Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2007. This was Mattie's first visit to a ball park, to watch a Nat's game. He was 5 years old and took it all in. Mattie was more like me.... he preferred people watching and eating food, over watching the game. Fortunately, though Peter is a baseball fan, he handled Mattie's reaction to the game beautifully.
Quote of the day: Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. ~ Thomas Jefferson
Have you ever noticed that everyone and their cousin is wearing a Fitbit? Or something to track steps, miles, and activity in one's daily life! Goodness, even without a Fitbit, your trusty cell phone will fill you in on how you spent your day. I know that prior to April of 2018, I regularly attended a zumba class and loved it. I liked moving around, hearing the music, and interacting with my classmates. However, in the spring, my hip pain began and from there, I was on a crash course to figure out what was wrong with me. As basic activities like walking up stairs or driving a car, were becoming difficult.
I haven't been to my zumba class for ten months, because of my hip labral tear! In place of zumba, I have been doing physical therapy, twice a week. Today was my last therapy appointment. It was monumental! Between a cortisone shot in the hip and six months of intense therapy, I am now basically free of hip pain and do not need surgery. My goal is to keep up this trend, as my hip condition is a structural problem that can only be truly corrected by surgery. However, when the muscles in that region aren't inflamed, I am able to function beautifully.
In line with my personal experience, Peter sent me an article today entitled, Exercise does help prevent depression. It is the age old question.... does lack of exercise cause depression, or does being depressed cause a lack of exercise? This new research study tries to answer this debate. In essence a lack of exercise can make a person at risk for depression!
Results of this study suggest that activity measured using accelerometers (a device that measures acceleration) did protect against risk of depression, but self-reported activity did not. The researchers propose this could result from bias and inaccuracies in self-reported physical activity. With accelerometer data, the researchers found that replacing sedentary behavior with just 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, like running, or an hour of moderate activity, like fast walking, reduces depression risk by 26%.
Physical activity has been linked to the release of ‘feel-good’ hormones in the brain that can lead to a positive mood. Physical activity can also reduce inflammation and improve heart health, both of which have been linked to depression. I do believe in the benefits of movement, which maybe why in part I wanted a big dog like Sunny. Big dogs need to walk, and therefore regardless of the weather, Sunny gets me up and out. But now in addition to walking, I have added other exercise routines to my week. I have found these exercises not only help my hip and back, but after I do them, they help my mood. With winter, the motivation to move and exercise does dwindle, or at least it does for me. However, I am motivated to avoid surgery and to manage my own pain. Which puts me back in control of my physical movement and ultimately my mood.
Exercise does help prevent depression, research shows:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/exercise-does-help-prevent-depression-research-shows
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