60plus and loving life

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Swimming as therapy (for your mind!)
health and fitness

Swimming as therapy (for your mind!)

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Swim/swam. Splish/splash…

This weekend has been emotionally fraught and draining. It’s Sunday afternoon and I have been feeling quite wiped out. I was messaging my daughter and told her I might go for a swim or just be lazy.

She replied immediately and said to go for a swim as it would make me feel better and she’s correct.

Mind you, it wasn’t that straightforward. Fortunately, I live in a town where we have lots of public swimming pools. The first one I went to was closing as the power had gone out in the neighbourhood.

So I went a couple suburbs over to my other favourite pool. Hopped in and swam 14 laps and the pool attendant called out to me to stop. They were putting up the wall to turn the 50 metre pool into a 25 metre pool. They do that sometimes if they are having kids lessons in the other half.

I usually like to swim at least 20 laps of the 50 metre. I could have continued with the 25 metre after waiting a few minutes for them to raise the wall in the middle. But I thought, you know what? 14 laps are good for today and I sure did feel a lot better.

I find swimming soothing and meditative. I find I can ease stressed emotions and basically let go of what is bothering me. I was also composing this blog post as I swam along.

Swimming is a great all round exercise, it doesn’t stress your joints as it’s low-impact. It’s a workout for your whole body, it’s good for your heart and lungs and really good for your mental health/emotional wellbeing. Check out this article for more information on the benefits of swimming.

I love to swim in the summer months and try to go at least once/week. During the winter I find it a bit more challenging to fling myself in the water, but when I do I always love it! Another benefit for my being a “senior” now is that I get discounted entry to the pool!

What’s not to love? Oh and I love my new swimsuit – Speedos – comfy and flexible, perfect for swimming and check out the green!

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Health & Fitness is a lifestyle!
health and fitness

Health & Fitness is a lifestyle!

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I don’t do diets…

I was at dance class yesterday afternoon. It’s interesting trying to have a conversation during the class. The women move from man to man and you have 30 seconds top if you want to catch up whilst dancing (rather than before or after class!). And with some folk that’s when I do catch up with them.

I was chatting with one of the guys who has been coming along for a couple of years now. The first pass by, he mentioned he’d started a diet and I expressed surprise as he seems fairly trim, however he doesn’t have much muscle tone (I know this as dancing does involve touching the other persons arm or waist, depending on the dance move).

I asked him why and he said he needed to lose 8kgs. I then moved on to the next dance partner. However, my curiosity was piqued, so on the next turn with my friend I asked him what his motivation was to lose weight. He said that he started walking 5kms a day and had gone on a diet (I didn’t ask which one as diets are not my thing).

I said walking 5kms a day was a good thing to do for his health and fitness as it will improve his cardiovascular health. He said he was determined to stick with his diet and walking “this time”. He also said he’d taken up doing push-ups each day and has one of those vibrators  (sorry, but I snorted with laughter at this point), then realized he meant one of those vibrating plates that you jump on that jiggles you about. I’m not sure how effective those things are as I’ve never tried, but kudos to my friend for giving it a go.

His comment that he’d stick with it “this time” implies that he has tried dieting and getting fitter and has somehow “failed” previously. I am not keen on “failure” as a word when it comes to health and fitness goals. Sometimes I am super healthy and fit, sometimes I lose focus and eat crap or wake up and can’t be bothered going for a run. I never see that as “failure”, it’s just that it’s impossible to be perfect all the time and we are, after all, human with all that entails.

Back to my friend and the next ‘go round’. I said that rather than focus on  being on a “diet”, he could reframe his thoughts and see his new exercise regimen and eating plan as his now and forever lifestyle. I said that the problem with going on a diet is that at some point it ends, then people tend to go back to their old eating habits and the weight creeps back on. He hadn’t thought of it in that way and it was like a light had switched on in his eyes.

