I’ve walked this raod for so long.
The Scoop
My fitness post is a little late this month and I almost forgot about it when a reader reminded me. May was a whirl wind and June is going the same. Selling our home and visits from out of town family have kept me on my toes. But through it all I fit my health in as a priority.
I spent the month of May being able to maintain my weight but not lose the extra belly fat. I’m ok with it because I know it’s best to take it slower at this point in my fitness journey. Being able to consistently maintain my weight is a real success to me.
I hiked or walked almost daily throughout the month. I did strenght training three times a week and I ate 60% healthy, I would guess. Not my usual 80%. Stress brings out the unhealthy cravings in me.
For strength training I have been doing, in a curciut format, pushups, sumo squats, tricep dips, calf raises, bicycles, Russian twists, reverse crunches and dead lifts in that order. I use a 15 pound kettle bell and I do 3 sets of 15 reps. I started out with less and have worked my way up to this. I will adjust each week by changing the exercise, the weight I use or the number of reps and sets. This is working so well for me. I was able to see muscle definition within a couple of weeks. But I am not lifting weights for hours at a time.
Day In The Life
I thought I would just walk you through my day yesterday so you can get insight as to how I take care of myself. You know I turned 61 last week and I am so grateful that I am able to exercise, eat mostly what I want as long as it is good for me, I can think clearly and most of all feel strong.
One of the biggest benefits for me losing weight is I have absolutely no joint pain, I am very flexible and limber. I do get soreness in my left hip if I run too much and in my back if I lift something really heavy. Both of these things are new to my aging body.
I can jump up on this rock so easily when I stay leaner.
My morning
I wake up most days around five AM give or take 30 minutes. It is usually because Tucker has his tougue up my nose. Ha ha. My husband brings me coffee in bed and we sit for a while planning the day.
I get up around six and check my blog for any issues and do any computer work that needs to be done. That usually only takes an hour or so at most.
Next I put on my workout clothes. On this day I did a photo shoot for this post. It was a beautiful morning and it felt so nice to be outside jumping on my rock and smelling the pine.
After my photoshoot I headed down the drive to my hiking trail. It is two miles long with lot so ups and downs. I listen to my music as I walk and greet any other exercisers out and about.
After my walk I made a smoothie. I have shared this recipe many times with you. It’s organic frozen blueberries 1/2 cup, Greek yogurt 1/3 cup, fresh spinach 2 cups, organic almond milk 1 cup and protein powder 1/2 scoop.
Still carrying belly fat. But I’m working on it!
My afternoon
I used to do all my photo shoots in the mornings too but have found that pacing myself throughout the day is a better plan energy wise. Plus I have found the light to be so much better later in the day. The light is magical at the right time.
I plan any outfits I want to wear, some days I will do a few in one afternoon. Some days I just do what I am wearing that day.
I also run errands if I have any. Because of snow we don’t get mail at our house, we havve to use a post office box. This is how most people in the mountains get their mail.
I also do any house work or laundry in the afternoons. Like we just had a full house of guests for the week so I had to wash all the sheets and towels and put the upstairs back in order for the next guests.
This is also when I will plan dinner. We have gravitated to about two meals a day. A late breakfast (my smoothie, my husband religiously has organic oats.) then an early dinner.
I have a variety of snacks I eat on different days. Not all in one day though. Well maybe sometimes ha ha!
1/4 cup cottage cheese mixed 1/4 cup organic salsa and one serving of orgainic corn chips
small handfull of mixed nuts
3 to 5 dates
serving size of tricuit crackers with 1 once of cheese
salmon salad
tuna salad
hard boiled eggs
fresh fruit
My vice? I have about 6 ounces of diet coke a day.
This look is mostly from Costco! The shoes from the Niki store and the hat Walmart.
My evening
My dinner for this day was roast chicken and a salad. My husband who is mostly vegetarian usualy fixes beans and mushrooms, tomatoes and onions or a similar medley of vegetables.
About once a week we go out to eat. This week we went into town to a restuarnt on the lake called The Cutwater. We ate outside on the water front and had a curly kale with strawberries salad and a glass of white wine.
I make a desert about once a month and divide it into serving sizes and freeze it. So on nights we want a little desert we just pull something out. This month I made an amazing German chocolate cake. I made a homemade german chocolate cake frosting and divided it into ice cube trays to freeze. So I just get a piece of cake and a cube of frosintg and boom, dessert. I never over do it that way.
The picture below reminds me of an article I read. The idea was that people who live to be really old, sit on the floor all the time. By sitting on the floor when we sit we use more of our muscles throughout the day and we preserve our balance and flexibility too. All of these things are so importatnt to staying healthy. Its just another reminder that we lose what we don’t use. As my husband says, “we can retain what we cannot regain.” I try to sit on the floor as much as possible. It’s kind of fun really.
The best part of being healthy is the ablily to sit on the floor and get up without grunting!