The question came up in a forum about when you are too old to jog?

This is my answer.

I am 64 soon, I have osteoporosis of the spine.  3 compression fractures of the spine pre osteoporosis of the hips, regurgitating heart valves, arthritis of the feet following all the bones in them having been broken a crushed right leg fixed up with skin grafts, I need to make sure are never injured,  (this is starting to sound comic, even to me), scared lungs, and I’m now on the waiting list for surgery for a growth which we are assuming is benign, but is causing problems.

I JOG.

I will be too old to jog the day I can’t.

Get GREAT shoes, don’t skimp on the cost.

I actually do as much running as I can on soft surfaces like beaches and soft grass.

Do you know I learned I had osteoporosis with a shock in Jan of last year. That is when I took up jogging, jumping and weights as directed by the osteoporosis association of Australia. 

I have since achieved a certificate in bone health.
I then discovered that walking and bicycling is useless for protecting bone density and we NEED high impact exercise, so our bones get the message to keep building new bone tissue, if we do all this low impact stuff I was advised to do in my mid life, we get to our senior years, with osteoporosis because we have been giving our bones the message, they are not required any more, slow down, age, let the osteoblast (the cells that build new bone) die off.
If you do not use it you lose it. 

It does not matter if it is weight work, including jumps or jogging but mid life and senior people NEED to do high impact work, obviously within the restrictions of what they are capable off and how serious any pre existing condition is.  Get a personal assesment from an expert before taking generalized advise. Obviously if bones are already too fragile, imact of any type might be the worst thing, so get the best information but I do know that wapping yourself in cotton wool is not the best thing for an aging body unless you want to age faster.

It has been a fantastic first week for preparing to spend winter here at Flying Fish Point, Caravan Park.  Who would have thought that I would have bought my husband Reg  a fishing line on Tuesday not knowing if he would use it and he has already caught six fish :-).  Nothing like fresh cooked, whiting and salad, for a healthy, breakfast, lunch or tea.  

Healthy meals are going to be a easy, we will be eating white fish regularly at this rate as Reg is loving the experience of fishing..Sunday tomorrow will also be the day, I have committed to getting out of bed before dawn and to be outside, exercising at dawn. :-)  Not too hard as I will be in tropical Queensland watching, the sun rise over a beautiful ocean and my man fishes for our breakfast. What joy.

Meanwhile back in Victoria, winter is setting in and one of our daughters, has the job of organizing our car and caravan registration, renewals, fire insurance quotes and all those bills we could not set up as auto deduct from our accounts. Thanks Leanne J, you are a gem. 
 

Today Reg and I went on one of the lesser know walks in the Grampians, the Tunnel Track from Pomonel, a historic, bridal trail.

The distance we covered was seven kilometres, the elevation change was 230 meters and the grade was rated as medium, though the path was overgrown, in poor condition and the stones were loose and slippery in parts, not the fine well managed paths  of the better known walks in the National park.

The huge advantage to us was that the walk was in a state forest and we were able to take our poodle Indigo with us.
 

The walk began at the end of Tunnel Road, which is single lane and would be high clearance vehicles only, 4wheel drive advisable, as there are sandy sections, rocks and deep gutters in the road.  I have only just replaced my car tyres, I prefer not to drive on roads like that too often, you could walk in from the car park near the Pomonal store, and this would add a further 7 kilometres to your walk.
 

Today we began this walk from as close as we could drive to it, from the small car park at the end of tunnel Road, Pomonal.  From this car park, the track wound steadily around the contour of the mountainside, past rocky outcrops and we climbed to the top of the range. 

As we descended to the otherside, there were magnificent views over Lake Bellfield and the Serra range. The walk goes all the way down to Lake Bellfield so you could do the walk one way if you had someone to pick you up from the base of the mountain.  We retuned via the same route. 

When I got back to the car, I remembered, to do my stretching exercises, and I have had a good rest this afternoon editing my pictures from the walk.  This walk was well worth the effort for the views and for me, the calorie burn; I estimate would be close to 1,000 calories. 

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I did my Biggest Loser full bodywork out choosing the mid length and the longer length beginners programs, before bed last night.  A few of the exercises called for a full length body stretch on the floor and a sideways movement of the arms and I am sure I will be able to do this on our eco-tourer caravan floor by positioning the consol, ‘just right’ and having the table folded away.

