An easy fix for weight loss?

Is this the easy fix everyone’s been waiting for?

I was a fat kid. I wrote that for my “About” page for this blog lots of years ago. Back when I was that fat kid, I wanted that easy fix for weight loss, that pill to swallow that would make me skinny. I went on diet after diet, trying to lose weight the easy way, by cutting out way too much food. But that’s what we did back then. When I was in high school I was finally sick and tired of being bullied. I wanted to get into the exclusive dance club. So I did it the hard way. I lost weight by watching everything that went into my mouth and by jumping rope for hours on end on the cement slab behind the house. The weight came off and stayed off all these years later.

Everyone’s on Ozempic

I had a dentist appointment last week, and she asked if I was on any medication, one of the standard questions. I gave my standard answer, “No.” And she said that many of her patients are on Ozempic to lose weight. People seem to think it’s the easy fix for weight loss that I wanted when I was younger.

Would I take it?

And that got me thinking. Would I take it now to lose weight? I don’t know for sure, but I’d like to think my answer would be, “No.” Ozempic is not a drug that’s listed for weight loss. It’s a drug for Type 2 Diabetes. Long-term effects haven’t been studied in otherwise healthy people who take it to lose weight. So, what could it be doing to healthy people’s systems? Rhetorical question, there. And when you stop taking the drug, many people gain the weight back, as with any weight-loss drug.

This writer won’t

I read an article by a writer who’s struggled with their weight their whole life. He’s not at his “ideal” weight, but he’s not going to be taking Ozempic any time soon either. It’s not because it’s a drug, or could be detrimental to his health. He refuses to conform to what society accepts. Good for him!

Everyone’s getting into the balancing act

I’ve got to admire Al Roker. He’s looking great these days, and this month he’s focusing on improving his balance while he walks. In the clip on the Today show, he merely said he wanted to improve his balance, so that’s the focus of their February challenge. Stephanie Mansour, the fitness consultant for Today, has put together a month-long challenge for members of the show’s “Start TODAY” 100-day challenge that will combine balance, walking and core work. The show’s website provides a calendar that indicates the kind of work to do on any given day – walk, balance or core.

We use balance in everyday movements

Mansour emphasizes the importance of balance in overall stability because we use it for things we don’t even think of every day – like getting up from a chair or picking something up off the floor. With better balance, we don’t even think of movements like this. But if our balance is weak, then, for example, we’d think twice about picking that piece of paper up. And it would take at least twice as long to brace ourselves to get out of a chair. Mansour includes core work in this challenge because strong core muscles lead to stronger balance. Our core helps our posture, our breathing, and our ability to move.

We know that balance is crucial for our healthy aging. Without our working to maintain it, our balance erodes over time. But, we can do something about it. Al Roker recognizes this. We can work to improve our balance with simple exercises. The “Your Week of Core-Centered Balance Moves” Guide gives you some of the exercises that will help.

Some Balance Moves

The recommended exercises highlighted in the Facebook group Balance for Fitness, Balance for Life, are just that – recommendations. They’re not the only ones that will help to improve your balance. Mansour highlights other, probably more advanced, balance exercises. She includes the yoga “Tree” pose, Plank Shoulder Taps, and “Warrior III.” The Plank Shoulder Taps combines core and balance, where you tap alternating shoulders while you’re in Plank position. Warrior III is another balance move that’s quite challenging. There’s also a move that Mansour calls the “Balance Beam Walk,” that’s like Inline Walking, but balancing a book on your head. Again, it combines balance, walking and core.

More Core Moves

Of course Mansour highlights “Plank” as a good core strengthener. Others exercises in the Today challenge include “Bird Dog” (raising opposite arm and leg, alternating) and “Dead Bug” (Lying on your back with arms stretched up and legs lifted, bent at a 90-degree angle. Touch the opposite knee with your hand and go back to the original position.).

Get into the balancing act! You’ll work everything – and combine balance, walking and core.

Push-ups Work Everything

I’m really bad at push-ups. There. I said it. I’m weak, my elbows hurt when I try to go deep into a push-up, and I’m really bad at them. But I keep trying. Because I know that push-ups work everything. Experts not only recommend 150 minutes of aerobic activity a week, but also 2 days of strength training.

