Cindy Downes

May. 12, 2006 - Pasta Diet and more. . .

I just received this from a friend and had to pass it on:

ITALIAN PASTA DIET -- IT REALLY WORKS !!

1.. You walka pasta da bakery.
2.. You walka pasta da candy store.
3.. You walka pasta da Ice Cream shop.
4... You walka pasta da table and fridge.
You will lose weight!

AND......

CONCERNED ABOUT TOO MANY CARBS IN YOUR DIET?
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

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Nov. 8, 2005 - Bike a luia

Our bike club at Church on the Move had Bike-a-luia (me and hubbie on bottom left) on Saturday. Here is a picture of our bike club. (You can't see me - too small!) If anyone out there in blog land lives in Tulsa, is looking for a church, and loves biking, you ought to come out. We'd love to have you! It's good exercise and fun fellowship.

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Oct. 28, 2005 - Dieter's Prayer

I found this at Curves today:

A Dieter's Prayer

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
He maketh me to lie down on vinyl-covered gym mats.
He leadeth me to flavored calorie-free waters;
He restoreth my goals.
He diverteth me from the path of midnight snaking for my health's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the Vendors of Pastry,
I will fear no weevil; for thou art with me;
My diet and exercises, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
Spread with veggies and low-fat protein;
Thou steameth my fish in foil,
My resolve runneth over.
Surely, if I follow this living plan all the days of my life,
My hips will be slim forever.
Amen.

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Oct. 28, 2005 - Weight Loss - I'm not going to give up!

I weighed myself yesterday and discovered that not only have I not lost weight, but I actually put on another half pound! How depressing. Over the last 20 years, I have lost 25 - gained 35; lost 35 - gained 45; lost 40 - and gained back 15 so far. What a roller coaster!

But I'm not giving up. It's not just about how I look - it's a health issue. I have to keep my weight off to deal with arthritis. I want to play with my granddaughter; I want to be able to do what God calls me to do. I want to do things and go places, not sit in a chair and rot!

Somehow I will beat this. I will keep bicyling. I will continue exercising. I will try harder not to eat so much (my problem is more quantity than quality - I do eat pretty healthy most of the time - it's just my portion sizes are still like when I worked on our farm!). I will continue to read about healthy eating (I find that reading Prevention and other health magazine keeps me interested.).

AND, with God's help, I will keep my weight down!

Maybe I should write down what I eat everyday - the embarrassment of telling all might shame me into weight loss!

For all of you who are out there struggling with weight issues, I encourage you to stand firm and keep trying. We can't give up! Here's to a good health day!

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Oct. 21, 2005 - Exercise Update

My husband and I are loving our new bikes! We go out and ride about 40 miles per week and it doesn't hurt anymore!

Last night, we went with our friends on a night ride. It's getting really dark now and the bike path we were on was not lit. My light was not working real well so I had to go really slow, but it ended up being a lot of fun.

At the end of our ride, we shared a picnic dinner (tailgate style on the back of our friend's truck) of ham and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread, homemade whole wheat chocolate cookies, and all natural corn puffs.

It's so nice to have friends to share a lunch and a ride with. And, I did something good for my health!

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Oct. 10, 2005 - New Bike!

I got my new recumbent bike! (http://www.easyracers.com/images/te_front_quarter.jpg) Oh, it's so much better on the old bones! My dh and I went for a 36 mile ride from south Tulsa to Sand Springs, ate lunch, and came back. No neck pain, no wrist pain, no back ache! The only pain we had was in our legs, hips and abs.

The recumbent bike uses different muscles than a standard bike so we will have to develop these muscles to make them stronger. The good thing is that the legs, hips, and abs muscles are ones I need developing (or should I say, shrinking!) This will be a definite aid to my weight loss plan!

It was a fun day, too. On the trip, we met another couple riding trikes (http://www.easyracers.com/ez_3.htm) and a 99 year old gentleman riding a fold-up bike (it folds into a suitcase)! I hope I can ride at age 99!

All in all, it was a great day. The weather was beautiful - high of 74, we got a lot of good exercise, we had a nice lunch together, and we met some new friends. The only bad part was that we went to Texas Roadhouse afterwards for steak, sweet potato, veggies and rolls!

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Oct. 6, 2005 - My Favorite Exercise DVDs

Before I lost 40 pounds, I could hardly move from arthritis and from being overweight. My doctor suggested I do stretches and take walks, along with eating healthier. My husband and I started walking five days per week for 20 minutes per day. Three days a week, I did stretches using Gaiam's a.m. & p.m. stretch with Madeleine Lewis. This made such a difference in my life. I continue to do these stretches today. My other favorite exercise DVD's that I used after I got my weight down and could move better are:

Get Moving For Weight Loss with Madeleine Lewis

Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone

Fit CHIC (Fashion Your Body with Pilates) with Niedra Gabriel

I highly recommend these if you are a beginner to exercise or are suffering from joint pain.

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Sep. 19, 2005 - Final Update for MS 150

Hi Everyone,

We made it! At least halfway. . .

My dear hubby and I rode 78 miles yesterday at 7:30 am for the MS 150 from Tulsa to Muskogee on a lot of hilly, rough back roads. The temperature was nice (topped at 92) so the heat didn't get to us.

There was a rest stop every ten miles for which we are ever so grateful. The one by Airial Data (not sure of spelling) was the best. They had valet parking for our bikes and free massages! Boy, did I love that. (Those of you that know me well, know I usually do not like massages but this one was wonderful!) And the other thing that made it so great was that my wonderful son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter were there volunteering their time to serve all of the tired and hot bicylists. It was so good to see their smiling faces and get hugs on the way!

