exercise — 2015 — The 21st Century Matriarch

Back in January 2012, I wrote a series of posts about personal rhythms (daily, weekly, monthly). They were not specifically about personal metrics…but enough that I am looking back at them today and realizing what has changed - and what has not - during my first few post-career years.

What has changed:

I no longer use an alarm clock (unless I need to wake up for a very early plane) so I am rarely jarred from sleep before I am ready to wake up.
I am more consistently in the ‘normal’ weight range for my height (I was still slightly overweight when I retired). Weight is something I check every day.
I pay more attention to exercise - specifically to my level of activity during the day and strive to have at least 30 ‘active’ minutes (measured by Fitbit).
I went through a period where I closely monitored the nutritional content of my diet and stopped taking some supplements so that I would not get ‘too much.’ I eat more whole foods - particular produce now. This has been helped along by joining a CSA (5 months of the year). I have dramatically reduced the artificial sweetener and caffeine in my diet.
My reading/book browsing goal for the month has increased slightly (to 100 per month). The Internet Archive and eBooks from the library are so easily available that there is no excuse!
The volunteer naturalist gigs are a significant part of my interactions with people outside of my family…in some ways similar of interactions during my career but different because of the wider range of ages and backgrounds of the people…and being outdoors.
A Zentangle a day.

What has not changed:

I still sleep between 7 and 8 hours a night…going to bed about 10 and getting up between 5 and 6 most days.
My exercise goal is still 12,000 steps per day and I reach it unless I am travelling for a large portion of the day.
I still do household chores are a weekly cycle…although I sometimes realize that some cleaning chores have been ignored for too long.

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Disturbingly little known about microbeads, plastics in the Great Lakes - Microbeads and small plastic debris may be a bigger environmental problem than anticipated.

Scientists Urge Museums to Cut Koch Ties - Do sponsors of exhibits at places like American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History influence the content of the exhibits they sponsor? An uncomfortable reality of modern America?

Watch Plants Sprout and Grow In Seconds, In These Astonishing Timelapses - There is a lot of sprouting going on in the springtime. I enjoyed this collection of videos showing acorns, mung beans, and chia seeds sprouting.

15 subway-style maps that explain everything but subways - Some of these maps work well…some are a stretch. Just because the style of map works for subways does not meant it is good for everything. It is fun to see the various subjects depicted this way.

What Creatures Can You Identify In This Fossilized Sea Floor? - How good were powers of observation? Maybe a larger image would help?

Solar Shingles’ Electricity: Interview with Integrated Solar Technology - I’ve always thought solar shingles would be appealing - if this price was right they should be part of the roof on every house!

Lessons of the world’s most unique supercentenarians - More and more people are living into their 90s…and even past 100. Researchers looking at people over 85 are discovering that chronological age may not be a valid form of measuring health at all.

Good luck and the Chinese reverse global forest loss - Over the past 20 years - China has tree planting projects, there is been more rain in Australia, South America in Africa savanna areas, and Russia/former Soviet republics have regrowing forests on abandoned farmland. That has offset the vegetation loss in the Amazon forests and Indonesia.

With 'Single-Stream' Recycling, Convenience Comes at a Cost - This is frustrating. We have ‘single stream’ recycling in our area. It’s easy but it may mean that more that we ‘recycle’ actually goes to the landfill.

Exercise largely absent from US medical school curriculum, study shows - More confirmation that in the US we train doctors to help sick people….not to help people sustain (or regain) health.

Universities on the Brink of a Nervous Breakdown - Really? Isn’t it healthy for organizations to evolve rather than be static?