Weight Training Even I Can Do

I have been really frustrated by the fact that no matter how much I hike lately, I can't seem to lose a pound.  I can hike for 6 miles in the mountains, 10 miles around the city, with or without my big fat backpack...and I won't shed even one pound.

I have even been trying to watch how much I eat and to make the healthiest choices possible.  Even as a vegan, it is incredibly simple to make bad food choices...after all, potato chips, oreos, pizza dough with faux pepperoni, spicy eggplant dishes, and many beers are vegan.  I know that I tend to eat too much even of good things...but still. It seems like all of this walking should count for something!

Spicy Garlic Eggplant

    There is no shortage of good things to eat...and I love good food.  So while I do have success at avoiding the potato chips and oreos, I usually end up having one meal like the ones in these pictures about twice a week.
   Some of them come with white rice or pasta...and go really well with a cold beer.

Ok, maybe I do understand why I don't lose weight!

A virgin Mango Margarita 

An amazing vegan burger with fries

Black bean nachos with salsa
and...a beer.

Black bean sopes that I ate in an airport in Mexico

Beans and rice with marinated carrots...oh, and
a beer. I think I see a pattern!

These were the best tacos I've ever had. A man in Puerto
Vallarta Mexico made these mushroom tacos in his little taco
stand on the side of the road.

I learned some other information that shed some light on my situation, too.  I found out that as a baby boomer...I have probably already lost 20-40% of my muscle mass just from getting older.  I read that if I don't actively try to avert the muscle loss, I can continue to lose muscle until I am just a mushy old person who can't perform simple tasks.  

I also found out that aerobic exercise, like my hiking, can get rid of some overall body fat, but it won't shape up my body the way I want it too.  It is making my calves and thigh muscles stronger...and those muscles weigh more than fat...so I am in the middle of a balancing act where my body is gaining some muscles mass which may end up weighing a little more than the small amount of fat that I'm able to make disappear when I hike.  (Does that make sense?) So while it's good that I have a bit more muscle and a bit less fat than before...I need to make some changes in my daily exercise routine if I want to see some real results.  That's where strength training comes in.

The strength training workout I've started using requires 

3 lb. weights. Well, I have 2 lb. and 1 lb. weights.  Thankfully they both

fit in one hand. A lady's got to do what a lady's got to do!  

I have always found weight lifting to be undesirable, confusing, and something that would take up too much of my time to get involved with.  I've had personal trainers work with me at a gym...but they never taught me anything that would help me work on my own.  I always still felt incredibly dependent on the trainer to know what exercises to do.  I couldn't tell which exercise machines I should go sit at...or which muscles I really should focus on.

A boomer friend recommended a book from way back in the day, back when I probably should have started strength training and didn't.  I have fallen in love with this author because she has laid out the terms, the exercises, the machines...all in really easy terms that have filled in some of the gaps that I had in understanding how to make the strength training work in my life.

These are the books my friend recommended.
The meal plan it includes isn't vegan, but it was easy to veganize.

The coolest parts are that the routines are 12 minutes a day, and I won't need more than 3 lb. weights for a few months. I can actually stay with the 3 lb. weights as long as I want. This is perfect because I thought I would have to start working on this upper body and lower body strength routines when I got home from the Camino de Santiago in November, (two months from now!) but I can use my two water bottles from my backpack as weights and just spend 12-15 minutes every morning doing my workout before I hit the trail.  This has got me so pumped, I started the workout today.

I will be making some changes to my diet...that part is inevitable.  I will eat less white rice, more greens, add chickpeas to my salads...And.Not.Drink.Beer.For.Now. I will only add whole, plant based fats, and even then, sparingly.  

According to the book, I should see some results in three weeks.  That would be great...to see some results before I leave for my big hike. I'm dreaming that I can continue to work out and really surprise my family when I get back later this year.

