Ladies, we need to take care of ourselves!
Hopefully, we have been taking good care of ourselves all along. But now more than ever, we need to up our game. And even if we haven't been doing the best job of taking care of ourselves, we can get started today. It's never too late.
I am not going to crawl into my later years, I plan on marching into them head held high.
Be active and stay active. Get out and walk, walk and walk some more. Grab a friend or family member and get moving and if you can up your walking speed and raise your heart rate even better.
Don't let the weather prevent you from walking. Check out some of Leslie Sansone's walking videos on Youtube. You will be surprised at how much of a workout you can get walking in your living room. But my first choice would be outside enjoying the much needed fresh air and sunshine.
Putting in the steps and raising the heart rate is a good start, girls. But let's get serious about including some light weight training into our routine. We have to able to open doors and carry boxes. And of course, we want to pick up those adorable grandchildren.
So, if we get going with the walking and weight training, I would say we are going in the right direction. I am not suggesting that we need to get into any heavy lifting. Just some light weight training should do the job for us.
Once again I recommend Youtube videos. They have tons of videos for any level of weight training. Why pay for videos when there are so many free ones available.
I am also looking for a good video that will help improve my balance. I can be kind of clumsy at times. I would rather avoid losing my balance and finding myself injured in one way or another.
So now let's talk about sleep. Sure we all need our beauty sleep, especially the older we get. But it's essential that we get enough sleep.
They recommend eight hours of sleep. However, I rarely get eights hours. I have found that I don't require eight hours. If you have trouble getting a good nights sleep here are a few tips for you:
Don't consume any form of caffeine late in the day.
Get regular daily exercise.
Take a bath or shower shortly before going to bed.
Sleep and wake at a consistent time every day.
Try a melatonin supplement.
Now on to the fundamental issue of how we fuel our bodies.
I am pretty sure we all know the drill: fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry and whole grains. We all understand the importance of eating healthy.
Start your day off the right way by eating a healthy fortifying breakfast-Whole grain cereal with fresh berries is one of my favorite ways to start my day. Sometimes I cook up some oatmeal and toss in some walnuts and raisins. And there are days that I have an egg and a whole grain english muffin. I also eat Activa yogurt every morning. And, I never skip breakfast.
Lunches, I eat a lot of soup or turkey sandwiches made with whole grain or wheat bread — lots of cut-up vegetables.
Dinner I usually grill or bake some chicken or fish and sometimes yes one of those Healthy Choice frozen dinners.
Myself, I don't need anything fancy or exotic. I go for the basic natural, healthy foods. I am also working on lowering my sugar intake.
These are just basic things we all know, but sometimes we need a reminder to keep us on track or even get us back on track. We can't forget how important it is take to care for ourselves.
It doesn't take much time to do these things, but we will gain in a significant way if we can manage to make our health and fitness a priority.
I want to hang out in this world as long as I can. And I want to continue doing my favorite things. Maybe just a little bit slower, but still doing!
And last, but not least, do something fun that makes you happy. Find things that give you enjoyment and do them often. Maybe that should be at the top of the list.