Sharing new ideas to help strength and weightless as we age.

I came across an article from the Cooperized newsletter related to strength training as we age. It is to our advantage to learn to use resistance training as we age. I have read many studies that show we can slow the rate of muscle loss or even add muscle well into our 90's. We are not all at the same level of health and with our doctor, we can design a fitness program tailored to our needs and health.
There are a variety of tools out there and gyms to use at home or the gym fit for seniors.
Combining walking, biking, running, swimming, gardening, housework there are ways to boost our war to 150 minutes of active movement we need as we age.
In the Article, Lean In and Tone Up Patrick Fisher Cooper Fitness Center Professional Trainer shares the benefits of building lean muscle and practical ways to develop a routine. Because most of us are on some calorie reduction diet we are not taking in the time or calorie intake of muscle builders to bulk up.

60 and after he recommends 45% of our fitness is
strength training. This helps muscle loss and bone
density.

In the article, he talks about changing reps from 12 to 20 or 30 reps which will keep the body challenged to develop muscle definition. 12 reps more weight, 20 to 30 less weight. Several weeks for each one.
Dr. Ken Cooper shares a chart on how the % of cardio and strength training changes as we age. The older we get the more strength training we need.
In practical terms, this helps our heart, brain, and ability to keep us independent able to do what we need to do. Muscle is one way to increase our metabolic rate. Losing muscle makes it harder to lose weight. Keep walking

https://cooperaerobics.com/Health-Tips/Fitness-Files/Lean-in-and-Tone-Up.aspx

Exploring why is so hard to lose weight

I ran across a good article giving four reasons why it is difficult to lose weight, by K. Alicia Fetters contributor to USNews June 10, 2016. You can read the article by clicking the reference follow.

Who we are genetically influenced is health. In 2007, researchers identified a common gene variant by 20 or 30%. "The genes are in our jeans."

In the past 30 years, this gene is not changed but our environment sure has. Fetters writes, “Modern society is set up for us to consume more calories than we burn every day. We just eat more than we did in the past. A lot of food that makes us fat is advertised healthy. Woe is me!

Our bodies are programmed to not want us to starve. In the past, this is many people alive, but today this drive is easily manipulated by her current environment of food, food, food! Our biology and hormones actually working against us to lose weight.

If we lose weight there is a drop in our basal metabolic rate, the number of calories you burn just being alive.

Fetters illustrates this by comparing two men who both way 200 pounds. One of them has always weighed 200 pounds. The other used to weigh 300 pounds and lost weight to two 200 pounds. They are now not equal, for the one who lost weight will have a lower metabolic rate. They will actually walk and fidget less than they used to.

I wonder if the 300 pounders always tended to exercise less than the 200 pounders? If the exercise habit doesn’t change that might explain the metabolic difference?

Obesity can contribute to long-term dysfunction in appetite and rewards centers of the brain, as well as insulin and leptin resistance encouraging fat storage, increased hunger, Fetters reports. 

Not surprising with age there's a natural decline in the metabolic rate.

Binge eating disorder affects approximately 2,000,000 Americans any a clinical level. Why do we eat pass what we need, memories, emotions coping skills learned in childhood affect how we look at food.

What can you do to make weight loss easier?

Just realizing that weight loss is hard can relieve some of the confusion and frustration for those who are

struggling to lose weight. Almost 2 months ago I started with the premise that losing weight is hard. The reasons may be complicated and in personal experience compromised by so many difficulties. Knowing that losing weight is hard has a way of taking away the lifetime burden of it. My effort right now is can it be done. This is part of a long-range goal for me to attempt. 

We need may not be able to control the environment around us, we can take control of our personal environment in our reaction to it. I can use the app my net dairy to eat only what I have investigated and planned and ignore the calorie-rich environment. Divide what I eat out to fit my plan. Choose portions within my range to lose weight, including my fun foods. Use the information gained to live within a plan to lose. 

Like any health plan get the support you need. 

