Arm Work That is Not a Pain

As much as I enjoy most exercise activities, I am not fond of weight lifting and exercise machines. For years, I used the gym machines for my upper body strengthening, and included chest presses, shoulder lifts, and flys on a regular basis. When I started to have a chronic problem with my right shoulder and neck, my physical therapist suggested that my machine workout might be the culprit. So I took his advice and stopped using machines for my upper body workout. Within a month or so, I stopped having pain. I also stopped all of my upper body strengthening workouts!

So for the next six months or so, I did little to nothing to improve my arms and shoulders. One day, I looked in the mirror and noticed that I was developing flabby arms. These were particularly noticeable when I decided to wear a sleeveless top. I certainly didn't have the toned arms that Michelle Obama is known for! I was losing muscle tone, which can be a problem as we get older.
As I have said in an previous blog, I started doing push-ups on a regular basis, which definitely helped. But I felt that I needed to do even more.

I saw a class at my gym called Integrated Strength, that was described as emphasizing muscle strength and endurance. I decided to try it. The instructor that leads the class I attend uses no equipment except a strap at the end for our stretching. Light free weights are optional but not required. We start out doing various repetitive arm exercises. We do 30 arm circles, arm raises, and triceps curls, all without using weights. It is surprising how exhausted our arms feel right after we finish doing a set of these kinds of arm exercises. But we stretch out and the pain does not last. We continue with leg work and core exercises and end ever class with about 15-20 minutes of stretching.

I have been doing Integrated Strength regularly for about 9 months, and I am pleased with the results. I look and feel stronger, and do not have the nagging shoulder pain that I had previously suffered. I try to do this class every week, and the participants of the class are all regulars who, like me, want to improve their muscle tone as they age. However, we do have younger class members as well. I think that this class is appropriate for those of us who are not really into weight lifting, but realize the importance of upper body strength. I have found a few other classes that incorporate some of these same kinds of upper body techniques (some yoga classes, CX works, and even some zumba classes). But Integrated Strength is probably the most intense in terms of shoulder strengthening. I recommend this class, and actually look forward to it! And though my arms will never match those of the First Lady, I no longer cringe at my flabby arms staring at me in the mirror!

Malted Chocolate Pecan Pie: Not Your Mother's Pecan Pie

The other day, I was at Greenlife Grocery here in Asheville. The woman in line behind me asked what  I was making with the barley malt syrup I was buying. I explained that I was using it to make a chocolate pecan pie. She then inquired about whether the recipe called for less sugar than typical pie recipes, or perhaps sugar substitutes. I thought about this and realized that indeed, most of the recipes in the Four and Twenty Blackbirds cook book use a minimal amount of sugar. I consider this to be a positive for those of us trying to exercise and be healthy, but who still enjoy a piece of pie now and then!

This brings me to the most recent pie to be reviewed in this blog: The Malted Chocolate Pecan Pie out of the Elsen sisters' cook book. I decided to make this pie to take to a Memorial Day party. I have made this pie before, enjoyed it, and decided to share it with others. This pie has pecans, of course, as a typical southern pecan pie does, as well as brown sugar, eggs, and spices like cinnamon and ginger. But the while the traditional southern version of this recipe uses "dark Karo syrup", or corn syrup, this updated take on pecan pie uses barley malt syrup. It is not that easy to find barley malt syrup, but I did find it at Greenlife. Another addition that makes this dish interesting is that it includes bittersweet chocolate, which makes most foods taste better, in my opinion! The crust is the usual butter crust that is consistently good. This pie is not very time consuming in terms of assembling the ingredients. Cook time is about 1 1/2 hours counting the partly pre-baked crust.

One thing about the pie is that you have to be careful not to over cook or under cook it. The cook book authors warn that overcooking can cause the filling to harden too much. I tend to err on the side of cooking a little less and this has worked well, as the pie continues to cook once removed from the oven. However,the pie is a little messy to cut, even after several hours out of the oven. I actually placed the pie in the freezer for about an hour and then cut it and that appears to be the best way to handle the cutting dilemma.

The pie really is tasty, but is not the ultra sweet pecan pie that many of us grew up with. I always loved my Mother's pecan pie, but at times, even I thought it overly sweet. The Malted Chocolate Pecan Pie has just the right level of sweet flavor, and the chocolate makes it truly special. There was only one slice left to take home, and my husband I and will have to agree on splitting it. I will continue to make this very different pecan pie, knowing that my mother would hardily approve!

Fitness and Fashion:Silver Tights and Overalls

I have always enjoyed shopping for clothes and trying to keep up with fashion trends. I watch "America's Top Model" and "Project Runway" marathons. I regularly read the fashion sections of the Wall Street Journal, and used to laugh at "What Not to Wear". But when it comes to workout wear, I am not always on top of my game. I don't know why this is the case. Sometimes I have the attitude 'Hey, I am exercising, what does it matter what I wear?'

