Health/Wellness, Link-Up, Uncategorized

Wellness Reimagined – January 2025 Edition

Retirement Reflections


Welcome to Wellness Reimagined, a monthly link-up focused on health and wellness in 2025. This series aims to support participants in maintaining an active, healthy lifestyle, staying on track, and creating space for reflection, planning, and realignment with our individual goals and intentions.

Planning

Although, by personality, I seem suited to journal entries, list-making and checklists, I’ve never been this type of planner—at least not on a daily basis. Years of creating written lesson plans as a teacher might have squashed this out of me. Thus, I’m delighted to take part in this link-up to help keep better track of my overall wellness intentions.

January Focus

I plan to keep my posts simple, focusing on one or two areas of wellness each month, eventually touching on the broader areas of physical, nutritional, emotional, mental, intellectual, spiritual, social, community, financial, environmental, time and technological wellness. For January, I’m starting with physical fitness, nutrition and social, with a touch of emotional/mental/spiritual and financial wellness. My goals for the month have been slightly delayed because I did not return home from holiday visits until earlier this week.

Physical/Emotional Fitness

My usual fitness routine (slightly derailed by the holiday) is listed below. Being home for just a few days, I am already feeling more on track. Early in my retirement, I began with a simple 10-minute daily mat workout, and have steadily built up from there.

1. Short Morning/Evening Meditation – Meditation didn’t come naturally to me. But, when I started inserting just a short practice to the beginning and end of my day, I eventually began to greatly look forward to these quiet times. And it was all much easier than I had imagined.

2. Daily Morning Mat Workout – A mixture of stretching, strength, cardio and balance for approximately 45 minutes. Some of my favourite Youtube workouts include:Body Project, MadFit and Senior Shape.

3. Weekly Gentle Yoga Class:- A 60-minute, in-person session at my local studio that my husband and I attend together.

4. Weekly Online Strength-Cardio Workout with a Friend: I always enjoy exercising more when I work out with friends. Research consistently highlights social integration as the top factor for longevity. Currently, my workout partner and I use this workout: YouTube Link.

5. Daily Workout Check-In: I participate in the Women Living Well After 50 Exercise Challenge, a Facebook group where members commit to 30 minutes of exercise daily (with a weekly rest day) and share their progress. It’s low-pressure, a great community and highly motivating.

6. Daily 5 km+ Walk or Hike: My walking routine has fallen far behind—possibly due to winter, the layers of clothing now needed, being out of sync, or a packed schedule. But I do have a twice weekly, 5km walking group with my dog-walking buddies (who allow me to join in if I bring dog treats). 😀 This group has been a lifesaver for me getting a few extra steps in. It’s also a wonderful social connection.


Nutrition



I recently saw a video where CHATGPT was successfully used to create a 5-day meal plan, 3 meals per day, 45 grams of protein per day, for $100. Intrigued, I decided to try it.

I asked ChatGPT to design a budget-friendly, healthy five-day meal plan with three meals daily, avoiding ultra-processed foods. The plan included prices, key nutritional values, a shopping list, and basic recipes. It was delivered promptly and accurately. The initial plan featured pork, overnight oats, and a smoothie bowl, which I requested be swapped out. The revisions were immediate and better matched our eating tastes.

Here’s a sample from Day 1:

  • Breakfast: Classic Oatmeal with Fresh Fruit.
  • Lunch: Lentil and Vegetable Soup.
  • Dinner: Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans.

Below are quick snaps of our dinners from Day 1 – 4 (we didn’t always eat the dishes in the order given). All meals were easy to prepare, and met Richard’s approval. Was the plan perfect? Not entirely, but it was a huge step in the right direction, and I’m quite satisfied so far. If giving ChatGPT a try in this way, don’t be afraid to ask for revisions until you have a meal plan that suits you perfectly. And double check the shopping list given against the recipes to ensure you have all ingredients, in the correct amounts that you will need. Also, the recipes given are quite basic. If you like more detail in your recipes, you could specify that on the chat.

