There is no doubt that women carry more weight as they get older. This may be due to hormonal changes, health issues, a more sedentary lifestyle, an increase in stress, less sleep, or natural muscle loss. Since I took leave from my office job, I have lost 2 kg with very little effort. The farm lifestyle is inherently active.
Tempting as it is, I don’t stay inside and do very little. As the weather becomes cooler (that is, daytime temperatures less than 16 degrees), it is hard to brave the cold and head out. I do though. Without some form of daily exercise, I struggle to stay positive and bright.
I gave up smoking when I was 43. Prior to that, I did very little exercise. Credit where credit is due, my daughters were instrumental in encouraging me to get on board with their exercise regimes. At the time, they were heavily involved in their school’s cross country, volleyball, and athletics programs.
Now, I am managing to walk about 15 km a week around our paddock’s perimeter, listening to audiobooks, or talking on the phone. Last October, I completed a 135 km Cape to Cape walking trek with an all-female group, Adventurous Women.
I am also cycling up to 50 km a week, along the quiet country roads. The law requiring a 1.5-metre distance between a bike and a car introduced a few years ago, is reassuring. Not all vehicles comply but I must admit that truck drivers are the best at keeping their distance. However, I rarely take on the national highway traffic unless it is part of a longer route.
Alternatively, or when the weather isn’t quite right, I stay indoors and do a series of YouTube workouts. Some of the better ones are Team Body Project, a 30-minute low impact exercise that doesn’t involve star jumps, stutter jumps, or any jumps for that matter. I really enjoy Fitness Blender, a 37-minute cardio workout and several yoga sites as well. More recently, I have been following The Fast 800_Official workouts with coach Moira.
How to become more active
I have never paid for exercise advice having three extremely fit daughters supporting me all the way.
To become active, I started walking through the paddocks. One daughter suggested that I use the power poles in the paddock to set short, achievable goals. Instead of walking between them, use one to run, then walk one, then run one and so on. The next advice was to run two, walk two … This was priceless advice!
I managed to run for 5 minutes, and gradually increasing the distance. The next thing I knew I was running a 12 km City to Surf. Only in my dreams did I think this was possible. I did it an hour and twenty minutes.
I then won a bike in some small-town milk competition. That got me cycling. Several years later I got a hybrid bike for my birthday. This bike could ride over road and trail. I had become really motivated by now. I was then inspired to complete the Dwellingup 100 9in the children’s 12 km section. The following year I completed the 40 km trail ride through the various mountain bike loops in Dwellingup.
Action versus motivation
I have often asked students which comes first, ‘action’ or ‘motivation’. Inevitably they say ‘motivation’, qualified by ‘you have to be motivated before you can act’. I think I am living proof that by simply acting gives you the motivation to continue. From those early days, I have progressed from:
- Walking around the paddocks to running around them
- Cycling through quiet roads and mountain bike riding along the railway service tracks
- Going to yoga or body balance classes in town
- Following online exercise classes (because we have an excellent internet connection)