Strange things began to happen as I sped into middle age. My hormones went haywire, stamina slumped, and that Body-Mass-Index (BMI) number started to climb. So when I read that middle-aged women with normal BMI need to exercise an hour a day just to keep from gaining weight I wasn’t surprised.

I’d already started working out twice a day to compensate for the alarming metabolic changes, tweaking my routine to include more high intensity intervals. Now I try to fit in six days of cardio, three days of strength training, and four days of mini yoga routines. It takes creativity to fit everything in!

UPSIDE DOWN AT 6:15 A.M.

Seconds after the alarm, a list of tasks tumbles into my brain. After the first cup of organic coffee, I wake my body up, too. It wants to stretch before being folded behind a computer work desk for the day. Unearthing my dog-eared copy of Richard Hittleman’s Yoga 28-Day Exercise book, I begin a 20-minute yoga routines. Uh oh, my hamstrings won’t stretch out during a pose I once did regularly. “Don’t panic,” I tell myself. “Be patient.” Sure enough, the blood flows, and the muscles slowly regain enough elasticity to do the exercises. I end up with a 2-minute headstand before dawn. Something about being upside down with blood gravitating toward the brain and heart makes me feel like the rest of the day is facing UP!

CARDIO

Next, my dog and I take a morning walk with “sprints” in the wildlife refuge. Frogs croak our arrival beside the first marsh. We might spot blue herons, squirrels, cardinals, rabbits, turtles, or hawks. One morning we came upon two deer in the sun at the canal’s edge. Later today my daughters and I might go to the gym, bike, do another jog/walk with the dog, or maybe swim laps in the pool. The important thing for me is to do high intensity spurts alternating with low intensity, and make time to do it together. If I feel self-indulgent about emphasizing fitness, I think of how much time my work, house, and family gets. My body needs its share.

BURN, BABY, BURN

Maybe this age requires streamlined nutrition to sustain us for higher performance. With my morning routine, I can no longer thrive on coffee until 10 a.m., so smoothies or veggie and egg scrambles become the nutritional powerhouses that sustain me.

To train the metabolism, it’s supposedly best to eat small meals every three hours throughout the day. Every small meal contains protein and fruit or vegetable. I try not to eat until I’m full so that I’ll feel motivated instead of lethargic—and to retain appreciation for food. That way I’m also more likely to plan my next meal instead of randomly eating.

I’m now more prone to Charley horses so I include a trip to the water cooler for four ounces of pure H₂O to mix with my Daily Greens formula (360 mg potassium, 4-5 servings dark green vegetables, 3 grams protein, 4 grams fiber, 30% RDA for calcium, in a 1-Tbsp. serving). Plus I find out why I was craving the radishes growing in our garden: 233 mg potassium per 3.5 ounces. Nature’s synchronicity trumps again!

Morning Power Shake

½ cup Acai juice or water

½ cup frozen organic blueberries

1 frozen banana

1 tbsp. Chia seeds or 2 tbsp. ground flaxseed

1 heaping tsp. Better C powder with bioflavanoids

1 scoop Healthy Planet Super Meal African vanilla powder OR Jay Robb strawberry whey protein powder

Optional: Fresh Coconut water (for more potassium)

Sautéed Spinach with Shaved Assagio

Our family loves this quick dish. Although one bag or container of baby spinach initially fills up a large sauté pan, it shrinks down so much that it’s not enough to serve four. So while two containers might be a little too much, leftovers are great in the next day’s omelet or quiche.

10 oz. pre-washed organic baby spinach

1 tbsp. grapeseed oil

freshly shredded assagio cheese

1/3 tsp. Frontier non-irradiated granulated garlic

salt to taste

Heat oil in pan for a minute and gently toss the spinach to just coat adding more as soon as there’s room in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and garlic. As soon as it has wilted, turn off heat and grate desired amount of cheese. Serve immediately.

Radish and Cucumber Herb-Wasabi ‘Tizers

Quick! Get the last of the radishes before they get woody in the heat! One delightful surprise was planting High Mowing organic French Breakfast radish seeds and having them a mere 26 days later! Oblong rose and white, they are a pleasure to pick each morning for their crisp, mildly pungent flavor in my workday salad. As someone who chooses lettuce wraps over sandwiches, this refreshing, petite sandwich is de-light-ful. Makes 12 flavorful appetizers.

8 French breakfast radishes sliced lengthwise into thirds

approx. 24 slices of seedless cucumber

2 tbsp. Kerrygold garlic & herb butter OR Meyenberg goat milk butter softened

2 tbsp. low-fat organic sour cream or fat free plain yogurt

½ tsp. wasabi powder

½ tsp. salt

Option: Use Swan Gardens organic roasted red pepper hummus instead of cream and butter

Whip the butter, cream/yogurt, salt and wasabi powder until fluffy. Anchor two planks of radish between two slices of cucumber by spreading the inside of cucumber with a dab of the herb butter cream mixture. Garnish plate with a couple of radish tops.

Anya Wolfenden, M.A., is the director of communications for The Heritage Store: Health Foods, Books & Gifts, Cafe, & Holistic Center, featuring most of the ingredients for these recipes. 314 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, 757-428-0500, www.heritagestore.com