January 6th has a whole new meaning for me!

After 2 decades of my weight creeping up, then the 1/6 diagnosis of some weird, inherited, fairly serious high cholesterol thingy (with two Latin-ish names challenging to pronounce**), I decided to take my life back…I mean, REALLY take control of my life. My doctor has put me on some medication for this condition, but along with meds come instructions encouraging one to “maintain a healthy weight.”

My doctor assured me that my off-the-chart high LDL was NOT because I – and I quote – “ate too many Twinkies.” In fact, if I had not eaten too many Twinkies, it would not have made a darn a bit of difference in my LDL numbers.

“25 in 2025” I’m now saying to myself and the world as I know it!

Whoo-hoo!

Yes, lose 25 pounds this year, focus on keeping it off, and if there’s more to lose so I can be at the healthiest weight possible, count me in.

But this time, no Slim-Fast, no miracle pills, no nothing…I’m keeping it simple…doing it the old-fashioned way by counting calories and upping my daily exercise.

I purchased the LoseIt app for $40 per year, which is cheap and great. It keeps my calories accounted for, encourages me to drink a lot of water and sets a time to do intermittent fasting. I don’t really eat from 8 am-8 pm anyway, but it’s a good reminder to not eat late at night.

But what has really changed is my activity level. Sure, I try to do some weights and cardio during the week and swim at least once a week with my friends, but it’s those minimum 8,000 to 10,000 steps I’ve been attempting to do since my diagnosis. And that weight-bearing walk is what “they” (the experts!) recommend.

Here is where the Big Boxes come in. Big Box stores – while people complain about their monolith presence and perhaps hurt our environmental footprint, they are a haven for people like me who want to get a bit of fitness in during the snowy, colder months. Trust me, if I could walk the beach, on a golf course, or on the long, flat Erie Canal trail, I certainly would. I used to think it was “cute” when my late father-in-law would go to Home Depot and faithfully walk over the winter. For someone who had 2 heart attacks and survived both and go on to live a good, long life, he figured it out. He was a smart man, and now I understand why.

One of my “go-to” walking places

Lucky for me, there’s a WalMart, a Lowe’s next door to it and a Home Depot near both – and all are about a 7-minute drive from home. These Big Box stores give me a chance to get a few thousand extra steps in when normally I’m not able to in wintry conditions. If I’m on the road, chances are there is a Big Box store in one of the markets I visit, and if there isn’t, I can usually find something large – like a Wegman’s or Target to walk around in.

Okay…
“Why not use a treadmill at the gym?” you ask.

My reply is, “have you ever had plantar fasciitis?!” I’ve suffered from plantar fasciitis from overuse on a treadmill, and I never want to suffer from it again.

You go, girl! Enjoy that treadmill! 😉

What’s best is that no one cares you are there. No judgement! People are browsing, searching, and shopping. The employees – especially the re-stocking folks at WalMart – are constantly pushing around carts in every department, and are completely focused on getting the job done.

The Big Box stores are warm, dry, and in my mind, much safer than going to our city shopping mall. WalMart in particular, has easy access and the largest footprint – in which one lap around the perimeter is roughly a quarter mile. A woman who I chatted with while walking at Home Depot said 1 mile is roughly 6 laps around, but often has to dodge the fork trucks and the contractors with big, orange, metal carts full of 2 x 4’s. Lowe’s is the most quiet, and when I’m not feeling social or want to look at people, I often walk there.

WalMart is my preferred Big Box. I start with one trip around the perimeter, but then I like to imagine I’m Billy from the comic strip Family Circus – which wasn’t a true comic “strip” – but a single circle or rectangle, and humorously spoke us all about life as a family. When young Billy was asked to take a brief walk to say, go get a cup of sugar from the next door neighbor, he would take the “scenic route,” in which his path was laid out by the brilliant Bil Keane with a series of black dashes. I’ve done the same thing and it adds many extra steps.

Family Circus...courtesy of the late, great Bil Keane

Maybe Billy was onto something. I can’t help but wonder what he would do if he was let loose at a Big Box store!

Let’s hope the new, two-point-oh me achieves the daily step and ultimiately the weight goal. For now, I’m motivated and will likely stay that way, given what the not-so nice alternative is. Gotta run…wait…I mean walk.

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**Just go to your favorite search engine, look up “FH” and you’ll see what the risk factors are. Familial hypercholesterolemia is something that is not to be ignored.

