60toSixty

I am a creature of habit and convenience, I readily admit it. I also have my personal 'Hassle vs Pleasure' principle that if an activity that I might want to participate in is more of a hassle than the pleasure of attending/partaking in it will be, then I opt out. Of course, sometimes, the hassle is in my head and if I psyche myself up, then I can overcome that ratio and still enjoy myself. Related to being a creature of habit, most Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings when I am at home in Austin, I set my alarm for 4:30am to have sufficient time to wake up, have some coffee, prep my bag and get my suit on so I am on deck at the YMCA by about 5:45 for my 6am masters swimming practice. I also have my pre-swim routine where I shower to wet my hair and apply leave-in conditioner to protect from all the chlorine that seeps into my cap during an hour-long practice. Yes I wear a cap and no, it doesn't prevent my hair from getting wet, just keeps it out of my face while swimming....

Decisions On Tuesday, I had an appointment for an intro class for Pilates. Silly me thought I could just sign up at the beginning of January and get going. Instead, I had to reach out to two studios near me (I am a creature of habit and convenience) to lessen the hassle of going in order to build up the habit. Due to my work schedule and opportunities for an intro class, it took me almost half the month to find an opening. When I drove up to the Club Pilates location, right next door there was a donut shop. The first thing that crossed my mind was, "I can go to the pilates intro or I can go and get donuts." I literally hesitated then remembered I set a goal to take Pilates and begrudgingly walked in the studio door.  Many forms of exercise require specialized equipment. My swimming gear consists of swimsuit, goggles, swim cap, fins and paddles. For Pilates, its yoga-like clothing and socks with 'treads'. I wondered about the need for the sticky bottoms but the minute ...

 I love to read, always have. My mom used to talk about the fact that if anyone was looking for me and couldn't find me, I was probably hiding out somewhere with my nose a book. Reading also reminds me of my dad. I still have very vivid memories of crawling in his lap while he was reading one of his Louis L'Amour books. Often after snuggling in his lap, I would read bits and pieces of his yellowing paperback and drift off to sleep. I'd barely gain any consciousness as he would carry me to bed.  Today, reading seems like a luxury, however spreading one book out over a month is really only exchanging time from other perhaps less productive things like mindless TV or doom scrolling on social media. This month, I have already finished the first book, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I saw the trailer for the movie coming out in March before watching Fantastic Four with a friend. She mentioned that she read the book and liked it and since I like the trailer, figured I would read...

 The first few days of my 60 to Sixty got off to a rocky start and that's okay. As John Lennon once said: I committed to The Miracle Morning, Galveston Diet (I don't really like the word diet, by the way) and starting Pilates. Unfortunately, the morning after my first post, I woke up with a bad pain in my neck and shoulder and couldn't swim. This development carried over into Saturday morning when I woke at 3am, fell back asleep at 5am and then woke up again around 7:30 not feeling well at all plus the neck and shoulder ache turned into not really being able to turn my head to the right and nerve issues traveling down my right arm and right leg. Luckily, some new clients had a flight cancelled on Friday so I didn't have to work on Saturday. I spent the day Saturday reading a new book, Project Hail Mary, and applying ice and heat to my neck and shoulder (this helped greatly).  'Life happens' doesn't always have to be negative or a negative can become a positi...

  Here I go again...some of you may have visited before when I did a Top 45 at 45 and the realization that I have another big birthday looming in the not so distant future, I decided it was time to get going on this now, instead of waiting until the big 6-0 arrives. As I get older, I realize that it takes me a little longer to warm up in the mornings before swimming, a little longer lounging in the mornings before work and just noticing a general slow down in my routines. Since I don't turn 60 until January of 2027, I figure starting on August 1, 2025 gives me ample time to rev up and gain momentum to accomplish this list.  I will be blogging as part of the 60 to 60 and in the meantime, you can refer to the Top 45 list for some of my motivations AND I will be adding some more.... More to come and for now, you can see the list below, in no particular order for now, and tomorrow, I start with Pilates, Miracle morning and food tracking....reach out if you want to join in! 1. Mas...