172: {Solo} My 2026 Health Habits

Ever felt lost in your health journey? Here’s how I turned my setbacks into a thriving routine!  

After a serious injury, I realized how crucial health is. It’s not just about working out; it's about optimizing every part of life.  

This year, I scaled back my heavy lifting and embraced Pilates. It’s been a game changer! Focusing on flexibility and small muscles has made a big difference. Plus, we’ve found a great studio that motivates me!  

Daily walks with my dogs keep me moving, and I’m committed to hitting 10,000 steps. Nutrition-wise, I swapped to high-protein Greek yogurt for breakfast and added electrolyte powders to stay balanced.  

Meal prepping grilled chicken salads for lunch has simplified my week, and establishing a consistent bedtime helps me wake up energized.  

Remember, it’s about balance. I stick to 80% clean eating and 20% flexibility for those treats we love.  

Transcript

Caroline Pennington (00:01.642)
All right, today I'm going to go over a couple of things. I get asked all the time, what exactly am I doing when it comes to my health, when it comes to my exercise routine, what am I doing, what's working, what's not working. So in 2026, this year, I started to really double down and get a health assessment done with my blood work. And I really wanted to see what I could do to help optimize my health so that I was focusing the best I can.

energy level high, all those things, those are all important to me. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything. And a couple of years ago, a couple of you guys know, I went through a really bad injury. It was a freak injury I had. I split my heel bone open and I couldn't walk for close to eight months. And so that was really an eye-opening time for me where I didn't have my health. I couldn't go for a walk. I couldn't go for a run. As you guys know,

I'm an avid runner. I've played soccer my whole life or did play soccer. Then I transitioned into running. And so during that time, a couple of years ago, when my health was taken away from me with my injury, I really decided to, after I got better, healed myself, PT and everything, that I was going to focus on my health as my number one priority. Because if you don't have your health, you have nothing. And I think energy, as you know, those of you who listen to me regularly, energy is so important. It's your currency. It attracts people to you.

both clients, friends, just all of it matters, okay? And so this year I've done a couple of things differently and I'm gonna share them with you today on this podcast. And I'm not a health expert, I'm not a health coach, I'm not anything, I just am highly interested in it because I think it's such a huge and important part of our lives and that will help us maintain longevity, know, in our energy and our relationships and all the above.

Okay. What's working for me this year? So I have transitioned from strength training. I was doing five days a week, heavy lifting at a gym and a group class scenario. And I've scaled that back this year to doing three days a week. I strength train Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and I've decided to do a low impact workout on Tuesday, Thursday. So Tuesday, Thursday, my husband and I.

Caroline Pennington (02:27.79)
go to Pilates together. And that's something I actually have loved because it really gets into some of those small muscles and your biceps and your triceps and your quads and your booty, all the things. And even though you may not be putting a lot of weight on, you're doing a lot of movements to help with flexibility that help with those small muscles. And I think that that will help long-term. Gary and I used to do Pilates all the time. We lived in Columbia and we have stopped since we moved to Beaufort for whatever reason.

But recently we found a studio that we really love here and have enjoyed the experience, enjoy the facility, enjoy the people. So that's been working. So five days a week, I am strength training for one hour in the mornings. I'm a 6 a.m. girly. I get up at five and I'm at the gym at six. And then Tuesday, Thursday, I am doing Pilates and I do Pilates at 6 a.m. as well. So I keep the same wake up routine for five days a week. Also,

If you follow me on social media, you know, I have two wine reiners, two dogs. they're my children. I'm a bonus mom. Gary has kids. I have no kids in my own, but so the two dogs are my kids and they require their, they're jacked with energy. Okay. If they don't have a walk every day, they are hard to live with. They're kind of like me. Right. but anyways, they need a long walk every single day. So

On top of the exercise in the mornings, I also take them for a walk every single day. Now, if the weather's not cooperating or I've got a really jam packed schedule, I will split that into two or three mini walks. But I also try to get, and a goal of mine is to get 10,000 steps a day. One thing I worked with my doctor on too is increasing my protein intake.

And so my goal now is to get 100 grams of protein in every single day. I was eating eggs with veggies in the morning. I have switched that to now I eat a high protein Greek yogurt with berries. And that's actually been a good switch. I don't know, I was kind of creeped out in the beginning by the texture of Greek yogurt. I've never really loved it, but I found a brand that I really liked.

Caroline Pennington (04:42.838)
I like the texture of it. like the flavors and I add organic berries to it every morning. And that keeps me full actually until lunchtime. So I don't know. I'm down to try different things in that department. And this is what's working for me right now. Also, one thing I worked with my doctor on too is because I was depleting a lot of nutrients through sweat in my body at the gym and even walking and doing Pilates is I needed to add those back to my body. So now I drink

four Yeti cups, like the big ones. And I add the electrolyte powder to it. The electrolyte powder has B vitamins and magnesium and it's been a good, really good addition to my routine. I feel a lot more clear headed. I feel a more energetic. I feel a lot more balanced. And so that's been something that has worked for me too. So this year as well, Gary and I have lunch together most days of the week, especially during the weekdays.

And so on Sundays he grills chicken for us. And so I spread that grilled chicken out every single day, Monday through Wednesday, Monday through Thursday, if not Friday. And we have grilled chicken over a salad. And it's been an easy way to meal prep because I'm not having to think about every single day, like, no, what am making for lunch? We already have the salads. either buy bag salads or I'll get pre-packaged salads from a place here. have a viewer called the kitchen and I'll split them up and we'll have equal portions of the salad.

and the grilled chicken on top. So it's something I don't have to think about, which has been great. And if I'm on the go or he's on the go, we have meetings or whatnot, I just take it with me or I send it with him. And we are able to maintain good portion control and continue to eat healthy on the go. And that's been a good hack that we've done. I try to have dinner every single night at the same time. That's 6.30.

And I try my best to go to bed every single night between nine and nine 30. And as what that has done is reset my circadian rhythm so that my body has a better understanding of what to expect, how to recalibrate, how to recover. And that's been a huge game changer when it comes to reducing inflammation for me this year and just making small changes in the health department. And I've enjoyed both. So that way I get a night's sleep.

Caroline Pennington (07:04.602)
I'm off going to bed early and then I have the energy to wake up the next morning at 5 a.m. Now if you know me, you know I'm an 80-20 girly. I cannot do 100%. That doesn't work with my personality. So usually 80-20 means 80%. I eat clean, I exercise, I do things the way I should be doing them, which a lot of people consider are boring. And yes, it is boring, but it works. So I'm good with that.

But the 20 % is where you can let some flex come in. So the 20 % for me is the cheese, the carbs, the wine. And so as long as I do 80 % clean, 20%, whatever else I need, dark chocolate at night after dinner, then I'm good. And so then on the weekends, I do let loose a little bit more. I do sleep in and I still try to continue getting my steps in, do my walking, but I do really long walks either with Gary or with the dogs on the weekends.

And those have been my good go-to health solutions so far in 2026. It's been working really good. So again, I'm not a health expert. I'm not giving any health advice. I'm just coming on here and talking about this podcast. What has been working for me this year? And if you're looking for solutions on those things, or maybe you saw some takeaways, heard some takeaways today, I hope this was helpful. And if you have any other suggestions for me or things that you're doing that's working, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to send me a DM.

I'd love to hear your feedback, your thoughts or what's working for you too. So thanks again for listening. I appreciate you more than you know.