Not the 'O' word again...!

So, okay, I have been on a fitness gig, trying all summer to get back into shape after two years of being practically an invalid (when compared to previous lifestyle).

Fitness -- as in being able to come up the stairs (4 short flights from the parking lot) without feeling like I'm on the edge of 'the big one.' As in being able to walk a couple miles and still be able to do other things besides sit in a chair and knit so I can ignore being exhausted.

As in being able to exercise AND do the wash or go grocery shopping on the same day...

Nothing has worked. I am able to do maybe two things in a day, instead of only one, but I just can't seem to break the glass ceiling, plateau, or whatever it is that is keeping me down. I don't like this feeling that I can't even keep up with my 87 yo MIL!

So I went to a personal trainer Wednesday last. Actually, I didn't realize that was what she was; I thought I was going to be fitted with one of these exercise balls:
My cranio-sacral and massage therapist suggested I go there when I mentioned that I was considering getting one of those balls to 'strengthen my core,' only I didn't know how to tell which size I needed. (I am also not very clear on what my 'core' is, but if I could look like this girl the picture once again......)

Well, Ann-Margaret is one of these small, terribly energetic women (who also happens to be a power lifter) with boundless enthusiasm and conviction that the Egoscue system works.

She is so encouraging and convincing, that we spent about 2-1/2 hours altogether, measuring and analyzing my strengths and what areas needed work.

It was surprising to see how far out of alignment my arms and legs were, but I could certainly testify to how much effort it was to do anything, even walk! And how my knees were beginning to bother me, not to mention the ankle which I broke a few years back. And that my feet now hurt so much from 3 months of walking at least a mile a day, that getting up from a chair or out of bed in the morning hurts like blazes until they loosen up.

So much for the benefits of walking!

Anyway, she won't let me have an exercise ball until I get things back in balance. She gave me a series of deceptively gentle exercises, most of which are done lying down and which take about 20 minutes to do (mostly because it takes me a while to get up and down and find my glasses between reps to read which one comes next, etc.).
I'm to do them every day for the next two weeks...

I am now at that point in an exercise program where I wonder if I will live that long.