Strength training helps build muscle and also bones. We smallish women over a certain age can become fragile over time, and must do what we can to stay strong and vital, crucial for our healthy aging. Being strong means that we’ll be more resilient, too, able to face whatever life throws at us. And there’s nothing that builds and tests your strength more than push-ups.

Amber Harris, a certified strength coach, notes that including push-ups in our workouts helps us increase strength and muscle mass which we lose at a rate of 3 – 8 percent every decade over age 30. Push-ups also help us lift and push things, like boxes and doors. And, by working the core, push-ups also help us maintain good posture. But they’re hard.

Doesn’t something else work?

If you’re like me and don’t like to do push-ups, you’re thinking, can’t I do something else? And the answer is, of course. There are loads of exercises that build strength in your arms, your shoulders, your back, your core and your legs. Just not all at once. Push-ups work everything all at once, so it’s a really efficient exercise. Talk about multi-tasking. A few push-ups, even modified ones, pack more of a punch than an equal number of biceps curls, for example.

But I can’t do full push-ups

Me neither. Not many, anyway. Full push-ups, the ones where you’re on your toes, bending your elbows so your chest brushes the floor, are ridiculously hard. I can do maybe four of them. I know that if my goal is to do 25 full push-ups at some point, then I have to keep trying. For the rest, I modify.

Bianca Vesco, a NASM-certified personal trainer and fitness instructor, advocates modifying push-ups to meet you where you are so that you can build on them. You can start by doing standing push-ups, hands on the wall. Then progress to lower inclines, like your kitchen counter, a table, an ottoman, a step stool and then finally a full push-up on the floor. This progression gets steadily harder, but as you make your way through, your body will get stronger and you’ll succeed. For all of the modifications, though, remember to keep your neck straight, your core tight, your butt tucked and your back straight. Another progression, when you’re getting to the really hard ones, is to lower your body in the modified position, then when you’re as low as you can get, put your knees on the floor and reset to the starting position. This adjustment helps build the muscles you’ll need for the full push-up.

No matter where you are in your fitness journey, push-ups will help you build the strength you need. Because push-ups work everything.

What can you get done?

What can you get done in 15 minutes? A whole lot, as it turns out. My sister and I cleaned out 3 generations of stuff from our house in 15 minutes. Not all at once, but in 15 minute chunks. Not only my parents’ stuff, and my sister’s and my stuff, but my grandparents’ stuff too. Every corner of the house was filled with stuff.

Hoarders with 3 generations-worth of stuff

We had moved my grandmother into a nursing home and she shipped everything to us. My sister and I inherited our family home and we were not interested in moving. So we had to go through everything. A daunting task. The show “Hoarders” wasn’t on the air when we did this, but our house could probably have been featured. It’s not pristine now, but it’s no longer even close to a hoarder’s abode any longer. And we did it in 15 minutes at a time.

We tackled the job just like that – a job. We knew that if we tried to do a bigger part, like a whole room at a time, we’d never finish. But we set a timer and got busy. Sorting the stuff, 15 minutes at a time. Keep, toss, donate. Keep, toss, donate. Just that simple. It was our job for those 15 minutes every day.

What can you get done?

What can you get done in 15 minutes? A half hour? An hour? Anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Anything. I’m a firm believer. I write about goals and discipline all the time. Because that’s what it takes to get things done.

The problem is that many people don’t consider their personal goals the same way that they do their work or career goals. And that’s why they don’t achieve things that are important to their personal lives.

Personal goals = work goals

Renegade row - one of the killer moves in Saturday's workout

One productivity expert, in fact, proposes that we should view our personal goals exactly like our work goals. Use the same tools at home as we do in the office. For example, at the office we plan the day’s work to achieve the goals we set. It should be the same thing at home – but just if you want to achieve life goals too. (Just kidding, of course you do!) So, use your planner – or get one for your personal life. I created the Fitness Journal and Tracker for every part of what you want to get done. It’s much more than just for exercise. Track that, of course, as well as your diet, your water, your sleep, and anything else you want to keep track of. 