One idea as weight is loss learn to do muscle resistance known to increase our metabolic rate

Weight loss is hard, especially if we have been fat for a long time. Can weight loss really be done? The US News article explores the problems. If I lose weight, what might then can I expect? What information and plan gives me the best chance? Think through the article and questions for yourself and keep walking.

https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/2016-06-10/4-reasons-its-so-hard-to-lose-weight-and-how-to-bust-through-them

weightloss and a kitchen safari

So far 13 lbs. This particular approach I am trying is early in the game. My attempt is an effort to exploere the question of why is it so hard to lose weight? Another question, Can a healthy weightloss occur when one is older? Walking with the fatman I have experienced alot of setbacks and failed attempts. In the last five weeks I have challenged my self to the task of weightloss. Another question I have asked myself is can I encourage others who can't lose weight. I do think it is hard.
When I look at the day's numbers being on track helps me to not wonder in a safari to kitchen that may bag me a couple of thousand of calories. It is really easy to put on the lbs. The app My Net Dairy is helping to have information of where I am at to help me shut done eating late at night.

Eat meal forces me to plan what I am eating. To think about the portion in regard to health has its own spin. I think too pull this off helps to have others give their thoughts, but then move on.
Besides the diet, I am still working on the fitness game. One switch I am working on is to change from a owl and do things more in the day. I think it will lend itself to move movement.
Getting to bed and knowing when to quit eating are two things I am learning to do. You may be thinking da! But actually losing weight is hard and each of us have our own battles. Mine just happen to be too many.
Another observation I have become aware of is if I have reacched my goal, exercise actually helps lose weight. Calories lost because of exercise is not to eat more but to help the weight to go down. This is actually a new concept in my experience. In the past I would have used exercise to eat more. What do you think? Keep walking

Motivation to lose weight - To nag or not to nag?

Over the years as we age we may look like our pet or we may look like our mate, Over time we lose muscle tone, our bodies bend, thin or overweight we increase our fat tissue and often lose our muscle tissue. In my marriage, I have gone to seed and Barb still looks great.

I was reading an article from the LA Times published two days ago, Instead of nagging your spouse to lose weight, try going on a diet yourself by Karen Kaplan. I followed as well the research behind the article which is fun to do. To get my mind back into the study of statistics, research; I can almost see my brain cells rerouting new connections. Where did I put my glasses?

One of the best examples of a nagging couple is the Lockhorns. They are brilliant in their ribs at each other and somewhere we all find common ground with them. They succeed in the funny papers because both nag. Nagging in marriage isn’t always successful. 

From Proverbs

15:17 “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.”

21:9 “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” In Application a “quarrelsome husband” would fit too.

With married couples if one partner is obese or overweight 37% of the time the other is also obese. With the Lockhorns, Leroy and Loretta seem to mirror each other which is part of their charm. Antidotal examples like the Lockhorns or even a stats is not absolute truth. Couples come in all shapes and sizes. When weight becomes a problem in our health there are times when change is needed, but is hard to motivate the other. One of the best ways is to create positive change is to lead by example. 

Motivating our loved one to a healthier outcome is at the heart of the article. Ah, in marriage the lovely art of nagging, often it is tried and so little succeeds. Probably the best way to look at is true the funny pages. The Lockhorns come to mind.

In this study the spouses wanting to encourage a healthier diet were encouraged to enter a weight-watcher program themselves or given a handout  with information of diet and exercise. Those who entered weight-watcher lose 9.5 lbs. or 4.5% of their body weight and those who had handout loss 7 lbs. or 3.2% of their body weight. A loss of 3% of our body weight brings positive health change. 

What about their spouses? They on average loss 5 lbs. from the weight-watcher group and 4 lbs from the hand out group. That roughly calculated to 2.09% of their body weight. There were 32% of non-dieting parters achieved body mass drops by 3% benefiting from the weight loss in their health.

The participants, the dieters received $100 dollars for completing the study. A nice little behavioral motivation that had to affect the outcome. 

Leading by example rather than nagging would seem to be a better strategy. But I wonder from this study if paying people to lose weight wouldn't be a better strategy. Keep walking

Baby Steps to lose weight p. 1 What can we learn from Bob Wiley?

Bill Murray & Richard Dreyfuss  gave us an over the top comedy, "What about Bob?" Dreyfuss plays an uptight psychologist who has written a book he hopes becomes a  best seller and thus fulfilling all of his dreams. The book becomes his magic pill for happiness. What comes into his life is a tornado personality, Bob.

Murray the perfect obsessive-compulsive personality cannot leave his apartment without having a perfect meltdown. He wears psychologists out like bad underwear. He is happily referred Dr. Leo Marvin who himself just under the skin is a meltdown waiting to happen. He named his son, Sigmund and his daughter, Anna Freud's famous patient. 