Day 1 Chicken, Sweet Potatoes & Green Beans
Day 2 Vegetable StirFry with Tofu and Brown Rice
Day 3 Vegetable and Lentil Curry with Rice
Day 4 Roasted Salmon and Veggies

Other dinners included Vegetable and Tofu Stir-Fry, Salmon and Roasted Vegetables, Vegetable Lentil Curry, and Whole Grain Spaghetti with Vegetables in Marinara Sauce. ChatGPT estimated that groceries for this plan (15 meals for two people) would cost $200 at Vancouver Island prices. With store discounts, shopping on Senior’s Day, and my pantry staples, my total cost was $158 CAD (averaging out to $5.26 per person, per meal….and actually a bit less as we usually had leftovers and often used those for lunch the next day).

Will I use CHATGPT for all my meal planning going forward? Probably not. But I will continue to play around with it as I have found this exercise to be very useful in keeping me on track with my healthy eating goals and saving both time and money.


Over to You

How has your January been going? Do you have any health/fitness/wellness stories or tips to share? My cohosts and I would love to hear from you.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

CoHosted By

Debbie Harris from Deb’s World
Jennifer Jones from The Retirement Phase
Sue Loncaric from Women Living Well After 50
Joanne Tracey from And Anyways
Donna Connolly from RetirementReflections

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Published by Retirement Reflections

Prior to retirement, I lived and worked in Beijing China for fourteen years (Middle School Principal/Deputy Director at The Western Academy of Beijing). Leaving international life behind, my husband and I retired to Vancouver Island in June 2015. To document both this transition and our new adventures, ‘Retirement Reflections’ was born. I hope that you enjoy reading these reflections, and will be willing to share your own.

63 thoughts on “Wellness Reimagined – January 2025 Edition”

  1. You certainly are on a great regime/habit of good activities for your health. I won’t be contributing a 2025 blog post on my blog re 2025 health. Hence, I hesitate to give an old link in the linz group at this time.

    My whole blog does integrate /celebrates a cycling lifestyle for past 20 yrs. I shared such a lifestyle with my partner until he died a few yrs. ago.

    Here’s a post where choosing to live in the right (or better) neighbourhood has made my lifestyle possible across 3 Canadian cities since has been car-free all along:

    What Shapes Me: Neighbourhoods That Are Walkable, Cycleable – Cycle Write Blog

    I was a bike to work commuter daily from early spring to Nov. for 30 yrs until I retired in late 2023.

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    1. Hi, Jean – Living in a walkable/cycleable city with good access to public transportation when needed is such a blessing. My husband and I live in a small city that fuctions as a small town, but it is very walkable and we avoid taking our car out whenever possible.
      Thank you for linking this post with us at #Wellness Reimagined. ❤

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  2. I’m making an effort to be better about my wellness, especially as a post-menopausal woman. I gave ChatGPT a try for meals and recipes, not sure if I’ll actually try any of them as we rarely eat at home 🥴

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    1. Hi, Sharon – I agree with making wellness our priority. As women, we usually have spent so much time caring for others, that it really is important to focus on our own health and wellness. Thank you for stopping by and commenting, I greatly appreciate it!

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  3. Hi Donna, I’m excited about our #WellnessReimagined link up and so pleased I reached out to you, Deb, Jo and Jen to co-host with me. It is a great way to stay focused about our health and wellbeing. I like your focus on one or two goals rather than trying to over do it. For me, it is all about consistency so that is my plan – to do something every day. Thanks for mentioning the FB group I hope it is helping everyone and it certainly is a great support group. x

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    1. Thanks, Sue – I am also super excited about the linkup and am delighted to be a part of it. I’ve already noticed positive effects from it. And The FB Wellness Group is such a fantastic, inspiring community. I highly recommend it to all others trying to improve/maintain their fitness. See you soon!

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  5. Hi Donna, this linkup is definitely going to keep me true to my goals and inspired to keep going. I love that you asked AI for a menu, and I what I’ve seen of it looks great. I use AI for my genealogy quite often, but never thought to use it in this way. I will definitely give it a try. Great start to 2025 and to Wellness Reimagined

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    1. Thanks, Jennifer! That’s so cool that you use AI for our genealogy site. I’ve mostly use it for final editing (because it’s free so replaced my use of Grammarly). It’s been fun using it for meal-planning and Richard and I have been delighted with the results. We still have more of the meal plan to go, but will definitely try AI for meal planning again next week. ❤

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  6. I haven’t really used AI/Chat GPT for anything – but love how you’ve experimented with it. You’ve got a great routine and I love how think link up will keep our goals front and centre.