Figure out a plan to get it done

Create goals for yourself and write them down in your Journal. High-flying, big, pie-in-the-sky goals. And figure out a plan to get them done. Above all, be specific – that’s the key to achieving big goals. If you know you want to achieve a lot, but don’t know how to start recognizing goals, download the Get It Done Guide. Use the worksheet. That’ll help. You’ll increase your resilience, your happiness, and, not only that, you’ll improve your mindset. So, what can you get done? A whole lot. Get to it. Start now.

Eat more protein

We all want to live a life that’s long and healthy. And part of our healthy aging is making sure we get the right nutrition. Boring, I know. But with a little forethought we can plan our meals and snacks so that they’re fun, tasty and nutritious. Even with that planning, though, it’s common to not get enough protein. Highest on the list of protein-rich foods are meats and yogurt. But many seniors skip the meat, perhaps because of budgetary or other concerns. But the fact is, protein will help us keep up our energy. And we need to eat more protein.

Why we need to eat more protein

The “formal” government recommendation for protein is the same for all adults age 19 and up, but recent research has shown that we older folks probably need more. We know that as we age our muscle mass declines – by up to half. And, as we age, we have more chronic ailments, many of which affect our ability to process the protein we eat efficiently. Why do we need protein? Simply put, protein can help us build and maintain muscle mass. And it also replaces the proteins that chronic systemic inflammation depletes.

We need a LOT or protein

According to the official recommendation, we need 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (1 kg is about 2.2 pounds). I did the math, and I need about 45 grams of protein every day. That’s a lot of meat. But other foods have plenty of protein as well. Plan your meals and snacks with protein in mind. Breakfast is a perfect time for an egg. And hard boiled eggs are also great snacks.

More high-protein snack ideas

If you’re feeling hungry in the afternoon (for me, about a half hour before my workout), have some almonds or pistachios. They’re high in protein, and they taste good. Greek yogurt is also high in protein. Something I don’t often think of as a great snack is jerky – but it’s tasty and full of protein. Dry roasted edamame beans is another possibility. Another great snack is an apple or stick of celery with a bit of peanut butter.

When doing some reading, I found a recipe for roasted chickpeas that sounds amazing. For a main dish, try lentil soup.

The point here is, if we need to eat more protein, we’re not limited to roasting a chicken or broiling a steak. Sure, those are great, but we thrive on even more choices. And there are plenty of protein choices.

Your body is not ready for the time change

No one is ready for the time change, but you can mitigate its effect on your body.
No one is ready for the time change, but you can mitigate its effect.

Get ready! Daylight Saving Time starts this weekend. So, not only do we start off sleep-deprived, but we actually lose another hour of sleep. Your body is not ready for the time change. The Centers for Disease Control has a guideline for the number of hours of sleep we all need each night, but I don’t personally know anyone who is successful in getting that amount of sleep. And yet sleep is essential for our physical and mental health. Lack of quality sleep has been linked to obesity and depression. It’s also easier to bounce back from all the little things that go wrong every day when we start the day refreshed.

Is your room dark enough?

Like most Americans, I start each day feeling groggy and wooly-brained. My brain churned for a while before I fell asleep, and, while I don’t have a sleep tracker, I know that my sleep was not as beneficial as it could be. A darkened room and turning screens off early are effective, but just to a certain extent. 

Get ready for jet lag without going anywhere

Changing our clocks for Daylight Saving Time is like traveling to a different time zone. So we’re going to feel the effects of jet lag to some degree. We’re all going east one time zone this weekend. So, according to Dr. Innessa Donskoy, sleep specialist at Advocate Children’s Hospital, we can prepare our bodies for that time change as if we were traveling. (It may be a little late now, but remember this for the fall.)

Dr. Donskoy says that to mitigate the physical effects of the time change, we should expose ourselves to light a few minutes earlier each day. Starting tomorrow, wake up fifteen minutes earlier and turn your light on. Actually open your eyes to the blinding glare and just start moving on with your day. This will allow your body to get ready for the time change.

And plan now to do something useful with those extra few minutes you’ll get the next few days. Get in a few more minutes of exercise. If the weather allows, take your dog for an extra-long walk. Write a chapter in that book you’re working on. Or read a chapter! You can log an  entry in your journal. Whatever you choose to do, do it! Get your body ready for the time change. Even if you can’t build up to the time change, get up earlier tomorrow. Or, if it’s too late to get ready for this spring, be kind to yourself. Take your dog for a walk anyway.

