Monday, October 12, 2026 | Wellness Whiskers Silverballs
Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day!? Columbus Day!?
Some Monday mornings start with a plan. Others start with questionable clouds, a Starbucks run, neighborhood wildlife, and the kind of coffee experiment that probably requires adult supervision.
Welcome to Monday.
Today was Walk 1 of 5 for the week, followed by Jazzercise #62 with Darlene. The weather couldn’t decide whether it wanted to rain, the neighborhood had plenty of entertainment, and I discovered that my personal definition of a successful morning includes getting my movement in without sweating through my shirt.
Honestly? I’ll take it.
☕ The Starbucks Carrot Method: We Are So Back
After yesterday’s weather-related walk frustration, I was ready to get back to my usual routine. The forecast had been dramatic, the clouds were looking suspicious, and I wasn’t interested in letting another morning disappear while waiting for the sky to make up its mind.
So I headed out for the Starbucks Carrot Method.
The morning was wonderfully cool. I had my walking shoes, my music, and a playlist that apparently decided we were traveling through several decades of musical history. The queue included everything from the Commodores and John Denver to Derek & The Dominos, Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Janis Joplin, Styx, and the Starland Vocal Band.
Yes, Afternoon Delight was in there. Don’t judge my walking playlist. 😂
The route gave me the usual neighborhood sights, but the sky was the real show. Thick gray clouds stretched across the horizon, with patches of blue opening up between them. The mountains were visible in the distance, the palm trees were doing their Arizona thing, and everything looked like the weather might be preparing a grand performance.
But was it raining?
Nope.
The clouds were giving us the full dramatic production without actually delivering the precipitation. The only water I encountered along the way was someone cleaning the patio at the Tacos and Tequila spot. The smell of Fabuloso was absolutely lovely, so that was an unexpected sensory bonus.
And then there were the cactus flowers. 🌵
Cactus Flowers Palooza deserves its own place in the neighborhood sightseeing report. This is one of my favorite things about walking the same routes regularly: I get to notice the little changes. Flowers, trees, birds, clouds, mountains, and all the things I might miss if I were simply driving past.
The route may be familiar, but the scenery doesn’t have to be boring.
☕ The Baristas Are Innocent. Mostly.
Let’s talk about coffee.
I ordered my usual Starbucks situation, enjoyed my drink, and made my way home. The baristas were not subjected to the experiment that was about to unfold in my kitchen.
I need that on the record.
Once I got home, I still had some vanilla sweet cream cold foam hanging around in the bottom of my cup. Naturally, I added Diet Dr Pepper.
What happened next was a science experiment.
The carbonation met the cold foam, and suddenly there were bubbles, expansion, froth, and general beverage shenanigans. It looked like a root beer float on acid. The foam started doing things. The bubbles got ambitious. It was all very exciting.
And the best part?
It tasted really good.
Would I recommend conducting this experiment while unsupervised? Absolutely not.
Would I do it again? Let’s not make promises we can’t keep.
I used to have a shirt featuring Animal from the Muppets that said, “I’m out unsupervised. I know it’s questionable, but let’s see what happens.”
That shirt understood me.
The baristas are safe for now. The fizzy coffee experiment happened at home, after I had mostly finished my drink. Nobody at Starbucks had to witness the vanilla sweet cream cold foam uprising.
That’s a win.
🚶 Walk 1 of 5: Fitbit Receipts
Here are the numbers from today’s Starbucks Carrot Method.
Walk to Starbucks
– Distance: 1.22 miles
– Duration: 46 minutes
– Start time: 7:15 a.m.
– Cardio load: 0
Walk home from Starbucks
– Distance: 1.20 miles
– Duration: 29 minutes, 16 seconds
– Start time: 8:13 a.m.
– Steps recorded for this walk: 2,700
– Calories burned: 205
– Average heart rate: 113 bpm
– Cardio load: 18
– Active zone minutes: 29
– Elevation gain: 4 feet
Combined walking total: 2.42 miles.
