Stay Active, Eat Healthy and Live Long

On of my recent commenters talked about how they didn't use to have to worry about gaining weight and how that has changed. I can relate to that, though I used to watch myself even when I didn't have to. The thing that many people don't realize is that our calorie needs change with age due to more body fat and less lean muscle.

Think about the daily life of a high school student. They're probably at one of the most active times of life. Many schools have stairs to clime to get to the next class, they hang out with friends, and in general move.

As a freelance writer, by fingers are in good shape. They move almost all day, but the rest of me pretty much sits in one place. The key to losing weight is to burn more calories than we take in. That's one reason exercise is so important for losing weight, but that shouldn't be your only motivation. Think about your health. Exercise helps build muscle and burn fat, and keeps our systems working, our arteries cleaned out, our hearts strong.

The sad fact is that today's answer tends to lean toward medication to reduce symptoms. Today's society is more medicated that ever. Kids are medicated at a young age to help them learn to sit still in school. Just what we need, teaching kids to be inactive! Part of me is joking, but another part of me is saddened by the fact that it's not just meds to help hyperactivity. A study out this month reports, "America's tweens and teens more than doubled their use of type 2 diabetes medications between 2002 and 2005, with girls between 10 and 14 years of age showing a 166 percent increase." You can read the whole article here at NewsMedical.net.

What do we older folks have in common with them? The foods we eat today are not usually healthy whole foods, but processed foods with way more calories than we need. Maybe we should start a diet called the "Hundred Year Diet" -- if it wasn't something people ate 100 years ago...then don't eat it. Think what that would do to your grocery bill. You'd save money and lose weight! And think of the hard work people did a hundred years ago just to put a meal on the table! That in itself was a form of exercise, but that topic I'll save for another day.

Stay active, eat healthy and live long and prosper. (Yes I'm an avid Star Trek Fan).

All or Nothing Mindset

We had guests for the weekend and lots of getting together with others...including for meals. All kinds of food sent my meal plans and good intentions flew out the window. Well not all of them, but most of them.

In the past, my all or nothing mindset for my diet plan would put me in a tailspin and it could be a month or more before I'd get back on track. However, that's not a healthy mindset. I've learned that each day is new...well I knew that, but to take hold of the fact that failing one day doesn't mean I'm doomed to fail the next is huge. This is a new day, and I plan to get back on track.

On the horizon, I'm still considering running/walking the 5K race on September 30. We'll see if that happens or not. It's at 6:30 in the evening on a Tuesday. I originally thought it would be on Saturday. I'm also planning another cleanse for October. Especially with all this eating I've done recently. I'm ready to reset my body's digestive system.

So instead of getting stuck in a loop of regrets of what I should of done and how fat I am, I'm going to plan for better health for the future.