It’s been a rough summer for me. Started out good with the dry heat, little
pain. Then the monsoons rolled in
humidity and barometric pressure rose and I’ve struggled on and off since
July. We don’t have a pool in the
backyard, but I love to swim and so do my kids, so we made an effort to get to
a pool at least once a week over summer vacation. I soon started to notice how great I felt in
the water. ZERO pain while in the cool
water. It was wonderful. And even after swimming I felt good, my
muscles were more relaxed. Refreshed is
the word I would use. As long as we didn’t
stay too long that is. We stayed about 2
½ - 3 hours when we first started going, and that was too much. I would get very tired after. I found though when we stayed 1 – 1 ½ hours,
it was very good. I even had more energy
later in the day than normal.
I grew up swimming laps so I decided to give that a try and
while I’m no Olympian, I can do about 10 laps without pain. I will vary up the strokes every few laps so
I’m working different muscles and it’s a good workout for me. I swim very slowly now, and according to Fitness for Weight Loss
I probably burn around 500 calories an hour swimming at a leisurely pace. Better than sitting around on the couch! And BONUS!
I was spending great quality time with my kiddos making summer memories.
Oh yeah, and there was the day I decided it would be a good
idea to take them and their friends to a water park for a day. 6 hours in the sun, walking and
swimming. I’m sure I burned around 4000
calories that day, hee hee. I had to
rest for 3 days after that!
I have heard from others with fibro that swimming in
the cool ocean has the same effect of taking pain away. We haven’t made it to the beach yet this
summer, but maybe we can work something out before it gets cool and I can see
another sunset on the west coast. I’ll
let you know how the Pacific Ocean feels.
Now that school has started, the pools are closing and I won’t
be able to get in the water as often.
Thankfully I have a few friends that have offered their pools to me
anytime I need it. It’s good to have
such caring friends. The weather will
still be warm well into September so hopefully I will get to swim awhile
longer.
I’ve even thought about joining
a gym with a pool (and childcare) but actually getting to the gym on a regular
basis is tough for me. I much prefer to
work out at home. I may try it for a
season though. Maybe take a mild water aerobics class to get some more
exercise in.
Have you had a chance to get in the water this summer? Have you found it refreshing?
The cleanse I am following from Perfect Weight America teaches that on day 1, I need to drink lots of water 3/4 oz per pound of body weight, and 4 meals of grapes (any kind, I got both) throughout the day. Along with some special supplements that you can get at Perfect Cleanse. It's a good thing I like grapes! 