Back round again and he said that thinking of it as a lifestyle made him feel more optimistic about succeeding. I did want to talk about the concept of failure, but didn’t have the time in that lesson to continue the conversation. However, I did suggest that he not focus too much on the numbers on the scale, but to focus on improving his cardiovascular fitness with his walking and to keep up the strength training and healthy eating. He smiled. I felt good about sharing knowledge with someone starting (or re-starting) their health journey. Oh, by the way, he’s 74 – so it’s never too late to start improving your health & fitness (but check in with your health care practitioner first!).

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Reflections on boxing for seniors…
health and fitness

Reflections on boxing for seniors…

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My daughter convinced me to take up boxing!

About a year or so ago my daughter wanted to take up boxing as a sport and for additional exercise. She can be a little shy in new situations (she gets that from me, although I’m way less shy these days! Benefits of getting older! 😂) So she asked if I’d come along to a boxing gym near my place (she lives across town, so nice to be closer to mine).

It was a women’s boxing class and the first session was pretty intense. Skipping, short sprints and more skipping to warm up and get the heart rate up. Then drills in basic boxing techniques. Jab, cross, hook and upper cut, boxing stance and correct footwork (although that is still a work in progress for me!). At the end of the class is a short strength and conditioning session with weights and then usually finishing with a plank or other abdominal strengthening exercise.

Now you might think it odd that I am happy to pick up a new sport in my 60s and that is where you’d be wrong. I love trying new things and I have found I really enjoy boxing. It’s a great cardiovascular workout, you need to have great coordination and balance skills and if not, they certainly will improve!

After I started I did a little research on the benefits of boxing and found that it is recommended for older people, not just the young. It really is a great overall workout, good for your mind health as well. Research shows that heart health is linked to good mental health outcomes and boxing keeps your mind active too.

As with anything, check with your medical and/or health practitioner to determine if picking up a new exercise regimen will benefit your health.

My daughter has now joined another gym closer to her home and has regular boxing & sparring and strength and conditioning training, she’s no longer too shy to put on her gear and head to her gym, it’s a great sense of community and everyone at boxing (at her gym and our original gym) are super friendly and helpful. The coaches are fantastic and the workout is intense and fun!

She still comes along to our original gym with me for our weekly boxing session, followed by dinner and a catch up at my place.

The photo at the top of this post was taken by my daughter right after a training session, I edited the photo to just keep the reflection of myself in the mirror. I think it’s a great shot and captures the vibe of boxing perfectly!

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You do you and I’ll do me!
health and fitness

You do you and I’ll do me!

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Unwanted 0pinions!

I was having coffee with a friend yesterday and we were chatting about our interests. I’d been to the gym that morning and he commented that I seem to go to the gym a lot. I’m like mmhmm and I run, swim and dance. I’m very active and I like to stay fit and healthy, for me it helps with the ageing process and I feel better for working on my fitness. He then asked if it was an “escape.” I’m like huh? I was feeling a bit annoyed at this stage as there was a level of judgement coming through. I said, no, it’s not an escape, I actually enjoy staying fit and healthy.

He then said that people can take it too far. I’m not sure what he meant by that, however I said what I do to stay fit and healthy and strong is for me. I don’t comment or pass judgement on other people’s choices, I’m not the “fitness or health police”.  But I was feeling like I had to justify what I do with my life.

He then told me a story of a dear friend of his who died suddenly (helicopter accident). He said his friend was really fit and only ate healthy food and didn’t drink alcohol. He then said “If my friend were still alive, I’m sure he’d say he wished he’d eaten more burgers and junk food!”

Alrighty. I offered my condolences, because it was sad that his friend had passed. I didn’t say anything else as it seemed as if he was using that story to again throw shade on my fit and healthy lifestyle. But I can for sure, hand on heart, say that if I died suddenly; I definitely would not think with my last breath on earth that I should have eaten more burgers! I would hope I had time to have a final thought of love for my daughter and gratitude for my life.

Find your own path in life and let me follow mine!

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