Having more muscles will mean that I can lose some of that nagging, tenacious fat I've been dying to get out of my way.  If I lose enough weight, my backpack will probably sit right on my back instead of my butt looking like a backpack shelf.  I believe that I will be able to bend my body more to scramble over rocks on the Appalachian Trail and fit through the narrow caves that I will have to wiggle through.  In other words, I can't wait to get rid of old weight that literally gets in the way of my hiker dreams.  I want to really live my last half without unnecessary  limits.  I dream of getting strong and becoming an athlete...a baby boomer transformed! I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, take care
and go take a hike!  

Peace!

     

Packing a Cruelty Free Back Pack Part 3

Today's post is the last of the three parts titled "Packing a Cruelty Free Back Pack."  In it I will show you the rest of the items I have found to help my backpack be a guilt free load to carry on my upcoming trip to the Camino de Santiago.  It has been so much fun creating these posts...I don't think I've ever scrutinized the things I'd be taking on a trip anywhere before...ever.  I've learned a lot about what I can include in my pack...and what to avoid that I may have thoughtlessly put in my backpack before.

This is me testing out the Nemo
that has a figure 8 shape to give
a girl a little room to move.

                                              The largest item in my pack is my sleeping bag. I have to admit that I had to buy a new sleeping bag in order to put this cruelty free pack together.  My old sleeping bags were both down feather mummy bags...one was a Kelty while the other was a Nemo.  Both are great bags (although I've fallen out of love with the Kelty mummy bag because it absolutely encapsulates me...I can't move in that thing.)  The Nemo was supposed to be my improved bag...it has a figure 8 design and allows more room for your arms and knees so you can get blood flowing back to most parts of your body in the middle of the night.  However, now that I'm packing a cruelty free sleeping bag that is light enough to back pack with...I found a brand I had never heard of before to save the day.

Norsens Camping E220 2-3 Season Bag

I haven't slept in it yet, but I already think this bag is pretty awesome. It is described on Amazon.com as "Norsens Hiking Camping Backpacking Sleeping Bag Lightweight/Ultralight Compact, 0 degree Weather sleeping bag for Adults." It is 100% water resistant polyester with fill 100% cotton. It says it is ideal for near freezing temperatures. It weighs in at 2.5 lbs.  There are four straps that pull down and tighten this bag into a really small ball, making it easy to fit into the bottom section of my backpack.  It got it for $39.99  Less than $50!  That's pretty incredible! I will have to let you know how the bag fared on the trip...to see if I still love it...but so far, I'm so impressed!

This is my rain jacket by Northface. I think I'm crazy about it, too.  The materials are all synthetic, it is rain proof, it has zippers underneath the arms so that I can let air in (many rain jackets make you so sweaty that you might as well just let the rain get you!), and it's nice and light.

                             




                                     

In the photo I am pointing
to the zipper that allows you
to open up the jacket and let in air.

I love that the jacket has large pockets inside so that I can slip my cell phone into it, or other objects I don't want to get wet.                                       

 

I also really like that inside the pocket there is the Stow tag.  This means that I can fold the jacket up into that inner pocket and zip it closed.  I love that I don't have to babysit all of the little compression sacks! The people at Northface who put this jacket together also understood that I don't want a pouch that is so small that I can barely zip it closed.  Once I had the jacket stuffed in there, I found it to be perfect. It wasn't so tight that I had to fight to get the zipper zipped...but it was nice and compact so that I wasn't going to be wasting space.






This is how it looks 
when it has been stowed 
away.

This will stay in the 
very front section of 
my pack so that I have 
quick access to it.  

These are the sandals that I have chosen to wear in the shower and at night after I take off my boots.  I have been wearing these for so long already...I mean they have really been through it.  I have walked all over dirt roads in Costa Rica with these, walked in the Mexican Pacific ocean, and they have put in some good local mileage too.  These are called Xero shoes and are pretty minimalistic.  They're nice and light, the soles are thin enough that it's easy to slide these into the pack, and they have enough tread to help you feel secure on wet surfaces.  Each part of your foot can be velcro-ed in nice and tight for ocean walking or loosened up at night when your feet are swollen.

