Laura A - I used to take aqua-aerobics classes and I just do those exercises then swim some laps. Even jogging in place in water (deep or shallow) using your arms back and forth etc is great. A track team did water running where I used to swim. They said it was more of a workout than actually running. They wore floatation belts because, of course, they had little body fat. I don't need one.
You could check out a book from the library on water aerobics for some other ideas. You can do the pilates "hundreds" in the water - just about anything you do on land and then some. Once you feel ready, get some resistance gloves - like webbed gloves - and that will pump up your muscles and heart even more. Go for it!!!
Toadfood - thanks for the good wishes. I realize I've made some less than best decisions out of fear I would do something wrong - then looking back realized my original choice was really what I wanted instead of going along with what was suggested by someone else. In the past I picked sort of dominating friends, too, which made it easy to ignore what I really wanted, out of fear of upsetting that person. Then the whole fear thing about what is behind feelings etc.
Sksamboots - my day is going to be fantastic because I've nearly finished some home projects that I'd been avoiding for a month. Well, sort of nearly finished. Hey, it's on the way to being finished enough for now at least. I hope your day is fantastic, too.
Got in a good swim last night. I aim for 45-60 minutes but may be doing more, which is too much. I have to watch out for doing more, more, more. Then I avoid exercising because it becomes so overwhelming. I'm doing a little too much bouncing on my knee in the pool so I have to watch out for that. Tomorrow I plan to rejoin my overpriced health club. It's my only option once they close the pool here for the cold months. The health club has great aqua-aerobics classes and super lap swimming times plus all that other equipment in the gym areas - machines. When I weighed less - about 10 years ago I used to use the elliptical cross training machine and really liked it. Maybe I could do that after I get new knees.
I was so hungry last night that I ate the whole bowl of black beans, brown rice and chard with salsa. One "fear" to tackle this year will be using the pressure cooker I've never used and making my own beans. A good plan. They taste so much better than the canned beans.
Time to get busy.