health

  • fitness, health

    Why I stopped going to the gym and maybe you should too

    I don’t have time. Do you have time to work out? This is the most common excuse, I mean reason, why most people cannot workout. So in theory, if we can lower the time required, some of us could workout. This is what I did; I lowered my time and adapted to the time I have available.

    work out at home with weight

    I have some time to work out, but I do not have time to go to the gym. That was my realization a while back. I work from home, I needed to get ready to go to the gym, then drive to the gym, workout and come back. The whole thing took almost 2 hours. Working out time was about an hour. So I reduced the time to 30 to 45 minutes, less than half, by working out at home.

    The key to be a Winner, find your WHY

    Oh, I cannot workout at home. This is a very common expression and it may be true for some people, but I convinced myself that I needed to workout. I found my WHY. What is your why? Why do you need to work out? Do you do it for yourself, for your loved ones? For your children or grandchildren?

    How to work out at home

    I needed to work out because I want to be healthy, I want to control my weight, I want to have energy, I want to age healthy, be agile and independent, I want to travel, I want to live life to the fullest and I do not want to spend money on medical treatments. I cannot reach any of those goals if I do not work out. That is my why, it is my health, my body, my eyes, my mind, my hormones.

    I do not like to work out, I prefer to watch YouTube videos or read, or just sit somewhere. Unfortunately, I cannot afford not to workout.

    For many people, including me, to find our WHY is the most important decision to workout. After 30 a lot of body functions slow down, every year they slow down more, and around menopause they change further. Around menopause, our body requires more attention, our hormones need help to keep in balance, we need movement. Being active is important, not being active has a heavy cost on our quality of life and on our bank balances.

    Once you find your why, you will find time, you will find the way to workout either at home, in the park or in the gym. Every time you feel like not working out (as I generally feel every day) just think of your WHY and you will find motivation.

    wourk out after 50

    You do not need to create a gym in your home in order to workout. You can follow YouTube videos, subscribe to special services, do what you already know, hire a trainer (online or in person) to design a routine you like or need or check books and magazines. I think a mini-trampoline, treadmill or stationary bike are great for cardio and for quick workouts.

    I recommend caution with online services designed for younger people. These workouts with a lot of jumping are not safe for anybody, at any age. Many well-known fitness programs like LesMills, Beachbody and others have many online offerings suitable for women in their 40s and 50s. There are also a lot of apps and online services to work out. I am not giving you a list, because it changes by the minute.

    Keep yourself accountable

    Write in your calendar every day if you worked out or not. Reward yourself if you workout certain number of day in a row (without food preferably). You can compete with your husband or friends or at least share your successes with them. If you like gamified things you can join apps like Fitocracy, where you can track your progress, achieve levels, keep accountability and compete with other people.

    Make it fun

    You can prepare music lists, movies, TV programs etc. While I work out if I can I watch TV, by TV I mean Netflix or another streaming service (I do not like standard TV because I do not want to get sick watching ads for drugs). I workout in my pajamas if they are not too loose, but if you want you can dress up. If I do belly dancing I sometimes wear my scarves.

    Keep it simple

    Have a set simple workout for when you only want to work out for a short time or when you feel like not working out at all. It can be just walking fast, a few minutes on your cardio equipment if you have it, or a short video. For me this is my mini-trampoline, I put it in front of the TV, get an episode of a decoration program going and tell myself I can stop after 10 minutes if I want to, but usually I keep going until the program ends in about 20 to 30 minutes.

    It is better to work out ten minutes than zero minutes, but ideally your work out should be longer.

    My personal workout

    I use YouTube videos, a mini trampoline (mini rebounder) and my own programs that include weights and exercises using my body weight and a lot of yoga and dancing. I may not be getting the perfect workout, but I workout almost every day, and that is a lot for me. Usually I do 3 days of cardio (mini-trampoline, 30 to 45 mins) and 2 of cardio and weights (45 to 1 hour); sometimes I do yoga or dance in weekends.

    Do you go to gym, workout at home or do not workout?

    Photos by Heather Ford h Gades Photography on Unsplash

  • Uncategorized

    Bone broth after 50 to look younger

    Bone broth is having is a kale moment. It is in fashion, just like acai berry, pomegranate, cauliflower and so many other super foods were. Among the claims: healthier bones, teeth and nails. At 50 years of age, that sounds really good. We all need help with our bones, skin, hair, etc.

