Wonder women, welcome! Checking my agenda, I see that it is the third Sunday in February making it time for Wellness Weekend 02.2020. I’m giving the first update on my 2020 wellness goals and then we are talking a little about hiking. An activity PC and I enjoy doing quite often.
Last year I gave myself a 1-5 rating each month on the progress I’d made toward my goals. Going to do the same thing this year. I really tried to honestly assess my progress. And on the months where my only progress was backward, I felt inspired to try harder over the weeks leading up to the next check-in post. Like last year, I am aiming for all 5s by the year’s end.
Here’s where we are today.
PHYSICAL HEALTH – 3.5
- Stretch and work out 4x a week , Weight Watchers to maintain weight – back to it, down 2 pounds, working out at the gym again. And I have discovered pickle ball and love it.
- Get 7200 steps and 3 floors a day – doing better but still need to move more everyday.
- Walk in nature for 30 minutes a day, 5x a week – back to walking more often but, have you heard, we’ve had snow…twice! The photo collage below was taking during last Sunday’s walk/hike.
NUTRITIONAL HEALTH – 4.0
- Cook meals at home 4x a week – yes, and continuing to cook for Lauren and fam some days.
- Eat 1 fruit and 1 veggie every day (sad, I know) – yes, I am being more conscientious about doing this.
- Indulge in alcohol and sweets on weekends – pretty well, got off track a bit with Valetine’s but, hey, it’s Valentine’s Day!!
SPIRITUAL HEALTH – 3.5
- Develop a morning routine M-F – better on track this month with my Proverbs 31 online Bible study.
- Enjoy quiet time M-F (devotional, writing, reading, moment of silence and prayer) – yes, trying to remember to start each morning with a prayer before my feet hit the floor.
- Use aroma therapy during my morning routine – not one time, shame, shame but, yes, there’s a BUT…I did find this site with recipes for using essential oils during devotional time.
MENTAL HEALTH – 4.0
- Get dressed every day (not active wear), wear a dress or skirt to church – have done pretty well at this.
- Weekly artistic activity; word games, journal – playing word games, journaling, and scrapbooking with my sister.
- Read 3 books a month in order to meet my Goodreads goal (are we friends on Goodreads yet?) – have a new goal of visiting the public library once a month. The last trip, I picked up some Texas Library Association Bluebonnet Award nominated picture books so I should easily meet my 3 book a month wellness goal. Jut finished Long Bright River by Liz Moore, and have begun reading The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy and Handcrafted by Clint Harp. My online book club will begin reading A Million Dreams by Dani Atkins this coming week. Come join us!! If you are interested and would like to check out the club, let me know.
RELATIONSHIP HEALTH – 3.5
- Unplug at 8:30 pm, implement evening routine – have just gotten better at this. Hope to have a great report for you in this area next month.
- Date night with PC 2x a month (bucket list activities) – yes! Dinner and UTEP basketball game, Sunday lunch at Rosa’s Cantina.
- Me time, develop friendships, take a class or do something for myself – have gone to pickleball lessons twice with plans to play again tomorrow.
PREVENTATIVE HEALTH MAINTENANCE -4.0
- Improved skin care, routine facials – bought a microdermabrasion treatment using Groupon; that counts, right? Really noticed a difference in my complexion afterward. Baby smooth and polished looking.
- Weekly dry brushing – I have been doing this several times a week.
- Regular manicures – yes, have had 3 manis in the new year. For Valentine’s got light pink and white with a heart on my ring finger.
FINANCIAL HEALTH – 4.0
- Continue saving each month – opened a teensy baby money market account, and have made a couple of deposits.
- Save for birthdays and Christmas – my worst birthday month is July, hope to have money saved for it and Christmas.
- Keep spending under control – have slowed way down after going crazy in December. Only a few clothing purchases so far this year.
Overall, I am feeling pretty good about my progress. Need to get back under my lifetime goal weight. And we need to avoid having lazy weeks that have us skipping the gym. But we did pretty well last week.
