Who Else Wants to Grow Old Gracefully

I can remember 'back in the day' when I was a 20-something young stud over hearing the conversations of the so-called 'ol folks' talking about growing old gracefully. Well now I'm one of those 'ol folks' that I once looked at and said with a sense of youthful arrogance (actually foolishness) that their problems of aging would never be mine.  As a 51-year old man, I'll share a secret with you-life happens. You busy yourself dealing with life's chores, challenges, and obstacles. You work, you raise a family, you create a home and along the way, you don't always make the best decisions regarding the maintenance of self. As a consequence, our bodies break down and more often than before suffer the ravages of illness and diminished function. So, you do want to grow old gracefully don't you? Well, how do you do that? The secret is three-fold. First, you should make sure that you're receiving optimum medical care. I recommend having a primary care medical team that includes a good general practice or family physician and an alternative medicine professional that is board certified in your state. Oh…oh!!!! What is this guy talking about. Here's a dose of reality. Most physicians are trained to react to what you tell them about what hurts. Their role primarily is to prescribe medications to address the symptoms of your condition. Most alternative medicine physicians (Naturopathic Doctors-ND) are trained to identify those same conditions and prescribe protocols that might include herbs or other procedures to cure you of the problem that causes the symptom. Every situation is different so let me say that yours might be a curable condition but if it isn't and using the two medical professionals could make managing your situation more tolerable, then it's actually worth it have this team in place. By the way, it is absolutely imperative that these two professionals know of each other and support the work of each other as it relates to you. Tip: Having one of the two refer you to the other would facilitate you receiving the best care from this scenario. Second, it is vital for your health that you follow a nutritional system that includes lots of fruit, vegetables, water, and healthy meat choices that don't include fried this and fried that. Tip: Okay guys, this is for you as well. I like the Weight Watchers program. Listen, when it comes to eating, you really think you know and don't need help, but this program is simple and gives you a road map that helps you eat in a healthy fashion. Their program is not about deprivation. Their program is all about assisting you in a lifestyle change related to how you deal with your nutritional intake. Trust me on this one. It works. Last but not least…you've got to incorporate exercise in your lifestyle. It's not enough that you walk constantly at work. It's not enough that you periodically lift a few pounds of whatever during the day at work. You need a focused exercise program that includes both cardio (aerobic activity) and resistance training (anaerobic activity). This regimen will work best for you if you're doing it at least three times a week. For optimum results though, build your activity to five times a week. Tip: There are so many devices and schemes being advertised to help you get in the 'shape of your life'. Don't fall for all the hype. You can become the best that you can be by following a simple plan includes bodyweight exercises (only two movements to exercise the whole body-giving you both aerobic and anaerobic impact) and 30-45 minutes of walking-aerobic impact). If you start slowly and build to the performance of this simple program for up to five days a week, you'll look in the mirror and want you kiss yourself in a few short weeks. Be patient though, nothing happens over night. I'm not going to have you believe that you will become Mr. or Ms. Olympia in six weeks; however in six weeks, you might pay a visit to someone that you haven't seen in a while only to have them not recognize you. Before starting your exercise program, you should pay a visit to your doctor and have him/her give you the stamp of approval to begin an exercise program. To give you a little help on those two bodyweight exercises, check out my blog at http://fyi-healthandwellness.blogspot.com and find the article on fast and natural fitness.  There you will find an excellent program along with the details to help you get started and thrive along the way to great fitness at any age and from any starting point. Good Luck!!!!!