Never Ending Quest (Exercise + Diet = Healthy Lifestyle)

Some of you may wonder what that is, but it's nothing more than the goal to lose weight, tone up and be as fit as one can be.  To ensure that your golden years are as full and active as your life has been up to that point.

This year something changed in me, although I've started off slow, I've come to the conclusion that my years are being numbered.  My previous lifestyle does not fit the rest of my life, for this cougar it will be a year of self exploration into the world of fitness and healthy eating.

Since New Years, I've been on and off with the diet/exercise still maintaining a weight loss which is good, but I want more.  When showing my daughter a picture of a woman who the local radio chose for what they call the "Cougar Edition", she said to me, if you continue, you'll look better than that.  The chosen cougar was a weigh lifter, while I don't want to muscle my body up to that extent, I do want to slim and tone.  My goal is to spend the summer in a bikini, something I haven't done since my youth, and to catch the rest of this body up with the 'legs'.

The challenge, but not so much of a challenge will be to ensure I don't over do the empty calories of alcohol when out dancing on my Friday nights.  So far this year, I've been doing well, drinking a few, ensuring that no one can put anything into my drink and drinking plenty of water.

Sunday I started my new me, for two weeks my daughter has planned out exercises of 90 minutes duration.  Cardio mixed with strength training for both upper and lower.  Most of the routeen involves CD's from Beach Body, there is the Hip Hop Abs that Shaun T has that works out your core muscles all the time, then there are the Max T3 12 minute burst designed by Dr Ben Lerner, the Beach Body 10 minute trainers done by Tony Horton.

With each 90 minutes of workout there is always 10 minutes of yoga at the end to ensure those muscles are stretched properly.  After each workout I take a protein shake to further give the muscles relief.  The Team Beach Body also has a diet menu plan with recipes and I must say some of the recipes I've tried in the last two days are very good./

Benefits of Strength Training. 2-3 generations ago, physical jobs kept you in shape. Nowadays sedentary lifestyles are common: desk jobs, watching tv, driving car all day. Here's what strength training can do for you:

• Builds Muscle. Strength training builds muscle: the stronger you are, the more muscles you'll have. Strength training is not bodybuilding however: building muscle is a byproduct of exercising, not its goal.
• Burns Fat. Strength training burn calories, keeps your metabolic rate high under strict dieting and tends to make you stick to your diet better.
• Increases Health. Strength training increases endurance, bone density & testosterone levels. Strength training strengthens your joints, lowers cholesterol & improves your sleep. You'll notice nutrition is important to get results in strength training. All leads to a healthier body & lifestyle.
• Forges Character. Strength training teaches you persistence, sacrifice, self-control, responsibility & builds self-confidence. You'll get out of strength training what you put into it.

 http://stronglifts.com/strength-training-key-to-building-muscle-losing-fat/


At the end of February I head down to Arizona for a month of leisure, but the place I'm staying has a gym and my sister is bringing her Hip Hop Abs.  I also have access to the South Beach diet online so traveling will not be a problem.

When I get back from Arizona, I will start to ride my bicycle to work, something that I've never done.  The bicycle uses a whole set of different muscles than dancing but I'm determined to enjoy the spring/summer/fall outdoors on my own power.  One day I will be taking a bicycling trip and be able to handle the long days peddling an item on my bucket list.  We also got the P90X series and extreme conditioning program that lasts three months and gets you ripped.  Since this is an extreme program, the next month and a half will be to get me ready for that program when I return.

What made me make up my mind was a date with N9 at Smitty's Sunday night.  I commented on him in my blog of February 5th.  It made me reflect back on the dates and men I've known, and I wonder if some may have thought the same of me as I would almost always have something to drink upon meeting someone.  I am not an alcoholic by any means, but sometimes drinking out in a bar, laughing and being around crazy people can be guilt by association.

I always reflect back on the night of October 15th, 2011 when I was out at a bar with only three glasses of wine and couldn't remember anything that happened.  For this cougar who has way more to drink in an evening and remembered everything the only conclusion I came to was that someone slipped something in my drink.  When I think of a drug being slipped into my drink or anyone's for that matter, these people doing it don't realize that it may cause someones death, that person may have an allergy to it.