Summertime Is Grilling Time

I'm getting energetic this weekend, and decided that I am doing the cooking on Sunday. I'm marinating and grilling boneless pork country ribs and making home-made macaroni salad and grilled corn to accompany it, along with our favorite store-bought deli potato salad. We won't starve to death - LOL. I haven't had a chance to grill for years since DH took over that aspect of the cooking. It'll be nice to be at the grill again, I've missed it. 

We don't go hi-tech with our grill. We use a
standard Weber 22" charcoal grill. It works
great and we've used one of these for many
years. 

I've also been working hard on my PT exercises as well as my posture in general. My arm is getting better, but it's slow going. I purchased a little posture reminder and trainer to help with my general abdominal muscle tone more than a month ago and have been using it almost every day since. The Upright Go 2 is very compact and I apply it to my upper back when I've arrived at work. I usually leave it on until late in the evening, so that I'm tracking 8 hours minimum. It tracks whether I'm slouching or upright and the adhesive is marvelous. I've used it for 27 days now and haven't had to replace the adhesive pad yet. It's very helpful, too, reminding me to straighten up when I curl or slouch and keeping general track of my progress throughout the day. I like my gadgets, and this one is a winner. 

I'm really liking my "Upright Go 2" posture trainer. It's
small, links to my smart-phone, and charges from my
computer via cable. The adhesive is strong and is still
working after almost a month. I purchased extra adhesives
when I bought the trainer, but I might not have to use
them until late this year. 

I've also been working hard at my fast walking. I have to watch myself closely, I'm not supposed to run because it's too much impact. I have to stay at a quick clip pace, but not actually run - just walk. Walking means one foot must be in contact with the ground at all times, so I'm concentrating on that. Although I also want to increase my speed and work my time down, right now I'm  pacing a mile at 16:30 and I can live with that. I'd like to get it closer to a true 15-minute mile, though. Something to look forward to and work towards. 

As you can tell, there is a difference in impact between the
walking on the left and the running on the right. But take a look
at the actual graph below.

Look at this graph. Walking is on top, running at the bottom. The
force generated by running is high peaks and low drops. The
force generated by walking is much more gentle and lessens
the direct impact on the bones. That's the kind of exercise my
PT and doctor recommend for my osteoporosis. 

So, as I envision the steps to making my macaroni salad tonight, and what I need to do to brine my pork country ribs tomorrow morning, I'm moving ahead. I hope all of you have a wonderful and outstanding weekend. It's already early August and our summer is moving fast. Take advantage of this wonderful season and get outdoors (unless the heat is dreadful or the bugs have taken over your favorite hang-outs). I'll be back on Monday and if I remember, I'll let you know how my return to the grill went.