As we get older  maintaining our health becomes increasingly important and we really need to pay attention to our bodies.

I have talked about exercise a little but with exercise comes nutrition. There is a saying. "You can out exercise a bad diet" and it is absolutely true.  It is important to practice what is called clean eating.

Basically it means cooking and preparing your own food with fresh healthy ingredients. Avoiding processed foods at all costs.

Isn't that a lot of work you ask? Well yes. it can be and I am not a cook. So I eat a lot of salads which are quick and easy to prepare. I am not a vegan or a vegetarian but I  rarely eat meat or dairy for many reasons. Most of the meat we eat today is factory farmed... these animals are kept in inhumane conditions and they are given antibiotics and hormones for growth and to "prevent" disease and also the cattle used for meat and dairy production produce a huge amount of methane gas, a major contributor to climate change.  For me those are all good reasons to avoid meat and diary products. Protein can be found in many plants and eating meat is not a necessity.
 So if you can organic, eat fresh foods and stay away from junk food.

If that is too big a step at once, start small, meatless Monday is a good place to begin. Ditch the sodas, especially the diet soda. Instead of sugary snacks try a piece of fruit.

Let me know how you are doing?

Send me a note and I will send you some recipes.

A healthy recipe for the Independence Day holiday

It can be difficult to eat clean and healthy on holidays. Barbeques frequently involve burgers, hot dogs,  potato chips, salads heavy in mayonnaise, fried chicken, sodas. Nothing that with any health benefits whatsoever.

 Perhaps you have been invited to a pot luck? Maybe you're having friends over, either way I found a great  salad recipe that you can make which  is delicious and healthy. Not only that but easy to prepare. I don't cook so, anything like this always gladdens my heart.

 Watermelon and Jicama salad.  Enjoy!

here is the link
http://www.willcookforfriends.com/2012/07/watermelon-salad-red-white-and-blue-and-green.html

What is the difference between Activity and Exercise and why it matters

There is a difference between activity and exercise and to remain healthy you need to do both.

Physical activity is when you go wash the car, vacuum the house or even go for a walk. Yes, many people tell me they exercise and I ask them what they do and it's a stroll around the block, which though infinitely better than sitting on the couch it  is not exercise.

Exercise by it's nature is vigorous and is usually designed to  work a specific part of your body. Sit ups are exercise because you are strengthening and toning your abdominal muscles. Power walking at a brisk pace is exercise, running, swimming.

By now you are thinking that this all sounds like a lot of time and effort to put into your busy day but studies have shown that you get the most out of your workout in the first 30 minutes. That is a very small part of your day.

You can get a  great workout in just 30 minutes and there are many low impact programs to help you do that. So if visions of a 30 minute run give you nightmares, no worries. You have options!

Just get up off your couch and get some exercise it might just save your life!

On a fitness journey

Greetings all,
This is brief post to introduce myself and share my reasons for starting this blog.
As a 64 year old women I am am stronger and fitter than at any time thus far in my life.
I have been on a fitness and health journey for several years but it is only in the past couple of years that I have really begun to learn and educate myself and as a result achieve my current level of fitness and, I might add, good health!
Many people over 50 years of age seem to believe they can't exercise, it's too late to change and they resign themselves to future filled with aches and pains and visits to the doctor. It doesn't have to be that way my friends.
So the purpose of my blog is to share what I know and I hope to help you realize that you can get fit at any age and love it!