There were several really big hills but I was able to ride up them all after stopping to rest a bit. Coming down was great! I actually got up to 38 mph on my bike on one! Here is a picture of some of our team members (I am on left. DH next to me.) We rode with Team Superior.)

We had lunch in Okay, OK at the school with twenty miles left to go. I almost gave up then, but I didn't. I got back on my bike (ouch!) and kept riding until I hit the finish line at 4:30 pm. Was I ever so glad to see that finish line!

After showering and dinner, we crashed hoping to get a good night sleep before the next day's ride (today). Just after we had gotten to sleep, the phone rang, my dh jumped up to answer and got the most painful cramp in his legs he has ever had. It took fifteen minutes to get it to subside. I made the "executive" decision that he was not going to ride today and consequently, I did not ride either. My body thanks me and I feel good that my hubby will be fine in a day or two. We made the mistake of not stretching after our ride. I think this is part of the reason he cramped up.

Anyway, it was a great time. My dh and I raised over $600 for MS, got a lot of good exercise, and had dinner with our biking buddies, after the event, at the Texas Roadhouse.

Thanks for letting us ride for you, Freida and Ginny and best wishes to everyone who supported us on this ride. Thanks for your prayers, your donations, and your friendship.

CIndy (and Bill)

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Sep. 15, 2005 - Last Practice for MS 150

Tonight, we went out with a couple of friends and did 20 miles to get in one more practice ride for the MS 150 this Saturday and Sunday. I'm really looking forward to this and I'm as ready as I'm going to get. Thanks to all my friends and relatives who donated, my husband and I raised over $600 for MS. That is worth it all regardless of how well I ride on Saturday and Sunday.

I'll update you on how it all goes on Monday or earlier if I am recuperated! Please pray for low temperatures, no wind, and safety!

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Sep. 11, 2005 - MS 150 Update 9/11/05

It's almost here - the MS 150! Yesterday, I rode in the D.A.M. Jam in Pryor, OK. Here is a picture of me as I take off (I'm the cheesy one in front grinning at the photographer - my husband!):

I rode 31 miles. Needless to say, I wasn't grinning when I was done! It was fun though but I'm sure a long way from riding 150 miles!

We leave Southcrest Hospital in Tulsa on Saturday at 7:30 am and spend the night in Muskogee. Then we travel back to Tulsa on Sunday. We were staying in Camp Gruber but with the Hurricane victims there, they have moved the MS people to the local high school.

Thanks for all your donations. I'll let you know how I make out next week!

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Aug. 26, 2005 - MS 150 Update 8/26

It's too hot! I just can't do it. Tomorrow we are supposed to go on a 50 mile practice ride in 100 degree heat (not counting the heat index). I'm going to pass on this one. I sure hope September 17th is better than that. I just don't do heat well.

To make matters worse, today was my one-month visit to Curves. I weighed more and put on more inches! The only good thing was that my bmi was lower. That was depressing. It's a good thing I'm not doing this just to lose weight!

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Aug. 21, 2005 - MS 150 Update 8/21

WHEW! I'm exhausted! I did 40 miles today on the MS practice ride. I can't believe I did it. I definitely pushed the envelope on that one. Next weekend, it is a 60 mile trek. I just don't know if I'm going to make it. It took a lot out of me today. At least on the actual event, you can sag some of the way. (Sag for those of you who don't know is to hop a ride on a truck for 10 miles to the next rest stop.)

I'm definitely looking into buying a recumbent bike for next year's ride. After lunch, my hubby and I went to the bike store and test drove a pair of recumbent bikes for 20 more miles! Much easier to ride except for the hills. It was definitely better on my arm and wrist problems as well as the back and neck. There is no pain there. The only thing is we will have to develop new muscles in our legs to get up the hills. The recumbent uses different muscles than a regular bike.

I'll let you know how I do next weekend.

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Aug. 14, 2005 - MS 150 Update

Yesterday, I rode 33 miles at the practice for MS 150. It was slow going at first but I finally got my adrenalin going and made the course! During the last half, a storm was approaching and the wind picked up.

I knew I was in trouble when I began to see Oklahoma "tumbleweeds" roll across the road in front of me. By the time I got back to Tulsa, it was sprinkling (which felt really good by the way!). We made it in time to avoid the storm and all in all it was a good ride. Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves by going to Texas Steakhouse and having a yummy steak and several delicious rolls (so much for my diet!).

My biggest problem is I have carpal tunnel in my hands and the biking aggravates it. I'm seriously thinking of getting a recumbent bike some day when I get the money. Does anyone out there ride a recumbent? In the meantime, pray that my hands will not get numb!

I've raised $65 toward my $200 goal for MS. Thanks to those of you who have already made a contribution - Linda Cimino, Ellen Latimer, and Debbie Burd.

If anyone else would like to make a tax deductible donation to MS Society, please send them to my MS 150 website! (https://www.nationalmssociety.org//OKE/personal/default.asp?pa=52826081&pd=OKE0EMS120050917OKE)

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Aug. 10, 2005 - Fighting MS

I'll be riding 35 miles on Saturday in order to train for the MS 150 coming on September 17.

I can do this -

I have two new friends who are victims of MS that I will be riding for: Ginny M and Frieda M, both of Tennessee. With your help, we can ride for the cure!

If you would like to donate financially to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and help us, please log on to my MS web page. We appreciate all the help you can give.

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Aug. 7, 2005 - MS Bike Ride Report

I did it! I did a total of 1,251 feet climb and 25 miles at practice for the MS 150. Next Saturday, it's 35 miles. I'll keep you posted.

Tomorrow is Curves day. I sure hope I've lost some weight. I sure have done a lot of work lately!

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