Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Do as I say, not as I do. How many times have we heard that? Did you ever hear it from your parents? Well hear it from me!! Only, I think I will change it up somewhat.. do as I say, and what I aspire to do... I have been harping on this blog for two years now about exercise and healthy eating. Do I follow this? Well... off and on. I have gone through periods of lots of exercise ( for a 50+ person) to very little exercise. Retirement has certainly been an obstacle in my routine. .. or should I say what routine? That's right, I lost my routine when I quit working. I have never been a person to sit around though. Just because I don't have a routine, I won't say that I have been lazy. I have indeed accomplished alot in a year, just not concerning my exercise goals. Also, my weight loss went the other way- yes, instead of losing, I have gained. I have read about probably every exercise manual and diet book and new recipes you can think of. Some I have tried, some I have dismissed. So I thought I would list some of my conclusions. They may not be your conclusions or some statistician. I have no experiments or data to have them set in stone. But here goes.

1. Every diet, be it low fat, low carb, etc. does not work on every person. Some of it is related to their hormones or how they metabolize food. My dh has been on the miracle metabolism eating plan- in a week he had lost 15 lbs, I lost 5. After 8 weeks, he had continued to lose as I gained mine back. Eating the same things!! This is low carb. The same thing happened with South Beach. My best way of losing weight is counting calories- essentially weight watchers.

2. The three main objectives in a diet are quality food, quantity of food, and frequency of food intake.
Quality-Forget all those processed low fat or low calorie foods that are not really food. If the food you eat did not have a mother, or did not grow in the ground, don't eat it. (there goes my Dr. Pepper). Eat organic if you can. Buy locally if you can. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, free range eggs
Quantity- portion control does matter. A menopausal woman cannot eat as much as her husband who has more muscle mass. He will lose, she will gain.
Frequency- eat those "smaller" meals several times a day instead of larger 3 square meals

3. Drink your water. You really should be drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 150, drink 75 ounces of water. Your body works the best at metabolizing food when you drink water.

4. Exercise!! I often thought that the exercise I did was not that beneficial. After all, I was not getting thin from doing it. But now after a year, of very little exercise- a hit and miss of walking and maybe doing some weight lifting here and there I know that I was wrong. Exercise is so important for health. I have had bronchitis probably 4x in a year, I have been sluggish, tired, developed arthritis. I probably could think of more.
Do aerobic exercise- to help your heart, increase your stamina.
Do anaerobic exercise- working with weights to increase your muscle mass and working your core so that when you reach, bend, pull, push, lift, etc. in your daily activities your body is able to do these things.
Stretching- do yoga or pilates for all of the above reasons.
Exercise is going to be what keeps you young.. or should I say lack of exercise is what is going to make you old- you will look old, and you will walk and move like an older person. When I was working seeing patients I could most of the time tell which 70 and 80 year olds exercised. I knew before they ever answered my question of "do you exercise?" what they were going to tell me. They either told me that they walked routinely or that they worked in the yard.

5. Destress. This to me is one of the most important areas of keeping your body fit because your mind and emotions are not separate from you body. This world and circumstances in life can certainly cause stress. Some of our stress can be avoided, but certainly some cannot. Spend time with God with prayer and reading His Word, meditate, relax, take a hot bubble bath, get a massage, spend time with friends, write in a journal, write each day something you are grateful for, write notes of encouragement to others, laugh, laugh, laugh, tell others how you love them, think positive and throw out negative thoughts, speak positively, be creative with sewing or crafts, spend time outside listening to nature, turn off your TV, phone and computer, listen to good music, do something you remembered doing as a child.

So, in conclusion... let me repeat.. do as I say.. and as I aspire to do. All of this I share with you because all of this is what I need to hear!