Who ever said: “Life begins at forty!” This statement may be true, but man can you ever pack on the pounds after 39!
There are some irrefutable facts of getting older. It is a simple law of nature; as the gray starts peaking through the color strands of hair, the metabolism begins to slow down. Although many of us marching into our middle ages certainly know this fact, we still do all we can to avoid it! Fad diets, diet pills, hours and hours of working out; for some people, even surgery becomes an option, look at Joan Rivers! We will do anything to cling to our youth and usually spend so much time and money trying to do so we often overlook the positive aspects by being over the age of 40.
Maturity is supposed to bring a bit of a deeper perspective, even a mellowing. If we only applied our supposed wisdom to our own weight loss or weight maintaining goals, we might be able to really enjoy ourselves.
Most of us in our forties are in the full swing of family and careers. Due to this time of our lives, it is hard to find the time to workout, let alone go to the park for a jog. But these are the years when we can benefit from the fresh air; the time we should take to scamper and run and play with our kids, maybe even pick-up a Sunday morning touch-football game with friends. If we keep our goals realistic, instead of trying to train to be a marathon runner or power lifter, we can usually see some good results with consistent exercise and healthy eating.
As we continue to get older we loose muscle mass and skin elasticity, this may actually be a good time to pick up those free weights. A little light weight lifting helps fit against osteoporosis; nothing too strenuous. Mixing a good cardio workout with a little light lifting can keep those muscles in shape. Breaking wooden blocks in your karate class might not be the best thing for you at this stage of the game, but you certainly should keep the stretching and principals of discipline defense as part of your everyday routine. Don’t try to out do those teenagers running round the track with you, set a good aerobic pace for your muscles, one which they can handle, and maybe push yourself slightly beyond a comfort zone a little more each day. Join the millions upon millions of people, of all ages, who take a nice long walk after dinner or drop in your gym pool for a few laps.
Striving for realistic goals and avoiding injury is what the over 40 crowd needs to realize; getting hurt later in life can set you back months, even years! Sure, we have all heard the story of the grandmother who climbed Mount Everest, or the forty-three year old stockbroker who has been training to run every major marathon this year, but those people are the exception to the reality of life. Does the news media explain the reason behind why an elderly woman wanted to climb Mount Everest? Was it in memory of a loved one or a goal she has wanted and slowly trained in a ten year time frame? We forget our minds are a very powerful tool when wanting to achieve a goal and the mind can push our physical activity further than we ever thought possible.
In most cases we will not be able to keep up with those twenty-something’s at the gym, but who wants to? We already lived our life when we were their age, let them have their time; it is time to enjoy ourselves.
Life begins each day when you rise out of bed and see the beautiful sun shining through the window. While you should not go gentle into that good night you do need to be realistic in just what you can accomplish. At any age we face limitations and early recognition can keep ourselves safe and healthy…and maybe even seeing another forty years.