With February being a short month, this had kind of crept up on me! I realised earlier today that 1st March is actually tomorrow and this is the month I made a pledge to myself to eat only vegetarian food.
With my husband Chris being a pescatarian, i.e. he is a vegetarian who eats fish, I didn’t need to do too much food planning. We never eat red meat, as I have more or less adopted his diet in recent years.
I did however realise that if I am to be a vegetarian for a month, I wouldn’t be eating any fish either…
My first small challenge arose when my mum invited us for dinner next Saturday… she proudly told me she had organised a vegetarian option for Chris and a vegan option for Zoe (my daughter)… I had to tell her that I too will be a vegetarian throughout March. Thankfully on this occasion it was fairly easy given she had already planned veggie/vegan meals and said brightly “That’s fine, I’ll do a vegetarian option for you too”.
I do feel conscious that if people are kind enough to invite me for dinner, I don’t want to put them to any trouble… it will be interesting to see what happens throughout the rest of the month…
The last day of the month and I am pleased to report good progress throughout February. As in January I’ve completed a session at my work gym every time I’ve been into work so I’m still averaging at least two sessions a week.
I’m fortunate the work gym is never busy and even during peak times in the mornings, there is usually only a handful of other people. Going to the gym before I start work has a number of benefits and I’ve found puts me in a positive mood for the rest of the day.
After nearly 3 months of regular gym sessions, together with swimming and hiking I am noticing real differences in my fitness levels. It is great to be able to climb several flights of stairs or a steep hill without having to stop and catch my breath!
I haven’t had any personal trainer sessions and at the moment, my one hour routine is something like this:
10 minutes rowing
15 minutes cross trainer (alternating between fast/high intensity and slower/lower intensity)
15 minutes weights (mainly shoulders and arms)
20 minutes treadmill (5 mins running; 10 mins steep incline; 5 mins warm down)
This varied routine stops me from becoming bored and hopefully exercises most muscle groups!
And now, at home, I spend 5 minutes each day laying on the floor doing stomach exercises, those I learned during my Maldives yoga sessions…
Another 50@50 activity for my half century celebration year was to have a snowy weekend away!
My husband Chris and I returned yesterday from a weekend of snow hiking in Switzerland… and little did we know that we would arrive home to a week of snow and freezing temperatures in the UK thanks to a weather system known as ‘the beast from the east‘ which has seen temperatures plummet across Europe. Even the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Capri have seen snow!
So, another two books completed before the end of February! Both are travel books again, documenting the adventures of two very different styles of traveller. Chris Pountney who cycled from Paris to Sydney and George Mahood who backpacked with his wife from Quito to Lima.
Book read: No Wrong Turns: Cycling the World, Part One: Paris to Sydney by Chris Pountney
Book number 3…
Wow! An awesome book! What a guy! I enjoyed every sentence of this book and was gripped right from the beginning… How could anyone even consider cycling from Paris to Sydney? This seemed such an impossible task and is only the first leg of his World cycle tour! And he didn’t even take the most direct route! Chris set himself a number of conditions one of which was to cycle through 100 countries.
Having begun in Paris, he headed off up through Germany to Scandinavia before dropping back down via Estonia and Poland and back through Germany towards Ukraine.
Not only was the adventure side incredible to read, the author has a brilliant style of writing which, together with his descriptions and humour make this one amazing package.
I was quite sorry when the book finished in Sydney so I’m now a regular reader of his website, eager to catch up with Chris and his now wife, Dea.
I love Chris’s approach and way of thinking… How to travel for next to nothing… Get a bike of course!
Awesome quote:
“But I also hoped that if I could circumnavigate the entire planet without ever once getting in a motor vehicle, it might just inspire one or two people that they could perhaps do their shopping without one.” Page 132
This is the best of the four books I’ve read so far this year.
And note to self: I have huge admiration for Chris and while I have been inspired to lead a more adventurous life, I don’t think (extraordinarily) long distance cycling is for me…
A book documenting the author and his wife’s 6 week adventure through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
I enjoyed this book as I was able to closely relate to their travel style which was similar to the way Chris and I travelled in 2016. Yes, we are middle aged and did manage to spend a day doing the short version of the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and climb up and down the steep paths of the Sacred Valley without just about making it to the gift shops (as George seemed to imply this was the case for anyone over 30…)
I loved reading about the places we didn’t get to such as Ecuador and the Amazon rainforest trip (both of which I would love to do in the future) as well as those places we did visit.
