I’ve been swimming in our backyard pool all summer – 20 to 30 minutes of laps (freestyle). It takes me six strokes to get across the pool. Not ideal, but you can’t beat the convenience.
Soon enough it will be time to find a pool for the colder months. I’ve built up a solid conditioning base, and I’m not going to give it up for winter. That was my original plan, to just swim seasonally. However, I’ve seen a huge improvement in my back pain, as well as my chest muscles, which are messed up from the mastectomy.
There are three options. Two are outdoor pools that claim to be open year-round. I need to go check them out. Even if it’s heated, the idea of getting into a pool when it’s cold outside is hard for me to fathom. Of course, that’s California cold, which isn’t all that bad.
The other pool is part of a gym membership, which I don’t want to pay. I’ll be 64 in a couple of weeks. I’m told Silver Sneakers doesn’t kick in until you’re 65. Depending on what the gym costs, I could do it a year and then switch to Silver Sneakers once I’m on Medicare.
The more I move, the better I feel. I played golf in the mountains yesterday and rode in a cart. Normally, I walk 18 holes two to three times a week. My knees have not bothered me. A few hours of riding in a cart, and my left knee was burning. I put some cannabis cream on it when I got home, and it’s back to normal this morning. Truth be told, I use the cream daily. Some parts just need more attention than others.
Cannabis truly is part of my aging badass lifestyle. When I first retired, I started using it because all of the sudden I could! But I also used it to treat pain and anxiety. I was nervous about retiring … money, moving, everything. But I’ve calmed down and rarely stress over that stuff anymore.
Although I occasionally imbibe for pleasure, I think of cannabis as medicine. I am lucky to be in great health now, but I previously used cannabis to treat the side effects of chemotherapy. Now I mostly use it as a preventive supplement, in maintenance doses, not unlike Glucosamine and other products favored by aging boomers.
For example, I used to put two dropperfuls of tincture into a glass of juice. I’d feel a slight pleasant feeling within an hour. But I didn’t want the cannabis to affect me if I was driving, and my anxiety and pain were quite manageable. I still believe in using cannabis as a whole-body anti-inflammatory, so now I put one dropperful in my juice every morning like a vitamin. I feel nothing, but I believe it contributes to my good health.
A dropperful, by the way, is what you see in the picture. That’s what you get with one full squeeze of the bulb. Dale misunderstood my guidance, and when it only filled up part-way, he poured it into a glass like a drink. Another pour, because I suggested two, and he said all he did was sit and stare into outer space for a couple of hours.
Kids, don’t try this at home. Go slow.
Although I have not used CBD-only products, I understand the lure, especially where cannabis isn’t legal. However, I live in California, where legal cannabis is strictly controlled, and I like that. I’ve read there’s a good bit of fraud in the CBD market, so you often don’t know what you’re getting. Additionally, evidence suggests the whole plant has greater therapeutic value.
Dustin Sulak, a physician and Reiki healer in Maine, has been practicing cannabis medicine since 2009. Dr. Sulak is among those who believe THC is the primary health agent in cannabis.
“The idea that THC is recreational and CBD is medical is far from true,” he said. “THC, milligram for milligram, has a much greater therapeutic effect than CBD. You could treat pain with 3 mg of THC, but it might take 15 to 30 mg of CBD to attain the same relief.” Dr. Sulak recommends the whole plant for overall well-being and to prevent disease.
He’s the one who introduced me to the concept of micro-dosing cannabis … just enough to get the benefits without the high. I’m sold on it, and I hope cannabis continues to keep me healthy through a long and active retirement!
As the doctor told me, I will maybe be in postoperative pain for up to one year.
So I bought CBD Oil 3,2% which didn’t work at all. If I took the from Dr. Sulak’s advised dose I would have to pay about € 50 a day, which I don’t want to pay (and not to take in).
You’re a lucky fish to live in CA!
In Munich we have several heated outdoor pools and although our winter is much colder than yours, there are a lot of (most elder) people who swim each day. Sometimes even I do so;-)
Barbara, I wish the CBD oil had worked for you! Yes, there are benefits to living in California.
I recall the schwimmbads in Germany — so beautiful. I hope the heated outdoor pools work for me here.
Silver Sneakers is awesome.I became eligible last year, this year my husband also got it on his Medicare plan and he now works out swimming laps at the local gym pool for free! Plus he uses their weight machines.I do some classes and some machines too.
Yes, I look forward to Silver Sneakers. I checked yesterday, and I can get a discount through my vision insurance — but it doesn’t seem like much of a discount to me. Around $45 per month.