Long ago in the 80's, I adored Jane Fonda and dancing aerobics. Jane loved her leotards, tights, and leg warmers, and I followed suit with a few outfits of my own. My favorite wardrobe item was my silver tights. I wore them with everything and traveled everywhere with them. In the mid-90's, when my daughter was a teenager, I was still wearing those tights. I was no longer involved in aerobics, but no problem-I wore them to the grocery store, to the mall, and occasionally to dinner. My daughter referred to them as my "space alien tights". One night in December, we were decorating our Christmas tree, and, as usual, a bad string of lights caused the whole tree to go dark. I announced that we were going to Kroger Grocery to get some lights right then. I had on my silver tights, an old knit sweater, and a tacky Christmas scarf with my sneakers.  Allison looked at me with a horrified look and said "you are not going to wear those tights, are you"? "Of course I am", I replied, "who could I possibly run into at this time of the night"? We were on the Christmas light aisle when a familiar face gave me a puzzled smile and said, "Hi, Sylvia".  It was one of my favorite doctors that I worked with at the hospital. I looked at Allison, and she had that smug smile on her face that indicated that she knew she would never see me in those silver tights again!

When I started playing tennis, I was addicted to tennis attire.This was mainly because I was so bad at tennis, I figured that I would at least look good on the court. I thought that my opponents might be intimidated by my amazing fashion. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I have been a lover of Zumba fitness wear, mainly because my family gave me zumba outfits for birthdays and Christmas. It sounds crazy, but I really feel that I dance better when I have my zumba clothes on. Thankfully, my family continues to replenish my zumba wardrobe with the latest hip hop pants.

 I generally wore ordinary shorts and old pants when I walked or went hiking. I used to run, and saved my old running clothes to walk in. I finally broke down and bought a pair of hiking pants at REI in Atlanta. These pants were well-made, comfortable, and waterproof, and I lived in them for all of my walks and hikes. Fifteen years later, I was still wearing these, but decided that perhaps I should buy new ones when I started walking in a meet-up group last year. So my trusty old hiking pants were converted to garden wear.

Which brings me to my most embarrassing "what not to wear" fashion mishap: garden clothing. Anything that is old, worn, tattered, but still fits me goes to a shelf in my closet known as my "garden outfits". Included on this shelf are old overalls, zumba pants, running shorts, second hand overalls, and old sneakers. These various items often are worn at the same time - all colors mixed together. When I am digging or planting, I feel that comfort is the most important criteria of what to wear. And I am going to get dirty, right? So why is it that when I go to the garden center, I see people dressed in their adorable garden club pants, with matching shirts and little straw hats, while I have on my old overalls and baseball hat on a good day? I often head to the garden center when I realize I need something, and just go as is. I started out this spring trying to be a little more fashionable in my garden, which basically meant that I would only wear clean clothes to start with, and nothing that clashes. But I am not doing very well thus far. Last week, I needed to make a quick trip for potting soil, and wore my dirty overalls, only to run into one of my former students who works at the garden center. Reminded me of the silver tights incident - some of us never learn!

Walking ,Pie,and Memories

I had not planned to do a Mother's Day blog, and this one is obviously a day late. My day started with a walk on Owl Ridge trail at the NC Arboretum. This trail was the first I ever remember walking on at the Arboretum when I moved here 14 years ago from Atlanta. Since then, I have walked this 3.7 mile trail probably 100 times. I have memorized most parts of the trail: the rhododendron arbor by the creek, the native azaleas, and the mountain laurels that are now in bud and should be at their peak next weekend. I love so much about this trail, and have walked it with others, but have mostly done it solo. A while back, I decided to go very early on a Sunday morning to walk Owl Ridge, because I figured there would be very few people out then, and I would ideally have the whole trail to myself. I was doing my usual carefree stroll, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a large black animal running through the woods about 30 feet away. At first I pretended not to notice, but then acknowledged to myself that it was a bear and, ignoring advice that says one should not panic or run when a black bear is seen, I ran the rest of the way down the trail! Talking with the gatekeeper as I was leaving, he said I had probably had seen the resident bear, known as "Old Bertha".

Yesterday was a great day to enjoy every part of Owl Ridge.  Perhaps my favorite part of this trail is the "pine forest area", as I call it. The trail is wide, flat, and well maintained at this point, and each side is lined with pine trees. Walking through this gives me a wonderfully serene feeling - it is like the Asheville version of the peace I experience in a perfect Asian garden. Years ago, I stopped to enjoy the moment of being in the pine forest when a walker coming from the opposite direction stopped at the same time and remarked "Isn't this amazing?" As we walked by another beautiful part of the trail at Bent Creek yesterday, I said to my husband that I remembered Mother's Day weekend 3 years ago when my daughter and I had walked the trail and then had a picnic at that very spot, where large rocks overlooked the water. That was probably my favorite Mother's Day of all time. Allison had come from Portland on Mother's Day and we literally spent the whole day together. And we walked the trail the day afterwards.