The two walks weren’t identical in duration or heart-rate response, and that’s perfectly fine. The route, pace, traffic crossings, stops, and other real-world details all play a part.
The return walk recorded 28 minutes in Fitbit’s moderate heart-rate zone. No vigorous or peak minutes were recorded during that session.
The important part? I got out the door, covered the distance, and enjoyed the morning.
🎶 Jazzercise #62: Cardio Sculpt with Darlene
After walking home, I changed out of my walking shoes and into my Jazzercise shoes, finished up my coffee, added some Diet Dr Pepper to keep the caffeine situation interesting, and headed out the door.
Next up: Cardio Sculpt with Darlene.
Jazzercise #62 Receipts
Here’s what Fitbit recorded for the session:
– Activity: Dancing
– Duration: 1 hour, 1 minute, 5 seconds
– Calories burned: 467
– Average heart rate: 122 bpm
– Cardio load: 54
– Active zone minutes: 89
Heart-rate zones:
– Light: 7 minutes
– Moderate: 20 minutes
– Vigorous: 34 minutes
– Peak: 0 minutes
That’s 34 minutes in the vigorous zone during the class alone. Cardio Sculpt brought the aerobic work, and the active-zone-minute goal was completed.
The class also gave me a nice reminder of why I like having Jazzercise as part of my routine. Walking gets me out into the world, while class gives me a different kind of movement and a structured hour of cardio and strength-focused work.
They’re different activities, and they complement each other.
And today, I got both done before the day had barely gotten started.
📊 The Fitbit Snapshot
At approximately 10:21 a.m., after the walk and Jazzercise, Fitbit showed:
– Steps: 10,556
– Readiness: 90
– Sleep: 5 hours, 55 minutes
– Sleep score: 78 — Fair
– Weekly cardio progress: 82 of 483 minutes, or 16%
That sleep number isn’t exactly a luxurious night’s rest. My sleep score was fair, and I had less than six hours of recorded sleep.
But my readiness score was 90, and I felt capable of getting moving.
I’m not going to pretend that one morning proves anything about my overall recovery, nor am I going to treat a single sleep score as a verdict on what I can do.
The data gives me information. My actual experience gives me information, too.
Today, I walked comfortably, wasn’t sweating, and completed Cardio Sculpt. Those are the receipts.
The 10,556 steps are a snapshot from 10:21 a.m., not my final daily total. There’s still a whole day ahead, and any additional movement can be added when the day is done.
🧾 Incidental Exercise Receipts
Today’s movement wasn’t limited to a formal workout.
Here’s what counts toward the day’s movement story:
– Walking to Starbucks: 1.22 miles
– Walking home from Starbucks: 1.20 miles
– Neighborhood walking and sightseeing along the route
– Standing, changing shoes, and getting organized between activities
– The usual transitions involved in getting ready and heading out for Jazzercise
– Cardio Sculpt with Darlene: 61 minutes of recorded dancing activity
The two walking sessions totaled 2.42 miles, and Jazzercise added another hour of purposeful movement.
I haven’t assigned extra steps, calories, or minutes to the little transitions because Fitbit’s totals already capture at least some of that movement. There’s no need to invent numbers to make the day look impressive.
The documented activity is plenty impressive all by itself.
This is also why I like keeping track of incidental exercise. A day isn’t just a workout or a walk. It’s all the movement that happens around the edges of everyday life, too.
NEAT—non-exercise activity thermogenesis—is the term used for energy expended through everyday movement outside formal exercise. Walking to places, moving around the house, and doing ordinary tasks can all contribute.
Not every bit of movement needs its own workout title or a special tracker entry to matter.
Still counts. Keeps counting. Compounds over time.
🐈 Home Base: Wellness, Whiskers, and Silverballs
Of course, no Wellness Whiskers Silverballs update would be complete without a little reminder that the cats are the real management team.
They didn’t have to walk 2.42 miles. They didn’t have to attend Cardio Sculpt. They didn’t have to navigate questionable weather or conduct beverage experiments.