Osprey Pack Cover

This tiny little bag holds the backpack cover.  If it starts to rain, I can just pull this out and fit it over my Osprey nicely.  In theory, if I'm wearing my rain jacket and use this pack cover on my backpack, we should make it to shelter without having ruined my phone, its chargers, my passport and plane tickets...everything!  That sounds like it would be worth the two minutes it takes to get this on.  The pouch it comes in is separate...thank goodness it's small and I can stuff it in a waist belt pocket where it won't get lost.



Speaking of my phone and its charger....

The flash drive for an iPhone 7+ and its case ran about $50 for both

This is my phone, the charger, an external battery charger, a flash drive for the photos on my phone (64 GB) and the waterproof case that the flash drive goes into.  I love that I could get all of these items in a rose gold.  I'm not usually the "pink" kinda girl...but rose gold is fabulous!


Of course, I will need to bring some sunglasses, so I've chosen these blue ones that I picked up at a Big 5 Sporting Goods Store.  They are a little scratchy, but not too bad...and I really like the blue lenses. 

I will also need some cruelty free lip gloss and was pretty excited to be given this stuff as a gift!

Too many lip glosses that say they are all natural are made with bee's wax...and so they don't qualify as cruelty free.  This brand uses a plant based wax that works like a charm.  It feels good when I wear it, it's a tiny tube so it fits into my pack easily, and with some great flavors...this stuff is making its way onto my list of favorites.

north books found at gonorthbooks.com

This is my journal...a bullet journal that I will keep all of my diary entries into during my walk on the camino. I usually use one every day at home to stay organized because I love how easy it is to customize my format for calendars, daily to-do-lists, and meal planners. It will also work well on the camino because the journal is small and light.  The bullet points inside will help me to control the size of my writing and keep things neat.  I got mine (in a pack of 3) for about $9.00 from Amazon.

These are gators and the little blue bag where they will live when I'm not using them.  Gators go on your ankles and over your shoes to make sure that stones and water don't go into your shoes/boots.   I've heard that some hikers wear shorts in the rain...as long as they have gators on over there shoes and a rain jacket.  This will be my very first time using gators. I got these NUOLUX waterproof gaiters for $11.99, including the little pack to store them in.             

These are my hiking poles below.  I've had them for probably 4 or 5 years now...possibly longer.  They are Black Diamond Trail Ergo Poles with Cork handles.  The handles are slowly molding to my hand and wick away any sweat. They are really soft to hold onto. 

You might notice that I have tape wrapped around the poles about a foot below the cork handles.  It is Leuko tape which can come in handy for a blistered foot. If you get a blister, you clean the blister and then apply a patch of this tape over it.  This tape will keep your blister from rubbing against your shoe (like Moleskin) and is reputed to stay on even when you get it wet in the shower...repeatedly.  I tried it for one shower and it stayed on like a real trooper!  So I keep some rolled around my trekking poles so that it is handy if I need it. I may be rolling some duct tape on there also before I go.  Once...it was duct tape that helped me get rid of stinging nettles on my bum!

Remember the deodorant I mentioned in "Packing a Cruelty Free BackPack Part 2?"  Well, I forgot to mention that I wouldn't be lugging the entire jar with me. I actually fit enough deodorant from the jar into a contact lens case (it's on the right).  On the left, I have put enough of my rose petal face cream to apply it once a day during the trip.  The rose petal face cream will make me feel like I'm home...and if I can fit both the deodorant and the face cream into a contact lens case, I think that will be light enough.

  Andalou Beautiful Day Cream is vegan

                          

I haven't decided between my black puffy jacket (synthetic, not down) and my Columbia fleece jacket. The puffy jacket is lighter and would make a great pillow if I stuffed it in one of the mesh bags...but I feel like my backpack would be more stable on the fleece.  I'm going to have to practice with both...but regardless, they are both cruelty free and therefore options.

I do have a fanny pack coming in the mail, but other than that, I am pretty close to having shown you everything I will be bringing...wait, my toothbrush!

Well, now that you can be assured that I will brush my teeth...I think I will call this Cruelty Free BackPack a wrap! I hope it will help you as you pack your cruelty free backpack. 

