I thought I would share my current health and fitness routine.  I know we always heard that staying fit or losing weight are much more challenging and increasingly important in your 40's and 50's but they sure were not joking.  I have experimented with so many different workout routines the last several years and finally have found one that works for me.  I know this is not for everyone and everyones body is different and you must decide on your own what works for you and your goals.

I am turning 50 soon and my body is going through so many changes, ( This will be a whole other blog post, LOL! ).  My health and fitness journey is not about losing weight or being a certain size.  My goal is to be stronger and more healthy.  I want my fitness and eating habits to become second nature so that I can live an overall healthier lifestyle.  As we age our metabolism slows down and makes it harder to maintain or lose weight. For women, menopause can lead to hormonal fluctuations that affect weight, muscle mass, and energy levels. These changes make it harder to manage weight, build muscle, and even affect mood and sleep.  The sleep was becoming a serious issue for me.  I found that my lack of sleep was giving me high levels of anxiety.  I could fall asleep and would wake up like clockwork around 2 or 3am to be awake for hours.  I would get so much anxiety at night, making it near impossible to get much more than four hours of sleep at night.

Last year I decided It was time to really focus on my health and really try to dial it in.  ( Work in Progress).  A few years ago I had seen a functional medicine practitioner.   I was being treated for a host of G.I Issues which I had been previously been diagnosed as Gastroenteritis by traditional medicine practitioners.  The functional medicine route led to blood testing, G.I Mapping, as well as many elimination diets.  The treatment for these results helped my G.I Issues tremendously. So I decided to stay the functional medicine route.  Again this will be a deep dive conversation in a later blog post. 

 I had been following Dr. Mark Hyman and his podcast Doctors Farmacy for quite sometime and last year he came out with a Function Health online portal.   I decided to sign up for his Beta Program.  This is a yearly subscription that tests for over a hundred biomarkers in your body.  In a nutshell, this testing is more comprehensive than traditional blood testing.  It gives you insights to almost every area of your body.  Visit his website (FunctionHealth.com) to understand more.  This gave me a deep insight as to why I needed to be more cautious, concerned and more proactive about my health.  It gave me foods to avoid, foods to enjoy more of and supplements I should be taking to improve my health according to my individual biomarkers.  After receiving the results I decided to start taking my health much more serious.  Out of 108 biomarkers tested, I had 12 out of range. Six of those were on my heart, one on my immune system, four on my nutrients, and two in my urine. 

It was time to start making myself a priority.  After years of trying many different workouts and gyms all of which were completely fine and it wasn't that I disliked any of them, they just were not what made me want to get up and go.  I know this about myself.  I can not be left to my own devices, LOL!  I need instruction.  I am willing to work hard but I need pushed!  I also need accountability.  I resistance train 3x a week at F45.  This is functional training that has resistance, hybrid, and cardio circuits.  The workouts are hard and 45 minutes.  I love that you get in, work hard and then get out.  I love the atmosphere, the coaches, and I love that there are people of different ages, shapes and sizes.   I am trying to walk at least 6000 steps or more a day.  I am also taking the top supplements recommended by my Function Health Dashboard.  I have recently started working with a nutritionist.  I always thought I understood what to eat but working with a nutritionist is again holding me accountable and teaching me the way to not diet but eat properly so that it is a life change and that is becomes habit.  I have seen more changes in my body the last few months than I have seen in years.  This is definitely not a one size fits all type of approach and I am definitely not a medical professional.  I want to share my story because as I have researched and listened to others for help, I hope to pass on any information or just a boost of courage for others to just focus on yourself and your own personal journey.

XOXO,

Kim