Shape It Up

The scale at the fitness center doesn’t lie.
I stepped on it this week as I do the first Monday of every month. Thirty days ago, I weighed in at 208 pounds, the lowest I’ve been in at least a decade.
Today, after four and a half weeks of working out pretty hard and denying myself beer, candy and most carbohydrates, I was hoping for a reward.
I took off my shoes and placed my feet on the pad. I pushed the large bar to 200, then nudged the smaller bar to the right. It slid past 205… 206… 207… before settling once again at 208.
A stalemate. A “push” in Black Jack. A lot ventured. Nothing gained. But nothing lost either.
Keep in mind, I’m 6-foot-3, so for the age of 53, my 208 isn’t bad. In fact, I’m in decent shape for a grandfather. Probably the best condition I’ve been in since I was in my late 30s.
However, that lack of downward movement on the scale was a prominent reminder of the challenge of losing weight as one gets older. Baby Boomers are finding this out in a heavy way.
The youngest of the Baby Boomers is now 43. The oldest is 61. More than half of us have seen 50 come and go. And we are not in good shape.
A study early this year concluded Baby Boomers are in worse physical condition than their parents were at the same age. Quite a shock to the generation that was weaned on President Kennedy’s Council on Physical Fitness.
Unfortunately, it’s not just us. Our entire country is suffering from a health crisis. It’s estimated 127 million Americans are overweight. That adds up to 64 percent of adults over the age of 20. Those statistics have prompted the American Medical Association to list obesity as the “second leading cause of preventable death” in the United States.
It’s not just the grown-ups, either. Today’s children are heavier and more lethargic than any generation in our nation’s history. The American Academy of Pediatrics says childhood obesity is “a serious health concern” that has “reached epidemic proportions.” It’s estimated 15 percent of America’s children are overweight. The percentage of toddlers and preschoolers in that category has doubled since 1980. The percentage of schoolchildren who are overweight has tripled the past 25 years. That has led some experts to predict the children of the early 21st century will be the first generation in recorded history to have a shorter average lifespan than their parents.
Baby Boomers, we need to lead a charge here. Let’s get off the couch, stop “supersizing” our lunch meals and hit the track and the trail. We need to improve our physical conditioning, not only for ourselves but as a healthy example for the rest of the country. It’s a worthy cause, but it is not an easy task.
The body starts to deteriorate when most people hit their mid-30s. That downhill trend rapidly picks up speed when a person passes the half-century mark. In case you haven’t noticed, your metabolism suffers a serious slowdown after the age of 45. And it doesn’t stop there.
As people get older, they suffer a serious decline in their muscles. Humans can lose up to a half-pound of muscle mass every year after age 30.
In addition, a person’s bone density recedes as they get older. That leads to brittle bones and explains why older people break hips so much easier than younger folks.
The growth hormone in your body also declines as your pituitary gland gradually produces less of this important substance. That lack of chemical contributes significantly to the aging process. The growth hormone, in essence, is a fountain of youth.
“You lose the slack you had when you were younger when you could eat like a fool and do whatever the heck you wanted,” says Dr. Tighe O’Hanrahan, my personal physican. “You become less tolerant to those things. Your body becomes to a greater extent a delicate balance.”
All these risk factors, however, do not spell doom for the aging Baby Boomers. It simply means as you get older, you have to work harder and be more disciplined to stay in shape.
Let’s begin with exercise, an important component to good health. For those with limited mobility, walking is a perfectly fine way to work out. It’s relaxing, it pumps oxygen through your system and it works some of the main muscles of your body.
Stretching is another terrific way to stay in good physical condition. As muscle mass declines, it’s important to keep the body limber and flexible.
For those who can do more, strength training is a key ingredient to a good exercise routine. For people over 50, lifting weights is probably the best exercise you can do. It provides some aerobic work, but, more importantly, it strengths the deteriorating muscles.
Aerobic exercise is fundamental for the body as well as the mind, for those physically able to do it. Boomers should choose activities they enjoy as well as ones their bodies will tolerate.
Running burns up the most calories in the shortest amount of time. It’s also easy to do. Running, however, is a weight-bearing exercise that leads to injury more quickly than other activities.
Bicycling has less impact on the body and is beneficial to the knees. It’s relaxing and you can sight-see while you do it. However, biking can take a significantly longer time to burn up calories.
Swimming is an excellent total body workout for Baby Boomers. It uses all the muscles and the body suffers no impact. It is highly aerobic but does not burn a lot of fat because your body is held up by the water as you exercise.
Triathlons are a good mix for Baby Boomers. They combine running, bicycling and swimming into an exercise regiment. The variation reduces boredom and helps prevent injuries because different muscles are used on different days. In fact, the average age of triathlon participants in the United States is 52.
Good health doesn’t stop there, however. Nutrition is another key component. Being overweight is a primary contributor to diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure as well as heart problems.
Experts recommend people over 50 eat fewer carbohydrates and fat as well as try to avoid white sugar as much as possible. Eating fast food, pizza and candy is harder on your body as you age. Smoking and drinking alcohol are perhaps the most harmful habits of all.
Kaiser Permanente dietician Nicole Britvan says older people should increase their intake of fruits and vegetables, eating as many as seven to nine servings a day. Eating more fish, turkey and chicken is recommended. When you eat red meat, pick leaner cuts such as sirloin and rib-eye steaks. Add fiber to your diet, especially in the form of whole grains.
Serving sizes are also important. No matter what you eat, don’t overdo it. A half-cup is a good amount for most foods.
Fitness will play an important role in how much we will be able to do the next 10,000 days. If we plan to take on our society’s pressing issues the next 30 years, we need to have the stamina to do it. We’ll need to be sharp, vibrant.
I’ve been working at for three years now. I’ve lost 30 pounds in that time. But it’s been a slow, tough battle. And the lower my weight becomes, the harder it is to shed pounds. So, holding my own for 30 days is actually a pretty good accomplishment.
More importantly, I feel stronger and more lively.
That’s not only good for your body but for your mind and your self-esteem as well.
Getting back in shape is an excellent late-in-life goal for Baby Boomers. Not only for us, but as an example for the rest of the country, too.