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    1. Thanks, Jo – I first used ChatGPT as a replacement for Grammarly (since Chat was free and I Grammarly was all AI operated anyway). It was fun using it for meal planning this past week – and it did save me time and money, while reducing UPFs. I will definitely try it again next week – experimenting with it slightly differently. I will keep you posted.

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  7. Hi Donna – it sounds like you have the whole fitness thing pretty much sewn up, and your meals that you share always look healthy and delicious. It’s interesting seeing how intentional you are with your daily workouts and how you mix them up for interest.

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    1. Thank you so much, Leanne, for your kind and encouraging words. The true secret to my morning mat workouts is that as soon as I wake up, I head straight to the mat…before I can talk myself out of it. If I stop and read even one email, or do one other thing, game over! ❤

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  8. I am looking forward to these monthly wellness posts. I think I mentioned to you that I want to add more vegetarian meals into our dinner rotation (minestrone soup tonight and a tofu broccoli one-pot meal later this week). After laying off more vigorous exercise due to a cold, we are at it again and feeling so much better. Although I do pretty well diet- and exercise-wise, I know I can do better (and will feel better), so bring it on!

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    1. Hi, Janis – I hope that you and Paul are feeling better after your colds. Too much birthday partying?! Your plant-based meals sound delicious. I’m excited about this linkup and look forward to getting some extra tips and insights from other posts and comments. I look forward to catching up soon.

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  11. I’m just back from holiday and Pilates doesn’t start again for another couple of weeks after Christmas/summer and I haven’t got around to thinking about much in this area yet! I like to browse cookery books and pick things in season or what looks good, but I do make a plan for the week’s meals, with allowance for variation if something catches my eye when out shopping.

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    1. Hi, Barbara – I agree that holiday time is a great time to have a break from our routines so we have a rest and can then reset. I like how your meal planning includes allowances for if something catches your eye when you are shopping…or if you end up with too many avocados? 😀

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  12. You have an impressive exercise routine – that is one area I always have to work on.

    The use of chat gpt is interesting for meal planning. I swear by meal planning as helping me stay on track with healthy eating habits.

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    1. Thanks, Janine – Great to hear from you. I have usually avoided any set meal planning and have been pleasantly surprised how well it helped save time, money and keep me on track health wise. I will definitely be meal planning more often now. ❤

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  14. A far more sensible approach than mine. I overdid everything with the result that at 82 although my cardio-vascular etc condition is exceptionally good, my joints are shot. Still, I have enjoyed it all. Your first picture is impressive and the second delightful

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    1. Hi, Derrick – My husband is the same as you. He did hard core sports his entire life. His wrists, hands and knees have especially paid the price. I was more of a Student Council kinda gal so my joints are all currently fine (she says with confidence). Thank you for your kind feedback on my photos.

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  15. I love this. I too have a goal for 2025 to focus on my diet and my exercise as well as being more present and mindful bit your plan knocks it outbid the park. No surprise there. I’m curious what ChatGPT is. Looking forward to reading more as you once again inspire us toward a more sustainable and healthy lifestyle

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    1. All moves towards improving our diet and our exercise are equally important steps. ❤
      ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that can generate human-like text and computer code in response to user prompts. It can be used to answer questions, solve math equations, translate languages, generate a meal plan, create a shopping list, provide recipes, debug and fix code, create charts and graphs, analyze data and proofread and edit text, etc. It is not recommended as a sole source of factual information. It is currently free of charge.

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  17. Interesting to ask ChatGPT for a meal plan! I’m sure you’d get some good ideas there. I use ChatGPT all the time for tech stuff – mostly code and to solve problems when I make and improve my own WordPress themes. It doesn’t always work since, well it’s only AI, but I’ve fixed some important things.

    I’m loving the idea of this link-up! I like your plan of having specific goals/focus each month. I have more of winter/summer goals, since naturally the weather dictates quite a lot what I can achieve when it comes to walking. But after a bad cold snap, now we’re having very mild weather so I’ll definitely take advantage of that!

