Hi and welcome to our healthy active life. We’re so glad you stopped by.

If you’re reading this on the weekend, we are probably on the top of a mountain with our trusted camping/climbing/hiking  sidekick, Gobi.

Do you have a cup of coffee? Maybe a beer or glass of wine?  If not, you might want to get one….our story has been an adventure.

To begin, we have many hobbies including rock climbing, cycling, trail running, hiking, running after grand-kids, enjoying corn hole and tequila with friends, oh, and did we mention rock climbing? Yup, that’s our passion.

Our hobbies (and keeping up with our grand-kids) keep us busy and active so our overall fitness level and health are important to us.

We discovered years ago that the key (for us) to reaching our health and fitness goals revolved around good nutrition and smart exercise.

We say smart exercise as we discovered that what worked for us in our 20’s and 30’s no longer worked and in some instances actually reduced our chances of maintaining vitality as we age.

What do we mean by “vitality”?

Vitality is defined as exuberant physical or mental vigor and the capacity for the continuation of a meaningful or purposeful life.

For us, it means we want to be healthy and active as we age so we can continue to pursue our hobbies throughout the rest of our lives as well as have the energy and mobility to play with our current grand-children (and any more to come).

With this in mind…

We were in our 40’s when we started this journey and thought we already knew what healthy eating entailed and how to workout. Boy were we wrong!

We learned that we would need to make some changes (both in what we thought and what we did) and knew it might be challenging.  We were sure we could make the changes, after all, “change” and “learning something new” defined our relationship. When we met, we were both divorced and living in small villages (in different states).

“Two different states”, you say. “How on earth did you meet?”

Glad you asked!  We met through E-Harmony!  Yup, that’s right, the same technology that now brings us into your home, brought us together…the internet.

So, to make a long story short. We met, fell in love, and decided to combine our lives and our families. Our family now consisted (at the time), of a 21 year old (in college), a 17 year old (senior in high school), a 7 year old (in second grade), and a 5 year old (in kindergarten). Be hadn’t had little ones running around in quite a while and Carl was only used to little ones. So we knew that making changes and learning new things would be a part of our lives.

Our Wedding Photo

Just as we decided to make some additional changes to our life, through diet and exercise, fate handed us even more change.   Be had already retired from 22 years of teaching and was a stay-at-home mom to our two youngest kids (then 7 and 9) when the stock market took a nose dive and Carl was laid off from his job. 

Where did we go from there?

Through a former Marine Corps buddy, Carl learned of this up-and-coming new fitness program called CrossFit…and that is where it all began.  We both achieved Level 1 certifications and Carl achieved additional certifications in gymnastics and running technique.

Then, we opened a gym. CrossFit and Precision Nutrition defined the beginning of our journey into fitness and nutrition. However, after 5 years, some changes in our life made us decide to close the gym.

“More changes?”

Yup, except this time, little and not so unexpected.. ….grandchildren. Exciting and yet, unfortunately, living in a different state (and one in a different country).  As much as we enjoyed coaching, the gym just tied us down too much, especially when we were the only coaches.

Did we just give up all that we had worked for?

No, not exactly. Our early experience with CrossFit helped lead us to where we are today. Through CrossFit, we learned about The Zone, Paleo, and other nutrition models. This inspired Be to get her own Nutrition Coaching Certification through Precision Nutrition and open her own nutrition and fitness coaching business. And, although Carl hung up his CrossFit coaching gloves, he re-started his career coaching others as a Training And Development Manager for a Fortune 500 company (focusing on developing a wellness program).

So, no more “changes” right?

Life is about change, right? Just as we thought we had it all figured out, Mother Nature came storming through, throwing particles of nature all around, leaving behind these things called middle age, menopause, lower sex drive, muscle loss, and a few other disagreeable conditions.

Not ones to give up, and not ones to jump on the medication band wagon, we hit the books once again to learn more about nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle as it relates to aging. And are happy to report we were able to take control of what Mother Nature threw at us through nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle changes.

So, here we are. Now in our 50’s and 60’s, with an empty nest and so close to total retirement that we are giggly with excitement.

So, you may ask…”Why a blog?”

In a nutshell, because we love learning, we love sharing what we’ve learned, and we love using our expertise and knowledge to help others. We were looking for a way to do all three when a friend suggested we write a blog.  We thought…. sounds challenging and may require some changes…. let’s go for it!

Thanks for stopping by.  Do you have questions, concerns, experiences, your own success story for staying fit and healthy?

We’d love to hear from you!

Cheers!

Be and Carl