For the longest interval between blog posts on Fifty is the New Forte! Apparently I'm still in that time-management challenge phase where I can either fit in exercise, or fit in writing about exercise, but not both. I'm telling myself I'm improving, but I can't prove it, yet, so don't ask me to. For now,... Continue Reading →
SIXTY is the new “forte”!
(Photo above of 80-year old Jacinto Bonilla borrowed from Men's Fitness magazine online. See details below.) I'm not going to change the name of the blog, but I've entered a new decade! And while I ended my 50s in a fulfilling place vocationally, fitness-wise I need to step up my game. It took a couple... Continue Reading →
Must read: “Next Level” by Dr. Stacy Sims
I’ve been promising some book “reviews” or recaps, but I keep prioritizing reading over writing! Spare time is in short supply, and the unread-or-partially-read book pile is embarrassingly tall. But I’ll tell you about a couple of good ones in this post and the next. First up is Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass,... Continue Reading →
And, we’re back…
Three months without posting?! I was closing in on the third anniversary of this blog, with at least one post every month (a bit of a feat for me), and it all went pear-shaped at the end of June. Too many extra-curricular activities (some required for my career shift), and too much overtime at work... Continue Reading →
“You can’t turn back the clock but you can wind it up again!” – Joan MacDonald, #rolemodel
At 70 years of age, Joan MacDonald was overweight, badly out of shape, in pain, and on blood pressure medication. Her daughter Michelle was deeply concerned, and challenged her to start working out, and to join an online group of women trying to develop healthy habits. I'm now three years into my journey and I... Continue Reading →
Good read: “Making Peace With My ‘Old Self'”
I love this blog post. Sarah Lavender Smith is a writer and a leading ultramarathoner who is trying to "make peace" with some basic physiological realities of aging (she's a mere 48 years old, but that's close enough to 50 to quote here 😉 ). After a particularly good recent workout, she found herself thinking,... Continue Reading →
Weight(less)-lifting in space
Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to earth from the International Space Station last week, having racked up a number of records, including the longest time in continuous orbit for a female astronaut (288 days), the most cumulative hours of spacewalking for a female astronaut (53 hours, 22 minutes), and the most cumulative time in space of... Continue Reading →
Getting Stronger
Sad, but true: for men and women over age 50, it becomes harder to add and maintain muscle mass. In fact, we lose about 1% of our muscle mass each year. Some loss is due to physiological factors – changes in hormone levels, protein needs, etc. And some of the loss is self-inflicted: “use it... Continue Reading →