A Beautiful Baby Girl and Another Year Without Blogging!
As I look back over the last 2 years, I am realizing that time goes by faster and faster. As I approach 30, which by the way is definitely not old, I am starting to make tentative plans based on the level of health I desire in my 50's and 60's. When Elijah and Emma are graduating high school, 50 will be right around the corner. I have a great desire to be competitive athletically when my kids are (if they are). Maybe some of you are in the same boat as me and want to start planning a strategy of attack. Maybe some of your boats are far ahead of mine and need to make some immediate changes. And quite possibly, there are those way off in the distance who need help bailing water out of their boats. So, as always, let's do this together. This next series of posts will be focusing on getting fit after 50. Weight loss and increased fitness are desirable at any age, but we tend to think these goals are harder to achieve as we get older. Are they really? Most people are probably primarily motivated to “get in shape” because they want to look better, so what happens when appearance no longer seems so important? There are numerous benefits from exercise and weight loss later in life. This article will explore the relationship between aging and fitness, body composition, and metabolism, and the small lifestyle changes one can make that help fitness become a reality.
Can I lose weight?
Older individuals may have different reasons for pursuing fitness, but they often have the same goals: less body fat, more muscle, greater strength and endurance. Although men and women of any age can lose weight and become more fit, the concern is often how difficult it will be. Many people believe that after a certain age the body slows so much that losing weight is an arduous task. The reality is that nothing precludes elderly people from weight loss; their bodies still respond to a calorie deficit. However, creating a calorie deficit may seem harder simply because it’s not as easy to move more. Conditions like arthritis make taking the dog for an extra walk or parking further away from your destination s little less appealing. Also, there is a tendency to be more “set in their ways” when it comes to eating habits.
At my age I am not so concerned about my appearance so why lose weight?
Being overweight is associated with a significantly increased risk for many diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Overweight and obesity in the aging population has a few added problems--it is associated with increased fat stored in muscle and around the organs (visceral fat) in addition to the usual storage place under the skin. As people age, they lose muscle and gain fat in multiple places, which makes older people fatter at the same weight. In addition, visceral fat and intramuscular fat tend to be more active forms that promote certain diseases. The mechanism is that adipose tissue (fat storage tissue) is metabolically active and can release peptides and cytokines that increase inflammatory signals and exacerbate diseases such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis and rheumatologic disorders. These chemicals are also associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance, and blood clots. The good news from current research is that moderate diet changes and exercise can reverse most of the above-mentioned negative effects and reduce disease risk by up to 50%. You don’t have to become an athlete to reap the benefits either. Older people who lose just 5 to 10% of their starting weight through a simple calorie reduction see significant improvements in cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, breathing and tolerance of exercise. And the other good news is that weight loss itself trumps the method. In other words, other than liposuction, it doesn’t matter how you lose the weight or how you choose to approach your diet.
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