How do you get fit again over 50? I am 56.
My children are out of the house, and with that, I have a lot more freedom to do what I want. For years, like many of you, my life was centered around them. As a result, we often neglect our own needs. So maybe you have gained a few pounds over the years. Are you lacking the energy you had in the past? You want to look good, lose weight and increase your energy. Where do you start? It all seems overwhelming.
Three Things to Do to Get Fit over 50:
Start small. Don’t try to do everything at once. That is a sure fire way to burn out and quit. I am going to give you three simple things to start with. Walking, nutrition, and sleep.
1. Walking
Start with 30 minutes a day of walking at a good clip. No walking with your friends or spouse at a snails pace. Walk fast, but do it for 30 minutes. This will raise your heart rate, get a bit of a sweat on and get your muscles working again. Do this 7 days a week. Create a habit. I challenge you to do it for one month. After that, I think you will find you feel better and will not want to miss your daily walks.
2. Nutrition
So often people jump onto this diet, or that-KETO, Paleo, low Carb and on and on. The problem with most of these is the moment you go off them, you gain the weight back. Most people are not able to sustain diets as restrictive as these.
So, what I recommend is more of a common sense approach that you can sustain for a lifetime. Eat lean proteins, fish, lots of fruits and veggies. Keep your portions under control. Here is a good way to track that:
- fistfull = raw veggies and fruit
- cupped hand-rice, beans, potatoes, pasta
- open palm-protein
- thumb size-peanut butter, salad dressing
- thumb tip-butter, margarine, oils
3. Sleep
I cannot understate this. I know as we get older sleep becomes more difficult. Sleep is restorative and it is when our bodies recover. So, if you want more energy, or you want to build muscle, the only way to accomplish that is to give your body time to recover and rebuild. 7-9 hours of sleep is optimal.
Start with these three small changes to get yourself fitter over 50. Walk more, eat whole foods, watch your portions and sleep 7-9 hours. Do that for a month and you will start looking and feeling better!