So, until the next time...

take a hike!

Patt!

Peace!

Packing a Cruelty Free Backpack Part 2

My friend and I came upon the largest collection of cairns that I had ever seen before.
Cougar Crest Trail, Big Bear CA. 2017

I just learned that cairns have been used since ancient time as markers on the trail, or as a way to identify where buried items could be found.  Sometimes they were used as ceremonial features...usually when the stars and planets were involved.  I know that people today use them as a tool for meditation or mindfulness.  Either way, cairns are pretty cool to look at and appreciate out how the creator got the stones to balance.

To continue sharing what I'm going to pack in my cruelty free backpack, I want to start with some of ways I plan to stay clean for a month on the road.  The Camino de Santiago is considered a pilgrimage, and whether you are walking the camino for religious, spiritual, athletic, or adventurous reasons, you are considered a pilgrim while you are walking on it.  The thing that separates this walk from most hikes you hear about is that this one has dorm-like locations for pilgrims to stay in at night.  Most pilgrims will be sleeping in a bed, whether in the pilgrim's dorm, a hotel, a hostel, or Air-BNB rather than in a tent.  In Spain, they call the dorms set aside for pilgrims "albergues."  Most of the albergues have showers and many, but not all, have a washer and dryer that pilgrims can use to wash out stinky socks every night.  Sometimes those washer and dryers are difficult to get a turn with.  In the caminodesantiagoforum.org.uk, many experienced pilgrims share how they got around that.

     I will be doing my laundry in a sink...and the kindest soap I could find came in the form of nuts, Eco Nuts.  They are also called soap berries and are cruelty free and about as natural as you can get.  Usually people would put about 5 of the nuts in the muslin bag they provide and throw that in the washer.  I had to play around and figure out how to make this work on a small-as-a-sink scale.  I figured I had better try them out before I took off, so I filled a basin with warm water and one Eco nut. 

     The part of the nut that has a soap-like capability is in the shell. The shell is rock hard, dry, and cracked.  I tried rubbing the shell on a stain...and nothing happened.  I decided to wait and let the nut soften up.  Well, it never softened up but I did notice that the stain started to disappear. It wasn't like a bleach clean, but it did really well.  I guess the soap from the shell leaches into the water and then starts washing the clothes.  Supposedly it works like a softener, too. I was thrilled to see that it could really clean something...especially because these Eco Nuts are so light.  They won't add any weight to the pack. I'm going to bring 3-5 nuts with me (they are supposed to be good for 10 small loads each) and that should be plenty if I'm walking for about 40 days.

To hang up my clothes I will be bringing two long shoelaces and some safety pins. This way I can either hang up clothes right on the clothes line I make out of shoelaces, or hang them from the outside of my backpack to dry in the sun.  This is one method pilgrims use to clean their clothes...it's the method I will use.  

Next, I have to have a way to clean myself so that I'm worthy of my fresh clothes.  I made a separate little bag to carry my shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and other hygiene items.  I read in the forum that there may not be a shelf to put my items on in the showers that I'll be using...but some said they found ways to hang bags on the shower door.  

This is my solution:  I am going to hang my shower bag using a S-hook. I ordered the S hooks through Amazon which came 10 in a pack for around $7.00. Maybe I will use the other 9 hooks to hang scarves on a line in my bedroom.....

Inside my shower bag I am bringing a bar of shampoo and conditioner. I got these (the ones that look like orange crescents below) from Sweet and Sassy.  I contacted the company and they confirmed that they are cruelty free and vegan.  I cut the bars in half to keep the weight down.  I practiced with the other halves to make sure they would work and was shocked to see what an awesome lather the shampoo bar made. The scent is a fairly strong mandarin orange/other citrusy mix and I felt really fresh after washing my hair.  Unfortunately, the conditioner wasn't as impressive...but it did the job enough.  Especially since I plan to wash my hair and put it in two side braids almost immediately each night.  I also have a midget bar of Tom's Soap.  Now, I've heard that not all of Tom's products are vegan/cruelty free, this soap came in a box that claimed it was.