It seems like a long time ago when I was walking Bear, our sweet Golden Retriever. He was provoked by a neighborhood dog who was being walked by an older woman pushing a baby stroller. Bear had had enough of this dog’s aggression and constant barking and decided to lunge toward it, taking me with him. This happened just 20 yards from the house, naturally. It was kind of like that last ski run of the day.

I went down onto the street, and fractured my wrist in 2 places. I’m told that a “FOOSH” – an acronym for Fall On Out Stretched Hand – is likely the most common injury at the Emergency Room. Lucky me.

Eek, pretty graphic, isn’t it?

Five days later, I had wrist surgery and am now the proud owner of a plate and some screws in my wrist – which fortunately does not affect airport security.

“Nurse Bear” made sure I recovered!

The day before this happened, I had a good swim and between sets, I thought about entering some Masters meets while the season was still young.

Be careful what you wish for!

I focused on recovery which included a lot – a lot -of physical therapy. Four times a day I gripped, twisted and turned my wrist back into shape all while the Physical Therapist “helped” bend my wrist back into shape. Ouch.

No pain, no gain has been my modus operandi.

When I finally got the green light to go back in the water (the incision had to be completely healed), I remained hesitant and told myself I’d go back in the pool when both I – and my “Frankenwrist” – felt like it was right. My group of swim friends have been part of my support system, and I missed them terribly. One of them had been competing and doing quite well. I’m a participant, not a spectator, so to think of her competing – and not me – well, I was admittedly jealous!

But into the pool I went, and for the most part it seemed like old times…except for being terribly out of shape, and rather nervous about touching the wall with my left hand. Actually, my biggest fear was sharing a lane with anyone – even my friends. The thought of two wrists colliding while passing one another terrified me, but it’s just one of those unfortunate “things” that can happen if you choose to share a lane.

Fast forward – about 6 months later…and kind of ready to swim!

Since the Empire State Senior Games happened the same day as the 60th Anniversary of the Oswego State Swimming & Diving program, I chose to attend the latter, especially since we are all blessed to have our college swim coach around – she lives in Oswego during the summer and was eager to see everyone. It turned out to be the largest group of Alumni in Oswego that weekend – 60+ strong, and all so glad to be back.

Oswego’s finest swimmers and divers!

One of the Oswego Swim Alumni came up with a fun challenge to swim 100-yard Freestyle and use your age as a handicap. Initially, I was not going to swim at the planned “Alumni Splash Party,” but decided that it could be a unique opportunity to have my coach watch me swim at Laker Hall Pool once again. So…in I dove – and yes, from the starting block – swimming against a woman who swam in the 1990s. I had a fairly decent time for someone who had not been swimming consistently in 6 months. They say it takes 3 months to get in shape – and 3 DAYS to get out of shape – and I’m likely the Poster Child for that!

Kirsten and me…swimming the 100 Free!

What was most exciting memory – more than seeing former teammates and coaches – was being able to see clearly in the pool! Eighties Rewind Time – I wore large, ugly glasses throughout college, and while some thought they were “stylish” back in the day – sorry, that’s a big NO. Even with goggles on, navigating through the water was still pretty fuzzy. Sometimes I would even miss the wall while doing flip turns during practice. Luckily, I had both of my eyes “done” – with lens replacement surgery – due to shingles in my right optic nerve several years ago. My blindness in the pool was gone for the first time everrrrrrr – and to see every tiny white tile and the crystal-clear stripe on the bottom – and “T” at each end – brought me nothing but sheer joy.

Coach Grace had a wonderful time watching me swim and reuniting with women from 3 decades, while also meeting the future of the swim program.

We are grateful for Coach Grace! (she is 4th from Left)

There is a new sign in the kitchen window sill – “Begin each day with a grateful heart” – and I sure am grateful for having the opportunity to have a new and hopefully improved wrist, the ability to still swim and someday compete again, and especially making new friends and keeping the old, like the saying goes.

Time to wrist, oops, I mean rest – from writing! 😉

NOTE: This story was edited and then published in the 2025 January/February edition of SWIMMER Magazine, the US Masters Magazine for us old swimmers who still love the whole competition side of things! For more information, go to usms.org

Tag: fitness

Big Boxes & Billy…for Better Health!

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FOOSH! aka (W)rist, Recover, Re-boot, Reunite!