How I Eat And Exercise To Stay Fit

I feel a little bit unworthy to talk about this subject, because I’M NOT PERFECT! I’ve always been a gym-rat, so that part isn’t hard for me. It’s the DIET part that is the most challenging for me. You see, back in my mid 20’s I had a bit of a disorder and obsession about my diet. It didn’t turn out well, and caused some health issues. That’s where the BALANCE thing became much more important to me.

They say that…..

ABS ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN, NOT THE GYM!

Do you realize HOW TRUE THIS IS? Our diets play more of a role in managing and maintaining our weight than working out does. So what I’m saying is, I NEED TO BE BETTER! My diet is good 80% of the time. I eat pretty good but I DO LOVE my treats. Those treats are dark chocolate almonds for the most part, along with possibly homemade cookies or maybe going out for ice cream.

With that being said, everyone is on their own journey of health and fitness. How I eat and exercise to stay fit at midlife will be very different than how you do. I’ve been conscientious of my health and fitness since I’ve been a teenager. Along the way I’ve figured out ways to eat relatively healthy, while still enjoying the foods I love. Is it perfect? Far from that, but overall you could probably say that I’m a pretty healthy person! I’m STRONG no doubt.

If you are in your midlife years, you know that no matter what we do to care for ourselves, there are certain things that are just going to happen. A thicker middle is one. UNLESS you are a complete fanatic about your diet (and even if you are) your mid section is going to start to change. Can we still be healthy and fit? Of course!! But the weight will have a tendency to creep in there. You’ll start to lose the elasticity in your skin, so that will begin to hang. UGH! I hate it, but that’s what happens.

HOW I EAT TO STAY FIT

I have been doing intermittent fasting for about a year now. This is very ON TREND, and I don’t do it really on purpose…. it’s just the way my day goes. This is not eating after a certain hour at night, and waiting 15-17 hours or so before eating again. I totally believe that WE EAT TOO MUCH FOOD! By the time I wake up and work for a couple of hours and go to the gym, it’s noon before I’m back home and ready to eat my first meal. And I always try to eat on the early side at night, so I’m not sleeping on a full stomach.

There’s so much to be said about INTERMITTENT FASTING! I do this MORE because of my lifestyle and NOT because I don’t think we should feed our bodies!! I just listened to a podcast and WOW! I’m going to do a whole blog on it, and how I feel about it and what the medical professionals say about it. Stay tuned!

I will eat breakfast then, either a veggie omelet and fruit, or wholegrain cereal HERE, walnuts, and berries. If we are traveling, it’s always an omelet filled with veggies. I do have cheese. I drink water for the most part, no juice, no milk (except for in my cereal). Occasionally I will have a Diet Coke if I’m out golfing, long car rides, or the movies.

I won’t eat again until dinner. My husband cooks all kinds of food and loves to. I’m careful with the carbohydrates and not a lot of red meat, mostly chicken. I don’t want to discourage his cooking, so I’ve learned to eat what he cooks. I’ll limit my portions and like I said, watch the carbs. If we go out, I’ll order fish or chicken or a salad with a protein. I very seldom have bread and butter.

WHAT I DO HAVE AND WHAT I STAY AWAY FROM

My dark chocolate comes in-between breakfast (noon) and the time we have dinner. I have a small handful and that’s always just enough. THESE are my favorite!

I never eat fast food. I pay attention to how I eat and exercise to stay fit EVEN WHEN I’m traveling. If we are on the road, I will go in to a convenience store and get an energy bar, granola bar, or yogurt. A breakfast sandwich will never pass my lips! Starbucks has some protein kale and mushroom bites that are really good that I’ll get sometimes. There are always healthy options, and eating the processed fast food seriously makes me feel awful!

HOW I EXERCISE TO STAY FIT

My workouts are 60 minutes long not including stretching. I’ll workout on a cardio machine (elliptical trainer or treadmill) for an hour. My weight routine consists of about 20-30 minutes using mostly free weights (15lb and 10lb). I’ll do this routine three times per week after my cardio. I’ll include some abdominal work as well. I’ll switch this workout up every week so my body is always being challenged. I focus on opposing muscle groups, and make sure to hit them all. My legs are mostly squats and lunges. I always stretch out for at least 10-15 minutes afterwards. DON’T FORGET TO STRETCH! It’s so important especially as we age!

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This is pretty much how I eat and exercise to stay fit at midlife. It’s nothing fancy. It’s not perfect. But it works for me and is part of every single day except for Sunday. HOW DO YOU STAY FIT? Tell me!!

Shauna XO

READ MORE ABOUT MY FITNESS AND HEALTH IN THESE BLOGS!