  I am also bringing hair elastics, a microfiber bath towel that I have already cut in half, some q-tips that I have also cut in half, and have the lotion I described in "Packing a Cruelty Free Back Pack Part 1" here, ready to use right after a shower.  I am bringing a shower cap in case, but I'm having a hard time believing I might not want to wash my hair every night after walking 15-20 miles every day!
  Below is the deodorant I found and am currently crazy about.  It is Rosewood and Bergamot by Honestly Phresh.  I have been using it before I go out on practice hikes and it is actually holding up really well. I just use the wooden paddle to take out a little bit of the deodorant in the jar.  I take the deodorant paste off the paddle and use my hand to spread the paste under my arm.  It goes on easily, washes off my hand quickly, and keeps me smelling great all day.  It's the best deodorant I've found so far!

Wow...I really needed to find this.  The last deodorant I had left little ball thingies under my arms and didn't really protect me from odor!  Yuck!

I read recently that this was one of the best vegan/cruelty free toothpastes.  Desert Essence Natural Tea Tree Oil and Neem Toothpaste 



Another company that made the great toothpaste  list was David's Toothpaste...I own and love that one, also.  I bought two tubes at a vegfest and love how it cleans my mouth. But I will be using the Tea Tree Oil paste on the trail.


Believe it or not, the little white "capsules" below are actually toilet paper.  If you put a few drops of water on one of these little tablets they will puff up and unfold to become toilet paper or a hand towel.  I heard that sometimes the albergues run out of toilet paper when there are a lot of pilgrims...and that it was a good idea to bring a roll of TP for my personal use.  I think these little paper tablets are perfect for this trip.  I don't need too many because there will be TP most of the time. On those few occasions I do need some of my own, this is a light weight way to make sure I've got a small stash.

The TP tablets are directly on top of my journal.  I will be bringing a little bullet journal to keep track of my adventure, names of people I meet, and the important information I don't want to forget.  


The famous John Brierley Travel Guide for the Camino de Santiago is off to the left in this photo.

I will also be bringing some bandaids, toe nail clippers, tweezers, bobby pins, band-aids, and a needle with thread.  Believe it or not, the needle and thread are for blister care, not clothing care.  If you get a blister you are supposed to put thread in the needle, sterilize the needle, push the needle through your blister, and pull it through...but letting the thread to only come out half way.  So, there should be thread, blister, thread...This way, the thread acts like a wick and lets the fluid drain out and air out while it begins to heal.  Good to know!

In part three of Packing a Cruelty Free Backpack, I will show you the sleeping bag I've chosen and more things I'm excited to try on the trail!

Until then,

Take a hike!

Peace!

Packing A Cruelty Free Backpack Part 1

Big Bear, Ca. near Bertha's Peak 2017

I can't lie.  I'm addicted to hiking. I mean, how else do you describe something you can't stop doing even when it can be painful, that each time you do it you end up needing to do it even more and more, and that occupies your every waking moment as you plan when you are going to be able to do it again. Yes, I've been pulled in...hook, line, and sinker. I love it and wish I were out doing it right now. 

I'm leaving for Europe in September to hike the Camino de Santiago.  I will need to carry a backpack that contains all of the things I will need to get by for over a month.  

One of the first rules of hiking mimics that of the doctor's Hippocratic oath in that we must first promise we will do no harm.  As a doctor must try to help and not hurt his patient who comes to him in trust, the hiker must try not  to damage the path he will borrow. The hiker must not harm the fauna or flora of the forest, desert, mountain, or coast that he is entrusted with as his boots press their weight into it. 

It is natural to expect the nature lover to be considerate of nature...and it dawned on me that, as a vegan, I should be considerate of nature before I even got to the trail.

I was packing when I realized that I had never considered whether the gear I was stuffing into my backpack was appropriate for me as a vegan backpacker.  It was time for me to pack a cruelty-free backpack...and make sure I continued to do so for the rest of my life.  I thought I would share with you what I found out as I began to prepare for my pilgrimage on the Camino.

