Oh the joys of being able to move!

I feel bipolar. On the days when my MS body won't cooperate, I am grouchy, depressed, hostile, unmotivated.
On the days when it works, the sun comes out and I spring about, filled with the energy of muscles screaming to break free.  For the last three days I've managed a 30-45 minute aerobic workout, loving every minute.  I even did the deadly Wii Active today (sure, just the easy low impact one, but still!), breaking into a sweat so prodigious I daren't be seen for at least a half hour or so til it all stops pouring out of me. I can feel my tummy getting tighter, and it fills me with joy. And my legs remain strong, my balance is good (until after the exercise, when I develop a listing to one side like a sailboat tacking upwind).  My lungs feel open and exercised and aerated, my brain is functioning better, it's all wonderful. And I feel less like smoting anyone who annoys me...
I get done with my workout and immediately start thinking of doing another, my mind and heart willing, my muscles and nerves ever so affirmatively NOT. But I try and work in a walk as well later in the day, just because I can, and there are all those days when I can't that my muscles have to make up for.
And then, at night, when I crawl into bed, the pain starts - the muscle spasms, the contractions, the hip flicks. I try not to whimper, but it hurts, damn it, especially when my back flips my legs and they are pooped from the day. Fortunately, I am usually so tired that I fall asleep before too much whimpering ensues, but I'd sure as heck like to know why the spasming starts when I am at rest.  And maybe how to forestall it. Maybe I'll find out when I see my neuro on Friday....

Meanwhile, I'm riding this active horse for as long as my body will let me.  It feels so GOOD! And I can't help but think, if I exercise now while I can, maybe I'll get a grip on all those other monsters that have come to live with me - overweight, diabetes, high blood pressure...of course, the main problem is that when I exercise, I get very very hungry....;-)

In praise of Wii Fit Plus

There are some wonderful technologies available that help me cope with my everyday degradation with MS. I like Dragon Naturally Speaking if I can't type, for example.

But the Wii fit stuff - both this program and the other fitness videos - well, they are a good help for me generally.

I like to exercise within my capabilities, but it's so hard to estimate these with MS. I can set out on a walk, feeling fine, only to realize I have planned badly and ended up far from home, unable to walk without pain. I haul my sorry hide back, step by painful step, afraid of the time when that won't be possible.

My legs are completely numb. My feet feel nothing today, and I am numb all the way to my hips. Exercise can be dangerous in this state - it's easy to get myself into a position where I can do myself damage. I'm not sure where my legs are in space, or how I am balanced. But I need to move, or lose my senses completely, to say nothing of my muscle strength.

The Wii fit gives me feedback for every exercise. While I can't FEEL where I am in space, the little mark on the yellow circles tells me how to hold my body to get the best stretch, to balance effectively. The more I can focus on keeping myself in the yellow area, the better my core strength gets, the better I hold myself, the safer I am with regard to my life.

I am always amazed at how much better I feel even with a very little bit of exercise and stretching. The Wi Fit isn't a difficult workout, really, though after an hour of it, you'll feel it. I mix it up with the Fitness Coach one, and Just Dance. I still try walking although that is not working out very well of late. I SHOULD go biking or exercise biking - there's a gym across the street that remains untouched by me, lazy as I am.

But there's always that fear of doing myself an injury. It takes me such a long time to get back from injuries now....

The Wii Fit, though, fills me with confidence, allows me to focus my workout to match my energy, and tells me all the time how well I am doing. The feedback is invaluable, the coaching helpful. I highly recommend it.

And one and two and one and two

Update on exercises, brain plasticity and all that...
Still slogging through the Wii 30 day challenge although it kills me for the day after each exercise session - and I deleted squat jumps out of the plans for yesterday as my knees felt this was altogether too much to ask. Still, my running is getting better and I can smash the targets in boxing...
So today, as my body needs rest, I thought I would try exercising my brain - and ooh, is it rusty! I know I've been choosing simpler books to read and avoiding mental challenges but I didn't know my slumming had had such an effect. I signed into a site by Luminosity: http://www.lumosity.com/ and signed up for their 7 day free trial of the games.
They are great - much better and more challenging and also cuter than the ones on Brain Age 1 and 2. You do math, identify things through memory, create words, match shapes and colours. Most of the games are a bit like the Swope test - you have to do two things at once, and the results highlight how your brain reacts to these two demands.
For example, in one game, you must click on a spot where a bird appears while remembering the letter that appears at the same time. The letter is put into a hangman-type format and you can guess the bird's name or fill it all in with "snapshots" (each bird you click uses one shot). Sometimes, while looking for the bird, you forget to look for the letter. Or you just see an edge of it. You get higher points for clicking more accurately on the bird and for solving the puzzle earlier.
Or there's the penguin maze puzzle, which I found really hard. You are racing another penguin through a maze to catch a fish (it seems nice that the other penguin moves so slowly except when he beats you and you feel very stupid) - using the arrows on your computer to direct your little penguin. The trick? The maze rotates and you have to remember the orientation of the penguin with relation to the arrow on screen to use your arrow keys successfully. I got completely confused and couldn't make my mind figure it out, no matter how hard I tried. But the penguin is cute when it catches the fish and oh so sad when it loses it so I'll be back and try again.
Math is done with raindrops...each drop has a puzzle in it and you must solve it before it adds to the pond. Sundrops come along that evaporate all the raindrops. This one I'm sure I will get after more practice - it seems when I don't do math regularly, I really forget sums and etc.
After each puzzle you are given a rating, and if you fill out your profile, you can be compared to others your age. It was quite terrifying today for me - I was only in the 38th%tile or so overall. The program rates you on several parameters, so it's easy to see where you might need more practice.
After the 7 day free trial, signup is around $10 a month or less if you subscribe for a year or more. They add new puzzles all the time and the site is backed by research.
I'm hooked. I'll keep up for the next 7 days and if it continues to be as interesting, challenging, and fun as today was (I could feel my brain aching!), I'm going to sign up.
But for now, I am taking my aching body and mind for a rest.
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