3 WAYS YOU CAN KEEP FIT EVEN WHILE YOU’RE ON THE GO

dancing in Sedona

Health issues became a nagging problem when my husband and I RVed full-time.  Cardiovascular problems plagued Bill while gastrointestinal and other stress-related conditions hounded me.  Mesmerized by America’s beauty, we were always on the go, forgetting to keep fit. We should have paid more attention to it in three areas: exercise, food intake, and healthcare.

 Regular Exercise

Before our RV cruising days, we went to the gym regularly. However, campground fitness facilities proved inconsistent when we started our cross-continent runs. We thought hiking would be our main regimen, but many times hordes of mosquitoes feasted on us! And it was either too cold or too hot. And, even if sightseeing meant plenty of walking, it was only strolling.

 Over time, we learned that we just had to do at least two of the following or suffer the consequences. When Fitbits became popular, we aimed to do at least 6,000 steps a day.

 1.      Play a sport for at least 30 minutes five times a week. Choose from available facilities: table tennis, billiards, mini-golf, golf, tennis, and pickleball. Or dance!

 3.       Exercise for at least 30 minutes, five times a week, gym or no gym. YouTube offers many exercise videos. We like Jennifer McClendon.

 2.       Walk for 30 minutes at least five times a week after dinner.

 Healthy Food Intake

 During our early cruising days in our smaller RV, we would cut up a lot of veggies and fruits and have nuts available for snacking on, with lots of water to wash them down, while we moved from place to place. When we settled at campgrounds longer, nesting in a bigger RV, we began to cook more meals. Loving to try local cuisine, we succumbed to heartier eating.

 When the Blue Zones became well-known, we went into a modified Longevity Diet: more vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and fruits, regularly adding fish and seafood, and occasionally, chicken, pork, or beef. We had to make the following rules:

 1.       Eat one big meal a day, preferably lunch, and two other small ones or just two regular meals, late breakfast and early dinner.

 2.       Graze throughout the day with light morning, afternoon, and evening snacks, such as nuts, fruits, or vegetables.

 3.       Eat out infrequently, preferably only during an occasion for celebration, and compensate with smaller meals the rest of the day when we do.

 In addition, we discovered two novel ways of skipping a meal at least once a week. One is to have a popcorn lunch while watching a movie in the theater. The other is to lunch with free Costco food samples when we shop for supplies.

 When we started to travel the world after our RVing phase, we stayed in our timeshare units. They always have kitchens, enabling shopping at local groceries, where there are many goodies we don’t find in stores back home, and cooking new and exciting local fare.

 Beginning in 2019, we converted our El Cid timeshares in Mexico to be all-inclusive. Instead of encouraging us to eat more, we became smart and upped our resolve with buffets' abundant seafood, vegetable, and fruit choices.   

 Preventive Healthcare

 At the beginning of our full-time RVing, we forgot about preventive healthcare. Later we became snowbirds and settled our RV in Phoenix every winter. It was the smartest decision we ever made. There is excellent care for seniors because of the high population of retired and visiting seniors. Arizona ranks #15 among the 50 states in terms of elderly care. It is one of the reasons we chose to settle here permanently. We found an excellent family doctor who keeps track of regular screens and refers us to the best specialists needed.

 We travel less now but the habits we formed have stayed with us. With regular exercise, healthy food intake, and consistent preventive healthcare, we look forward to some travel, even past our 70s and 80s.                                                                                                          

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