Hiking
So, that brings us to the optional theme of today’s #WW2020…HIKING! If you are a new friend, you might not know that I live in El Paso, Texas at the foot of the Franklin Mountains. They are the southern-most, tail end of the Rockies. And have such a unique, rugged beauty. The elevation of El Paso is around 3700′ but the highest peak of the Franklins, North Franklin is over 7000′ above sea level. So that’s quite the spread.
We are fortunate to have many varied hiking trails available to us. And we take advantage of them regularly. Especially in the fall and spring seasons. Tom Mays and Hueco Tanks state parks, at the foothills right here in our neighborhood. Our favorite walk-hike is the 4 miles at up and back at McKelligon Canyon. We actually walk on the road that curves between mountains on either side. But the grade is crazy steep in places so I count this as hike. Because, it is a HIKE, even if it isn’t ‘off-road.’
But Why Hike?
One might ask why hike? What are the benefits of hiking? Here’s a list of my own personal but certainly unauthoritative benefits we enjoy.
- great cardio workout: varied terrains and elevations get that heartbeat going
- beautiful scenery: so much better than walking a circle in our neighborhood or on a treadmill at the gym
- forced to unplug from the world: as there is often little or no connectivity where we hike
- which means we are ‘have’ to talk: we have talked over some of our most difficult issues during a hike
- sunshine: Vitamin D, baby! But we are careful to always wear sunscreen
- nature: there’s no where I feel closer to Mother Nature and God than on a hike
- smell the roses: on a hike, I tend to take time to smell the roses
- basically free: hiking, at least to start, requires little investment or equipment. I have a pair of hiking high-top (in case we meet up with snakes) tennis shoes for our McKelligon walks and hiking boots with a thick tread for off-road hikes.
After writing up my list, I googled ‘benefits of hiking’ and found this article by the National Park Service. Pleased to see our lists are very similar!
A Few Tips
A couple of things to remember when you set out for a hike.
- Never hike – truly hike – alone.
- Always be sure to let someone know where you are going and what time you expect to be back. Here in El Paso, the fire department and EMS have a combined mountain rescue team that stays plenty busy with people who get hurt or lost while hiking.
- Plan to return with plenty of time to spare before dark.
- Take plenty of water.
Once we began setting out for longer, more strenuous hikes, we bought a lightweight backpack. In it I packed several solar blankets that weigh nothing at all, a small first aid kit, sunscreen, ponchos, sunscreen, a few energy snacks, change of socks. We both have yucca walking sticks, too, that come in handy on more rugged walks.
I am hopeful that we can take on one of the more strenuous hikes in the Franklins this spring. It has been several years since we hiked Smuggler’s Gap but we are in good shape again and ready to hit that slope.
Your Turn
How are you progressing on the wellness goals you’ve set for the year? What’s been your best success or biggest obstacle? Link up your Wellness Weekend post below or leave me a comment letting me know.
Please stop by to cheer on some of the others linking up for this series. And thank you for taking time to visit me. Hope I can brag about having all 4s by March!
Hugs and kisses,
Joanne
Sounds like you are off to a very good start on your wellness goals.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, friend!! Let’s do a post together about WW!
Laurie
Sounds like you are making great progress with your fitness goals. Way to go! I want to learn to play pickleball. A running friend of ours plays all the time and has asked Hubby and me to play. We just need to make the time to go. It sounds like so much fun and a good way to socialize too.
I love the idea of using aromatherapy with your morning routine!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, we are soooo enjoying pickleball. Please take your friend up on trying this sport. You will be so glad you did.
Thank you for stopping by.
Now to get my aromatherapy into my morning routine!
Natalie
Bravos on your fabulous wellness progress, Leslie. I agree with the benefits of hiking and the tips that you listed. How nice that you’re by the Franklin Mountains, the tail end of the majestic Rockies. Beautiful slide show. Thanks for linking up with me on Wellness Weekend and sharing your hike with us. #WW2020
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for the opportunity to improve my health!! I appreciate this series so much.
