Excercising Shouldn't Cost You An Arm or a Leg

In today's world, everything costs money, and with money being tight for everyone due to the recession, money spent on frills are getting cut out of the budget. I'm not a one to have many frills in my life because frankly, I just simply could never afford them-- even when things were good. I'm the type of person that spends on everyone else but myself, except when it comes to my health and that's what I'm going to discuss today, in part.

You see, I feel that everyone is entitled to spend some money on themselves when it comes to being healthy on a day-to-day basis. After all, real food, not that fake stuff in a box, costs money.

Exercising costs money too. But as far as exercising is concerned, I feel that it should not cost you an arm and a leg every time you feel like going to the gym. The only thing you should be loosing is weight, not money.

I don't go to the gym or even take a yoga class. That's right, you heard me, I don't go out to exercise. I stay in to get my work out. And I probably burn just as many calories at home as I would out in a gym-- maybe even more. What do I do at home? What's my secret?

I practice my yoga at home by popping in a video 1-2 times a week. I love how convenient this is too because I don't have to rush out the door (and bring my blood pressure to a boil) to make a 10 AM class.

It's also better for me because I'm the type of person who gives into peer pressure. I know, call me crazy and a bit childish because I should have left that awkward stage of peer pressure back in high school when I graduated, but I didn't. If someone out there like a instructor wants me to turn my body into a pretzel, I'm trying to do it-- regardless of whether or not I'm going to regret that move tomorrow when I can't get out of bed. With a video in and no one watching-- no one will ever know that I couldn't stand on my head, and frankly, no one should have to. Yoga is about stretching one's limits-- not breaking them, so if I can't do it, I gently get out of the move and wait for the next, and it's all good at home.

Another thing I love to do is gardening. I'm an HGTV freak and I love The Garden Guy on Gardening by the Yard. He's a little wacky, yeah, but so am I. Anyways, on one episode they were discussing how gardening is a lot like lifting weights at the gym. Now, I don't lift weights at the gym, but I do garden, so that got my attention. Apparently, the simple motion of shoveling dirt actually mimics what you would do when lifting some weights on a gym set! Hot digity! That's awesome because I don't have to pay for a gym membership, I just have to go out in my mother in-law's yard and do some gardening for her when I want a work out. Of course, there's even more of a bonus when you garden because if you plant vegetables like me, you don't have to buy them at the supermarket either!

Okay, by now you are probably thinking that I NEVER leave my house. Well, that's not true. I don't live with my mother in-law, so I do have to drive to her house to garden. But all kidding aside, I do get out and actually drive somewhere at least once a week with my daughters in tow.

Where do we go? We go out to get some exercise by walking the malls. Now, if you are a shopaholic, I wouldn't recommend this one, but if you are a tight wad like me-- go have some fun browsing! It can't hurt to just look and you can get plenty of exercising walking around from shop to shop. I've put on a pedometer on some shopping excersions and found that I walked the equivalent of 4 miles in one trip. That was a lot of steps, and a few too many hours at the mall (about 3), so if you don't like the mall that much-- go for a mile which turns out to be close to an hour's worth of steps.

There's lots of ways to exercise without spending a lot at a gym. These are just a couple of ways to stay fabulous and feel fabulous. There of course, are many more, but those will be for another blog.

Don't forget that voting for your favorite bloggers ends in 3 days! Click the vote for me buttons on the right of this blog for more details.

Love and friendship,

Kimberley

The Competition Expands Along With My Thoughts

Cymbalta and Lyrica, FDA approved drugs for Fibromyalgia patients, now have some more competition. A new drug was just approved this month for the treatment of Fibromyalgia. Savella (milnacipran), is another antidepressant drug that is officially out on the market for Fibro sufferers in the US. This drug is a bit different than other antidepressant drugs because it boosts levels of norepinephrine more so than levels of serotonin. This drug has been used in over 50 countries for the past 10 years for the treatment of depression and the outcome of the drug's side effects are favorable because they are mild.

The drug is only approved for adults at this point and not for children since it is an antidepressant. But the FDA wants some post-marketing studies done on women who are pregnant and breast feeding while taking Savella.

