Back after a long hiatus....

I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote my last blog post.

I really haven't made any progress at all on my quest to be in better shape at 50 than at 20 - and realizing that I will be 49 this year kind of lit a fire underneath me that I am running out of time!!!

So, given that this is New Year's Day, I figured there was no time like the present to start back on my goal.

Since my last blog post, I have discovered a new eating plan that I am going to implement, so I will provide some details on that in a future post.

I have also gone back to work full time for a small accounting firm, so I am headed into our busy time. Therefore, I don't really plan on starting anything officially until May, when we head into the slower months. This may seem contradictory, since I just noted that time was running out, haha, but changing eating and exercise habits with me will require a great deal of planning. I don't foresee having that time until May - but until then, I will do my best to up my water intake, and make a conscious effort to reduce my sugar consumption. I also plan on walking more during the day.  Then in May I will start my eating program and weight training.

Here is to a prosperous, healthy 2017!

Water update

So, after one day of doing well on my water consumption, I began to slack off. :/ I think a big part of it was the fact that I was on the road running errands the next few days, and didn't really carry a bottle of water with me, and I wasn't sure when I would be able to make a "pit stop" at a public restroom.

To solve the bottled water problem, I did some research. I am somewhat finicky with my water - I don't like bottled water, because it never seems cold enough to me, nor do I like dealing with condensation. I wanted a water bottle that I could reuse and that would have a wide mouth opening so I could put in some ice cubes, and also one that would take care of the "sweating" problem with condensation. I found this. (affiliate link :)) The reviews were pretty good, so I ordered it today.

So, we'll see how it goes. I really want to change my water drinking habits. I think perhaps I will do it gradually, maybe starting out with 2 glasses of water a day (in addition to my regular fluid intake) and just work up to 8 glasses in total, spaced out like I had originally planned (between 9am and 5pm).

So that's where I am at the moment. More to come!

Water

So, I don't drink enough water.....

I mean, really, does anyone drink enough water? I don't know too many people who drink water  regularly, with the exception of my mother-in-law, who always carries a water bottle with her, and my youngest daughter, who loves water (and despises soda - yay!)

But water, as we know, is the best liquid to drink to keep us hydrated. I did a bit of research, and according to the Mayo Clinic the general rule of thumb is 8- 8oz glasses of fluid a day. Notice that the rule has been updated from 8 glasses of water per day, because "all fluids count towards the daily total." I've also read where we should drink half our body weight in ounces of water. So for me at 198 lbs, that would mean 100 oz of water each day... or 12.5 8oz glasses of water per day. (I sense a lot of trips to the bathroom coming on.)

But for me, my fluid intake has consisted mostly of soda, and a cup of tea in the morning. That's a lot of sugar to go with the water, so the goal is to limit the soda to 2 glasses per day (one at lunch and one at dinner), and still keep my morning cup of tea, and drink 10 8oz glasses of water per day.

In order to space out my water intake, I decided to create a schedule. I would drink one glass of water each hour between 9 and 5, with an extra glass at the 9am and 5pm hour, for a total of 10 glasses of water. I needed some way of reminding myself, as I don't check the clock that often enough, so I downloaded a reminder app for my phone (one that can be used for medication reminders) and set it up to chime every hour between 9 and 5.

I'm hoping that my 5pm cut off time will help in not waking up to use the bathroom....I guess we'll see! :)

I'll be updating as to how I'm keeping up with my schedule.

I'm back!

Well, I'm back!

This was a long and unexpected blog hiatus. Shortly after only my 2nd post, my husband lost his job. :( This threw us into quite a tailspin financially. After looking and applying for jobs and having nothing pan out, we started our own auto hauling business with the help of a dear friend. It's been a tough road (no pun intended..auto...road...get it?), but I think we are getting back on track.

So, I thought it would be a good time to resurrect my blog and really start to get back to what I want to do - to be in better shape physically at 50 than I was at 20.

I will turn 46 this year, so that leaves 4 more years until I hit the big 5-0. 2013 turned out to be a big bust in terms of getting closer to my goal, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

So, in the next few posts I'm going to outline my goals and how I'm going to achieve them. *NOTE* - some things I'm going to use will be affiliate links, and I will clearly label them as such. :)

I'm going to try and post 1-2 times a week. I hope you will follow me!

