Over the past years we have made some huge sacrifices to find our happiness. Tossing away our previous careers, moving our family across the ocean to somewhere new, starting everything from scratch. Big risks for big rewards, I like to think.
Luckily it paid off, and now we spend our days balancing our new careers, playing with the kids and working on the farm.
Sounds lovely doesn’t it? It is, but it is also hard.
Really hard some days.
Working on a farm isn’t about wearing flowery garden gloves and collecting pristine eggs from the coop. It is about driving a tractor, hauling brush, mucking out winter mess and a lot of lifting, dragging, and heaving of supplies. It is being a weekend warrior every single day of the week… and twice as hard on weekends.
Hubby and I often joke that we should actually market a week at the farm as a workout program to vacationers!
Come, work the farm, eat fresh food and get fit!
Most days we crash out early in bed, exhausted. Our shoulders burn and our hands are covered with cuts and scrapes. The work seems to get harder, and our poor bodies are having a hard time keeping up.
So, this month we are working on getting in shape for … working. Instead of just doing the lifestyle work that is required for our farm to exist, we are adding on a few key things so we can build UP, instead of always struggling to keep up!
Focussed Exercises
Lifestyle activity is great, and we do A LOT of it. There is rarely a day we are doing our 10,000 steps, but we are also overworking the same muscles again and again. This month I booked some personal training sessions to help me work on the muscles that AREN’T pulling their weight in the day to day activities. My trainer is pushing the parts of me that need extra care and attention and helping me focus on lifting the right way, vs the easy way!
Frequent Snacking
The last thing we feel like doing while we are deep in farm muck is to stop and eat! Our regular weekend lunch is a bag of chips and a cold beer… not quite the nutrition we need to keep moving for the rest of the day. I have been prepping easy and nutritious snacks and stuffing them in a cooler for quick access (and so we don’t need to kick off our boots to grab a bite) Items like tuna and avocado, cut up fruit, mini cucumbers (easy to crunch) and lots of fresh water. Reminding ourselves to FUEL our body during these farm days is super important and paying off already!
Starting RIGHT
No matter what we put into our bodies throughout the day, I like to do my best to start my morning right! This means adding in the supplements that will support my health and giving my body a nutritious boost to kick start the day! Both hubby and I like to mix up a smoothie using the Orange Naturals ND Shake and some fresh fruit, and serve it alongside some fresh farm scrambled eggs.
Add to that,
- Omega-3 Fish oil soft gel for a healthy heart
- Adult Multi Vitamin (cause lets face it… we are getting old and need all the help we can get)
- Plant Digestive Enzymes (tummy troubles be gone)
We love the tips on the Orange Naturals Blog, and the updates sent out in the newsletter, and adjust our supplements seasonally to support our health.
Listening to Our Body
One thing we are getting better at doing as well is listening to our body. We all need to STOP at some point, and even though life on the farm never does, some days you CAN just do the light work. Brush the goats, and plant the seeds VS rebuild the garden walls and haul the firewood! Hot baths, and nights with the kids curled up in front of the fire are also what farm life is about, and giving ourselves some time off to enjoy these activities as well will give our bodies the rest they need.
Lifestyle activity is more than a weekend warrior experience that has you curled up on a monday morning regretting your choices. Preparing now to dive into the activities you want to enjoy later is what is important and with good health and an all over approach to wellness and physical strength you can build/farm/hike and enjoy your days as you like!
Disclosure: I am part of the Orange Naturals Mom Ambassador Program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.