Is your year off to a good start yet?
Make this year your year to take stock of all dimensions of your life:
- Physically, how do you feel? Energetic? Pain free? Fit?
- Mentally, how does your brain function? Are you thinking clearly? Is your memory intact?
- Emotionally, what drives you? Are you inspired? Do you feel fulfilled?
These are the questions for the year. Think about each one and decide, for yourself, as only you can, what you want out of 2022.
Fortify
What We Have Learned About Menopause
Did you know that in 1908, the life expectancy of a woman was 52 years old, the same as the average age of menopause today?
So, in those days, a woman didn’t need to worry about what happened to her health after menopause.
Fortunately in today’s world, we are expected to live way beyond menopause.
And,
what’s even better, is in recent years scientists have put more effort
into studying the impact of declining hormones on women’s health.
Currently,
around 80% of women in the US over the age of 55 have a chronic
condition including cancer, COPD, heart disease, diabetes, asthma or
arthritis.
In addition to this, there are the
added challenges of menopause including changes in body composition,
gut and bone health, and exercise capacity.
Luckily,
many of these “not-so-positive” changes can be reversed, or at least
mitigated, by making simple adjustments to your lifestyle! Woohoo!!
Stay with us to kick off the new year with a Midlife Reset, the perfect antidote to these changes. Our program and personalized app will teach you to
reset eating habits by shifting calories to earlier in the day, eating
fewer carbs, and doubling up on protein. Reset exercise habits with
high intensity interval training (HIIT) and strength training.
Join us for Midlife Reset to live vibrantly in the New Year!
Food
Front Load Your Day
With Calories
Opt for these breakfast options to shift more calories to breakfast:
- Omelet with 2 eggs, egg whites, shredded cheese, and lots of veggies, whole wheat avocado toast, and a skinny latte.
- 1-1/4 cup plain, low-fat Greek yogurt with 1 cup berries, 1/4 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup granola and 1 tsp ground chia seeds.
- 2 tangerines and Peanut Butter Banana Protein Overnight Oats made with Fairlife milk.
Because small changes in eating habits can have big impacts, you may want to give Fairife Milk a try. Each cup has 13 grams of protein compared to 8 grams in regular milk and only 1 gram in almond milk.
Try it in your morning coffee, use it in oatmeal instead of water, or use it when cooking and baking!
fitness
We all do it. The holidays roll around and we make excuses to skip our exercise program only to have to start back at square one in January.
One of the many benefits of HIIT is that it can be done anywhere, anytime, with little or no equipment… No more excuses!!
Below is a quick HIIT workout you can do anywhere.
Click here to watch Coach Kathy demonstrate the Plank Row move.
When it’s cold outside and you want to get your body moving, use this video combined with the sequence below to get your heart rate up from the comfort of your hotel room.
- 10 plank row to jumping jacks (as featured in Kathy’s video)
- 10 body weight squats (proper technique is to bend as if sitting down, at a 90 degree angle, keeping your back flat).
- Walk down the hallway in your hotel and back at a brisk pace (30 seconds)
- Return to your room and repeat this sequence 2 more times
As always, only attempt exercises when you’re cleared by your physician.
This short series of exercises is intended to be done at your own pace with the goal of raising your heart rate to a point of breathing hard, but able to hold a conversation.
Frame of mind
Can You Spare an Hour to Help Someone Else?
It isn’t just during the holidays that we feel strapped for time, is it?
Many of us run our days on a minute-by-minute basis to ensure that everyone is heard, all ideas considered, and every problem solved before we rest our heads at night.
What would happen if we all just decided to “downward dog” for a whole month? Visions of these past 2 years come to mind, where the whole world shut down for long periods.
However, I’m sure you are aware that this didn’t happen for everyone. Healthcare workers had the exact opposite experience. Their worlds amped up, just as ours were quieting down.
One unfortunate casualty of the pandemic was the activity of donating blood.
So many of us know someone who is alive today because of the generosity of a blood donor.
So, ask yourself, as my days return to normal, can I find an extra hour in my life, to possibly save someone else’s?
The psychological benefit of giving will carry with you the whole year through.
She believed she could,
so she did!
Leah Goldstein:
Our Badass of the Month
Enlisting in the Israeli Military, she became one of the few female instructors of the elite Commando division before transitioning into a Special Forces unit, combating terrorism and violent crime.
This intense lifestyle started to take a toll on Leah and she took to cycling as an escape from the violence. After she convinced Israel to release her from duty, she turned her sights on a career as a cyclist across Europe and North America.
In 2010, after 13 years on the pro road race circuit she retired and turned her sights on another feat, the World’s Toughest Bicycle Race, Race Across America. She first ran the race in 2011 winning Best Overall Female among other awards. In 2021, on her 3rd run at age 52, she became the first woman to win in the 39 year history of the race! We salute you Leah!
You can follow Leah’s story at leahgoldstein.com
“I don’t really ever consider quitting as an option. I just try to focus on what I can do at any given moment, and sometimes that is just keep pedaling.” -Leah