One of the exercises involved jogging and skipping on the spot. I have already tested to see if I could do this in our caravan with the stabiliser feet down, and I can, though I suspect it will be a case of ‘if it’s a rocking, don’t come knocking’, and I can guess what people who see the van rocking, will think. 

The Wii biggest loser program has an option that I have not yet tried, but I can see how useful it would be, it is for you to tailor make your own exercise routine from those in the menu rather than doing all the set ones.  This would allow you to eliminate any exercise that you were uncomfortable doing in a caravan, or that your knees might not be up to, like for instance the skipping and jumping.  I may remove them from the program when we travel in the van but I will make a note to, still do them, on the outside of the van as jumping happens to be a fantastic bone density, improving exercise.  Again, if you are a senior, or have health or bone density concerns get expert advice before exercising.  I am not recommending do as I do, just reviewing and reporting how this program is working for me.

After I had completed two different full bodywork outs, I did the yoga workout and then the stretches. I exercised for over an hour. I enjoyed it, loved that I was able to work at the best I could do. Did not feel embarrassed by my clumsiness as there was no one around to see me, and I could take a little longer to catch my breath in a water break as I had control of the start button.

I did find there was no ‘stop go back response’ if you change your mind after beginning an exercise routine, it keeps going, lol, J, just like a good trainer, there is no ‘cope out’ button.

There are some exercises, I groan when I see they are coming up. Ones like ‘the plank’, I hate doing. These are mixed in amongst exercises I like doing and while there is the option to tailor make the routines and only do those exercises I enjoy. There is no way I will let myself not do the plank, it will just become a challenge to become proficient at it, so it no longer represents the bad guy in the routine.

In the Yoga, I have the routine they call, swimming and I call ‘Superman’, it is a routine that has helped me strengthen my core muscles and help  me not injure my osteoporosis back, as easily.  I had a tendency to skip doing it, when it was up to me to choose to do it or not, I doubt that many people actually could enjoy doing Superman. It is worth while my doing it as it is one exercise that leaves me feeling so good after I’ve made the effort to do it, knowing that this one exercise is going to pay off in huge dividends for me in terms of fitness.

The stretches and cool down followed the yoga, again I tend to skimp on these when I am exercising at gym, always anxious to get home to Reg, so to be able to do these at home or in the caravan with a guide up on the screen, will ensure I actually do them . Body flexibility is something I need to work on. 

I showered after my late night exercise, slept so soundly. Woke in the morning with my knees and tuck shop arms telling me I had done some unaccustomed exercise the night before, just as my core muscles had told me they, ‘had been used’, the previous morning. It was not pain and that feeling that I have been using muscles and strengthening them, gives me a feeling of exhilaration, (or is that the endorphin high J you get from exercise) and I feel fantastic this morning.

Reg came past me while I typed this and offered me a big buttered white bread bun and I rejected it.  Now that to me is one of the greatest benefits of having done a work out like the one I did the last two nights.  There is NO WAY; I am going to work, that hard, then undo the good I have done my body, by eating refined carbohydrates and hydrogenated or saturated fats.  When I eat today, I will not be thinking ‘diet mentality’, but I will be thinking delicious healthy portion controlled food I will love and will love me.  Exercise keeps me focused on caring for myself.

Well time I did some active work for the day.  I have our ‘troopy’, booked in at Toyota for service next Friday so I need to clean it out on the inside before then, that will fit in well with my discipline to strive for active afternoons. I also need to get some auto insurance quotes and see if it is worth repairing the damage to my passenger door that happened when another car sideswiped our extension mirrors.  That was a reminder to us to not, drive down narrow streets towing a caravan in traffic if I can help it, ever again.

Keep active, keep it fun and enjoy life J as a very wise person reminded me last night  

Quote

‘Don't over do it. Keep it fun. More healthy that way. Remember hugs and cuddles are exercise too.

Bob Herdsman  

“Bob Herdsman, thank you for caring about others and encouraging them, it was so very much appreciated, I wonder if you realize how many lives you have touched and benefited, you  are an inspiration to many and I will take note of your advice”

Cheers, Kathy

 

Wii is WOW! :-)! I did the Biggest Loser workout upper body and stretches 30 minutes then Biggest Loser Yoga and stretches. First time I have done my Superman's, for a while, :-), good to be back on track again with some new motivation. I felt I needed that fitness, kick in the butt :-).

