Yesterday- short dog walk. Today I wore the weighted vest out for my long walk. Oh my! That was tough. I had to ditch it after three miles. Hoping no one steals it. I think it’s a little heavy for me and not fitted properly. So, I’ll have to figure something out before I try that again.

I think with so many people living far away from family, almost every wedding requires travel on the part of someone. It would be impossible to plan one convenient for everyone you wanted to invite. I’m sure the couple understands this and expects that some people won’t be able to come. So, if you can, great. If it doesn’t work out for you either because of time or budget, then send your regrets. I do think that dress is perhaps dressier than needed. Hopefully you can find something that you have or something that works for you in other ways. I totally understand not wanting to spend money on that!

I agree with above- you were responsible for getting things done and you did. There’s a lot that goes into that and it sounds like you did a great job. I would go to the retirement party and give your best wishes. I would think after all the busyness and newness of retirement settles down, this will be long forgotten as the stressful event it currently is.

Yesterday I jumped on my rebounder, and then put on DH’s 30 pound weighted vest and ran in place on it. Not sure the point of that? But it was something different😀 Today I played indoor pickleball for a couple hours.

I traveled for several days and walked all the time! Tons of steps. Yesterday I had my personal training session. I really am enjoying getting stronger. It does feel good. I had a hard time getting started with weights, but now I really do enjoy them and the rewards. The weather is cold here, might try a walk later. I’ve been pretty lazy with regular movement since I got back.

Cornbread.

What are you considering sub clinical? My numbers keep creeping around and I’m on the borderline range for all the tests. I’m technically in range, but I have a few symptoms. And mostly a mom who didn’t age well maybe in part to untreated thyroid. I’m considering treating mine to see if I’d see an improvement.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ve added them all, and I’m sure now Instagram will start suggesting similar ones as well.

@BeachGalfound her on Instagram too! I’ll check out the website as well. Thanks for the recommendation.

Worked out with my trainer today, walked 4 1/2 miles. Extra 1/2 mile today because I had to turn back to get a better coat when it was too cold and windy😀

@Jean in Newcastle- perfect! I added her to my Instagram feed. Thanks! @Selkie- how do I find these online communities? They sound perfect! I’m just about to turn 53, and it just makes me feel really optimistic when I see people 30 and 40 years older still living their best lives.

I’ve been changing up my Instagram feed for healthy aging and health in general. I’ve found it motivating really. But I’d like to find more women in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s who are aging well- healthy and exercising. As I get older, I like to see women a bit older than me still living life to the fullest. I find it inspiring. And keeps me optimistic about the future. Does anyone follow someone like that on social media?

It was beautiful here today so I got to play outdoor pickleball! 😀

I’ve gone 3 times to my new personal trainer. She’s very good and highly recommended. So far we’ve agreed on all topics and strategies. I believe in her knowledge. I go once a week, and then try to replicate the workout as best I can with the equipment I have. She pushes me a lot more than I push myself which is good at the time, and also at home when I think- well I know I can do more reps/higher weights because I’ve done it before:)

I did my 4 mile walk and some at home strength training. I actually like working with weights a lot more than I thought I would. I’m considering joining a gym so I can “lift heavy things” 🙂 I might be past my current home dumbbell workout. I’m sure there are other good workouts I can learn to do at home too. I’d like to work towards a pull-up. But I can’t even hang yet. It hurts my shoulder and I’m too weak. So, lots of room for improvement.

I slept horribly last night, which led to bad food choices today, but I did manage to walk about 4 miles before crashing for the evening.

@Laura Corin how exciting about your new job opportunity. Good luck! A good haircut is always key for me to feeling good about myself. @Soror I am sorry you are still in so much pain. I hope you can find out a path forward. I know you must be so frustrated not being able to do your real workouts. You do become almost addicted to how they make you feel. @knitgrlcongrats on making it through this step! Don’t feel bad resting and napping. Your body is working hard. @Harriet Vanei don’t even know what gyrotecnics is. I’m going to look it up! Sounds wonderful. I had my personal training session this morning. I did not want to go, but of course felt great after. She has such good energy. I came home and did my rebounding cardio, some additional arm and core work and lots and lots of stretching!

Hmm, I’ll have to think if I want a new March goal. I went to visit a friend this weekend and I didn’t exercise, but we did walk everywhere and to our meals, so I got my steps in. Today I added some slow “running” to my long walk. That felt good. I haven’t been getting a lot of cardio without pickleball so I’ll try this a couple times to get my heart rate up. I also did my weight /resistance training and lots of stretching.

DS just started using a protein powder that has this. Google still tells me it’s one without artificial sweeteners. Off to research more! I still haven’t found good dark chocolate that passed the heavy metal screening. It sure does get complicated.

It was unseasonably warm here yesterday so I got in 3 walks. This morning I had my second strength training session with my trainer. Feeling good about that. I will walk later and do a lot of stretching.

Sounds like you have great ideas for incentives. I have participated in one before and my most successful selling point was the idea of matched donations. This was the day you could give to the nonprofit and your money would "multiply" by being matched by other donors. It made people feel like their donation was being stretched further and had more impact. We would sell the fact that your gift of $25 would mean $75 to the organization. This was the fact for us with how the matching donations were set up. Not sure how yours is exactly with the pool. We also had separate matches only available with $100 or more donations to try to encourage larger amounts. Other than that I had good luck with emails and text messages that day with direct links to the fundraising site, but I was dealing with smaller amounts of possible donors I'm sure. There was also an award for the first contribution at midnight to try to get things off to a strong start.

That is really hard. I’ve been trying to get myself to join a gym for the last 6 months, and finally got brave enough to sign up with a trainer just last week. I find the whole thing intimidating, but I felt like I needed some extra help to get myself in gear. I will say, I live in a pretty small town and there are at least 3 people I considered training with and a couple little gyms I could see myself in. Maybe ask around more? Maybe there is a better fit gym out there you don’t know about? Or know enough about? Some aren’t advertised really well. I like your idea of a personal trainer through your trip to keep you on track. That seems like a good solution for the interim. I’m sorry you have another transition to figure out. Also, in Instagram there seem to be a lot of PT’s posting exercise programs and tips. Maybe you can get your feed to pull those up. I’ve gotten a lot of good posts from pelvic floor PT’s once I watched one video.

My absolute favorite dessert! Good for the soul. That’s healthy, right?!?

https://cw-x.com/products/stabilyx-high-impact-sports-bra-black this is what I wear to jump if anyone is curious. I’ve had it at least 5 years, probably way more, and washed it hundreds of times. It’s held up great for me.

I do not wear two bras. But I have a REALLY strong sports bra that seems to work for me.