hiking

Getting Active

Getting Active

For those who aren’t following me on Facebook, I’ve taken on the challenge of participating in the Pole, Pedal, Paddle next April. It’s a six part event. My part of the event is the five mile run and the half mile sprint.

I have NEVER been a runner. I plod along at a pace that’s hard to distinguish between walking and running, but I decided I could do this. Since I started running in May, I have gone from a 15

exercise Walking the dogs at sunset

minute mile to last week a 9:35 mile.

Some of you might think I’ve always been committed to exercise, but that’s not true. It’s really only been in the last 10… Read More

Exercise Through Injury

IMG_1214 One of several bruises from fall Exercise, exercise, exercise. I know I sound like a broken record, but in the last 10 days I’ve come to realize just how critical exercise is, especially after an injury. Ten days ago, I took a tumble off my bike that resulted in several bruises plus some bruised ribs. The first three days I did almost no movement. By the fourth day, I knew I needed to do something, but movement caused pain, and I resisted. The reality was, even though there are definite limitations with bruised ribs, there are forms of movement that can be done. And once I started moving, I felt better and started to heal faster.

Exercise While… Read More

Emotional Eating

emotionalLast week I talked about my issues with stress or emotional eating. Usually blogging about something helps me get back on track, but not this time. All week long I found myself eating when I wasn’t hungry and unable to stop. With everything going on, I’m eating for reasons other than hunger. Because I had several other readers comment that emotional eating is an issue for them as well, I went online and found a site that helped me, How to Recognize and Stop Emotional Eating. The opening paragraph resonated with me. “We don’t always eat simply to satisfy hunger. We also turn to food for comfort, stress relief, or as a reward. Unfortunately, emotional eating doesn’t fix emotional… Read More

New Exercise Routine

New Exercise Routine

exerciseIt’s fall, and while I absolutely love this time of year, it messes with my exercise routine. This is mostly due to the change in weather. When it’s raining or the wind is howling I don’t ride my bicycle outside, so I have to adjust my routine and ride the indoor bicycle. And some of the mountain biking trails I love get shut down because of weather. It doesn’t mean I can’t ride in the winter, it just means I have go to more winter friendly trails.

Shaking It Up

This changeup isn’t bad, it just means I have to readjust. It takes time for me to get in the groove with these changes. Instead of assuming I will… Read More

Setting Weight Loss Goals

Weight Loss Goals

I’ve always been a goal setter—from work to exercise to weight loss. I recently read a post by Diane Carbonell on are you focused on the right thing when losing weight. goals Crash mountain biking in Bend, Oregon. Good news the bike survived! Her blog was about goal setting, and it made me realize that setting a goal to just lose a certain amount of weight wasn’t enough to be successful. For me, it also included an attitude change. I was no longer just losing weight, but changing my lifestyle by eating when I was hungry, stopping when full and getting plenty of exercise—not just a set amount of exercise, and even challenging myself… Read More

Fitness At Any Age

I’ve exercised all of my life, but I haven’t always been physically fit. In my late 30’s I was out of shape. I didn’t do much aerobic exercise, and it showed. After hiking short distances, I was winded and exhausted. It wasn’t until my mid-40s that I really got serious about exercise, and it was for two reasons. First, I found losing weight was not as easy as it was in my 30s. In fact, it was darn near impossible without exercise. fit Mountain biking at Mt. Shasta California Second, I was losing muscle tone and didn’t like what I saw. Since I’ve always been an avid bicycle rider, I started riding more. At the same time, I began… Read More

The Klutzy Athlete Takes on Exercise

I'm the Klutzy Athlete and I'm taking on exercise. I’ve always shied away from exercise and team sports. In fact, I started life with two left feet that became progressively more pronounced the older I got. I always envision myself as  Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing when in reality I dance like Elaine in Seinfeld. Exercise Mountain biking The Escalator in Redding, California Not gifted with natural athletic ability for exercise? Welcome to my world. Does this mean I don’t exercise? Absolutely not. Of course, it’s not pretty when I workout. I constantly manage to trip over my own feet, and I’ve made an art… Read More