The Wii Biggest Loser Program is a fun way to set fitness and or weight loss goals and you are able to work out in the space available within a medium to large caravan. Our Eco-tourer caravan has a table that folds back to the size of a coffee table and this will give me enough space to perform all the exercise I tried in my one-hour work out tonight.  Yes, the Wii was bought to help get me at peak fitness level before we travel again in autumn and to travel with us and allow me to continue in the fitness program I have set myself, while on the road. 

So tonight was my Day One of using the Wii many of the exercises were comparable to those I would do at gym under a fitness trainers direction and I loved that at the push of a button, I could take a little longer rest break to drink some water between sets of exercises.

Yes this is the gym you can take on tour with you, compact in size, only your body length and width with arms spread out, space to work in required. The set up cost was $495.for the console, balance board, Wii fit Plus and hand held devices and an extra $65. For the Biggest Loser, Wii program, though Target had the lot for $499. But sold out.  Wait a bit and they may be on special again or even drop in price a little, but I wanted to start, NOWJ.   Extravagant set up cost for a senior, equivalent to a year’s gym membership at a seniors discount rate, but that cost may ensure I use it, and not leave it gathering dust as I do know some people do. 

So day one, I am all enthusiastic.  I have set myself an initial, beginners level four week challenge in the Wii Biggest Loser game and I’ll let you know week by week, how I am going and hope to increase the level of difficulty and set longer challenges, as I progress.

 

Osteoporosis is very common, affecting one in three women and one in twelve men over the age of 50. By my age, more than 50% of women, including myself, have Osteoporosis. 

Bathroom scales measure weight, they do not differentiate between lean healthy tissue and excess body fat. 

Scales do not consistently show evidence and reward the people who are focusing on building a fit healthy body, strength training, to protect themselves from osteoporosis by ensuring they do not lose muscle as they lose weight and gain age. 

I cringe when the focus on the scales leads people to cut calories so low there is insuficient nutrient in the diet, adding to the loss of muscle and bone density and the inevitable slowing down of metabolism which is the reason why 95% of all people who diet to lose weight regain all and more weight than they lost.  I have been there too. I was a yo you dieter for most of my life.  My highest weight was 115 kilo and size 22/24 . I am now a size 12 top 14 jeans and I have maintained my size now for over two years. I would like to be size 12, but I want strong bones and muscles a LOT MORE, than i want to loose weight.

I have learned to let go of my focus on the scales and concentrate on doing what I need to do to have a healthy body, which in turn allows me to lead the happy active life I love.

I am sliming, and I do weigh myself, but I am focussing on fitness, strength training, balance, flexibility and not the scales. Because of my fitness actions I am building healthy muscle and bone, I am releasing excess body fat and increasing my metabolism, once more.

I would love you to join me and others who want fitness, slimness, with no public focus on scales, in our ‘loving ourselves’, forum.   The forum is open to anyone interested in receiving and giving emotional support to those wanting weight management and fitness for life.

Contact Kathy for the password and link to join a friendly, no pressure, forum.

 

Most gray nomad, senior travellers are very health conscious these days,  one of the first requirements for many travellers is an adequate size fridge in the caravan  or motor home so they can store sufficient vegetables to allow them to prepare and eat, healthy not too high in calorie or overladen with salt, meals.

If you were striving to slim down and get fitter, before you leave for your trip, are you able to continue towards this goal successfully, while on tour and if so, I would love to have you share your tips to fellow travellers, via the comments  section.

Do you arrive home from your travels wishing you had weight loss supplements, to help recover from having eaten more food and perhaps exercising less than you do when home?

 If so, what is the pit falls you would suggest other travellers might try to avoid?

Here are a few of my travel tips to staying trim and healthy while travelling.

Healthy holiday ideas that also help trim the waistline.

*Holidaying where you can swim and or hike

*Holiday where you can buy fresh vegetables and keep up your 5 serves of vegetables and two fruits even while travelling.

*Continue to eat from all the food groups, and consider portion size of servings.

*Watch the serving sizes of food. A serving size of fruit is one cup, a serving size of beans, pasta or rice, is half a cup. A serving size of salad vegetables is one cup but of starchy vegetables like corn, peas and potatoes, it is half a cup.

*BBQ’s are a part of outdoor life.. Enjoy them while still taking great care of you. It is best to trim off excess fats, limit fatty and highly processed meats as much as possible and limit your protein serving size to around the size of a pack of cards, or your own palm size, a measurement that makes allowance for larger framed people generally being able to consume more calories.  A very high animal protein diet can hinder the absorption of calcium into your bones so if you are wanting more protein food in your diet, can I suggest adding lentils to your stews and serving mixed bean salads with the BBQ’s.  Unless you are exercising vigorously, seniors do not need as high an iron diet as younger people, especially women, do. We do need more bone minerals however..

