New Life Day 18

AHA!

RealAge Benefit

Learning a new game that requires brainpower can make your RealAge 1.3 years younger.

This tip fits in perfectly with my family! We are incurable game players -- crosswords, Sudoku, cryptoquotes, cards of all kinds--so this tip affirms we are doing something right while enjoying ourselves in a little brain challenge.  Good for us!

Since starting Plan A, I have continued to do the workplace walk-abouts, wake-up walks, and weekend walks.  Sadly, the pounds -- the ounces, even -- are not exactly falling off.   It's time to beef up the plan a bit, so here are my latest additions:

1.  Remember to take a vitamin and calcium supplement every day.  I'm a horrible pill-taker -- hate 'em -- so I haven't been very successful in making this a daily habit.  I'm trying to find a surefire way to remember to do this everyday.  First thing in the morning doesn't work for me.  Suggestions are welcome.
2. Add a free-weight workout to my repetoire.  Ten-fifteen minutes at least 4 times a week to hopefully tighten up the flabby arms :-).
3.  Lengthen the walks.  Make the weekend walks count by walking at least 30-45 minutes. Step up the pace for the workplace walks.

Off we go to what promises to be fabulous weekend.  Hope yours is too.

New Life-Day 12

I'm 11 days into Plan A -- workplace walkabouts, weekend walks, and weekly wake-up walks -- and I won't say it has gone like clockwork, but I have accomplished what I set out to do and that has me feeling pretty darn good!  I notice I have snacked less at work, partly because I am making myself get up out of the chair regularly, and because I'm more aware of what I'm eating.  I think I'm ready to take the next step in this project, but not sure quite where I want to go with it.  I'll think on it over what promises to be a spectacular Labor Day weekend and be back next week.  Enjoy!

Check out the tip below (from the Real Age website):

High-Calorie Catastrophe
When you overdo it and down a day's calories in one sitting, your body's inflammatory processes go into overdrive. But here's a way you might counter it: Drink orange juice.
In a recent study, people who had eaten a supersized fast-food breakfast experienced a much milder inflammatory response in their bodies when they drank OJ with the meal.

Whatever you do, don't pair that overindulgence with a soda.  Drink orange juice! When researchers compared the effects that three different beverages had on the way bodies process big, fatty, inflammation-triggering foods, sugar water was the worst of the bunch. It seemed to exacerbate the inflammatory response. Plain water fared somewhere in between orange juice and sugar water, but it has the added benefit of being calorie-free. There's also something in OJ that relieves joint inflammation, and it appears to be more than just vitamin C, in addition to tons of vitamin C.

New Life - Day 9

Since "real age" thinking began this adventure, let me talk for a minute about my parents, with whom I spent the weekend.  They are 94 and 92.  I think they are amazing. They still live on their own, in their own home thanks to a lot of support from my sister who lives nearby.  While they are plagued by old-agism (loss of sight and hearing, shortness of breath, muscles and joints wearing out) neither have any serious illness.  I hope I have inherited their long-life genes!

I did walk every day while visiting them and watched what I ate.  When I weighed in today, I was happily surprised to see 2 pounds gone. Ya-hoo! Back at work today, doing workplace walkabouts and eating healthy. 

Als0 from the Real Age site:  http://www.realage.com/look-young-stay-sharp/simply-beautiful-skin/skin-age-test
This is a link to the real age "skin age" test.  Haven't done it yet  -- but I'm going to.

New Life - Day 4

Feeling tired but happy this evening.  Did my workplace walkabouts morning and mid-afternoon, and played golf after work, nine holes, walking. I played lousy but feel good about getting the exercise.  Our group always goes to dinner after golf.  Tonight the restaurant of choice was Old Chicago, and I had a really wonderful Harvest Chicken salad (even though I would normally have ordered pizza -- points for me :-) .

Going out of town for the weekend to visit my 92 and 94 year old parents.  They are amazing! I should be able to stick to Plan A while I'm there. Talk to you on Tuesday... happy life.

