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Health October 2017

A Healthy Age

Natural Sloth, Remade Svelte

By Carrie Luger Slayback

Interruption in routine: Get sick? Surgery? Vacation? Bound to happen. Get back to your workouts. Restart gently.

 “You have a better figure today than when we married,” my husband tells me, his 74-year-old wife. Yeah, my wedding gown, worn almost 50 years ago, hangs loosely today. Genetically dumpy, I’ve remade myself into a fit size two. Working on my waistline for 50 years, I know what I’m talking about here.

How to be slim, healthy, and, a bonus — energetic.

  • Set the alarm for exercise before work or daily activities. Waiting until later makes it easy to skip.
  • Set out clothes, socks, shoes, visor, sunglasses, house key or if you’re inside, aerobic CD.
  • No excuses. Didn’t sleep? Get up. You’ll sleep better tonight. Ache all over? Moving lubricates joints. It’s cold? Exertion warms you.
  • Meet a friend who has also pulled him/herself out of bed. Sense of obligation helps. Nobody to meet? Aerobic time alone provides spontaneous problem-solving opportunities.
  • Start really small. On a walk/run five minutes out, turn back and go home. Work gradually to 15 minutes out and 15 back. Yes, that’s a half- hour, but break work-outs into two parts. Your brain likes shorter benchmarks.
  • Keep promises to yourself. You’ll feel like doing an hour soon. Don’t let enthusiasm over your new-found athletic prowess get you injured.
  • Add strength and stretching. For weight training, start small. Hurting yourself by doing what you did in college is dumb, although you can work up to surprising levels at any age. For stretching, same rules.
  • You’ll throw your back out following the TV yoga teacher. Start gentle. Even 5 minutes of strength and stretching is better than nothing. Invest in a trainer, or gym, or class to learn proper form.
  • Some senior health insurance policies pay for your gym membership. If yours does, take it. “Silver Sneakers” classes are geared for senior needs.
  • Interruption in routine: Get sick? Surgery? Vacation? Bound to happen. Get back to your workouts. Restart gently.
  • Eating. Go ahead and party occasionally. But generally stick to fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, 4-ounce servings of meats. Sound horrifying to you? Well, do this: Get the cookies, crackers, chips, ice cream out of the house unless you have company.  Concentrate on what appeals to you in fruit, vegetables, fish (not fried.) What tastes good — salmon? green beans? apples? Even my beefy meat/potatoes husband has learned, over the years, and a few heart hospitalizations, to select the salad.
  • Positive self-talk: “This is easy,” or “I did it!” or “I can do this,” are examples I’ve used. Discover your mantra. The brain reveals your natural hidden strength with power words.

Finally, there’s a reason my blog is called “lazyracer.” I hate the morning alarm. Never learned to enjoy being ripped out of sleep. Later in the day, pulling into the underground garage by my gym, I long to recline my car seat and take a nap. I’m a marathoner, winning age-group first places frequently — I win because I want to get the torture over with.

If I can be fit, you can too. I began this piece by talking about a trim figure. That’s not as important as the fact that, at 74, I don’t need statins or any prescriptions. The lean body isn’t for looks, it contributes to robust health. Come, join me.

 

Carrie Luger Slayback an award winning teacher and champion marathoner, shares personal experience and careful research. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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