                                                                                  

Osprey Tempest 40L

At first I took it for granted that my backpack was cruelty free, but then I realized that we can't ever get lazy when it comes to combating cruelty to any living things.  I checked, and thankfully Osprey is proud to have cruelty free back packs. What a relief! It was already the second backpack I had bought, the first one being a Deuter...(a great bag, but it is a 60 liter and just too big for what I need on the camino.) I didn't know if I could afford to replace the Osprey and I really wanted to backpack without the extra weight of guilt on my back.  

This is the second bag I will bring.  It will stay inside my back pack until I reach the village I will be sleeping in. When I leave the dorm to find dinner in the evenings, I won't be lugging around my 15lb Osprey. Instead, I will use this adorable, lighter bag from PLNT BSD as a drawstring pack. Not only is it cruelty free, it may start up a conversation about how cool it is to be plant based and vegan.

I am happy to say that the cap I already owned was accidentally cruelty free.  It turns out it is not wool and is made of 100% synthetic materials.
The bandana I'm using is made of cotton.  I had to order this one via Amazon as bandanas are usually too small to be comfortable on me or they are hard to tie around my head.  It's hard to get a big head when you have a big head...

Bandanas have so many purposes on a hike so I was glad to add this XL one to my gear list.

I will be taking one pair of long zip-off-able hiking pants, one pair of hiking shorts, and two tees.  Everyone of these items is lightweight and made to wick off moisture from our bodies...so they are made from mixes of nylon and spandex.  The two pants/shirts are from REI, one shirt is from there also, while the other shirt is a Northface tee.

Looking into the main body of my backpack, you can see that I have several bags placed in their vertically.  This is a trick that I learned while watching DarwinOnTheTrail, a YouTube channel I really like.  When the compartment bags are packed vertically, I can get into any one of them without having to dig past the other ones.

I use the same white mesh bags to pack my clothes and hygiene gear that I use to shop for produce with.  The mesh bags are lightweight and have drawstrings to pull the bags closed.

                                          

I have my new hiking shoes that I've been breaking in...and so far...so good!  I have a nagging, weird concern about my shoes because I know they have a life expectancy of 500 miles.  The camino I'm walking is 500 miles. So every time I go for a practice hike, I feel guilty that I am going to start wearing out my tread ...and run out of shoe before I make it to the finish line of the Camino.

I have another white pair of sock liners that I will bring but they are on order...so they're not in the picture.  Same goes for another pair of synthetic socks I ordered...they are on the way.  The smaller grey socks aren't going with me.  I looked inside them and found some wool.  I will probably sell these socks at one of the REI garage sales.

So know that we know what I'm going to wear while I hike, I'm ready to share some of the products that are going to make my journey a little more comfortable.

I've used the sunscreen below as I train, taking long mountain and/or street hikes.  So far it has done really well on my hot, summer treks in Southern California.  The temperatures has gotten up to three digits most days...and hikes of length usually mean I am exposed to a harsh sun for possibly hours.  I would say that this lotion passed a pretty difficult test!

This is Bare Republic Clearscreen Sports Sunscreen Gel


                                                                                      

 Alaffia Coconut Body Lotion

I've noticed that I have to put most products into smaller, lighter bottles or jars.


 

                     

Can you tell I already love my Alaffia Coconut Lotion?  It's almost empty.  It was  a no brainer to choose it for my hand lotion.  I love having the coconut smell on my hands.

I purchased the lotion below at a Conference for Plant Based Women.  It really keeps my skin feeling moisturized for quite a while after I've applied it.  I am honestly deciding whether or not I should just fill one bottle with just one of these lotions instead of bringing two different kinds.  It would make for a good comparison, though.  Hmmm....

Miracle II Skin Moisturizer

I will continue this list on another post.  I have so much more to share with you! I found the coolest deodorant, shampoos, and other awesome items you will want to put in your pack as well.  Tomorrow I will be taking my full pack to Mt. Baldy, a mountain with trails that really command respect.  I will keep testing out these items as I train...and share with you if I change my mind about any of them.

In the meantime,

Take a hike!

Peace !