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    1. Hi, Susanne – Until today, I never thought of ChatGPT as generating code and fixing computer bugs. That’s very cool.
      I’m glad that your weather is currently mild (ours too). Definitely worth taking advantage of! ❤

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    1. Thanks, Kate – The AI-created meal plan was fast, easy, saved time and money and generated healthy and tasty meals. A huge win all around. In addition, since it generated generous and delicious leftovers we have stretched out our 5-day plan over 7 days. That was another big win!

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  19. I am still LOL about you and your winter clothes 😂😂😂! I am calling you on that one.😉
    I am surprised, given the many WBOYP challenge posts, that you and Richard eat many UPF.

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    1. Hi, Bernie – I should have been born into an even warmer climate. It is so much easier for me to get outdoors when I don’t need to grab a coat, hat, gloves, scarf, boots, etc.You are correct that my husband and I eat lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, so we reduce our risk of UPFs there. But for 2025, we want to be even more of UPFs and avoid them wherever possible. Even virtuous muesli often contains barley malt extract, a flavour enhancer. So Richard and I are trying to be more cognizant of this.

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      1. Baking your own bread is super easy and so worth the time. I can send you a couple of easy recipes to start on. You won’t go back to store bought. Use plain yogurt and add frozen locally picked fruit. The whitewater cookbook has an awesome recipe for granola bars. Lots of options, but they are more work but worth it.
        As to the warmer climate, you live in one!

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      2. Thanks, Bernie – you are very kind. I’m good for now in terms of recipes Right now, Richard and I are trying to be more cognizant of hidden upfs. Since we both do better with nondairy our current change is making our own nut milk. ♡

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    1. Hi, Suzanne – I’m delighted that you had some good takeaways from my post. I greatly appreciate this feedback. Lauren from Senior Shape has excellent videos to suit all kinds of body types, needs and physical fitness goals. And ChatGPT for meal planning was a definite win for us. We look forward to discovering what meals it has in mind for us for next week. ❤

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  21. This is such an inspiring post Donna, full of interesting and useful information. You have inspired me to use ChatGPT in the past and this is another great way to use it that I hadn’t thought of. You always have such a great range of activities as well as your food options and I look forward to reading your monthly posts for this topic. Thanks Donna, it’s great to be with you in this linkup.

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  22. A wonderful post, my friend! So many valuable ideas and links. I’ve subscribed to Senior Shape videos a few months ago but have yet to follow a workout. Glad to read that you enjoy the channel; I’m looking forward to starting there after my holiday.

    Deb

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    1. Hi, Carole – Thanks for reading and commenting. We don’t typically eat much meat (more fish, beans and veggies) so we like including tofu in our diet in moderation.Thank you for including the article. We always check the food source so we know exactly what we are getting. ❤

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  25. For this wellness reimagined focus I want to embody the 6 doctors – sun, air, water, nutrition, exercise & rest. I’m mindful of sun, air, exercise when I’m engaged in my 3km walk. I will walk outside even when it’s -20C or more depending upon the windchill. Meals are often seasonally focused using produce/preserves from my own garden or produced locally. Other than 2 c of coffee daily, my beverage of choice is water, adding ice for social occasions! (I’m teased about that.) All movement is exercise so I’m all for doing my own housework, yardwork as much as I can. I still need help with getting wood for the wood stove. I’m mindful of sunrise/sunset, moon cycle. As much as possible, I avoid busyness which contributes to my mental rest. Thanks for the encouragement in this.

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  27. How has your January been going? Well, you know, I’m in the USA waiting for the orange mayhem that is to come. I’d like to say I’m at my best regarding health and wellness, but that’d be stretching the truth. My lifestyle is healthy enough, but the country isn’t.

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    1. Hi, Ally – I hear you loud and clear about the unhealth of our countries. And when one country goes off, the affects can sadly be contagious. My word of the year is ‘believe.’ I do strongly believe that we will all get through this. But I also sadly fear the difficult time ahead. Sending hugs your way for unity among our countries once again. ❤

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    1. Hi, Carole – Sue, Debbie, Jo, Jennifer and I cohost this Wellness Link Up that publishes the first Monday of the month, 8 am, Brisbane time, which is usually (but not always) the first Sunday of the month, 2 pm, Vancouver time. You will find the linkup tab in each of our posts when we each publish later today. We would love for you to join in. See you there!

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