Debbie Harris
I love a good hike too Leslie and your post was full of vital information. I also enjoyed your honest recap on how things have been going, you always seem to have something going on!! Lovely to catch up. x
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for coming by, sweet Deb. We are busy as cranberry merchants as my mom likes to say. Which, I think, probably means we are hardly moving or doing anything at all!! I love to hike and hope we can get strong enough to tackle Smuggler’s Pass before it is too hot to do so!
Nancy
Such great goals Leslie! My goal is to drive in my car more. Because I don t work anymore, 8 years almost, I also don t drive hardly. And it s getting busier and busier on the road, and I feel more and more anxious when I drive. And I dont want that. So I need to drive more from myself!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
I feel anxious when I drive with PC in the car. Otherwise, I am pretty much still comfortable driving. Great goal…take yourself for a Sunday drive. Doesn’t have to be far or long. Just to blow off the dust!!
em
How smart is it that you list these multi=category wellness goals AND hold yourself accountable! Most impressive way to keep yourself on track…and wayyy more effective than my fingers-crossed approach! I don’t know how you fit it all in, but yay you!!! A great way to be kind to yourself!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
This wellness series has really been terrific for me. I can credit it with weight loss, exercising more, trying new things and paying cash for Christmas!! But fingers-crossed is always a great back up!!
Dara
My dad plays pickleball and seems to enjoy it! I love hiking too.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Pickleball seems to be the older generation’s favorite sport. It is a great workout so not sure why it has been relegated to something only seniors play. We did meet a young couple on Sunday who had picked up the sport. They were great to play with me and teach me as we played.
Deb
I only heard about Pickleball last year, Even the name sounds fun 😉
I do get out in the fresh air quite a bit – Coco definitely won’t let me get past 4pm without heading off for half hour rain or shine, but no way can it be considered a hike! How nice that you both enjoy it and have great scenery to enjoy on the way.
Happy to see that I am not the only one who doesn’t manage to get their recommended ‘5 a day’ – but I figure even 2 a day is better than none, right?
Leslie Roberts Clingan
My ex-SIL, with whom we all (including my brother) remain very close to introduced us to pickleball. Her husband has Parkinsons and has been encouraged to move as much as possible to keep the symptoms at bay. Pickleball has become their go-to sport and activity. We are enjoying it so much, too.
I walked a lot more when I had my pups. Miss them so much. They wouldn’t be happy til we had a morning walk and one again in the afternoon. That Coco is a doll. I sure enjoy photos of her. It’s about time she wrote another post!!
ShootingStarsMag
Hiking really is a workout – I’m always in awe of people that do it; it’s never been my most favorite thing. LOL I’m glad your wellness goals are going well. That’s awesome. I’m definitely trying to up my steps on most days – especially when I’m working since I don’t move around a lot unless I make myself.
-Lauren
Leslie Roberts Clingan
I moved so much more when I was working. These lazy mornings are killing me as far as getting my steps go. But how I love them otherwise.
Erica/Erika
Hi Leslie, I had friends years ago who loved playing pickle ball. At the time I YouTubed it to see what it looked like. I especially like your “walk in nature.” Good for the body and the soul. I also like your reminder on aroma therapy. I find certain aromas make me feel good.
I have never had a facial. I get regular massages. I may put facial on my birthday list (a few months from now.)
I like all the points you wrote about ‘why hike.’ Forced to unplug resonated with me.
I am faithful with yoga, stretching, weights. I am slowly increasing my walking with our Half Corked Marathon coming up end of May.
A great month for you, Leslie! You are an inspiration!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Erica! Looking forward to a report about your Half Corked Marathon. I am certain that is going to be a lot of fun. We probably need to take a real yoga class or two to find out how to do the moves properly that we have been attempting on our own.
I have enjoyed several facials. The microdermabrasion wasn’t as pleasant or relaxing as others I have had. It kind of hurt. But I think my complexion is (temporarily) improved and plumped. Lines and wrinkles seem a little less noticeable.
Amy Johnson
I love to hike and most of our vacations involve hiking. Great wellness goals, but you need to eat more than one veggie a day girl!