The Benefits Of Losing Weight

I write posts about weight lose because so many people want to lose weight.  They want to look better and feel better. As a senior I want to tell you that until you’re over 50 you don’t realize how that extra weight affects you.

I lost most of my body fat after 50, but for a lot of people that’s almost too late. Today I have knee pain because I waited too long to lose weight. The damage is done. I had one operation on my left knee, but the truth about any joint surgery is that you never totally get rid of the pain. Oh, sure after the surgery you’ll feel great but as time goes by you start to feel the pain again. I’m probably looking at a total joint replacement.

If I would have exercised  and watched my diet more and lost the weight before I had joint damage, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. For most of us, gaining weight is no biggy. "Everyone will gain weight when they get older, don’t they?" No, the truth is that as you get older, life gets more complicated. We have less time for ourselves. We start to neglect our health, there are more important things going on. 

So, yes as you get older your life does get more complicated. And you can’t do everything. We tend to only do those things that take priority. It’s like my old boss; as his job became harder, it seemed like all he had time for was to go around putting out fires. (taking care of problems). That’s what the life of a busy person looks like. And when that happens to you, stress will build up and to release the stress you indulge yourself more and try to spend more time trying to chill-out. Your watching more TV or reading novels; just doing things that help you take your mind off your stressful life. 

Actually, the best way to relieve stress is to exercise. Even walking 30 minutes will release stress. Any activity you can do to get your body moving and something that can take your mind off your life for a while. How can walking help? you might ask. After a couple weeks of walking and you get into the routine, you want to walk fast enough to elevate your heart rate. This is were a fitness tracker comes in. If you have ever noticed joggers will be checking their pulse and that’s because to burn fat you have to exercise at your target heart rate. 

You can check the internet; search target heart rate and it can tell you how to calculate “target heart rate”. The simplest way I know is 220 minus your age; but if your under a doctors care and are taking medication, your Doctor will tell you what a safe “target heart rate” is for you. 

I walk slower for 5 minutes to warm-up, the 20 minutes at my target heart rate, and then 5 minutes to cool-down. That type of workout will burn calories and help you feel better and become a healthier person.