Sue Grant, ThunderBell and WalkingOnline

I have been using the 7 DVD Older and Wiser library which was a bargain at $35.
Her cardio, strength, and stretch sections are much more unique than most.
Her cardio is simple to follow if I want my own music.

This library enables the downloading of her older 5 dvds.
It may have been my best purchase of 2018 even though I already had 4 of the dvds!

https://olderwiserworkouts.cinevee.com/


ETA:
another great recent purchase is a 6lb Thunder Bell.
I did some of the moves and really feel them in my core and upper body muscles without any pain.

https://teeter.com/product/thunderbell/



The Dance Faith Fitness channel owner
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpJ1fR6QMdH3XI7kkbWanWw
has an online walking subscription with a free 7 day trial
https://walkingonlineworkouts.vhx.tv/browse

often she ran into music copyright issues on youtube so this may be a great alternative for low impact walking with decent music.
I may check it out in January after canceling a couple of subscriptions.
For now I am buried with purchases and subs and have not even tried all of her youtube routines.

Free 6 Week Walk Challenge

http://mailchi.mp/walkathome/save-the-date-new-year-challenge?e=1cb3e5ce75

Starting January 1st,  the Walk At Home channel on youtube will be offering a free 6 week walk challenge!

Turkey and stuffing on the side

My son requested I post our traditional turkey and stuffing recipes so hopefully one day, someone can make it for him after I am gone.

The night before cooking the turkey, I marinate it inside and outside with the following:
grated carrots,onions,garlic, paprika,  salt and pepper
use about 3 large onion and 7 or more large carrots and a half clove of garlic

the turkey is cooked in the marinade which becomes its gravy
so if you want even more gravy, use more veggies



separately make a bread stuffing which can be pepped the day before:
grate celery and onions and cook till tender in alittle oil
(usually I try to use twice as much celery as onion)

add salt and pepper and whatever herbs you like
crumble and break up whatever bread you want and mix everything
bake about 90 minutes

Walk at Home

Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home offers the first month free to try her daily walks and some dvd titles.

The videos stream with the same Purple Player that Jessica Smith uses with or without an app. 
After the free month, the subscription is ~$5 a month which is very reasonable.

(Not sure if I will keep the sub because I already have all of her dvds and have edited many of them to have preferable audio but do like streaming more than messing with a dvd)

The Coffee Debate

I have been drinking much more coffee daily since my doctor gifted us with his older Keurig system.   This doctor is a functional health specialist and put me on a strict anti-inflammatory diet for peripheral neuropathy but never restricted coffee or caffeine.  Previously, I had a half cup of coffee most mornings to get things moving for a bathroom visit and to energize my morning workout. 
I used to drink more when younger till I developed palpitations during menopause.

Being diagnosed as pre-diabetic, I had lost a few pounds by cutting back on carbs before seeing him and then saw pounds literally melt away in the first 3 months of his diet.  Weightloss has slowed down since I added some foods back into my diet but still continues slowly.  As long as it goes in the right direction, I see no reason to be as restrictive because being more restrictive created stress.  Eating is a pleasure for me and when it is no longer a pleasure, I am not a happy camper.

Developing metabolic disease is no longer a serious threat.
All markers have gone down
(triglycerides, A1c, blood pressure, waist circumference, etc.).

However, I still was having problems with sleep and regularity.
After having several cups of coffee a day, I am sleeping better than ever???
Also no palpitations and a very low resting heart rate.

The benefits of coffee, both decaf and regular, are debated online and there are studies that support both sides of the debate. 
However, I have solidly landed on the side that coffee benefits me.

Ironically, it seems most studies for post-menopausal women seem to support both decaf and regular coffee.   My sister has Alzheimers in spite of being low carb and exercising her whole life to keep her weight stable.   She had also avoided caffeine most of her life because of breast cysts but now indulges all day.

I believe the coffee debate is much like the statin debate.
Studies will support either side and it is up to the individual to determine what is best.

Michelle Vo Fitness

Michelle Vo Fitness channel on youtube has great dance cardio!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds-gmAK7SQAcFFaKWeysSw/featured


the Dance Cardio for Weightloss video I did this morning had music only and easy to follow, fun choreo.  Best part is, the vids are free!!!!




Worse part is youtube has some music restrictions.
I can download from youtube in many different ways.

For more information about downloading:
http://neverendingplateau.blogspot.com/2017/02/downloading-videos.html
http://neverendingplateau.blogspot.com/2016/11/current-favorite-video-downloading.html
or search for an extension on your favorite browser

Some New Deals for the New Year

You can subscribe to Healthy UTV Gold for $20 for the first year
https://gethealthyu.com/real-results-trainer-challenge/


PlyoJam has online classes with a free 7 day trial and an annual subscription ~$100
https://www.plyojam.com/access-online-class/
or
a free 30 day trial then ~$15 a month
https://www.plyojam.com/online-dance-workouts/

only 2 parts of one new class is added on Mondays and the only other class on the site is the one from the previous week
This 2 week limit may be because of music copyrights.
(I cancelled already because too much WHOOing and screaming)


This is a great deal from Lee Holden:
30 Days of Qigong for $17
https://pages.holdenqigong.com/holiday-bundles-2017

Older and Wiser Series with Sue Grant

Although I already own several of the 7 dvds that Sue Grant has created,  I decided to own her library online for $35.   The library enables the downloading of files from the first 5 dvds as well as the streaming of all of them. 

https://olderwiserworkouts.cinevee.com/account/library

Mostly, I had wanted to try her new Pizzazz dvd and thought I could download it but found out after the purchase that its files were not downloadable.  Then the first few times I tried to stream Pizzazz,  it streamed with horrible quality so I was very disappointed and emailed her.   Meanwhile, I eventually figured out how to stream Pizzazz with good quality after realizing most of the freezing was during its introduction.  I really enjoyed the routine so reconsidered trying to cancel the order and there were 2 other dvds I never tried so I emailed Sue Grant again.

She generously offered to send me the Pizzazz DVD!!!
ETA:  The Strength and Stretch routines on this dvd are wonderful although its original appeal was is Cardio.

Since then I have enjoyed trying the two other routines and am going to revisit the ones I already own using the online library because it is so much easier for me to workout with a stream than bother with a dvd.

I really like getting the streams more than the dvds now as I did with Jessica Smith and previously with Lee Holden's 30 day series.
Also love the subscriptions to Healthy UTV Gold which is ending soon and NiaTV which is good for most of 2018.

Doing most of my workouts in the den using a laptop with power speakers was a very good switch for me.  I am ready to start moving in less than a minute.

Personal Update

I do not regret trying to find a peripheral neuropathy cure with a functional medicine specialist.

I do not think the treatments, supplements, and diet have helped my damaged nerves.
If I get stressed, I feel as badly as ever.

However, the attempt was worthwhile in many other respects.
I got extensive lab tests done that were covered by our medical insurance which helped eliminate some worries and the diet helped me to reverse metabolic disease (pre-diabetes and hypertension) much more efficiently than I would have done on my own.
Plus we got a free Keurig coffee machine!

In all honesty, I could not give a testimonial for the treatment of peripheral neuropathy but I could recommend functional medicine to those plagued by other conditions.

I did blow another $20 on his book, hoping to find something I may have missed but his book is mostly an advertisement for his practice and greatly exaggerates his promised personalized approach.

(I have removed the doctor's name from my blog because I could not give him an objective evaluation being very disappointed in the results.  If anyone wants to try to reverse metabolic disease, try an anti-inflammatory diet of no grain and no dairy).