The running gag in the film is the conflict of Bob needing 100% support and time of this soon to be famous psychologist. Dr. Leo runs his life on his own obsessive compulsive schedule. Patients are seen at the office and only in their time frame. He also has order beyond normal of people in his family. We like him because he likes his family despite himself.

Bob’s need to have 24/7 healthcare drives him to impossible situations. He has a way to have people like him, at the same time they can't wait to be released from his overwhelming energy.

Dr. Leo Marvin's contribution to psychiatry is his idea of “baby steps” small steps of a successful behavior repeated until the next step. Bob gives the impression that this is what he always needed. But it is a ruse because what he wants is around-the-clock attention. 

The only was the kids could get Bob to sail was to tie him up

Bob's personality has his fans. A couple who takes Bob to the psychologist's home and  sees Bob as the perfect weapon to make Dr. Leo Marvin miserable. Marvin bought the couples home which they did not want to sell but had to. Bob wins over Dr. Leo's family and they adopt him and Bob has all kinds of fun with the kids that Dr. Leo Marvin has a problem doing. In the long-awaited interview on TV, Bob dominates the interview and becomes an instant celebrity all the while praising “Baby Steps” in helping him enjoying a normal life with the doctor's family. Doctor Leo goes rapidly downhill from there. 

 Rent the movie and watch the gag develop.

In my next blog I hope to show because obesity is a chronic problem in which few ever return to a healthy BMI. The numbers are stacked against us. Losing weight happens about 20% of the time. Most of us regained weight. Can we lose weight as we get older? Is there way to move the weight scale in the right direction for the rest of our life. Added to this is the problem we have as we get older to lose muscle but again fat. All of a sudden, thin people with lack of muscle lose their independence and risk heart disease. 

For those who are are overweight liked myself we need to eat better. All of us as we age need to learn to exercise better to gain muscle to maintain our lives as independent people longer. Exercise can help weight loss, but what we eat is the main problem. Learning to rehab and recover; Learning strength training to slow down muscle loss and even be able to add muscle into our 90's is actually possible today. Keep walking

Weightloss is hard work, no doubt about it

I am come to the conclusion that I am no expert when it comes to losing weight. My experience, research has indicated to me that is harder then I thought. Most people who are heavy may at times lose weight only at some point in the future put it back on. It can become very discouraging. 

In this sense, a weight problem is more like diabetes than a broken bone. Weight problems tends to be chronic. Often fat issues become other issues like diabetes. We may have been active and carry weight all of our lives with very little problems. But as we age this may change. Our health problems with overweight can move into various areas such is our cardiovascular health, certain cancers, mobility, and take on metabolic problems and inflammation. 

Most this stuff you may know. But looking at obesity, being overweight as a chronic and life long problem shows the need to adapt strategies that will be more successful. 

This is where I am no expert. I haven’t been able to do this yet. I lost 60 lbs. and life threw a couple curveballs I couldn’t hit,  the weight returned. Add on injury and having CP and walking (my lifelong friend) became difficult. I have been honest about this but not good enough to pull off positive results. 

Losing weight is no easy problem.   

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;” Shakespeare

Jon Treloar put it this way:

Once more into the Fray...

Into the last good fight I'll ever know.

Live and Die on this day...

Live and die on this day... 

For me to turn the page moving to a better place I will need to be:

• Consistent - Consistency has to start somewhere. Anyone with a weight problem can sing the song of woe about the many times we lose this. The book of Lamentations shares:
• Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, [does not perish] (We don’t give up, Reeves paraphrase) for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness!

Consistency in health is a good habit. We can develop a good habit in about five months according to Dr. Cooper. Are you willing to start a new habit?

• Whatever diet you decide is good for you, it is about 80 to 90% of the real work that I will have to do to lose weight. There is always the motivation of looking better, but I know improving the way I live will help me to do the hard work that it really is. A heart healthy diet seems to be at the core of this.

Right now I am dividing my evening meal into two meals and going back to dividing meals I have out. 

• Exercise changes as we get older. We need to move it over lose it. Daily aerobic activity such as walking, running, biking, swimming may at first be just a goal to get started; but as we develop the skill it can be a key part of cleaning arteries, helping our inflammation and pain, and help us to maintain our ability to live like we want. Strength training helps us slow down muscle loss. We can still build muscle but we would have to be committed to a solid strength training routine for older adults. Keep in mind we build muscle more slowly as we age. Flexibility may come with movement, but as we get older we may benefit from stretching, yoga, pilates. It is worth looking at workout programs for seniors and as our abilities improve we can challenge ourselves. Exercise is very important to be in touch with your body and what your doctor thinks. For me I have moved from walking to biking.

