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Upkeep

 Getting older seems to require significantly more focus on just general maintenance than earlier life. I make it a point to take pretty good care of myself. I have better years than others, but mostly I stay on top of routine checkups and requisite blood work. I feel like staying on top of things will, hopefully, prevent a big (nasty) surprise at some point. 

    In the last 60 days I have checked off a bunch of health To Do's:

        Mammogram. Check.

        Cologard.  Check.

        PCP visit. Check.

        Gyno visit. Check.


    In the next 60 days I will visit the dermatologist for a top to bottom check (s'rsly, she is way thorough...), and an eye exam. I am looking forward to getting new glasses. I am going to try Warby Parker this time. My daughter uses them, and likes them, and they have a store in Albuquerque, so I'm going to give them a try. In real life, not online, so hopefully I can avoid a big frame choice bungle.

    Personal maintenance seems to be a little more rugged, too. Things that require focus these days:

        Eyebrows. Nobody told me what to do with white hairs growing in. My brows look like I have tiny bald spots in them, but there's just white white brow hair where black used to live. WTF? So now it's about shaping, then filling....to create a brow again. What a PITA.  Also, there's white pubic hair, but I don't care so much about that other than to occasionally think 'when did I get so old?!'....doesn't seem to warrant more energy than that, really.

        Skin. Face.....in spite of religious use of high SPF, there is obvious aging. Go figure. Live in the high desert your whole life and it's going to take a toll no matter how vigilant you are with the lotions and potions and hydration.  And body skin...seems more fragile, and is now splotchy...like white freckles where pigment used to live. Shit. So, short of replacing my old skin with new, it's all about moisturizing, protecting, and accepting the changes that have crept up over the decades.

        Nutrition. I have always spent a fair amount of time on nutrition. This isn't new, but I didn't really have to...I wanted to to try new approaches, to experiment in the high fat, low carb/low fat, moderate carb/Mediterranean diet/lectin free/low lectin/Paleo/Primal universe.  They all netted different results. I seem to feel best with a higher protein approach, overall, with lots of veggies and some good fats thrown in. But now, instead of experimenting, I find I really have to watch what I eat lest I feel like crap or get plumper than I'd like. So it's about enjoying life, eating well, but being much more vigilant than in my younger days. My metabolism took a serious hit after menopause, and I'm still spending time shaving off the extra weight while figuring out best approach moving forward.

        Exercise.  This one has been interesting. I have done it all, over time. Dance. Jazzercise. Running. Yoga. Tae bo. Walking. Tai chi. Qi gong. HIIT. And now I find a combo of the less impactful seems to do the trick. I go for long walks when I can, usually several a week. I do daily Qi gong, just to center and balance myself energetically. I do ab work, different forms, almost every day, hoping against hope that as I drop a bit of weight I will actually see some results, but I'm really going for strength and core stability. I meditate on occasion, but probably not as much as I should. And I am mostly ok with it all. I am not in the best shape of my life, but at almost 60 do I need to be? How much is enough? Given that I don't currently have big fitness goal, I feel pretty good.

    These are the things that seem to require the most energy, now. Tending to the basics allows for the foundation to stay strong so that energy stays up, the body functions nicely, and emotions feel pretty balanced most days.

     It's not glamorous, but it's life at this juncture. 


Hugs,

Stevie

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