Losing the "Mummy Tummy"

Thanks very much for the feedback on my first post! It's very encouraging. :)

So, the first thing I wanted to tackle was my abdominal muscles. Oh what a mess my tummy is! I couldn't do a sit up worth a darn in high school....then 3 pregnancies....then an umbilical hernia....then a Total Abdominal Hysterectomy....followed by a surgery to repair a hernia 6 months later. Let's face it my abdominal muscles have been through a lot!

So what to do???

Well, if you like to research like I do, you hit Google. LOL I didn't know whether doing simple sit-ups would work. I wanted to see if there was something else that could be done. I'm glad I did this research, though, because it answered a lot of questions.

During my first pregnancy, I noticed that my abdomen had a strange lopsided bulge. At the time, I thought it was my baby perhaps sticking his behind up, or pushing his knees against the uterus. But after he was born, the bulge remained. It came up again with my two other pregnancies....there was a lot of speculation. It was attributed to large uterine fibroid tumors at one time, but that turned out to be the case. So what was it? No one seemed to know. So my GYN sent me to a surgical specialist. I was given a diagnosis of "diastasis recti".

So what is Diastasis Recti? Basically it is a separation of the abdominal muscles on the left and right sides. You can see an illustration of it HERE.

Great, I thought. Now we have a diagnosis, what can we do about it? The answer my Dr. gave me was - nothing.:( According to the Dr. there was no real exercise or physical therapy options to help close the separation. He said we could do surgery, and then he recommended I get a CT scan to see if there was something else going on. I never followed up. The idea of surgery scared me, so I just dropped it.

That was about 3 years ago. I had long forgotten my visit with the Dr. and even forgot the term of "diastasis recti". But then my Google search brought me to a site called Maternal Fitness. And lo and behold, there was that term again!

Wow! Could it be true? Could there be an exercise program to help? The answer is - YES!

The exercise program was created by Julie Tupler, RN. It works on healing the diastasis using simple exercises and the use of an abdominal splint. There are a lot of encouraging before and after pictures on her website and a great deal of information on her website page devoted to her program "Diastasis Recti" HERE.

I've decided I'm going to budget to purchase her $85 package, which includes the DVD, splint, guidebook and dyna band. I'm also going to budget for getting a second splint so I can alternate wearing one and having one in the wash.

So the goal is to close the diastasis recti and have a flatter tummy. I will be taking initial measurements and post them on the side of my blog to keep up on my progress.

Next up - better eating habits!

Welcome! I'm glad you stopped by to see my first blog post.:)

I've never been one to be in any great physical shape. Gym class was not fun for me in high school. I've joined gyms and went a couple of times, and then, like a majority of those who join, my determination fizzled out.

As the years went by, new physical challenges presented themselves. Three pregnancies brought me three beautiful children, but also took their toll on my already weak abdominal muscles. Weight was also gained and not lost. My posture slowly went downhill. A walk up the neighbor's hill across the street to take the kids to the pool left me huffing and puffing and out of breath....and it was not even a steep hill!

It was at this time as well, that I started to witness my mother's decline in health.  She is a very strong woman with a great amount of determination and spunk, but the pain of arthritis and problems with her spine has really wreaked havoc with her. She now has to walk with a walker and is in a lot of pain. :(

In seeing my mother's health issues, I began to realize that I may be following down the same path....and I did not like that prospect!

So what could I do about it???

I decided that I wanted to push back against any health issues that may come my way. The only way to do this, is to get myself into the best physical shape possible so I could give myself a fighting chance against arthritis, muscle loss, spine problems, etc. So I decided that my main goal will be to be more physically fit when I am 50 than when I was 20. (Hence, the title of my blog LOL). I just turned 44 the other day, so I have some time, but I'm not going to drag this out.

I then decided that I would document my progress in a blog, to not only keep myself accountable but to help others make the decision to get in shape. This blog is not going to be all roses and sunshine....this is going to be an uphill battle....but I'm going to document the good and bad!

In the next few days I'm going to post what my goals are and what plans I'll be using to get in shape.

Stay tuned! :)