Fitness Food and You

This blog is about two ponds.

Here’s what I keep noticing, when riding my bike. I pass a pond on my left. The pond has a fountain, which keeps the water moving and flowing. It has a plethora of lily pads, and it looks so delicious that every time I pass it, I want to hop off my bike and jump in to cool off.

A quarter of a mile up the road, also on the left, is another pond, about the same size. The only difference is that there is no fountain. The water is not moving and there is thick layer of green, pond scum. This pond is far from appealing. In fact, every time I pass it, I brace myself for a bad odor, which thankfully, isn’t present.

I’m sure you know where this is going: Bodies are the same way. They do NOT do well without movement. So many things go downhill when a body is sedentary: There will be muscle mass decline, bone loss, a weaker immune system, a decrease in strength and cardio-respiratory fitness, an inability to complete regular daily activities, a decline in well-being and an increases in malaise.

While there are so many articles, studies, stories and podcasts on what specific exercise to do, my advice, if you are doing nothing, is to start doing something. It actually doesn’t matter what that activity is—it just has to be something that you like, so you will do it. Start out small—aim for 10 minutes a day and slowly build on that. It’s the best way to start because so often, we feel overwhelmed with what to do and for how long we should be doing it, that we wind up doing nothing. 

A stagnant body is precarious. Be your own “fountain of youth” and keep your body flowing and moving!

Some people weight train to get the perfect beach body. And there are many trainers out there that promote creating these bodies. Given that I am a “mature” trainer and my client population ranges from ages 40-80, I’m not all that interested in the aesthetics that go along with lifting weights, although it sure is a nice added bonus. Instead, I want each person to make strength gains, to have a strong core and great balance. While each client is unique, I have one major goal for all of them: I don’t want them to fall.

Falling creates a myriad of problems. Studies have shown elevated death risks after a fall involving broken bones. Once recovered, there might be significant changes in doing regular daily activities, which could have a huge emotional impact, leading to depression and feelings of despair. Since human beings are designed to move, not moving negatively impacts our immune system. We all have heard of cases where an elderly person has fallen leading to, “the beginning of the end.” Falling is NOT good.

The good news is that weight training is great for your bones. Core and balance training will help prevent falls. You don’t have to be a former athlete to start lifting weights. You don’t have to have prior experience with resistance training. You just have to find a good trainer, who can teach you the fundamentals, and show up with an open mind. Regardless of how old you are, you WILL get stronger.  That’s why my favorite client is someone who has never done strength training before. 

When people get physically stronger they also get mentally stronger. This makes them feel empowered. The empowerment spills over into other areas of their lives. I have been a trainer for almost 20 years and I can tell you that when I bear witness to this metamorphosis, it feels miraculous.

If you are a woman over 50, start weight training. Protect your bones and protect your life. It is NEVER too late to start!  

Years ago, when my daughter’s SAT scores came out, she said, “Mom, I did pretty well!” She seemed happy, which was a huge relief for me. She went into her bedroom for about 2 minutes, came out and declared, “I did AWFUL on my SAT’s!” What happened? She went on social media. This was back in 2007 way before Instagram, and when Twitter was just launched. While social media has some benefits, one huge con is how it makes you feel about yourself when you pay too much attention to what other people are doing. Seeing posts and comments from others might make you feel inadequate, jealous, or discouraged, among other feelings. This is why I choose to NOT to be on any social media, other than this blog. 

When it comes to exercise and fitness, making comparisons to others is futile. Your progress and success is relative to you and only you. Recently, I started seeing a new client who leads a sedentary life. She told me that she does about 1,000 steps a day. I encouraged her to do a bit more. She was thrilled when she started walking 2,000 steps a day. If she compared herself to someone doing 10,000 steps a day, she would feel awful. Instead, she felt a sense of accomplishment and with that feeling of empowerment, she increased her activity remarkably. If I initially suggested for her to increase her steps from 1,000 to 10,000, she probably would have felt overwhelmed and paralyzed.

If you want to make fitness changes, stop looking at other people. See where you are starting from and make a TINY change. Feel that success and then do it again. Keep this up and before you know it, you will make some significant progress. And whatever you do, NO SOCIAL MEDIA PLEASE!