This is wonderful news because these FDA approved drugs are helping patients with Fibromyalgia get the help they need since it's allowing research to be done into this so often misunderstood syndrome.

There are other drugs that are still being tested for treatment of Fibromyalgia and it is unclear as to when they will be approved. One drug will be applying for a New Drug Application later on this year. This drug is called JZP-6 (sodium oxybate) and is being used by some patients now. The FDA may make a decision on this drug by 2010 or 2011.

One can only hope that this may mean research into other treatments, including alternative treatments for this debilitating syndrome. Research was done in 2006 on an Eastern form of treatment called acupuncture and this research found that acupuncture did help patients who suffered from Fibro.

This form of treatment that inserts needles in certain areas of the body using heat or electrical stimulation, is used as a way of allowing the body to naturally heal from disease, disorders, or injuries. It's been used to relieve things like PMS, migraines, and even Fibromyalgia.

The Today Show did an alternative health segment on acupuncture this morning, and that may spark popularity in this treatment again. Even some insurance companies have warmed up to acupuncture and are allowing patients to get this treatment through their health care plan.

The possibilities of treatment for a once named controversial syndrome are expanding and this news makes me feel fabulous! Hope you are fabulous too!

Love and friendship,

Kimberley

The Final Days Are Here

Well, it's finally here, the last days of voting for the People's Choice Health Blogger Awards. There are only three days left! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! It's been a blast this past month reading the nominee's health blogs and reading all the beautiful comments readers like you, have left me. I want to thank each and every one of you that has voted, it means a lot, more than you could ever know. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Have you voted for your favorite Health Blogger? If not, go to the right of this blog and click on the Vote for Me badge for details. I'm out of the running for the top 20, but with your help, I can make the top 100. Please vote before the 15th if you plan on doing so. And while you are at Wellsphere, check out the other blogs that are in the running too. You can vote for anyone that you like, but you can only vote for them once. This is done to prevent "ballot stuffing" and to be fair to all of the candidates.

Hope all of you readers are doing fabulous and I'll be back in later today (or this week depending upon my research) to post a blog about Fibromyalgia and skin care.

Love and Friendship,

Kimberley

Out With The Old

New Years is a great time to think about what you want to accomplish for the year. Everyone seems to get that fresh motivation and resolve to do something for themselves to make things healthier, easier, or just plain better. When I was a teen, I used to spend my New Years Eve listening to Casey's countdown. I would pull out my journal and read through all the things that happened to me over the year and then I'd figure out what I'd want to do better and what (or who) I'd want to leave alone for the new year.

Once I got older and had children, I stopped that tradition I had for myself, put it on the back burner in the name of my kids. I had a young child and reading anything with words was hard. Writing was sheer torture. There were days when trying to write out the shopping list was next to impossible. But when I look back on it all, it was really was something I should have never stopped doing.

Having an illness like Fibromyalgia can get you down sometimes. It's not an easy thing to have because there really are days when you just don't feel like getting out of bed. But you do, you get out of bed and you start your day. It's something that should make you proud because it's an accomplishment on those bad days when you get out of bed. But I always seem to forget that. I'm always feeling guilty that I can't do more. I even feel bad when I can't get together the way I'd planned to with my friends when I'm having a bad day. But I really shouldn't because there are days when I feel like I'm on top of the world and I can clean my house, my mother in-laws yard, and help out my own mother with cleaning too... all in the same day. So really, those days make up for my bad ones.

So, you are probably wondering what this all has to do with New Years, huh? Well, plenty if you start to incorporate your reflections of the New Year, with your good days of being pain-free. In other words, the next time you have a good day, write down everything you did and how it felt when you did it. Add the date if you want so you can start to track your good months too. But the main purpose of this journal will be for reflection only.

And then, the next time you have one of those bad days, take out that journal and start to read it. I bet you will be amazed at how much you can and do do. It will hopeful kill any of those old negative, guilty feelings you may have when you can't do something on your bad days. And that would be fabulous!

Happy New Year
Love and Friendship,

Kimberley

P.S. Don't forget to vote for Fibro And Fabulous in the Top Health blogger awards. Click on the graphics to the right to cast your vote. Voting ends on the 15th of January.