Stay fit, Be healthy

Everyone knows or has known that couple in their 50's plus that run a couple miles everyday and have more energy and stamina then many who are half their age. For us that couple is the Bensfields. We stayed at their house for a couple of days a few months back when a pipe in our bathroom was being fixed. I noticed that she would go out for a run everyday and after dinner her and her husband would go work out. Both of them are two of the happiest most energetic people that I know. The longer time we had to get to know them I started to add things up. Happy, energetic, healthy, physically fit, gray hair and all and they have made exercise a regular part of their life ever since they were young.

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I decided that we want to be that couple when we turn fifty and have grey hair. And so we have made some changes to our daily life as well as setting some goals.
Already we have started seeing changes. We laugh about it and rejoice in that fact that we are falling out of our clothes. All of Mike's pants that he brought with him from Canada he can now pull off with belt on and zipper up. Mike had some dress pants Tailor made a few months ago and he can feel a difference in the way they fit, he can put a few fingers in at his waist. Just yesterday I tried on an old pair of Capri's that I bought after my mission, which just months ago I could not do up the button let along the zipper, and they fit perfectly.

These are the changes that we have made and our goals to live a healthier life.

Improving our Diet and Nutrition: We have reduced sodium and unhealthy oils/fats in our diet. Increased healthy fats such as healthy oils, nuts and seeds (homemade granola bars, and granola yumm!)We have also enriched our diet with whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and beans. Decreased ice cream snacks significantly (But still enjoy it. If you cut everything out, life's no fun!). We are concentrating on not overeating but just eating until we are not hungry anymore. We cook at home more and try to eat meat only one meal a day instead of two to three, or reduce the amount of meat in a meal. There are tons of really tasty things you can do such as pastas, stir-fries, pizzas, curries, tacos and quesadillas, soups and stews ect. that can be super delicious vegetarian, especially with the addition of fresh herbs and spices. Not that meat is bad just that the more meat you eat the less other variety of other foods you eat. We are not going to become Vegetarians or anything, just eating less meat.

Exercise: We walk places as much of possible, and embrace stairs (except when we have to walk up 27 floors.... Mike had to do that 2.5 times last week). Mike walks part of the way (or home) to work everyday (about 2.5 Km) and we walk places together. I dance, skip rope or do aerobics for 30 to 40 mins everyday as well as doing a 20 minute body weight workout 3 times a week that is specifically designed for women that targets legs, butt, hips, thighs,and tummy. Every night before we go to bed we cheer each other on to see how many push-ups we can do. We are still making plans and goals in this area.

Little Habit Changes: We are each making small changes to become habits that increase our activity. Such as finding active hobbies, minimizing time spent on the computer, doing an extra chore around the house and staying active for at least 10-15 minutes right after we eat by cleaning up right away and/or going on a family walk, etc. Little changes make a big difference in the long run. We are basically just trying to slowly change our life style to be more active by forming new habits and new hobbies.

Motivation: We focus on things that motivate us such as health benefits, people we want to be like such as the Benesfields, just looking and feeling good, being a good example to our children of taking care of these gifts we have been given, our bodies and our life.

We really want to make this how we live for the rest of our lives. Check up on us, help us along. Once we get to the it is a way of life and habit for us it will be easier. We feel it is a million times over worth it. What a wonderful gift we can give to Jada to help her form healthy habits from childhood.