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Author: gracefulfitness

Fall Feels

September 15, 2020 by gracefulfitness 2 Comments

Forgive me the technicality, I know the equinox is still officially one week away, but it’s feeling very much like fall around here.

The garden has slowed production.

The flannels and pants are back in rotation.

The leaves are turning.

And I am starting to feel the crud.

Fall is my weak spot. It is the time I get sick, cold sores, and feel chronically underslept.

Obviously, this year more than ever, it feels crucial to focus on maintaining health and welness. Here’s my plan.

  • Drink (even) more water.

One summer when I was a kid, the camp nurse prescribed water for whatever ailed us.

Headache? Drink some water. Homesick? Water. Bruised your knee? Where’s your water bottle?

I’ve totally adopted her credo as an adult.

Water is magic medicine. I’ve had first hand results with it’s ability to prevent colds and cold sores, treat headaches, improve athletic recovery, improve digestion, make skin glow, and calm anxiety.

On the other side of it, I also ended up in the emergency room in China at 3am as a result of not drinking enough of it…

I generally aim for a minimum of 60 ounces a day. This time of year, when I need it the most and find it challenging to remember to drink it (cooler temps?), I am striving to drink closer to 100 ounces.

One way I ‘convince’ myself to drink more is to add something to my glass. This could be as simple as a slice of cucumber or some lemon. It helps me keep track and treat it like a prepared drink rather than a random glass of water that may as well water the plants or go down the drain.

Other “additives” that I find helpful to increase my water intake: vitamin C /EmergenC packets (cvs brand of this type of product is actually my favorite), vitamin D drops, electrolite drops, drinking sparkling water, keeping a pitcher of water in the fridge with sprigs of mint or lemon balm from the garden.

  • Vitamin C

I don’t take vitamin C every day but it is my go-to at the first signs of the fall crude.

  • Maintain my produce intake

I eat the rainbow of fresh produce in the summer, especially when the garden is cranking. All that variety and fresh food helps ensure I am getting a healthy daily dose of vitamins, antioxidents, and minerals.

Like most people, when the light wains and the leaves fall, it’s easy for me to turn towards heartier, starchier foods and decrease my variety of produce. Thankfully, I love soup and the more veggie packed it is, the better in my book.

Carrot Miso Soup

  • Spend time outside

Daylight, vitamin D, fresh air, and connecting with the world around me has never been better medicine than in these challenging, unprecidented times.

Our physical, mental, and spiritual health has never been more challenged, I encourage you to carve out space in your day to address each of these for yourself, in whatever big or small way speaks to your needs.

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Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: fall garden, how to prevent a cold, how to prevent a cold sore, treating a headache, water drinking hacks

Happy Camper

September 1, 2020 by gracefulfitness Leave a Comment
Mount Rogers

Among other, less positive, obvious challenges, my Summer 2020 has been the year of the Great Outdoors.

So many times this summer my end-of-the-day shower water ran dirty as I washed away the muddy mountain bike ride off my shins or the garden clay off my feet.

I love it.

In addition to more mountain biking and gardening than ever, my Summer has been full of walks, hikes, and lots of camping.

I’ve slept in a tent every single Saturday except for one since the first week of July! And I’ll be back in “the plastic palace” this weekend as well. That’s 9 out of 10 weekends 🙂

Most of these camping trips were of the “car” variety; everything but the kitchen sink thrown in the truck, sleeping with real sheets and blankets, french press coffee in the morning…

Last weekend was a proper “backpacking” trip to Grayson Highlands, a place I’ve wanted to visit for most of the 10 years I’ve lived in Virginia.

Our plan was to do a 20 mile loop over three days, two nights. The weather had other ideas so we scraped the first night and the loop, instead hiking in and out 4 miles and skipping the torrential rain of Friday night.

Grayson Highlands

The Mount Rogers/Grayson Highlands area is the most diverse landscape in Virginia I’ve ever experienced.

Within those few miles we saw everything from wild ponies to moss covered Spruce forest and the highest point in Virginia to huge rock outcroppings and sweeping vistas.

The ponies were brought to the area and released in the mid 1970’s for the purpose of keeping the brush down. The herd has thrived and we saw about a dozen over the two days, including the two who tromped right through our campsite while we were falling asleep!

We camped at Thomas Knob, after breakfast on Sunday we walked less than a mile up the trail to reach the highest point in Virginia, the top of Mount Rogers at 5,729 feet above sea level.

Mount Rogers

The “peak” is heavily forested so a little undramatic as a summit but the woods around the very top are gorgeous and so unique for the Mid-Atlantic. The damp Spruce forest looks so much like the Pacific Northwest!

Mount Rogers

The logistics of visiting Grayson Highlands/Mount Rogers:

  • Backpackers can pack at either Grayson Highlands State Park or the Elk Garden trailhead to explore the area. You must pay to park in the Backpackers Lot at the park and reservations are highly recommended, it fills up. I cannot speak to the Elk Garden trail because we parked at the Park, however I can say that the way we did it, which takes you through the Wilburn Ridge area, is absolutely stunning. Plus, your car will ostensibly be a bit more secure because the Park is patrolled as opposed to Elk Garden, which is parking on the side of a public road.
  • If you want to explore the area but car camp instead, Grayson Highlands State Park has two car/RV campgrounds. There are tons of trails around there and from what I experienced, you only need to walk a mile or two to get to an area the ponies frequent.
  • The Appalachian Trail runs right through the area (we were on it most of the time), so the mileage is virtually unlimited if you want to go further afield, pun intended.
  • We camped on Thomas Knob, which is on the white blazed Appalachian Trail. There is an AT shelter there, a pivy, and a spring (we brought a water filter to refill our bottles). There are about a dozen well-established campsites spanning the mile or so of the knob, most of them are north of the shelter (before you arrive at it when coming from the Park) but there are a few nice ones just past the shelter. Knowing that the Backpackers Parking Lot was full, we were very pleasantly surprised to have our pick of sites and only see/hear a few other campers.

This happy camper is going to go get her hands in the dirt 🙂

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Posted in: travel Tagged: backpacking, camping, Grayson Highlands, Grayson Highlands State Park, highest point in Virginia, Mount Rogers, Mt. Rogers, The Appalachian Trail, Thomas Knob, Thomas Knob Shelter, wild ponies
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I am Faith Levine, a movement instructor, home gardener, mountain biker, hiker, pickle maker, closet poet, and best of friend to some of the most amazing women in the world.

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Header photo: Meredith Coe

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Hi, I'm Faith! New? Check out I Am for my story, I Cook for recipes, and I Move for some motivation to get moving! I'd love to hear from you, e-mail me gracefulfitness@live.com
Header photo: Meredith Coe

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