3 tips to make working out easier

Make working out easier on yourself. This is not to say that you should make your workouts easy. Rather, make it easy to exercise and get the full benefit of that exercise, especially for our healthy aging.

Get the maximum benefits

You know that there are many benefits to exercise. I wrote about this ‘way back in 2015! From the physical benefits to your bones, muscles, heart, lungs – to mental benefits, like improved memory and cognition and improved sleep. So, we still have to get our workouts in. So, to make sure that we get the most out of our workouts, here are 3 tips to make working out easy:

Tip #1 – Know yourself

My workouts are more intense with an instructor calling the moves.
My workouts are more intense with an instructor calling the moves.

If you’re the kind of person who’s a go-getter and won’t slow down or take out lighter weights, good for you. But I know that I won’t work at maximum intensity if I did a workout on my own. My powered treadmill ensures I don’t slow down. I need an instructor to make sure I get in all my reps. So, I shove in an exercise DVD and follow the instructor. I know that I’m working and not easing off.

Tip #2 – You’ll do it if you like it

Do a workout you like – or at least, don’t mind doing. If I look at my calendar and see that a workout I don’t care for is on today’s schedule, I might just find something else that needs to get done. Like cleaning out my sock drawer. Even though running is not my favorite exercise, I like the audiobook I’m listening to. And my time on the treadmill is the only time I listen. So I run. 

Tip #3 – Clear motivation

Know why you’re exercising. And it’s probably not for the physical and mental benefits. It’s to make sure that you can keep up with the grandkids. You exercise because you want to travel and walk around the cities you visit. Or you just want to take long walks with your significant other. For me – I want to run my dog in Agility. And I want to eat chocolate.

When you know what it takes to get the maximum benefit from your workout, when you know the kind of workout you like doing, and when you know why you’re exercising, you’re making your workouts easier on yourself. You know that you’ll get the maximum impact from the minimum time you spend on exercising.

Best motivation to exercise

What's the best motivation to exercise - and keep on exercising?
I need motivation to keep exercising

Most of us don’t exercise just because we feel like it. And it’s not for a general thing like, “Exercise is good for our healthy aging.” I know that doesn’t work for me… I need a specific reason to exercise – motivation, in psychology terms. My motivation to exercise comes from inside and outside myself. I know the health reasons to exercise are many, and I also know that if I exercise I’ll burn calories and I can eat more. I also know that if I exercise I’ll fit into my pants – and I’m vain enough to not buy a larger size. We all feel internal and external (intrinsic and extrinsic) motivation for pretty much everything we do. So what’s the best motivation to exercise?

First – what is intrinsic motivation? 

Have you ever been curious about something and took it upon yourself to find out more about it? Do some in-depth research just for your own gratification? For example, years ago I was curious about the best conditions for raising a particular species of orchid. So I did some research and found that the eastern-facing windows in our little sunroom had the perfect light for this species. So I got little hangers for the orchids and they just went crazy, growing and blooming every year. That’s intrinsic motivation. I was motivated by my own curiosity to find out more. There was no reward, other than the information I gleaned.

Extrinsic motivation

By contrast, then, extrinsic motivation implies that a reward will be conveyed when the task is completed. Completing a job for payment is extrinsic motivation.

What kind of motivation will keep us exercising?

To keep on exercising, it’s best to have both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The only way we’re going to keep doing something that’s hard, that makes us sweat and our muscles shake, is if we get something more out of it than a future potential benefit. Just because I lose a pants size 3 months from now (the reward) is not going to get me on the treadmill this afternoon. But, what will get me on the treadmill? The satisfaction of knowing that I’m doing something good for my body. Also, the fact that I know I’ll be in a much better mood when I’m done will get me pushing up the speed and the incline.

So, the best motivation to exercise is both internal and external. Think about your own reasons for exercising. Are they important? Do you feel or see a reward every time you exercise? Or is it just the knowledge that your future self will benefit? If that’s the case, try to think closer to the present. You may need to adjust your goals. You’ll keep at it longer.

