by Pam
Several
years ago I met the conditioning coach for an NHL (national hockey league)
team. He was 40 years old and standing among several 20 something year old
players. He looked the same age as they did but he also looked like he was in
better shape than they were. Back in his 20s he was an Olympic level decathlete
and twenty years later he still worked out and ate as though he were still
competing. Being just a year younger than him, I wanted what he had and he was
free with the advice. The secret was really simple: hydrate like crazy, NEVER eat
anything unhealthy and exercise regularly and the body will respond.
He
talked about exercising being the same as going to school. You can't start in
college or graduate school. You have to start in elementary school and build up
to college level exercise and it takes years.
About
three weekends ago, Doug and I sailed Lasers in Fred's infamous Easter Regatta
in Austin. I sailed three races in light to medium wind and called it quits. Doug
didn't quit and came in 4th. Two weekends ago, Doug and I sailed in a Sunfish
regatta. I sailed three races in heavy wind and then joined Doug on his boat
and didn't sail the 2nd day. Doug didn't quit and came in 2nd. Yesterday, we
sailed Butterflys in some heavy wind.
There were only 3 races and I sailed in all three and was in last place
and Doug sailed in all 3 and had a 1st and two 2nds.
I've
been popping anti-inflammatories for weeks now like they were candy and there
isn't anything that doesn't hurt. Doug gets a solid night's sleep after
sailing and is good as new the next day. It's really starting to tick me off.
A couple of months ago, we
were headed to the lake for some weekend sailing and I said, we need to grab a
snack to take for lunch. We got in the car and I looked over and Doug had an
apple and a banana and I had a box of Girl Scout cookies.
You
have to learn to walk before you run.
The
body will respond to the stress you put upon it.
A picture is worth a thousand words … and this one is getting taped to my bathroom mirror.
I got told in the 80s about the four E's diet. In order of importance it reads: Eat less, Eat well, Exercise and finally: Eternally.
ReplyDeleteStill going strong!
Good for you! Do you have any advice on motivating someone to follow such simple advice.
DeleteStart!
DeleteThe point the nutritionist was making was that it has to become routine. I basically don't think about what I am eating anymore. I can go on an Easter chocolate and alcohol binge weekend but afterwards I naturally return to the normal diet routine and the body copes and gets back to equilibrium quickly.
I think Phillip has it right. A one-off diet to lose weight might work initially. But you won't keep it off unless you make a permanent change to your eating and exercise habits.
DeleteI am now going to relax in the bath with a glass of red wine. And then have a steak sandwich for my dinner. Bye.
I was thinking last night that I may have been a bit flippant to your request Pam so here is a more detailed response:
Delete1. Eat less - there are plenty of free apps available that you can plug in your daily calorie input and output.
2. Eat well - those same apps also calculate your intake of various minerals, vitamins etc by breakdown of the food you eat. So you can note how much sugar and trans fats etc. you ingest as well as how much calcium and vitamin C etc that you do as well and adjust your grocery shopping to choose better foods.
3. Exercise - this must include aerobic, anaerobic and resistant exercise. When my knees were amenable I would run 2x10kms a week + one game of touch footy + two gym sessions lifting weights + sailing. I use a weight regime suited to bowpersons i.e. upper body mostly doing 75% of max weights in 14 reps, 3 times
4. Ever (Forever, geddit?) AS I stated before & Tillerman concurred, it must become your default position. No two week fads. I can go off the rails for years but as soon as I start on the routine again the body just seems to fall into line pretty easily. I guarantee (not really!) that in two weeks you will feel the difference and in two months you will feel awesome and just go wow is this how easy it is?
The downsides?
1. Learn to live with hunger pains. I work on the premise that I will not eat anything until an hour after the first tummy grumble. Drink water
2. You will pee, fart and poop more!
3. Learn to live with sweat. Hey it's salt water so it's just like sailing.
4. No downside here except that try not to be obsessive about what you eat. Just find the foods that do what you need and stick with them. As I said before you can go off binging but once you get back on the routine the body clicks back pretty quickly.
Hope that helps. Happy to hear any comments
All very good advice and much appreciated. I was blessed with a super fast metabolism that allowed me to maintain my high school weight well into my 40s, eating whatever I wanted and not really exercising but just naturally staying active. In the last year or two, things started to change and I have a lifetime of bad habits with no obvious consequences ... until now. It's definitely time for a lifestyle change.
DeleteWell what kind of Girl Scout cookies were they, chocolate pinwheels or lemon cookies. Big difference in the healthy department. Honestly not really.
ReplyDeleteDo-Si-Dos ... peanut butter is healthy right? Better than the Thin Mints which seem to disappear within minutes of opening the box.