The last two weeks I have been biking everyday. I will be getting bike scooter to go on outings and walks with Barb. The scooter has peddles for me to exercise. It comes apart for transport. I also have gotten my outdoor recumbent geared up as well. Biking has to be my walking. Keep walking 

Are there benefits to being over weight?

In today's Wall Street Journal there's an article titled Are There Health Benefits to Being Overweight? What I like about the article is that they have two experts who argue both sides of the question.

A few things I took away from the article for longevity you are better to be at a healthy weight that is fit. You can have serious problems if you're a slightly overweight and not fit. You can also be at the right weight and if you are not fit have problems. Being physically active helps you no matter what your weight is. If you are heavy you can be fit, but there are problems with the weight. If you are moving and active you can help your health. 

If you are obese and take the weight off there can be big benefits. There is hope not to give up on being fit and being at a better weight. 

I have always felt as you get older weight brings more problems. I also think it is very hard to lose weight and over time successful weight loss it's hard to maintain. Check out the arguments and the science of it. And keep walking

http://www.wsj.com/articles/are-there-health-benefits-to-being-overweight-1460340290?tesla=y&cb=logged0.7175424543675035

Fan man can lose more weight

All my life I have seen to sweat more than most people. In part I think it's because of the contraction my muscles do automatically due to my cerebral palsy. I am use step converters to get an idea for 10,000 steps a day. And from there to understand the calories burned. Today I looked at seven different sources on the Internet to calculate count calories and walking. In each one, they came up with the different estimates. The sources are good sources but it is obvious they are not using the same way to calculate the calories.

The one thing that they all agreed with is the heavier you are the more calories you burn walking. To lose one pound you have to lose 3600 cal. If you weigh 300 pounds you will burn three times more weight then your 100 pound friend for the same activity. The key would be to do the walk and not add anymore eating and you should lose weight rather consistently. If you trade to calories that you were burning for more food you may not gain weight but you won't be able to lose because of increased eating.

Losing a pound a week or every two weeks seems like forever when you’re heavy. Be patient, and while you are at it notice how much better you feel. Keep walking.

“Why is it so hard to lose weight?”

It has been on my mind for a while the question, “Why is it so hard to lose weight?” Begs to be answered. You can look on any health show at the audience and there are no lack for obese participants. Many times I am seeing obese people filmed, one man was sleeping watching a game and the announcers made fun of him. To be honest and fair I laughed before they started talking. Often you will see people drinking a soda, or a bag of chips or whatever the food gurus say not to eat and the commentator or implied audience looks down and judgmental at they have a person choosing something we probably all like to eat. We are born hypocrites.

Consider how easy it is to put on 10 pounds in a year. It only takes 100 calories a day more then you burn. I'll hundred calories is not much. 

For a minute let's entertain the idea that we really don't know how to lose weight. There is a real possibility that there are many things that work against us. For a moment, let us set aside the few pictures of fat people we see everyday and in multiple times more pictures the beautiful people which I think gets us a little off track. What keeps us from losing weight?

1. Guilt
2. Aging (we live in a fallen world)
3. Our brains
4. Our hormones
5. Our organs
6. Our muscles
7. Our created or evolved desire do not starve to death 
8. Our lack of physical work due to a change in how we work
9. Our technology vs. walking
10. Our dependence on processed foods

I can go on with the bigger list and I'm sure that you can add a few things then I'm not thinking about but you get the idea. There are both reasons why we put on weight and a hard time getting it off. Since most of us are having a problem with this let's dispense with the guilt. In surfing the net on the subject today it is clear that we need more study on this question. If you are like me the task of being healthier is ahead of us. We can't give up but we can think, “Damn this is harder than I thought.” I think the swearword catches the frustration a little better.

It seems clear that weight loss is a long term goal. The fact is when we decide to lose weight we will have to deal with her own body fighting us about this. Chemically the body tells us to put the fat back on for at least two years after we lose the weight. Losing weight also may jumpstart depression and other mental struggles. The goal of better heart health outweighs our internal battles but let us be prepared for a lifelong goal. Keep walking