Dare to be Greater

August 18, 2018 – 

I have been listing to my elders for years about the plight of aging.  Oh my pains, my problems, my strength, my balance and oh my goodness … the list goes on and on.  Would any of us believe these issues could happen to us … not one!  We know what we look like, feel like, and what to expect. Or so we think!  What I mean by that, is for those of us who are gaining weight, we know that if left untreated there is a high probability of diabetes, joint pain, increased blood pressure, postural disorders, and you all know the litany of issues associated with extra body fat.  Don’t we?! This would be a good place to attach a link to the list of the negative side effects of obesity.  But, we are in an information society so you probably already have the link.

Sit in front of an elementary school for an hour and brace yourself at what you see.  It is an absolute horror.  When I was that age, there was ONE fat kid in our school (only about 300 kids in my grade school of 1-6^th) and that was it.  Again, that was in the early 70’s and (as God as my judge) we walked a mile to school every morning and walked a mile home.  Yes, I know … in the snow too, for a few months each year. It happened!  Plus sports, outdoor play time, weekends camping with the Boy Scouts … healthy foods and exercise made it easier to stay skinny.  Today, the world is a different place and we must adapt.

But ,back to us old people, aging happens and sometimes so do the symptoms.  Dare to be great not just old; stay strong, stay flexible, and exercise often!  I can tell you all the times I have listened to friends tell me of their OLD AGE issues I blew it off thinking, “that will never happen to me, I am a Personal Trainer.”  Ok, that thinking was stupid.  Aches are real, high blood pressure is real, and weight gain is a reality for me today. A lot of people take thyroid medicine, blood pressure medicine, and cholesterol medicine … its rather common.  And sometimes it is due to genetics.  As we age we all have to be sure that we are not adding to our genetic pre-disposition by self-induced behaviors … Taco Bell, Pizza, and the Couch!

Exercise is one of the most important factors in managing many of the things people face as we age. “‘F.I.T. Human Performance’ can make you feel young again!”  Nothing can make you young again; today you are as young as you will be for the rest of your life.  Age happens and our job when it comes to staying young is thinking young and staying active.

What I will encourage you to think about is a daily checklist for health and happiness.

• … Be nice to people
• … Stand up straight
• … Be confident and make good decisions
• … Smile
• … Drink a lot of water
• … Be thoughtful of what you eat, keep it clean
• … Be conscious of how many calories you consume each day
•    (Be active and exercise to offset both)

In good health,

Bob

‘You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.’ – George Burns