*Pack an extra travel fridge if the existing one in the caravan is not large enough to hold your fresh vegetable, supplies, between restocking trips to the store.

*Pack a water filter or buy water to encourage you to drink sufficient fresh water rather than calorie-laden beverages.

*Keep up your buddy system, stay in touch with friends who encourage you to live a healthy lifestyle, while you travel.

*Enjoy a healthy, happy hour, try one alcoholic drink and the remaining drinks filtered water.

*When dining out, order wine by the glass instead of by the bottle and don't worry if the food is more calorie laden than what you would cook yourself, enjoy it, eat slowly, and stop when you are satisfied, not stuffed full.

*Low fat yogurt is a great substitute for cream, fruit is a great dessert.

*Inexpensive, powdered non-fat skim milk powder and rolled oats are two lightweight staples we stock up on before we leave home and always make sure we have in stock. Rolled oats is our basic healthy breakfast, at home and on tour, it is high fibre and low salt and sugar.

*Cooking healthy is the way to go, while travelling. Sometimes we pack the thermos cooker and make stews and soups, removing all the fat, before eating, it also cooks a healthy whole grain creamed rice, desert. I use a non stick pan with no more than 2 teaspoons of a good oil, (example olive oil), per day, per person.  I also use a large George Foreman grill and I cook all the vegetables on this, along with the fish, poultry or meat. One appliance cooking is easy and can also be healthy. 

*To cut back further on fats, Reg and I have stopped buying butter and margarine type spread, gives up more space for healthier food in a smaller caravan fridge, as an extra bonus.  We buy the low fat tasty cheese, it’s an easy lunch and with milk, yogurt and a serve of cheese, vegetables like broccoli, and one calcium supplement in the evening, with a few almonds, a senior can get sufficient calcium in their diet to help protect their bone density.

*Holidays are an excellent opportunity to walk. Wear a pedometer and try to get in 1.000 steps. On days when you have long drives, stop and walk every two hours, if not more frequently and do a few press ups agianst the trees or the car bonnet,.

*No need to obsess about your weight or carry bathroom scales, just have at least one pair of tight fitting jeans or a tape measure with you so you can check each week that you are maintaining or achieving your personal weight management goals.

Enjoy your holiday and do not worry excessively about weight, focus on fitness and good health, have heaps of fun and bring back a healthy you and wonderful memories. :-)

 

My gray nomad man is getting his ‘gray with an a for active’ backJ. He went for a gentle stroll by a lake at Mooroopna Victioria while I worked out to get ready for my next session of the Extreme measures, fitness program I am doing.

I ran in the park with the dog, and Reg walked. His effort would have more than equaled mine, he is recovering from an illness so it’s still a big effort he is making. :-). I pushed myself harder than I have pushed myself before, could not have run further, under my own pushing efforts,  but not as hard as the trainers at the Extreme Measures  course I am doing at my gym, push me three-four- times a week, that's just short of ~ well, the word says it, EXTREME!.

I have to keep telling myself, while I am doing it, and afterwards. ‘I CAN DO IT’.

I hadn’t deliberately chosen to put myself on such a punishing regime at my age, if I had felt I was achieving my goals on my own, I never would have stepped this far out of my comfort zone, effort wise or financially, to have enrolled in this course. I had set myself fitness goals I wanted to achieve for me, over a three-year action plan period. I achieved an enormous amount in the first ten months, but I had made little gain for almost two years and I chose to step outside my comfort zone to try to come home, within the three-year goal plan period, with a great closing effort.  

The effort has been exhausting, I even slacked off on my writing for a few days, and started to allow self-doubt and the awful four letter word, ‘can’t’’, to be entertained in my mind. Then the possibility of a worse four letter word, ‘quit’, snuck into my head as a possibility after Friday’s grueling effort when I had not even recovered from the athletic, one hour work out in the Shepparton Park on the Thursday. I gave myself the weekend as recovery days, and I have mind and body back focusing on my goals again as of Monday, the start of my week two of the eight week, Extreme Measures program.

Thursday’s park workout, consisted of running up stairs two at a time, press ups, running down steps star jumps, repeated numerous times, then jogging, interspersed with lunges, pushups,  sit ups, press ups, running up and down steep hills for one hour, nonstop and no concession for age or low aerobic fitness.