Those of us with children living away are not always fortunate enough to spend Mother's Day with our children, so I invited some good friends over for dinner. I thought it might be a nice treat to include one of the pies from the Four and Twenty Blackbirds cook book. This one is called Derby Pie, in honor of the Kentucky Derby. It is a chocolate pie, and as I thought about making the pie, I remembered my mother's always delicious chocolate pie.The secret ingredient for the Derby Pie is, appropriately, bourbon, as in Kentucky bourbon. It is a creamy, rich pie, with eggs, cream, bittersweet chocolate, peppermint extract and of course the bourbon. I think it is truly decadent, but it is not an overly sweet pie, which I appreciate. A dollop of whipped cream adds just the right amount of sweetness. And a small slice was just enough after a big meal. I have made this pie before, and we have always enjoyed it and devoured it in a short time.

When my daughter called, she asked me how I had spent my Mother's Day. I told her that we had earlier walked the Owl Ridge trail at the Arboretum. She replied, "Oh, remember when we had that neat picnic there on my Mother's Day weekend visit?" I smiled and realized that shared, cherished memories are one of the best Mother's Day gifts ever!

Gardening: Exercise for the Body and Soul

Spring is a wonderful time of the year, particularly for those of us who love to garden. There is so much to do, with seed sowing, digging, planting, and mulching, among other chores. My main problem is that gardening literally consumes me at this time of year. I just can't stop once I am outside enjoying the blooms, fragrance, and peacefulness that comes with being in my garden. I think about missing my zumba class, or yoga while I am planting a rose. But I realize that I am definitely getting exercise when I finally retire for the day and I am tired to the bone.

Most of us gardeners don't realize how many muscles we are using when we dig a hole, or lift a a really heavy planter. But we certainly feel it when we come inside at the end of a gardening day. It is especially important to maintain flexibility and strength for our gardening activities. Bending down is hard on the knees and joints, so improving our core strength is essential. It is also important to stay hydrated, and to take breaks for just resting our bodies while gardening. This is the hardest part for me - I hesitate to take a break on a nice, sunny day and on a roll with my weeding and planting.

The physical exercise of gardening is a benefit in the long run. But equally impressive, in my opinion, is the mental exercise that we gain. Being outside in nature and making our environment more beautiful is calming. I generally forget my worries when outside. Or being out in my garden sometimes helps me to think more clearly without the television or computer nearby. I find it a positive time in my always busy day. It is also satisfying to see the results of my efforts, and to just sit and enjoy the experience of being in the landscape.

For the gardeners out there who are reading this, I have a few actual tips that I want to share with you. There are a couple of things that I have learned this season that may help you in your quest to create your amazing garden or improve your landscape. Since I have been gardening for well over 30 years, I realized that there are a few steps I can take to make things a little easier for myself. So here they are:

1. If you have a plant in your landscape that you are tired of, or you simply don't like for some reason, it is okay for you to move it to another location, get rid of it, or give it to a gardener who may appreciate it. There is a hydrangea in my current landscape, and although I have only been here for a year and a half, I don't like it where it is. I fretted about this last year, saying to myself that the hydrangea is healthy, and I should just learn to like it. But I still don't like its location, and I am going to move it and replace it with a climbing rose. My neighbor across the street just gave me two shrubs because she didn't like them in her landscape. Yes, my gardening friends, it is okay to part with a plant that you don't like anymore!

2. When choosing plants for your garden, stick with the ones that you have successfully grown. This has been a particularly hard lesson for me. In my previous landscape, I had a virtual arboretum, with hundreds of different plants, various interesting specimens, and unusual plants that I had seen in the catalogs. But I became frustrated by the many that I lost because, for whatever reason, I could not grow some really well. So with this new landscape, I am determined to stick with the ones that I know will make me happy. I am good at growing roses, for example, so I am using them. It sounds so simple, but most of us just want to try something new. This isn't bad, but life is somewhat easier if you can confidently predict what is going to brighten your landscape! And it makes trips to the garden center go much faster if you already know what kinds of plants you are looking for!

3. Planters can look very beautiful with two or three plants, or even a single, eye-catching specimen. You don't have to have 25 different plantings stuffed into one container to have a nice container design. The garden magazines generally emphasize the number of different plants that you can manage to put into a planting pot. While these designs can be lovely, they are also labor intensive because of all of the time you spend watering these thirsty plants all competing for moisture! It also helps to go with fewer plants if you are planning summer trips.

So there is my gardening wisdom for the day. Consider it if you like. Enjoy both sweating and sitting in your garden. Finally, remember that your garden is like a painting that is never finished, and that is what makes it so much fun!