They simply exist, supervise the household, and maintain their extremely demanding schedules of eating, sleeping, and judging the humans.
Honestly, they may be onto something.
But I’m happy with my own morning. I got outside, enjoyed the neighborhood, noticed the flowers, watched the birds, appreciated the clouds, and got my exercise in.
That’s the kind of wellness I want: real life, real movement, and room for a little ridiculousness along the way.
💜 Monday’s Takeaway: Wellness Without Perfection
Today’s morning wasn’t about chasing a perfect sleep score or squeezing every possible minute out of the day.
It was about showing up.
I walked to Starbucks. I walked home. I noticed the cactus flowers and the birds. I watched the weather change its mind. I enjoyed a cool morning without sweating through my clothes. Then I went to Jazzercise and completed Cardio Sculpt.
And somewhere in there, I turned leftover vanilla sweet cream cold brew and Diet Dr Pepper into a surprisingly delicious science experiment.
That last part may not be in any wellness textbook, but it definitely belongs in the story.
My routine works because it fits into my actual life. Some days include a long walk. Some days include Jazzercise. Some days include both. Some days include ordinary incidental movement that never gets its own glamorous screenshot.
It all matters.
I’m not trying to build a perfect life. I’m building a life where movement, health, curiosity, and fun have a place.
Walk 1 of 5: complete. Jazzercise #62: complete. Still going. Still counts.
Wellness without perfection.
You’re welcome.
🐦 Neighborhood Wildlife and the Dog Lady
The neighborhood entertainment continued along the route.
The birds were doing their usual morning thing, gathering on their favorite perches and putting on the kind of show that makes a familiar walk feel like a tiny nature documentary.
And then I spotted the Dog Lady!
If you’ve seen her out walking, you know why she gets a mention. She has six dogs, each on a separate leash, and the whole operation can involve a considerable amount of canine shenanigans.
Today, though? They were actually in pretty good formation.
She uses a stroller for stability, and I have a theory that this may have been the compromise she worked out with her kids. I have no evidence for that theory whatsoever, but it seems plausible.
I’ve also noticed that she travels much farther than I originally thought. I used to assume she stayed within her immediate neighborhood, but over the past couple of months, I’ve seen her well over a mile from home on good days.
That’s some serious dedication to getting the dogs out.
Six dogs. Six leashes. One stroller. A moving circus that occasionally achieves military precision.
I respect the commitment.
🌥️ The Weather Report: Dramatic Clouds, Minimal Drama
After yesterday’s forecast made everything sound like an impending natural disaster, today’s sky deserved a little side-eye. Fitbit and ChatGPT made yesterday out to be the coming of the apocalypse! I stayde home frome my walk, battened down the hatches, made chili soup and cornbread, and sat on the patio awaiting my pending doom with my wind chimes in solitary confinement. Spoiler alert! Nothing happened! 🤪🤔
The clouds looked questionable. They were thick, dark in places, and perfectly capable of making a person wonder whether an umbrella might be a good idea.
But once again, the sky was mostly providing atmosphere.
There were patches of blue, sunlight breaking through, and some beautiful cloud formations over the palm trees and mountains. The scenery shifted as I walked, and the morning stayed comfortable enough that I wasn’t even sweating.
In Phoenix, in October, that’s a gift.
No soggy shirt. No miserable heat. No need to wring myself out before Jazzercise.
Just a pleasant walk, some excellent scenery, and the occasional reminder that weather forecasts are forecasts—not guarantees of what will happen on my particular sidewalk.
I can appreciate a safety warning without automatically assuming that every ominous cloud is coming to ruin my plans.
Today, I got to walk, enjoy the scenery, and keep my schedule intact.
Movement in real life still counts.
Always! 💜🚶♀️⛈️💃☕️
Read more.
Carrots for a Cause – American Cancer Society 62-mile October Walking Challenge
Starbucks Carrot Method – North Phoenix Walking Series and Jazzercise
Incidental Exercise Receipts Hub