Prioritizing a fitness routine

Making 2025 a healthy “me” year in my newly retired life.

Before I retired, I read blogs, watched reels and spoke to retirees to prep for what retired life may be like. (You may be doing this too.) One of the suggestions was to start a routine. Routines speak to me, I’ve always been very goal oriented and not having specific goals has been a little weird these past couple of months.

So what is my routine like? The core parts of my routine focuses on physical and mental fitness. Here’s what it looks like:

• Monday:
  • 20 minute lower body and ab morning workout
  • 20 minute morning walk or run (weather permitting)
  • 15 minute afternoon meditation + 5 minutes on my foam back roller
• Tuesday:
  • 20 minute upper body and ab morning workout
  • 15 minute afternoon meditation + 5 minutes on my foam back roller
• Wednesday:
  • 40 minute morning walk or run (weather permitting)
• Thursday:
  • 20 minute lower body and ab morning workout
  • 15 minute afternoon meditation + 5 minutes on my foam back roller
• Friday:
  • 20 minute upper body and ab morning workout
  • 15 minute afternoon meditation + 5 minutes on my foam back roller
• Saturday:
  • 40 minute morning walk or run (weather permitting)
  • 15 minute afternoon meditation + 5 minutes on my foam back roller
• Sunday:
  • 15 minute afternoon meditation + 5 minutes on my foam back roller

I like exercising before I eat and shower for the day, and now that I don’t have to get up at a ridiculous hour to also start my workday, I’ve been able to stick with the routine really well.

My fitness journey

Getting Started

Back in April I decided I wanted to lose some weight and get fit. (I started not liking the extra weight I had put on since turning 50.) I also had a wedding to go to in September and vainly wanted to be my best self, since I would be meeting my husband’s ex-wife for the first time. (It went well BTW.)

So while on a business trip I started researching how to lose weight and the V Shred exercise and fitness program found me. What sold me on it is I tried going carb-free a few years ago and I was constantly hungry. I also tried Noom, but wasn’t a fan of the program’s structure and actually gained weight. (Ugh) The pricing for V Shred was definitely reasonable so I signed up for the Fat Loss Extreme program and added the first month of meal planning. (FYI: It’s really one week of meal planning and you keep to that for one month, so don’t be surprised when its not actually 30 meals. It was still worth it, I use tricks I learned from the meal planning all the time.) I didn’t sign up for any supplements, I have a vitamin that I like to take, and didn’t want to add anything else.

I’ve sort of kept to the diet. It helped me figure out portion sizes and if I stick to it – the weight comes off quickly. My barrier to success is one of the only things my husband and I like to do together is go out to eat. But it’s helped me to figure out what to order even when eating at restaurants. I also liked how they figure out the calorie count, its specific to you and although I’m sure there’s a formula, its feels more personal to your goals.

I did keep with the exercise portion of the program. They way its structured, even if you aren’t super fit, you can handle what the fitness guy Vince asks you to do. He’s motivating, while being authentic and a bit funny. The workouts only take 20 minutes four times a day. It’s not a lot of time, and I prefer to work out at home instead of going to a gym. (There is a gym workout too, if that’s your jam.)

3-months – Success! Now what?

After being in the program for three months, I lost 18 pounds. (YAY!) I was so happy it worked and had 7 pounds to go to achieve my wedding weight goal. So I signed up for the next V Shred program Toned in 90 Days, and started wearing my Google Pixel to track workouts and walks using the free version of Fitbit.

In May I had sold my marketing company and I was dialing back my involvement during the transition phase. It was hard to not log into the “9am morning huddle” so in June I had started walking in the mornings to keep my mind off what was going on at my former company. Then I decided, after seeing much older people running in the mornings, let’s try adding running to my routine.

To be real, that first small run felt like I was going to die. I ran a quarter of a mile of my 2 mile walk. I was out of breath and my heart was pumping like nobody’s business. (Here’s where I tell you to talk with your doctor before trying this.) But I was determined, and I kept to it. Within two weeks, I was surprised that my body adjusted to the running. It wasn’t super fun, but I didn’t feel so winded and I didn’t feel my heart pumping anymore. I got into a cadence of adding a bit more distance to my runs each week. (a half mile, then a full mile, etc.)

6 months – Wahoo! And a snag – surgery.

By adding the running, I achieved my wedding weight goal a month early (August). By the 6 month point, October, I lost 28 pounds. (Super yay!) Also my average resting heart rate dropped from 60 to 55. I was up to 4 days a week of 25-minute workouts with 3 days a week running a total of 9 miles per week. (The best shape I’ve been in, in my entire life BTW.)

Unfortunately, I had learned in September that I needed to get a hysterectomy to keep from getting cancer. I needed to decide when I wanted to get it done, and my husband I agreed to schedule it for mid-November. The plan would be to rest and recover during the holiday season, so we could travel to Florida by February.

Fitness on pause for 2 months – Ugh!

The full recovery time for my surgery was 6-8 weeks. After putting so much energy into getting into a fitness routine, I was mentally devastated. How was I going to handle NOT exercising each morning? It was the daily thing I looked forward to, and it kept me grounded.

I spoke to a friend of mine, (Healing with Yvette), and she suggested that I get back into meditation. That’s actually how we met around 20 years ago, we both liked meditation and I held a meditation class where I just moved to, and she was the only one who showed. So during my recovery, I added a 15 minute afternoon meditation to my routine, and mid-way through my surgery recovery added the 5 minutes on my back foam roller. (I’ve had back issues for about 15 years now, and without my bi-weekly chiro-visit my back was starting to hurt again.)

New Year – getting back on track!

Now that it’s January, and I’ve been cleared by my Doctor to exercise again, I’m slowly getting back into it. I’ve restarted the V Shred Fat Loss Extreme program because its less intense than the Toned in 90 Days. I’m back into walking and hiking, and will start-up running again once the weather gets above 40 (or I go to Florida where it’s warmer.) And I’ve kept the meditation and foam roller time – because it really helps my back to lay on a floor for 15 to 20 minutes a day. I haven’t been in pain since putting that into my routine, and I haven’t yet been back to the chiropractor.

What do you do for your fitness routine?

I’m curious about how other retired or newly retired folks do for their fitness routine, and I’d love to hear about it. Drop me a DM on my Instagram to let me know what you are up to!