Improving your health with 10 simple steps

Living healthy has to become a top priority for your health and longevity. Simply put, you cannot age well without a focus on regular exercise, self-care and good nutrition. With a pandemic on our heels, with no light at the end of the tunnel to be seen, taking care of your health must move up on the list of things to focus on in order to live a full, independent lifestyle.

I’ll share my top 10 tips for prioritizing healthier habits into your daily routine.

• Home-based fitness is easier to implement than you think. While you may prefer to socialize in a gym setting, you should never use that as an excuse to not keep moving on a daily basis.

Some dumbbells, resistance bands, a yoga mat and a stability ball is truly all you need for a versatile workout program. With a little bit of space, you can burn a ton of calories, build lean muscle, fight diabetes, strengthen your bones and stay mobile.

• Get off of your coach or desk. Being deskbound during the day and couch-bound at night has increased the disease and disability risk for many aging adults. From the loss of income, to reduced lifestyles, prolonged sitting is highly dangerous to your health and well-being. Get up every few hours to do 15 minutes of yoga or walking during work hours. Do some weight lifting for about 30-45 minutes in the morning. Your joints, bones and muscles will thank you for it.

• Track how long you workout daily and weekly. The current standard is to get 150 minutes of activity each week. That comes out to five 30-minute sessions per week at a moderate to high intensity. To track my workout time, I use a Whoop strap, found at www.whoop.com, this device is great for measuring strain, workout duration, heart rate and calories burned. For $30 a month, you’ll get the device and access to their fitness tracking capabilities. Using their device, you can make continual adjustments to your workouts to ensure that you’re making consistent progress toward your goals.

• Start off with the basics. In most cases, an overly complicated fitness routine is highly unnecessary. Starting with walking for 15-30 minutes; it is good for clearing your mind, improving cognitive health and boosting your spirits. Try to walk in nature as much as possible. Going for hike, a walk through your local park or on the beach or lake if you have access. Being in nature does wonders for producing those feel good hormones and also giving you a good vitamin D boost. Perhaps you like to cycle or roller skate, these are also great options. Whatever activity you choose, try to do it outside where you can also focus on your environmental spirituality.

• Stick with the basics, but also be open to try new things. Some of the best workouts are the ones that you haven’t done yet. I personally love indoor rock climbing, but I also want to try kaya

Duero regions.

However, the purist expressions of garnacha are created from unique terroir in the Vinos de Madrid DO where Las Moradas de San Martin has been focused, over the past two decades, on producing organically grown, diverse single-varietal wines.

On a wind swept plateau near the towns of Segovia, Toledo and the walled-city of Avila, Las Moradas de San Martin began, in 1999, recovering and farming ancient garnacha vines that today co-exist with new plantings on nearly 52 acres.

Through the magic of zoom.com, I was able to accompany winemaker Isabel Galindo on a walk through these unique vineyards before tasting current releases.

Isabel has invested much of her winemaking career exploring garnacha and is a pioneer in this region. She credits a Mediterranean climate, sandy granite soils and steady winds as the perfect terroir to facilitate her minimalist approach that enables the grape to express itself.

Isabel hosted our vineyard walk with a cell phone in one hand while protecting her hat against the wind with the other. At first glance, the soil looks like sand and each low-trimmed goblet vine is separated by several feet in a random pattern.

Isabel credits the sandy granite soil for the natural acidity in her garnacha. She explained that the shortened vines need less water, yield less volume and are separated to accommodate the winds.

Las Moradas de San Martin began farming organically in 1999 and became certified in 2014. A successful wine, according to Galindo, stems from adapting to the climate and using natural winemaking techniques that showcase the garnacha grape. In from the wind, she began the virtual tasting from her patio with a white wine.

A late frost restricted yield, permitting the remaining grapes

Unique vineyards at Las Moradas de San Martin

to fully ripen for the 2018 Las Moradas de Sa Martin Albillo Real ($14), the only white grape grown on the estate. Abundant in the Ribera Del Duero region, Albillo Real has become common here, outside of Madrid.

The surrounding Eco-system includes pine and oak trees, lavender, thyme and other plants that influence the soil and profile of the wine. Rounded texture, floral notes and flavors of honey and stone fruit finish with a soft minerality.

The first of four different single-varietal garnacha was the 2016 Las Moradas de San Martin “Senda” ($11) from younger vines that need extended time to ripen. I found the rich mouth-feel, fruit flavors and floral hints of an excellent value wine.

The “Initio” garnacha, first made in 2005, is their most popular wine. Isabel claims that her all-time favorite vintages were 2007, 2011 and 2018, but today we tasted the 2013 Las Moradas de San Martin “Initio” ($14.50). Fragrant balsamic, baked fruit and cocoa on the nose is followed by berry flavors and an acidity that signals food friendly.

Similar to “Initio,” the 2011 Las Moradas de San Martin “La Sabina” ($15) is highly aromatic with velvety tannins and floral hints on the finish.

With century-old vines, the small, biodynamically farmed La Centenea plot is the origin of fruit used for the 2010 Las Moradas de San Martin Libro Diez “Las Luces” ($34), a classic expression of granacha.

First produced in 2007, oak influences in “Las Luces” enhance the complex aromas, herbal and spice notes that make it come alive in the mouth.

Garnacha winemaker Isabel Galindo, a passionate and focused steward of sustainability, is what makes Las Moradas de San Martin wines worth exploring.

Guest columnist Lyle W. Norton is a wine enthusiast and blogger in Santa Rosa who has written a wine column for 20 years. Visit his blog at www.lifebylyle.com or email sfewine@gmail.com