Happy New Year!

Well, my friends things are hopping in China....bu dum bump!!! I am sorry, that was bad. Yes it is the coming of the New Year ....the year of the rabbit. Which means utter chaos here as the country prepares for the massive shifting of people from one area of the country to another. The next couple of weeks are like Christmas here for the Chinese. The landscape is decorated with lanterns of red and gold. There are massive rabbits all over the place. There is even a really tall white one that follows me around, his name is Harvey ..... Sorry, I am full of bad jokes and references today. Imagine the travel at Christmas in the US and multiply it by a few more million. People wait for hours in line to get train tickets etc.. For a lot of people who come to Shanghai in hopes of work and prosperity, this may be the only time they see there loved one's in a year. Not infrequently this may be the one time a year to see their only offspring, who are commonly left with the grandparents to rear. Of course they are expected to bring money and gifts back with them to show off their success. It can actually be quite draining for those that travel. There is a lot of pressure to come back with the product of their hard work. Not to mention the pressure to find a spouse and produce that single offspring.

I don't know, for the young Chinese of this newer generation, it has to be tough straddling these two different worlds. I read an article today with these types of stories. A young hairdresser traveled for over a day to get to her Auntie's house just to be greeted by a slew of her aunties friends excitedly grasping various hair dyes and permanents. She worked through the night for free, traveling the next day to her home town, just to be greeted in the same fashion.

What do we expats do for Chinese New Year? That's right....get the heck out of here. I was told right when we arrived that unless I enjoy hanging with millions of Chinese people and listening to fireworks go off all night, every night it would be a good idea to get out of here. (There are actually fireworks going off right now, as I am writing.) So I am taking the advice of wise expats before me and we are off to Singapore and Indonesia. Yes, the kids get yet another week off school in observance of the year of the rabbit. They also got to have another classroom party to celebrate. Private school, reminds me when I was a kid. We got to have all sorts of parties and activities to celebrate different holidays. So, I show up at JP's class to help with his Chinese New Year party yesterda, and he comes up to me and grins. "Mom, look at my wiggly tooth." "Hmmm let me see I say....then I yanked it out!!!!" Am I a bad mom? I couldn't help myself. It was just hanging there asking to be pulled. I am the daughter of a dentist you know.

With that I will sign off, I need to put my edentulous son to bed. Xing nian kuai le!!! or Happy New Year

Fitness, it is not just a New Year's resolution

Welcome to the New Year and the age old list of resolutions. Fitness related resolutions probably being some of the most common. I have never been big on resolutions because they are a set up for failure. So I am not saying I am going to get fit in the New Year. I do however have a little more time to think about staying healthy than I did in my pre-China life. I used to be quite healthy in my 20's I have run several marathons I would go to the gym regularly....then came the kids. Something happens when you have children and you no longer worry on about your well being, but the total health inside and out of your kids. Seriously, you know when your kids eat, sleep, jump or poop. Then you wake up one day and realize you chose their needs over going to the gym or hitting the pavement with your running shoes. For me, I am lucky, because I don't need exercise to manage my weight....but what about the other benefits from exercise; bone health, cardiovascular conditioning, muscle mass. I would say it is easier to have weight loss as a goal for exercise than hoping your bones are staying strong. I have sat across many a patient expounding the benefits of exercise, while I have barely been able to carve out a slice of time to partake in it myself. Because I am slim, no one would dare call me a hypocrite. Don't get me wrong, I am no couch potato as any of you who know me can attest, but as I start to look middle age in the face there are a few things that I know will pay off later down the road. You see I want to enjoy feeling good for a long time. I have the luxury of learning from other's experiences as an arthritis specialist. Bottom line"it ain't fun getting old." So the big question is how do I preserve a level of fitness that will take me sailing into my later years.

As we age we lose flexibility and muscle mass with that comes a decline in proprioception or knowing where our body is in space. Which is why older people are deathly afraid of falling because the don't get the same feedback from their muscles and tendons than they did when they were younger. They can't catch themselves when they start to fall and go down like cut tree.....TIMBER!!!

I actually took my previous level of fitness for granted. Now, three kids later it is time to get back into gear while the window is still open.

So what would be the perfect combination? I think a mixture of strength training, aerobic conditioning along with regular stretching....... Yes I said stretching. If we don't start stretching now you may never get to where you want your muscle to be. Ask Steve, he is working with a therapist for his back who has been stretching that 6 foot 6 body all over the place.....The man can touch his toes!!!!! And he feels better.

I started last week with a weight lifting class at the gym, it is no pressure and I can choose my own resistance. I was pretty sore, but it seems to be going ok. Then today, I did it. I went to my first Zumba class. I was a disaster, but the music was fantastic and it was fun. Could I get my heart rate up higher if I went for a run, sure. But there is something to be said about getting your arms up above you head and moving your hips that you just don't get with running. I have to admit I was cursing my 3 pregnancies a little as we were jumping around....note to self....go the the bathroom before Zumba!! Now here is the cherry on top that makes getting fit in China much better. It is called the Thai massage and it is less than 20 bucks for an hour baby. They crawl on your back, knead the muscles stretch you like a rubber-band and it is dirt cheap.

So there you have it. I challenge each of you to stop and take a look at your current level of fitness and your age. If you are getting close to your forties like me, now is the time to get into gear and lay down some healthy habits that will pay off dividends in the future.