    Are the bone broth claims real?


    Is bone broth full of absorbable or bio-available calcium? Absorbable or bio-available being the key attributes here. Calcium, as you know, is a very important mineral, and although we take supplements, it is a difficult mineral to get, to get it in the right places and to avoid it in the wrong places. There are many reasons for this:

    There are many types of calcium and if we take the wrong type it can go to the wrong places and instead of helping us, it can cause problems.

    In addition, calcium is not easy to absorb, and other nutrients can take it out of the body. The calcium from bone broth is supposed to be easy to absorb. The claim is that bone broth is not the only good source of calcium, but it is a very good one. Everything sounds good but … one recent study says that bone broth does not have much calcium, but wait, there is another reason it can make you younger.

    Why does bone broth make you look younger?


    One word: collagen. Bone broth may lack in calcium, but it has great collagen. Although there is controversy about the role of ingested collagen, many people (including myself) think it has helped us and there is some promising science behind the claims, but not everyone believes this. In my case I feel it has helped me to eliminate a funny pain I was having in my lower back. Many people in the natural medicine community think that collagen is good for bone, skin, hair, nails, teeth, and cartilage health.

    We have been putting collagen on our skin and hair for years. However, it is believed that it does not help to use collagen externally, the molecules do not penetrate the skin. Most doctors think that eating collagen is also not effective, but there are not many studies to prove if collagen can help or not.

    Should you take collagen or have bone broth?

    Collagen is a connective tissue, abundant in our bodies. Dermatologist Joshua Zeichner told Self magazine that, “Collagen is the main structural protein in the skin, giving it strength and shape….

    Collagen is like the frame of your mattress, while elastin is the springs and hyaluronic acid is the padding.

    Like most things in the skin, collagen diminishes as we age, which is why skin can start to sag. Around 30, natural collagen production starts to slow down. Many people take collagen supplements to help the skin and hair. But we have to remember that in most cases beauty supplements do not live up to the hype.

    Our face and body get smaller as we age. This is one of the reasons for wrinkles and flaccidity, we lose volume in muscle mass as well as in bone mass. If we keep the right level of calcium, our teeth and face bones will retain their original shape and size for longer time. This is very important, and it is something that no surgery or cosmetic product can give you, it has to come from your food and supplements.

    However, our bodies do not absorb collagen as collagen, either from bone broth or in any another form. Collagen is broken down in the stomach and the body absorbs the components, in this case amino acids.

    Those amino acids can come from a great variety of food not necessarily from collagen or bone broth. If you eat a diet rich in nutrients you will get the necessary amino acids and you do not need to eat collagen. Some people say that bone broth provides amino acids that meat does not, and due to this it helps to balance our intake of amino acids, the medical community mostly disagree with this claim.

    Bone broth supporters say that it has many other minerals. The studies have found that it is not the case. The minerals in bone broth come mostly from the vegetables added to it.

    My own experience with collagen and bone broth

    I take collagen, and sometimes I drink bone broth. I love broths, but somehow I do not like bone broth. However, I have concluded that if I am going to have bone broth I have to make it myself. Commercials broths do not specify the collagen contents and it is easy to add more water and dilute the nutrients. If you want to buy already made bone broth you need to buy a respected brand.

    To make bone broth at home is not difficult. But the whole house will smell of the broth, because you need to cook it for several hours especially if you make it from large bones. If you do not have a problem with this, I think it is a good idea to make it yourself. Natural gelatin is another good source of collagen and you can buy it online.

    Bone broth is a good thing, but I prefer the powdered collagen, because it is easier to use. I put it in pancakes and other recipes. I take it only once or twice a week.

    With or without bone broth?

    There are no guidelines on how much bone broth you may need. Bone broth sadly does not live up to the hype. The calcium content is not there, but the collagen components are good for you. But remember that you can get the same nutrients from your regular meals. However collagen is good, and after 50 it is something worth trying. You can pick if you want collagen from bone broth or from another source. I am not sure if bone broth is worth the effort, it is not bad for you if it made from the bones of healthy animals, it may have nutrients, but it is not a wonder food.

    Do you take collagen supplements or bone broth? Do you think it is helping you?

    Photo by Laura Olsen on Unsplash