Keep your exercise low impact

I’m crazy, and I know it. Don’t be like me on those two days a week that I consciously engage in something that I’m telling you not to do. I run two days a week, but I’m telling you to keep your exercise low impact. Save your knees, your back and your hips. Keep a foot on the floor when you exercise. 

First I’ll tell you why I do it.

Agility is not low impact. But I enjoy it.
Running Agility with Booker.

I run twice a week to increase my speed and my stamina so that I can run my dog in Agility and be where he needs me to be. My dog will always be faster than I am. I know that. But I can be in the right place to give him his cue for the next obstacle he has to do. So I need to be faster than I am now. And, perhaps more importantly, not run out of breath when I get there. This is why I keep getting on that treadmill, even though I don’t enjoy it. I’m building my speed with run / walk intervals, and going easy on my old knees. It’s taking a while, but I’m getting there. Some days are definitely easier than others, but the overall trend is faster.

High impact is not for everyone

Yes, you can burn more calories faster with a high impact workout, but low impact can be just as effective for your fitness and your healthy aging! Even though it’s easier on the joints, low impact exercise is not necessarily less stressful on the body. CITYROW founding instructor Annie Mulgrew says, “We want the body to be able to respond to stress effectively — that’s one reason why we exercise.”

Low impact exercise means that one foot is always on the floor during exercise – at least when you’re upright. Seated exercises and mat-work are different animals altogether, but they’re definitely low impact as well.

Low impact does not mean low intensity

For maximum benefit, we want our exercise to be high intensity – we’re challenging ourselves and raising our heart rate. Low impact, high intensity workouts can include speed walking with arm pumps, weight training, rowing, or cycling. 

So, put a little less stress on your joints but still make it tough for yourself with your workouts.

The danger of overdoing exercise

Exercise is good but don’t overdo 

Exercise is good, but don't overdo it. Over-training can be just as harmful as not exercising at all.
Exercise is good, but don’t over do it.

I’ve been telling you about the benefits of exercise for a long time. The first time I listed some of the benefits of exercise was way back in 2015 in my article “Why Exercise?” Exercise burns calories so you can eat more (still my favorite reason!), it can combat some health conditions and diseases, it boosts your mood and gives you energy, and on and on. Exercise is good, but don’t overdo it. 

I remember years ago when I used to go to a gym there were women on treadmills and stationary bikes for hours and they wondered why they kept getting sick or weren’t losing any weight. In all probability, these people were overtraining. 

Cortisol and “fight or flight”

Cortisol is a hormone your body produces when it’s under stress, or when your body thinks it’s under attack. If you’re walking along and a big dog jumps at you from behind a fence and starts barking, you’re still going to jump. Your heart is going to beat faster, even though you know that it can’t get to you from behind the fence. Your body is designed to automatically protect you from threats. It produces adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline speeds up your heart and makes you hyper-aware of threats.

When you realize that you’re safe and the threat is gone, your heart rate goes back to normal and your breathing slows down. According to the Mayo Clinic, cortisol “curbs functions that would be nonessential or harmful in a fight-or-flight situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes. This complex natural alarm system also communicates with the brain regions that control mood, motivation and fear.” 

Cortisol and exercise

So, when you overdo exercise, your system thinks it’s under attack and produces cortisol. And keeps producing it. So your body retains elevated levels of cortisol. It can interfere with the way your body works normally and even slow down your metabolism, according to Louis Cohn, a physical therapist at Aurora Sports Health. Cohn says, “When starting out, aerobic sessions should be kept between 30 and 45 minutes. You are then able to obtain the positive effects of cardiovascular training without the negative effects of over-training.” So it turns out that over-exercising can be just as bad as not exercising at all.

Moderation in everything

My workouts are 30 to 45 minutes 3 or 5 days a week. On days when I don’t have anything pressing, I’ll do a 50-minute workout. This works for both aerobic and weight training. And remember to rest the muscle group you worked the day after that strength program. 

So, like chocolate, exercise is good, but don’t overdo. Be sure to listen to your body. If you’re tired or if your body is aching in ways that are weird, you may be overdoing exercise. Take a break. Do something less stressful for yourself. A gentle yoga or pilates practice might be a good “rest day” activity. And be sure to eat well to fuel your body.