Need to vent. Over the weekend, I forked mulch into wheel barrels about 30 times and then forked it around my plants. The sweat poured off my nose. I dug out a few big plants and carried a lot of rocks and weeded for hours. Today my Doctor asked me what exercise I did over the weekend, I said I gardened. He said that he did not consider that exercise, it doesn't get your heart pumping! Well, my heart was pounding whenever I stopped to take a break or drink water and I damn well think it's exercise! What did he think I was doing? Picking flowers? okay vented I'd rather do my version of gardening than run on a treadmill in a dark basement... I just went on SparkPeople.com and used their fitness calculator, 5 hours of gardening burns 1437 calories! Jeese and I'm sure they aren't forking heavy mulch for hours... okay I am done venting (again) and that does not include running from yellow jackets LOL
I had this exact comment come from my former doctor, and I replied that he didn't garden like I do then! I reminded him that I had to upkeep a half acre lawn with four garden areas by myself. He still wasn't impressed, I think that was the last time I ever saw him, lol (I didn't leave due to the comment, other reasons...although it didn't help). I actually went from 250 pounds to 180 pounds in about a year, and the exercise from gardening was a large part of that. I proved the doctor wrong but never had the chance to let him know since I changed doctors.
Yeah, if it is outside of his narrow 'idea of what is right' then it's automatically wrong. I am pretty sure I probably ate more while I was gardening and I ate different kinds of food. It is so hard keeping under 1000 calories, I was eating oatmeal for breakfast; salads and veg for lunch; pasta and chicken for supper. With that menu I was losing, it just made me hungry. So, I changed my diet slightly this month, more carbs, more protein. Obviously that didn't work, so I go back to other menu, which will be more fun now that there are so many yummy veg in season! ...and maybe it was the G&Ts (sigh!)
Did you invite the Doc to help you out with your gardening? I'm certain he'd change his mind then, but he would probably decline your offer. I know how you feel. I had a doc who claimed that riding isn't exercise or sport, and I've met a couple of other people who have the same view. I invited them to come and ride, but they claimed they had ridden a horse before. Yep, they had, from A to B on a slow tourist trip. People like your doc and mine would rather be ignorant than be proven wrong, and that goes for a lot of other people too. Shrug it off! We who garden ride actively know what's what.
I read part of an article somewhere recently (BHG mag?) that talked about how gardening -was- exercise, and therefore you should do proper stretching before and after so as not to injure your muscles At least those people have the right mindset! *lol*
Droopy, I had a horse in high school, that is a lot of work! Cleaning stall at 5 am, scrubbing smell off for school, feeding, hauling water and riding is hard work too! I have heard people say how can sitting be exercise! Ha! Maybe your doctor rode a merry go round horse ;-) I am calmed now, I plan to ignore his comments and chalk it up to a lesson learned, after all this is my life not his, I need to figure it out. I have never been overweight until I turned 40, then it was all downhill! At 55 I am dieting & exercising but losing no weight. For some reason (big M) after 40, I slowly packed on fat around my middle and it gave me a fatty liver! My Dr said this is why I can't lose wight, my liver isn't working very well! I was so irritated! My DH can drink and drink, I have maybe ONE glass of red wine with supper and I get fatty liver? So, Dr says I must take appetite suppressant drugs and eat no more than 1000 calories a day! The mediterranean diet, which I am already eating but now I eat 1/3 less. I still only lose 2 pounds a week tops. I am learning what works and what doesn't. I am taking milk thistle which should heal my liver. I just hate being treated like a child, but I worked with MDs before, so in one ear out the other. I want to get healthy more than anyone wants me healthy. (Also, I want to be healthy enough to ride again!) Bip, yeah I know! Those of us hobbling around on Mondays -we're just imagining it all! LOL I need to stretch more for gardening, thanks for the reminder! Maybe I won't be hobbling and groaning so much! Maybe DH can find me a magical diet plant in the garden, he seems to be finding everything else! moderator's note: removed double posting see point 3.6 of usage rules
If gardening doesn't give you a good work-out... you're not doing it right! Just think of all the walking. And not mention all the bending/stooping over. Then there's the lifting and carrying. And more walking. And this out in the sunshine and fresh air surrounded by flowers, trees, veggies... gotta be good for you! Better than any ol' smelly gym.
total horse hockey! yes cheryl and did I mention FIFTEEN cubic yards of shredded tree mulch? DH thinks the Dr was in a bad mood, he always defends random men! LOL
UMMMMM, come to my garden....not exercise? really? I grew 150 hanging baskets, 400 flats of vegetables, planted 200 tomatoes, 150+ peppers, laid plastic for all the rows, too. 6 70' rows of melons in plastic, too. 300' of peas and put up the fence, weeded 4 70' rows of raspberries, pruned 20 apple trees, planted 8 new ones, picked 300 quarts of strawberries......and a little more too....not exercise? yeah right. Come here and you'll be crying to go back to your cushy office where you get no exercise walking back and forth on tiles or carpeted floors. I had two older men ask me if I was married this year( I about fell down laughing over it, too) but I thought even if I wasn't I would probably kill them within a week with all the work that needs to be done here. Kevin goes to work (doing excavating) just to have a quiet day.
Okay, you ladies are putting me to shame! but still, there is that mountain of mulch... I hope someday I can be on your level, now it's chipping away at one area at a time! It's funny, Rich has done the dishes, some laundry, gone to the store and cooked meals, all to get out of the garden. And I don't care, I tell him I am having fun and will holler if I need his muscles. Honestly, I feel so good with sweat pouring down my face and my heart is definitely beating faster... other than the darn yellow jackets, I am in my own nirvana. I am going to just prove him wrong like Piano Lady!
Haha CK, I get that from passers-by now and then too, especially if I've had a long day at the stables or they've seen me gardening all day. My husband does the shopping, cooking and cleaning up after meals. I do the laundry and house cleaning in between furries and plants. I find that doing something enjoyable makes me push myself to put in that extra effort that gives me sore muscles. I can't envision myself on a treadmill or spinning bike. I think I need a step counter, just to check how much I walk during one day, and then I can tell my doc about it later.
Droopy, I got a step counter and it does help. You should definitely get one. I am not really a competitive person, but I do like to compete with myself. On days when I keep busy, I am well over 10,000 steps. On a day when I have computer work and do minimum chores, I do about 7,500 and then there are days I get lost on the computer and rack up 300 steps... that actually helps me monitor my computer time. I can sit down to the computer and start coding or designing and not even realize 6 hours have past -Lulu usually comes in to yell at me when it's time to feed her! The others are often sleeping at my feet. I am much more sore when I do that than when I work in the yard!
Okay, I got up at 5:30 to get on the treadmill, not because of the Doctor but because I realized I signed up for a 5K on Saturday! I'm sure it will take me over an hour but at least I'll finish!. I was in the military, so I HATE running but someone finally came up with a run I want to do! Six wineries in our area are hosting 5Ks this year. You run through the vineyards and surrounding trails and cool down with a glass of wine and a stroll through the vineyards! I want to do all six and I don't care that I will be the old fat lady bring up the rear, because as long as I'm not wearing military boots, it'll be fun! DH ran one last year and kindly told me that he remembers lots of fat old women running... sigh! He meant that there will be people slower than me but his tact leaves a lot to be desired! LOL
Wow, Cris, that's quite a run you're participating in! Your husband can read up on tact while you're out there.
