The Last Post

My new year’s resolution was the same old boring thing- eat right, get some exercise, blah, blah, blah. Then I thought about it and revised it. I came back from walking the Camino de Santiago feeling great. I think it was a combination of things. First, I ate much cleaner food. Yes there were a lot of pastries, but the food in Europe doesn’t irritate my system like the food does here in the U.S. My guess is that its the amount of pesticides, preservatives, additives, and food dyes in almost everything we buy here in the U.S.. Also the wheat is not the same. Even if I make my own bread in the U.S., my allergies are terrible. It didn’t happen when I was in Spain, and I ate a pastry nearly every day for breakfast.

So I changed my diet. I eliminated all processed food, sugar, and most carbohydrates. I am astounded at the change. I have eliminated my allergy issues. I have no headaches, when I used to have them a few times per week. I have no aches and pains. I feel amazing. I didn’t even know I could feel this good. If you could put the way I feel into a pill and sell it, you could make millions. Really.

The extra energy has resulted in a lot more exercise. I wake up ready to go. My husband is astonished at the change. I have never been much of a morning person, but I’m now waking up early each morning and putting on my exercise gear to go running. Yes, running! The last time I ran on a regular basis was in my twenties. I never thought I’d do it again, but while walking earlier this year, I noticed (on my smartwatch) that my heart rate wasn’t very high, so I ran for a bit to make it go up. It felt great and I kept doing it till I was running as much as I was walking.

I also started weight training at the beginning of the year, and the results are noticeable. I am toned, possibly for the first time in my whole life. Its pretty difficult for a woman my age to put on a lot of muscle, but I think I have gained a bit. Being muscular is not my goal, but retaining my muscle as I age, and keeping my bones strong is, and the best way to achieve it is weight-bearing exercise. I’m doing weightlifting videos on Youtube, so its hard to see progress since I do a different workout every day. I can tell I’m getting stronger though, because when I started I could only do 6 pushups in a row. Now I can do 17!

So eating right was the first step, and exercising outside in the sun was step two. The third thing that made me feel so good on the Camino was all the social time I was getting. Humans are social animals, and I think we need it for our health. Since I am no longer working, I wasn’t spending time with my friends as much as I was when I was in town most of the day- we live about 7 miles out of town in the woods. I’m making a point of doing that now. I’ve kept my volunteering position, and signed myself up for a master gardener’s course in the fall. I am playing pickleball with two different groups several times a week, and having lunch with friends regularly.

The results are astonishing. I have lost a few MORE pounds. I now weigh what I did in high school. My resting heart rate is around 54, and my mood is noticeably better. I haven’t felt this good in years- now I just have to keep it up! So that’s it- my new job is keeping myself at this level of health and fitness for as long as I can.

As for future plans, my youngest child is now 17 and making plans for college. My husband and I are making plans for more travel. We are planning to go to a cooler climate next summer for at least a month. During the worst of the summer heat here, it’s hard to convince anyone to play pickleball with us or to convince ourselves to leave the house. All exercise needs to be done at daylight. So off we go- probably to Colorado for a month of hiking adventures.

I will also be walking the Camino again. It was the most amazing experience of my life and I feel compelled to repeat it. I would love to walk one of the French routes- possibly the Le Puy route to St. Jean Pied-de-Port (where I started last year) or maybe Lourdes. I speak French pretty well, but could use some practice. Also the route is supposed to be gorgeous and not as heavily travelled as the Camino Frances. It is rather ironic that people said I was crazy the first time I went and this time people want to go with me! My husband said he would be interested in walking at least a few days. If that is the case, we might walk the Portuguese camino. That route has more services, and is easier hiking than the Le Puy route. I don’t think he’s willing to train like he would need to for the Le Puy.

The family vacation is also coming up- the last one with my younger son. My oldest has enlisted in the Navy, and we may not get to see him much for the next 6 years. He will be leaving in December, and he’s excited about his new adventures.

I started this blog to work through my fears about retiring. It was good to have a place to write down my worries and track my progress. I think I’m done with it now, though. I’m running out of things to talk about! I’ve made it through 4 and a half years of retirement and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. Our retirement accounts have risen substantially in value, and we’ve hardly withdrawn any money, even though my paychecks ended in March. I have not been bored yet, or lonely, nor do I feel unfulfilled or anything like that. I am looking forward to more retirement adventures soon. Thank you for reading!