New Life Day 3

I realize I'm only into my second day of Plan A, but so far so good!  I did my workplace-walkabout morning and afternoon, and walked at the mall with my sister after a birthday lunch of soup and salad. (Side Note: Walking at the mall is not only good exercise, it can be a motivating experience for weight watchers.  I was pretty amazed at the number of overweight people I saw while walking there -- myself included -- which made me think "That's NOT how I want to look!).  And -- ta da!! -- I managed to get up early and walk this morning!

Saw in the July Good Housekeeping (I'm a little behind) that eating 1 serving (1/2 cup) of blueberries per week can cut your odds of developing high blood pressure by 10%.  Had some in my oatmeal this morning and it was delicious.

Onward with Plan A and now Day 3 is "out there." 

New Life Day 2

Well, I made it through Day 1 pretty well, I think.  Healthy meals all around, and just a little sweetness when I ate a smallish piece of birthday cake (no frosting) at a celebration last night. Did some noon-time walking at the mall.  All in all, a decent day.

So I've been thinking how to go about becoming the younger me.  I honestly doubt my ability to sustain sweeping lifestyle changes such as: Exercise every day!  Eat only good foods and give up sweets!  Ain't gonna happen. So,  I have decided to attack my negative habits-- hmmm, let's call them "less desirable habits" to sound a bit more positive--one small step at a time, turning one new behavior into a habit before moving on to another. But where to start?

One of my biggest issues is my sedentary job -- sitting in front of a computer for the majority of the workday-- and my sedentary hobbies -- jewelry making and reading.  I think my "sedentariness" is a good starting point.

One logical solution would be to join a fitness center, and it is a great solution -- for someone else!  I am totally aware that I have a real hard time a) getting up early enough to exercise before work; b) getting up enough motivation to exercise after work; and c) coughing up the money it costs for a membership.  So, here's what I have decided to try for the next two weeks.  If it doesn't work for me, I'll come up with Plan B.

1. Get up early and walk at least one workday each week.
2. Walk every Saturday and Sunday.
3. While at work, get up from my desk at least every 2 hours or so and do a "walkabout" around the building or around the block for 10 minutes each time.

OK -- Step 1 - Plan A is now officially on record and going "out there" to the blogger world, holding me accountable. Here goes!

Growing Younger

Hi,
Welcome to the first day of my new life. 

Last week I attended a meeting focused on workplace wellness.  The speaker shared a website I found particularly interesting: http://www.realage.com/

This site offers a "test" which takes you through a number of questions related to your lifestyle and health habits.  Based on your responses, you receive a "real age" score  -- that is, the age your body is, not the age your driver's license says.

I couldn't wait to try it. As it turned out, my score was exactly the same as my real age.  I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed about that -- it's certainly better than finding out my body is a lot older than my years (although it increasingly feels that way).  However, it got me to thinking about my eating and exercise habits (considerable improvement needed here), my weight (too high), and my physical activity (too low).

Combine these thoughts with recent issues of Good Housekeeping magazine that have focused on various aspects of aging and products and practices to hold back the flood gates. Seems like the forces have converged to create a reflective awareness of my 62.7 years, and I'm feeling pretty darn grumpy about my current state of affairs.

Sadly, I am rarely motivated to exercise (except for a friendly round of golf followed by dinner).  I have never felt the "high" some people brag about. I value exercise and truly admire those who are self-disciplined enough to stick with it.  I'm just not interested.  Same with food.  I know the difference between healthy foods and unhealthy ones, but, given a choice, I'll take the bag of Twizzlers every time.

So, having confessed my lousy health habits, I am ready to initiate a new effort to address as many things as I realistically can to improve my health and longevity.  I plan to publicly keep track of my progress on this site, not that I expect very many people will read it, but I know it is out there, and that will help me be accountable.  I will also post information that I find helpful to share with any phantom readers out there.

If you would like to journey backward in age and would appreciate some support, join me!