Walking

This is a follow-up to my “Fear of Concrete” a few postings ago.

I quit exercising over Christmas and now I’m at the point where I pretty much can’t walk at all except for in the comfort of my own home. O.K., so I may be exaggerating that a little, but things have gotten worse, to the point where I’m even having trouble walking around my office at work.  I need to fix this because I’m at the point where I can not keep relying on others  for assistance and am going to have to use a walker, which I do not want to do.  I have started excising again,  As a family we have also started taking walks around the neighborhood so I can practice walking on the concrete sidewalk and street.  

I have also identified some other aspects, besides physical and mental, that may be contributing to my balance problem:

• Caffeine:  I’ve noticed that coffee gives my muscles anxiety because on the few days I haven’t had any I walk just fine.  Without it my muscles and my mind are too relaxed and tired to tense up.  
• Eye sight:  I need glasses to wear all the time.  I believe my depth perception may be off too.
• Weight:  I think I need to gain some weight.  I ended up below my pre-pregnancy weight after having Kiana and maybe I haven’t fully adjusted to that.  I had great balance while I was pregnant (surprisingly).  I think the extra weight grounded me.
• Physical: exercise, exercise, exercise!  I need to stretch because my muscles are very tight.  I need to work on my leg strength.  And I need to strengthen my stomach muscles.  I never got my stomach back into shape after having Kiana and I think by doing so would help my core balance,and help keep my back straight.
• Mental: I need to find a distraction from my anxiety.  I need to “get out of my head”.  I freeze when people are around and I need to stop worrying about people.  

Gaining confidence and strength again to walk is one of my goals for 2012.