I made an effort to focus on those things I love, nature, the river, the parkland, trees, green grass and rose gardens. I LOVED that much of Tuesday, all of Thursday’s and some of Friday’s exercise was done out of doors. This pleased the gray nomad nature lover’s soul of mineJ.

 I saw it as a positive that we were working-out as a group with trainers, as it gave me the confidence to do exercise out of doors.

Friday’s Extreme measures program began with my barely able to take those steps two at a time and certainly not at a running pace, I part ran and mostly walked up those stairs. I managed to do all the exercises required that day though still exhausted from the Thursday, I was grateful there were more upper body and weight work outs, allowing my feet to recover from the running of the previous day.  I had to sit out one short sprint, and sat down and rested during one exercise. I was proud of what I achieved. I found the Chinese wrestling we did, outside with a partner, great fun and easy compared to the work out of the previous day.

We went inside and did circuit training. In this, I found the hearing impairment I have, a problem, as the main instructress did not understand that yelling into a microphone, fast instructions does not make words clearer.  If your hearing impaired like I am , you know rapid loud words with a head turned away is harder to hear than normal volume normal speed speech and many of us seniors throw in a bit of lip reading too, so talking to you while looking away from you, makes it all just muffled noise. One wonderful member of the group would ‘show me’ the action I was required to do, whenever I looked in her direction with that, ‘confused look’, on my face.

When I got home after the work out, on Friday night, I just about fell, rather than stepped up the step to the porch and fell through the door.  Week one Extreme Measures completed. They said ‘if you cannot say something positive, do not say anything’, and so I cannot say how I was feeling’.

I had asked those who have done the course, ‘Will it get easier’, they replied, ‘No it gets harder’.  I began to think, ‘I had to have been mad or just plain insane to have enrolled to do this course at my age and fitness level’, and that, ‘the gym had been unwise to recommend that this would be within my ability to do it’.

I don’t like to quit anything, I set myself and I remind myself I chose to do the extreme measures, for a reason, to achieve an increased fitness goal and pep my metabolism up. My reasons to enroll in a group program like this one, is because healthy eating and activity levels that had allowed me to release a large part of my excess weight were not allowing me to release the last of my excess body fat, I am still soft and wide in the middle. I did not intend to go on any stupid, harm my muscle and bone density diet, just to strive to achieve a goal weight and I was not prepared to quit on my goal and believe it was unachievable. Releasing this excess fat by increasing my aerobic activity and strength training through this Extreme Measures program is going to help me trim up and maintain my bone density at the same time. This effort now and a bit of ongoing effort to maintain the fitness level I am pushing to reach, will reward me with benefits in body and bone health for years to come.

I am thinking of enquiring if ‘The Crocs’, the local Masters Swimming team, would like to have me as a member to train for competitive swimming in seniors events, once I have completed my extreme measures program. Never in my life competed in competitive sports.  I am also hoping to fit gym classes into my routine along with my current regular weight workouts at the gym. Already my mind is planning where this increased fitness will take me and after Thursday, I knew I had the ability to tackle any of the great bush walk climbs that Reg and I did in our younger days. The Horn at Mt Buffalo and The Pinnacle at the Grampians come to mind as hikes we have loved and efforts I had stopped making following some of the injuries and illnesses of my mid life. The bodies amazing ability to recover, if given time and encouragement, always fills me with awe.

What I am doing in this program, will certainly achieve both those goals. I planned that if I am to get through this Thursday and Friday sessions, I need to train from Monday onward this week, and so I have lifted, pushed and pulled weights in the gym last night and done some aerobic fitness training by running in the park with the dog today.

I am programming my body and mind in preparation for my next Extreme measures sessions. Once I complete this coming Thursday and Friday’s back to back rigorous fitness training sessions I can proudly know I am a quarter of the way through the course.

I will allow myself to entertain the words, ‘pace myself’ , also ‘modify to within my ability’, in my head and I am working VERY HARD, programming my mind to focus on thinking and believing, ‘I CAN’.

Time I set myself a few rewards for effort as incentives along the way. J, lol, in my forties, on a professional income, my mind might have thought of things like, loose diamonds, as my reward. For this Extreme Measures goal completion, at sixty three, I’ve little desire for adornment incentives, so I purchased a clean skin bottle of sparkling chardonnay and popped it away in the fridge. I will toast my achievement when I complete my extreme measures program, with the family, on Christmas day.