Given your back issues, I'm going to make a suggestion, tho it's an oldie (I used her video back in 80's) it's very low impact. (Had a back problem then, so got sidelined from gym.) Just checked, and she's still around. ;) The woman who developed this method had back issues. Very low impact but very deep toning. Callanetics Once I got rolling again, I was totally hooked on The Firm. They were young then, coming out of a studio in Charleston, SC. You can do with or without hand/ankle weights. I reached a point where I was doing step aerobics (only their 'step' was a bench a good 18" high) with 7 to 10 lb weights in my hands. Best shape I've ever been in. Geez, I miss those days. :/ I never pursued other exercise videos beyond that, like them that much. One thing I really liked was the low key approach. No one shrieking and screaming, no music blaring and vibrating the walls. (That just drives me crazy personally.) They can and do keep you moving and motivated, and if they haven't changed, it's with subtle music, soothing voice, sort of yoga on steroids, lol. ;) I have 5 favorite videos from the 80's I've used religiously and rotated. Unfortunately The Firm doesn't have my videos at their site anymore. But if they are like they were then, they are good. Build up slowly, at your tolerance, routines are easily tweaked for that. Guarantee you will have sleek lines n firm tone. ;)

Living a healthy lifestyle without being obsessive about it makes everyday living better I am sure - more energy, less headaches etc. I am sure it also helps against many diseases and can lessen symptoms. On the other hand, I guess we all know people who do the "wrong" things and thrive and others who do all the "right" things and have health problems. My son died at 30 from melanoma which ended up spreading to all organs of his body. He was the only one in our large extended family to have cancer. His lifestyle was neither super-healthy or unhealthy. He did not spend long periods of time in the sun but did get sunburnt from time to time - nowhere near as often as I have in my longer lifetime. But something in his genetic make-up meant that cancer was able to develop in a form that could not be stopped. Two of my sisters are very overweight, eat badly, smoke like chimneys, do no exercise and at 55 and 62 are very healthy. Sometimes just the luck of the draw, I think. I worked with people with Alzheimer's disease for years and they ranged from brain surgeons to labourers. Keeping our brains active is never a bad thing and may have an effect on reducing our chances of getting this disease but again, there is that element of chance. Like everything, it is good to take note of suggested diet and lifestyle elements and then decide what suits us. For me, if I had to eat sardines, oily fish and tomatoes for example - I would be in serious trouble. I would rather run a marathon in bare feet over hot coals!! Maybe not, but I think I would definitely go hungry. I guess what I am saying in a very long-winded way is that life is for living and if some changes to lifestyle can enhance that - great but if it becomes a rigid denial of life's little pleasures I would find it very difficult. Beth

Yesterday my husband and I drove around a little bit after work and found a street with sidewalks!! it is on the other side of the road, three houses over. I never saw them before because the sidewalks don't start untill a couple houses in (dugh! how stupid is that?) So we all went for a nice walk yesterday on the sidewalks and although it was dark I really enjoyed it! It just so happens that this street is in the next town over that does have sidewalks! Our town doesn't :( I was playing fetch (or trying to show Charley to fetch) and our other dog was on the other side of the yard playing fetch with my husband. When I picked up Charley's ball our other dog came running and Charley started a fight :( I was so upset. We looked our other dog over and he had a little scratch on his paw but seemed fine. I think Charley was afraid that Bud, our other boy, would take the ball when I threw it. We separated them in different portions of the house for the evening, because I was so upset. :( I hope that training helps Charley with this. I don't know his history very well (he is adopted) so I think he is nervous everything will be taken from him or he never got things before. He is dominant, but he listens to me and thinks I am alpha but he still sometimes picks fights with our other boy who is very submissive. So my plan is to sign up for training and then maybe move up to agility, if we can! Also we will be using the newly found sidewalk street as much as we can. We will be walking in the dark, but what can we do? I am going to call the training place today! I am pretty excited!

I believe studies have shown that physical exercise actually seems to prevent brain shrinkage. It isn't uncommon for the brains of dementia patients to be less than 60% of normal weight, with most of the loss in the temporal regions. There are many kinds of dementia--almost 70, by some counts--and some are in fact reversible, such as those due to medications or undiagnosed illnesses. You will lose mental AGILITY as you age; that is a proven fact. But you do not necessarily have to lose mental ABILITY. Recent studies have shown that older people have so much more to remember that they do, in fact, take a little longer to "pull out" a known fact out of memory.