Health and Fitness Archives

Rekindling the Eye of the Tiger – Escaping Mediocrity

33 Comments / Motivation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Self-Employment, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / March 14, 2023 March 14, 2023

We all know that life’s got its highs and lows. When you’re riding one of those highs, life can’t get any better. You feel that all your hard work has paid off and you’re sitting on top of the world. But when those lows come, they can be like a sucker punch that takes you completely by surprise. Occasionally, those times can make you feel there’s no way out either. As someone who tends to have higher-than-high and lower-than-low temperaments …

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There Shouldn’t Be Boredom in Retirement or You’re Doing It Wrong

18 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Health and Fitness, Life in Early Retirement, Motivation, Spending, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / February 21, 2023 February 20, 2023

I recently went out with some good friends of mine – one I’ve been friends with since high school and two since college. They’re great guys and it’s always fun when the stars align and the four of us can get together. As always, we reminisced and laughed about all the hijinx and fun from the old days, talked about what’s currently been going on in each other’s lives, and delved into plans for the future. And of course, we …

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The Art of Self-Improvement: My Journey to Living a Healthier Lifestyle

18 Comments / Health and Fitness, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Motivation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / February 7, 2023 February 7, 2023

Living a healthier lifestyle is something I think almost all of us want to make happen. Whether it’s exercising more, eating better, or aiming for better mental health, we all know that living a healthier lifestyle helps put us on track for a longer and happier life. But… @#$% happens. And by that, I mean life tends to get in the way. Things like lack of time or energy, stress at work, or even social pressure tend to make us …

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Atomic Habits – The Powerful Keys to Making Changes That Stick

14 Comments / Motivation, Education, Health and Fitness, Here's Why I'm Liking..., Life in Early Retirement, Product and Service Reviews / By Jim @ Route To Retire / November 1, 2022 October 31, 2022

When I reached early retirement at the end of 2018, I gained the one big gift I was looking for in life… more time and freedom. That’s a true blessing, my friends, and I try not to squander it. I strive to use some of that “super power” to push myself to become a better person – both physically and mentally. Change is hard, but I like it. It’s easy just to continue rolling forward while doing the same old …

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7 Cool Resources for Your Mind, Body, and Wallet

14 Comments / Motivation, General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Investments, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / October 4, 2022 February 21, 2023

I love reading articles that have something tangible to present. It doesn’t matter if it’s books, documentaries, software, or some kind of hack to improve your life that’s good for your mind, body, or wallet. Make me a better person! Sometimes folks ask me questions about how I accomplished something or why I do things in a particular way. The questions usually revolve around anything from finances to technology to health or anything else that might be on someone’s mind. …

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This Set of Dumbbells Is So Good That My Cheap @#$ Just Spent $300 on Them!

20 Comments / Health and Fitness, Here's Why I'm Liking..., Life in Early Retirement, Motivation, Product and Service Reviews, Spending / By Jim @ Route To Retire / September 6, 2022 November 10, 2022

Working out is something I’ve made a priority in my life since reaching early retirement at the end of 2018. I’ve worked out at home, done different gyms, and even bought an over-priced set of dumbbells in the U.S. while we were living in Panama just so I’d have something to use when visiting. Now that we’re back in the U.S. to live, I needed to figure out what I’d use for my workouts here. I initially planned to use …

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Why Not One More? Transform Your Life!

12 Comments / Motivation, Debt, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Health and Fitness, Investments / By Jim @ Route To Retire / August 23, 2022 February 21, 2023

I realized something while working out recently – something important to understand. There’s one thing that keeps many of us from achieving extraordinary things in life. It’s the difference between average and exceptional – just two simple words… One more. Imagine lifting a set of dumbbells and you plan to do 12 in your set. When you get to 12, what’s stopping you from doing one more? It might not sound like much, but if you consistently raise the reps …

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ACA Subsidies Mean We Only Pay $227.34/Mo for Our Family of 3

22 Comments / Health and Fitness, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Insurance, Life in Early Retirement / By Jim @ Route To Retire / August 16, 2022 February 21, 2023

I talked last year about how we planned to keep our health insurance costs low once we moved back to the U.S. from Panama. Well, that time is now and I wanted to share how ACA subsidies have enabled us to keep our costs even lower than anticipated. One of the toughest areas to plan for in early retirement is health insurance. Finding quality health care coverage at an affordable price to tide you over until Medicare eligibility at 65 …

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I Need a Mental Break

30 Comments / Health and Fitness, Blogging, General Thoughts, Life in Early Retirement, Travel and Vacation / By Jim @ Route To Retire / July 12, 2022 February 14, 2023

I’m exhausted and I need a mental break. There’s this weird dynamic in the blogging (and social media) world where the more you’re out doing “stuff”, the more it looks like you’re out living the dream. I’ve never really cared much about all that but I do put my life out there for everyone (both good and bad). And this year, we’ve been insanely busy doing more stuff than I could have ever imagined. Most of you know that we’ve …

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Our Summer Road Trip So Far Includes a Flood, Wildfires, Freezing Temps, Blistering Heat, Strong Winds, and a Thrown-Out Back!

Our Summer Road Trip So Far… Mother Nature’s Vengeance!

8 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Health and Fitness, Kids, Life in Early Retirement, Spending / By Jim @ Route To Retire / June 21, 2022 July 17, 2022

Yeah, there’s a lot going on there, right? Looking at a title like this, you might feel convinced that our summer road trip has been a bust. I can’t argue with that line of thinking. There’s not one thing on this list that sounds positive at all. So you might be surprised to know that the first two weeks of our summer road trip have actually been a ton of fun. And two of Mother Nature’s natural disasters made us …

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