DeleteAhhh but mint is good for your body regulation.
DeleteThat's what I thought and the more the better, right?
DeleteI'm no expert or role model on this but I think part of the secret to following this advice is to find exercise you enjoy. If exercise is just a chore you feel you have to do so you will look good when you are 80, then I think it's very hard to motivate yourself to do it. On the other hand if you actively enjoy the exercise you do, and look forward to doing it, and feel energized after it, then you will find a way to fit it into your life.
ReplyDeleteSo if you don't like running go biking (or vice versa.) If you don't like gyms, lift free weights at home. etc. etc.
And what also works for me is variety. Change the exercise you do from time to time. Swim in the summer. Run a treadmill in the winter. Bike in the spring. Whatever works for you.
I'm the same. Driving by an LA Fitness and seeing all the parked cars reminds me of how we're all different. My body is definitely not my temple. Exercise bores me, so a distraction like TV (or loud music when on the hiking bench) gets me through my routine.
DeleteBut sailing does not feel at all like exercise because it's cerebral, there's lots of fresh air, it's outdoors, low impact, etc., etc. It's not until that evening when I have trouble getting out of a chair that I realize, wow, that was a really good workout!
For me, sailing is a royal butt whooping in wind. I grunt and groan, pulling and tugging at the main sheet, hiking off my toes trying to get more weight out. I start plotting when I'll quit. But I did notice on Saturday in 20+ mph winds that after I had decided to sail one triangle of an Olympic and then quit, as I got to the windward mark and realized I was actually pretty close to the guy in front of me, I was suddenly motivated to keep sailing. If he tipped or made a big mistake, I'd moved up a place ... he didn't tip and I finished the race not too terribly far behind. Funny how things didn't hurt quite as much when closer to the action. If I actually had a boat behind me, it might hurt even less.
DeleteI know exactly what you mean Pam. For many years I chased John Bentley around Laser race courses all over the world. He was always that one guy who was just in front of me. I would always try harder every race where he was within striking distance but could hardly ever pass him (unless he capsized perhaps.) At the time I used to think it was very silly of me to be focusing on one person to beat. But now he's gone I sure do miss him.
DeleteMy metabolism has also always been great and I've generally been a skinny-mini - but no more. All these guys giving advice. :-) Not that it's exactly different between men and women . . but actually I do think it might be a little. At a certain age (not that you're there) women start having a hard time keeping the weight off. We have tended not to lift weighs - and we need to, the older we get. Ken Cooper (the aerobic way) also points that out - for both men and women. And I agree - as we get older we want more weight and more strength. It doesn't have to be weights. It can be pull-ups or push-ups, bands or whatever. Being outside always makes it nicer - so walking with some lunges, stop and do push-ups, etc. Try a rope in the front yard. lol
ReplyDeleteI've tried that rope in your front yard. Not easy. I actually have the books "Strong Women Stay Young" and "Strong Women Stay Thin" and back in my 30s-40s I even lifted weights regularly. I should probably get back into that routine. You, by the way, look fantastic so whatever you're doing, it works!
DeleteAnother great way to stay much healthier is something overlooked by most of society: a ketogenic diet! What that means is basically eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. All the evidence and research demonstrates how eating like this leads to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, heart attack etc. Also, it leads to your body using ketone bodies (fat) to release energy as opposed to glucose from carbs or glycogen stored in muscles. This is great for endurance athletes (sailors) as you don't hit the "wall" experienced through running out of blood glucose, as we can only store 1000-2000 cals of glycogen, but 40,000 + cals of fat! Food for thought for sure...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely food for thought. Age and Doug happened about the same time for me and my diet changed to be more normal when Doug came along. It's been downhill ever since. My normal diet was unconventional but it worked perfectly for me. It was a bit like the ketogenic diet you described but after I tried to eat a more balanced diet, things went off the rails. I'll have to do some research.
DeleteYou did great on that rope and thanks! I do think different diets work for different people which is why some people/books swear by one thing while others swear by something else. I read The Zone at one point and though I don't really practice that I like the balanced approach with some protein, fat, and carbs - in about the proportion they talk about - but no way am I exact about it. For sure I can't get up and have a heavy carb breakfast . . . and have a tendency to want chips (salt) more than cookies (sugar), except for chocolates. Got to have some antioxidant chocolate after my evening meal - but I keep it small. Fruit is good I think because it's got the fiber so doesn't hit you all at once. Read a book called Sugar Blues way back in the seventies and that also influenced me as far as diet. Of course diet and exercise have to work together . .. and I try to do some weight lifting and something aerobic - like biking or walking, then sailing . . . and I need to get back into yoga. Going to have to retire just to stay in shape. lol
ReplyDelete