The Come Alive Project

Tag: senior fitness

  • Energy Bite 383 – To a Fit and Energy Filled Senior Life

    I’ve been asked a number of times why I don’t demonstrate or recommend exercises that Seniors should be doing to get or stay fit. The answer is that while these articles are about Health, Fitness and Personal Energy for Active Seniors, this is not an exercise site.

    Our bodies take on different characteristics and go through different stages as we age. For some it’s muscular deterioration, for others, maybe bone density precludes some kinds of weight bearing exercise. For still others, weakened joints, tendons or ligaments will dictate some of what we can or can’t do. Our posture deteriorates, our body weakens overall, and often the short term memory lapses can signify future challenges.

    These are not excuses, they are simply what we believe are facts of life and represent challenges that, while they can be overcome, are legitimate reasons why we develop physical problems as we add on the years.

    This is all based on stereotype beliefs of what will happen as we age. Do they necessarily have to happen?

    The real point of Come Alive Project is to reinforce in the minds of Active Seniors that we can break away from what we traditionally think of as the normal aging process: deterioration and decay, weakness and approaching befuddlement.

    Personal fitness, personal energy and good health habits play a major role in longevity and empowering an active, enthusiastic and purpose filled senior lifestyle. Of your mindset and attitude toward aging are what either limit you or set you free to live a life of energy and enthusiastic purpose.

    I recently turned 81 years old and feel more alive and empowered that I have in many years. I keep my body fit but I’m not overly strong, nor do I have huge muscles. I feel great.

    My wife just turned 76, looks much younger and certainly acts and moves like a much younger person. That’s because we both take responsibility for our bodies and our attitudes.

    I would suggest that if you signed up to get this blog, you want, or maybe already have, the same thing. You understand that it is YOU who is responsible for the way you age.

    So, while I may start demonstrating some simple fitness movements that most seniors should be capable of doing, I will continue to focus these articles on how we, as active seniors, can break out of the stereotypical senior rut and instead, choose to move toward an active and productive life filled with good health, fitness and a strong sense of personal energy, vitality and purpose.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 381 – What is YOUR Attitude About Health & Fitness?

    It all starts with the way you’re thinking. Repeat that: It all starts with the way you’re thinking. How do you think about your own health and fitness? Do you have the personal energy you want to get you through each day with vim and vigor? Do you have plenty of energy for more at the end of the day? Or are you just worn out from whatever? Do you feel the stresses of the day as if they were a burden, or do you let the stresses of the day flow over your back like water? Do you plop down in front of the TV and watch the latest sitcom, or are you doing something positive and productive (at least in your mind), even after the dishes are done, or the empty, processed dinner box has been tossed in the trash?

    Are you a participant in life, or are you a watcher of life? Do you like to do things or watch things, or both. Do you enjoy exercise? Do you enjoy the feeling you get when you exercise? Do you dislike exercise? If you don’t like exercise, why don’t you? In short, what is your attitude about health and fitness?

    Do you like feeling really good as you age? Is it worth it to follow the principles of good health so you can age well, or is it too much of a hassle, and besides, you enjoy Dancing with the Stars too much to take the time to move yourself – you would rather watch someone else do it?

    Different people like different things. Some like Yoga. Some like Pilates. Some like bodybuilding. Some like running. Some like calisthenics. Some like attending formal “boot camp” style programs. Some like classes at the gym. Some like to exercise in their living room. Some like to plop on the couch and watch TV. Some like to exercise with weights. Some like to exercise by lifting their forks and spoons. We are all different. We all have different preferences. One size does NOT fit all.

    Except . . . that if we don’t move our bodies the way nature intended, we will deteriorate. Our muscles will soften and atrophy. Our blood will pool and stagnate. Our breathing will get shallow. Our joints and hinges will get rusty and creak and weaken, our bones will get brittle and break, and all sorts of other bad things will happen to our bodies. Our insides won’t function well and our systems will clog up. We will get old before our time.

    If we don’t fuel our bodies with the high octane fuel that nature intended for our bodies, such as air, water, good food and sunshine, we will become more susceptible to chronic illness, long lingering disease, pain, and lack of the material needed to regenerate our basic cellular structure, let alone our major body systems.

