trying to survive, honestly. Now that I'm back on my feet, I am finding it very hard to get back in good physical condition. Yes, I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I was 4 years ago--even 1 year ago. However, it's so very frustrating to have to deal with the slowness of it. I want to be "fat like Cindy Crawford" now! (That's from an old song I like.)

This blog post won't be very long tonight because my arms are killing me from yesterday's gym work out with Killer the trainer and now today's tennis beating. And to think I PAY for this...

Peace out my friends! I'm off to enjoy the patio and a chilled glass of wine.

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