As well as plenty of reminiscing and developing an even stronger desire to travel to South America again, the main thing I took from his book was the inspiration to turn our 2016 adventures into a book! We were away for 11 months in total, exploring the Pacific, Asia, Central and South America… We captured much of our adventures in our blog so surely it can’t be too difficult to turn this into a book???
A massive effort this week where I managed to walk an extra 50 miles… As always, these miles are in addition to the normal day-to-day steps one takes by walking around the house or office.
Significantly this week, yesterday I did a 17 mile walk through the scenic Goyt Valley in the Peak District. The link shows several short walks… a group of friends and I combined some of them into a big circular trek and spent 7 hours walking to and past some of these features.
Today I completed a 12 mile walk with a local walking group. Tonight I have aching muscles but a sense of achievement!
Advertised jobs I’ve been tempted to apply for so far this year = 8
Jobs applied for = 0
I’ve been in my current job since 2010 and at the beginning of the year I had a big urge to look for something different thus decided to include this at the last minute as one of my 50@50 challenges.
The issue I have at the moment is that I actually enjoy my job and have a relatively high degree of flexibility which suits the way I wish to lead my life… this is great but on the other hand I also love change and the prospect of ‘starting a new chapter’… I am a bit of an experience junkie and find the prospect of experiencing a new job and a different place to work to be hugely exciting…
Good things about my current job:
32.5 days annual leave (and I carried 10 over from last year)
2 flexi days per month (handy for weekend trips)
I work with fantastic people and we all get on well
I can work from home 2 x days a week
I enjoy my job with new projects and areas of work each year
What is appealing about a different job:
Higher earning potential = retire earlier/better pension… (proper retirement planning is important when you are 50…)
I love change and new experiences
As is often the case, decisions are about striking a good balance in your life. I am fortunate to have such a flexible job which enables me enough time to take several trips each year which meets my desire to travel.
But… if I push myself a little could I potentially find a higher paid job, retire on a better pension and travel more when I’m older…
I haven’t made so much progress during weeks 5 and 6 and just as well I gave myself a head start the previous weeks! I’ve just been to the Maldives to celebrate my 50th birthday and, while I did have an active week of yoga, gym, swimming and cycling, there wasn’t too much walking involved!
I didn’t do any extra walking at all during the weekend of my birthday and basically spent the time getting ready for my party (Saturday) and recovering on the Sunday! I’m keen to get back to more walking next week…
Yoga became popular in the UK in the 80’s as a form of exercise although it has been around as a spiritual practice in India for hundreds of years.
I didn’t know much about yoga or what it entailed until last week. And, other than a few months or maybe even a year of weekly aerobic classes when I was 15 I haven’t taken ANY form of exercise class since then… Not a single one… I don’t know what Pilates is… I think Zumba is some kind of modern day aerobics and I had never been to yoga…
Well, this has now changed! A combination of a desire to try new things this year together with my attempts towards a fitter and healthier start to my new decade stirred an interest in trying yoga. Of course this is old news to many people… When discussing this at work just before Christmas it turned out that most of the people I work with have tried or still practice yoga. This conversation happened to take place after work in one of the outdoor bars along London’s South Bank which led to an impromptu and somewhat drunken display of yoga moves by one of my 6 ft male colleagues!
So with one of my 50@50’s being to try yoga, I took the opportunity while on holiday in the Maldives where our hotel offered a free 50 minute yoga session each morning! What a place to start doing yoga… I felt immediately relaxed in the serene environment as I sat on my yoga mat on the soft powdery sand with the sounds of the gently lapping sea in the background.
Each morning the instructor took the small group of 10 or so through the initial relaxation and breathing exercises before the more complex series of stretches. Stretching muscles that have possibly never been stretched before! Literally tying my upper body in knots with him giving my arms an extra pull just to make sure!
I can certainly say I felt incredibly relaxed at the end of each session and I’m keen to do more. Being strong, fit and supple throughout life and particularly as you get older is important.
Compared with others even though I am almost 50 I was pleased I am still fairly bendy and supple as, for example, I could diagonally interlock my hands behind back where many others couldn’t reach.
However my stomach muscles need toning big time! I was one of the worst of the group with the stomach moves. For example, laying on my back and lifting and holding my feet at 6 inches above the ground then at 75 degrees was tough! This is something I am keen to improve.
And also I found my balance is rubbish… I toppled over the most when we did standing up stretches… I’ve noticed problems with my balance when trekking along narrow ridges so I wonder if I practice each day if this would help my trekking too?
Fifty at Fifty 