Creating a Healthy You

A Healthy You after 40

Creating Yourself after 40 — A Physically Healthy You

Welcome to our series, “Creating Yourself after 40.” We are providing several blogs that discuss how to create ourselves and remain viable for the next several decades. From physical to financial and mental to skill building; we will look at the process to achieve our goals. We appreciate and value your readership! Thanks for following along.

My wife, Elizabeth, has worked in the medical billing and insurance industry for several decades. She will tell you it’s not what she intended to do for a living but it was necessary under her life circumstances. We do work that we never expected as we navigate through our twenties and thirties. We then find ourselves in our forties wondering what happened. My wife and I are no different. We simply need to accept our experience and apply it to our creative exploration in our forties. We need to learn from it and apply it.

$ Paying Attention $

Many years ago a friend of mine was a physical therapist at a hospital. He worked in the geriatric wing. “Please lose weight,” he would say. Bend at your knees and protect your back at all times. He was working with the older generation and seeing firsthand how years of unhealthy physical living would have a toll on the body. Of course at that time I paid little attention to his warnings. My mom would herald the same advice. Again, I paid little attention.

At 47 years of age, what I now know, after hearing the stories, is that we must create a Physically Healthy You — now! We cannot afford to arrive at our ‘golden’ years in ill health. We will not be able to afford it financially and it will suck the life out us. Literally! Once a physical illness strikes in our older age it will be debilitating and we will spend the rest of our time addressing the issue. Wouldn’t you prefer that your later years be filled with fun experiences and truly enjoying your loved ones? Let us work on a Healthy You now, today, while we have time to turn around the last thirty plus years of a NOT so healthy living style.

Gut Check

I have spent my entire life overweight. I used to say I had a “bearish” quality. Today at 6’2” I weigh in at 255 pounds. By most standards I am easily 50 pounds overweight. My years of working at a desk, bad posture, eating fast food, and my love for sweets have paid unwanted dividends. I continue to have back and neck issues, creaky bones and pain in my joints. I am ‘finding’ myself with a problem. So I am going to ‘create’ a new me in my late forties. I’d like to say I have no choice in the matter but I do. I can choose to do nothing and end up in a geriatric rehab facility spending money I won’t have or I can choose to commit, take action and start reversing the situation.

Commit and Take Action

“The future depends on what you do today.” M. Gandhi

Any change requires a commitment to action. I am finding it easier to understand this idea as I grow older. I remember early in my career I hated to face conflict. My position at my old company was where all conflict landed. I had to face it, embrace it, listen to others, apologize and make things right. It was a high level of customer service. Not the, “I spent $19.99 on a gizmo that doesn’t work,” but the “I spent $150,000 on an event where the lighting systems failed just as the CEO of Samsung took the stage to make a major worldwide announcement.” That’s conflict!

“I felt uncomfortable, ashamed and embarrassed when things did not execute as they should. I learned it was best to commit to an action and get to a resolution. It may sound simple but for me it was very difficult. “

Creating a physically healthy you will require action and commitment on your part. No one is going to be able to force you to do it. Not now at least. Things may be very different when you are in your seventies. This is where you have to step up and take action. Anything you have ever done has been achieved through action. First commit to the idea then act on it. I could show you pictures of people who have not taken good care of their bodies. I could show you estimated costs of healthcare in the future. There is nothing that will get you to commit and act except you. In the words of one of my partners -

“It’s time to put on your big boy pants and dance!”

Get Physical (Consult your Physician)

First and foremost consult your physician before beginning a physical fitness program.

I am NOT A DOCTOR. (But I do play one in my mind.) I had to start getting physically active but I had to start slowly. First, I went on short walks then longer walks. I knew that my physical weaknesses were not going to handle a massive leap into a physical work out. You may be different. I found that it was difficult for me to go it alone so I got my wife involved. We help keep each other stay accountable. Perhaps you have a neighbor that goes for walks that you could tag along with.

Later I was able to locate a good price on a work out facility just blocks from my house. No contracts and only $20 for me and my wife. That’s less than going out to eat. You could hire a physical trainer but you can also find a wealth of information on the internet. I am busy and I bet you are too. But we find time for things that are important to us. I work out for 1 hour, 3 — 4 times a week. I start with machines that get my heart rate up and a little sweat then end with some light muscle strengthening. I am not going for world fitness champion but I am trying to act and stay committed. As of this writing I have lost about 12 pounds in the 15 — 25 days of working out. I expect it will become more difficult to lose weight as I progress but by then I will have strength and stamina enough to increase my metrics. I don’t get hung up on weighing in every session. I’m focused on the fat that I got to the gym and I put in one hour of work. I tell my wife I am proud that we are committed to the work out each time we leave the gym. At this stage I am taking things slowly and staying committed and focused on acting.

I Love to Eat

There! I said it! I am Sicilian and I love to eat. I love pasta of all kinds, fast food is quick and easy, I love chocolate, I love sauces, I love bread; I love to eat. However, I have learned to eat with a little less gusto. I have learned to stay away from certain foods. I don’t order or eat the French fries any more when I go to the usual fast food places. I typically only eat half of what a restaurant dishes up. The big chains provide big servings so you feel better about that $9.49 hamburger.

I know you can attain a physically better you and still enjoy some of your favorites. The key here is “some.” I have cut my sweet intake to once every 10 days. I try to make healthy choices and cook at home more often. I still find myself at the fast food restaurant during my busy work day. I am constantly on the road and typically that puts me in the fast food arena. But I choose wisely. It really comes down to portion control for me and maybe for you. Cut out the fries and the sodas. Those were huge excesses for me.

Create Yourself after 40 — You Can Do This

Creating a healthy you is a big decision, but it it will be easier than you think. At our age we have made many decisions — many big decisions. Throughout our 40 plus years we have learned what it means to commit and take action. This is one more time that we need to practice what we know we can do. Some say we are at the zenith of our life. By most statistics we are at the mid-point. The decisions we make now will impact us for years to come. Just like the decisions we made in our twenties. But when we were in our twenties we didn’t closely consider the outcome of that decision in the next 30 years. If, like me, you are truly thinking about the next 30 years you know your decision today will have an impact down the road. How do you want to live out your golden years? The decisions you make now will have the greatest impact on those upcoming years. Visualize yourself at 72 years old moving freely, enjoying a walk in the park while holding hands with your loved one. Breathing easy and feeling healthy.

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Photo Credit: leoncillo sabino via Compfight cc