    If we don’t get the kind of rest and sleep that nature intended for our bodies, we will reduce both our physical and mental capacities, and we will not recover as well as we should from not only exercise, but from the normal stresses of daily life.

    And if we don’t have a good mind-set or attitude about our own health and fitness, nothing on earth will move us to move.

    Doctors don’t do these things for us. Insurance companies don’t do this for us. We have to exercise, eat right and get the rest we need for ourselves. It’s called “Self-Care” and it’s more important than health care and sick care combined.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 380 – Your Acid-Alkaline Balance

    Want more Personal Energy and Vitality?  Want to feel better fast?  Want to make fighting disease easier and develop a stronger immune system?  Here’s a quick way to do it:  Eat a more Alkaline diet.  Many of you have heard of the importance of an alkaline diet but don’t know what it is or why you should do it.  So to discover what it is and why it works to make you feel better . . . read on.

    You know how your body temperature can vary up and down with an average healthy body temperature of 98.6 degrees?  Well there’s a similar scale that refers to the acid-alkaline balance in your body.  This is called pH balance or acid-alkaline balance.  Although pH ranges are different in various parts of your body, the most important for health and personal energy is the pH value of your blood.

    By the way, the term pH means “Potential Hydrogen”.  If you are interested in the chemistry, you can find a less than elementary explanation online at Wikipedia.

    The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 with 7.0 being neutral, 0 being the most acidic and 14 being fully alkaline.  The pH for stomach acid is around 3.5 (highly acidic), but that’s not relevant to our energy level as discussed here.  The ideal blood pH is 7.36 which is slightly alkaline.

    How can you tell what your blood pH is?  A regular blood test from your doctor or medical lab is the most accurate.  You can also purchase pH strips at most pharmacies for both urine and saliva measurements. Follow the instructions and the results you get will be close enough.

    What are the primary benefits of an alkaline blood pH?  They include:

    • Increase in personal energy and vitality
    • Feel better overall
    • Empower your immune system to help ward off disease
    • Often you will lose weight as your blood pH becomes more alkaline
    • And many more.

    The way to get to a more alkaline blood pH is through the food you eat.  Most Western diets are highly acidic.  Other factors include alcohol, caffeine, stress and many medications.  The most important way to develop a slightly alkaline blood pH level is by being aware of the pH makeup of various foods and making simple adjustments.

    Meats, dairy (including cheeses) and sugars are considered to be the biggest acid producers.  Green, leafy vegetables are the most alkaline with most other vegetables still high on the alkaline scale.  Most fruits are somewhere in the middle with some being slightly acidic and others more alkaline.  As for grains, there still seems to be inconsistency among nutritionists as to the pH range.

    Here’s a surprise.  Lemons, limes and Apple Cider Vinegar provide an alkaline response in the blood.  That’s why you often read or hear about drinking water with lemon or Apple Cider Vinegar to help promote weight loss and nutritional detox.

    Nutritional scientists have produced strong evidence that a diet of alkaline foods will help prevent chronic disease.  They seem to agree a diet that is 70 to 80 percent alkaline and 20 to 30 percent acidic will provide an ideal alkaline blood pH.

    And here’s a real kicker.  Although all the evidence is not in, there is evidence to indicate that most cancers cannot survive in an alkaline environment.  This bears out evidence that many people claim to have cured their own cancer by changing to a heavily plant based diet, and have significantly cut back on, or eliminated, the acidic meat and dairy from their diets.  (Disclaimer:  That’s not a recommendation.  It’s simply evidentiary, based on claims of others).

    You can find numerous charts and graphics online which provide the blood pH values of various foods.  I suggest you take a look at them.

    There is strong and increasing evidence of the nutritional and medical benefits of adjusting to a more alkaline diet.  It simply means increasing your veggies and cutting back on meats and dairy.  I strongly suggest that you look closely at your own diet and see where a change might be beneficial.  We all can use more energy and vitality.  We all would like to feel good as we age.  We all would like to eliminate chronic disease.  This could be one of the ways for you to do them all.

    Thank you for reading.