Ok so I was all bummed out when I got this mysterious rash all over my body. The Doctor says it is Contact Dermatitis, sent me home with 3 meds., told me if those did not work I would have to go on steroids and he would have to do a biopsy on Monday. He wanted me on the steroid from the get go but I pleaded not to because I don't know about you but steroids make me want to stuff my face with anything and everything. The thing that upset me the most was that I was told no swimming pool till it had totally cleared up. The Doctor was not sure what caused it (thus the possibility of the biopsy) but that he did know the water would aggravate it further. BUMMER!

Due to my weight most of cardio exercise is done in the pool whether it be a Water Aerobics class, Pool Zumba, water jogging, or biking in the pool on one of those pool noodles. I just came off a 6 week plateau and panic was setting in. I did not want to go backwards or back to another Plateau. Then I remembered when I had joined one of the countless weight loss programs I had joined in the past. They gave each of us a VCR tape for Aerobic Deep Breathing. Let me tell you after doing this for 30 minutes if done properly your abs get quite the workout. I just finished 30 minutes of this myself and my abs are killing me, As I exhaled each deep breath I felt as if my belly button was touching my spinal cord. That is how deeply I was breathing and that is how you should be doing it as well.


Breathing Awareness and Deep Breathing

1. Lie down or sit in a comfortable chair, maintaining good posture. Your body should be as relaxed as possible. Close your eyes. Scan your body for tension.
2. Pay attention to your breathing. Place one hand on the part of your chest or abdomen that seems to rise and fall the most with each breath. If this spot is in your chest you are not utilizing the lower part of your lungs.
3. Place both hands on your abdomen and follow your breathing, noticing how your abdomen rises and falls.
4. Breathe through your nose.
5. Notice if your chest is moving in harmony with your abdomen.
6. Now place one hand on your abdomen and one on your chest.
7. Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose into your abdomen. You should feel your abdomen rise with this inhalation and your chest should move only a little.
8. Exhale through your mouth, keeping your mouth, tongue, and jaw relaxed.
9. Relax as you focus on the sound and feeling of long, slow, deep breaths.

Complete Natural Breathing

1. Sit or stand with good posture.
2. Breathe through your nose.
3. Inhale, filling first the lower part of your lungs then the middle part, then the upper part.
4. Hold your breath for a few seconds.
5. Exhale slowly. Relax your abdomen and chest.

Practice these two exercises, in whatever combination feels best for you, for ten minutes, twice a day.

(Taken from Davis, Eshelman, and McKay; The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, 2nd edition; New Harbringer Publications, 1982.)

For further information on this subject you can go to:
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athing.aspx&sg=eeY2PuG5iNo
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aerobic exercise is exercise that involves or improves oxygen consumption by the body.[1] Aerobic means "with oxygen", and refers to the use of oxygen in the body's metabolic or energy-generating process. Many types of exercise are aerobic, and by definition are performed at moderate levels of intensity for extended periods of time.

I entered this into my Fitness Tracker as a light aerobic workout. This is great for anyone who is just starting an exercise plan, is laid up in bed with an illness, has recently broken a leg, arm, etc. and physical exercise is out of the question, someone who is in a wheelchair, or other such limited mobility.

Do not get me wrong, as soon as I have the green light to go back to the pool - I am there! In the meantime this will suffice along with my workout with the weights and the weight machine 3 times a week at the gym. The incumbent bike and treadmill are not options yet for me with my arthritic knees and weight. I am going to try those again maybe after knocking off another 30-50 pounds.

Try it! It is also very relaxing if you are all stressed out. 30 minutes is about all I can take at one time because it is boring so if I want to get in 60 minutes a day I break it up into 2 sessions.


PS: Thanks to all of you who have been visiting my Spark Page or in team posts asking - the rash is getting better and no longer spreading. Not painful anymore and not as itchy.