60 yrs and up

Nothing very exciting here to share, either.

I'm gradually repotting and propagating houseplants, and watching the outdoor ornamentals grow. I have no veggie garden anymore, but do have herbs, both perennial (oregano, tarragon, sage, lovage, thyme, potted rosemary) and some annuals in pots (dill, cilantro, basil, nasturtium). Those are pleasurable additions to meals.

I don't get out much, mostly just essential errands like groceries and the occasional doctor. I have been going to a very good little urban neighborhood center's farmers market, which has been an excellent source for lots of colorful, fresh, delicious veggies and fruits that make me very happy on the eating front. In yesterday's eating, there was sweet corn, tomatoes, elephant garlic and squash from that market. They have an excellent set-up for these times of pandemic risks, with widely spaced booths, plenty of circulation room, marked-out spots to stand in line at the right spacing, and everyone is required to wear a mask (though it's outdoors, since people may accidentally get close to vendors and others). It's on Wednesdays, and I go while many people would be at work.

After a period of unhelpfully lower activity, I got myself back into a good, regular exercise plan around the beginning of July (by force of will 😆, a rare quality in my life). So, I've been doing a short steady state rowing machine workout 6x a week, and some dumbbell exercises 3x (every other day). One day is a rest day, exercise-wise. Based on what I'd done in July, I decided to challenge myself to to do the Concept 2 (rowing machine manufacturer) Dog Days of Summer Challenge, where you row increasing numbers of meters per week during each week of August. Continuing my July routine covered the first two weeks, then I needed to add about 3km more to hit week 3. This week, I need another 10km for the week on top of that. (For perspective, for me 10K is only 8-9 minutes more rowing per day on average, so it's harder but not hugely so, especially at steady state pace.) As I'm increasing my rowing machine minutes, I'm slowing down progressions in the strength training, because I know I'm not age 20 anymore. 😉 It looks like on-water rowing may start up again around next week, so I may be switching things up once August ends.

On the weight front, I think I'm still continuing the hyper-slow weight loss I started last October (less than a pound a month! 😆), but sometimes it's hard to tell, on the scale or even in my weight-trend app, if there's loss that slow happening behind daily water/digestive-contents fluctuations. But, I'm down around 10 pounds from where I was last October, so overall it's been working fine so far. Probably close to done, another few months tops. 😆

I usually self-indulgently share some flower pic, so I'll keep up the tradition, with my current Mandevilla 'Alice du Pont" vine, blooming in its pot on my back deck - a cheering view to see through the kitchen sliding door.


Wow, that photo came out big, once uploaded. Sorry! 😬

I have been a member of MFP since 2012. I have only lurked not participated. I need to start participating! I am almost 69 in need of a second knee replacement and about 70 lbs. to lose. I know what to do but the little voice in my head constantly tells me I can't and it's too much effort. At this point in my life how to I turn that voice off?! I hesitate to share (because I figure I'm going to fail anyway( (there's that voice again) but I have taken the baby step of adding a profile picture which to me is a lot of commitment! LOL! I know MFP works and am hoping that I can make some progress this time.