Benefits of Losing Weight

I write posts about weight loss because so many people want to lose weight. Mostly because they want to look better and feel better. Do you know that only about 10% of dieters lose weight and keep it off. As a senior, I want to tell you that until you’re over 50 your 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 was 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. And after any joint damage, you always end up with Arthritis. 

If I would have exercised  and watched my diet more and lost the weight before I damaged my joints, maybe this wouldn't have happened. For most of us, gaining weight is no biggy. "Everyone gains 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 and we spend less time taking care of ourselves. Hence, the older you get the more you go to the doctor. We are causing our own health problems. 

The key approach? Eat better. "Poor-quality foods, like trans fats, cause inflammation -- and aging is basically a chronic inflammatory state," says Timothy Harlan, MD. 

And because of our busy lifestyle, we have less time to stay active. If you already have the body fat you need to change what you eat. That’s for sure, but you also need to add more activity to your daily schedule. Okay, I know we all don’t have time for the gym, but that’s not really necessary. Walking can provide the extra activity you need. I grew up with my parents and grandparents. During the 1940’s and 1950’s life was different. People didn’t have a lot of money and most city people lived in apartments. If you wanted to own your own home or your parents didn’t have enough money to live alone, then families would go together and buy a home. 

The sandwich generation is nothing new. Families have had to do this for several generations. Anyway getting to the point, my grandparents never really watched TV. Oh sure, at night they would sit in front of the TV with the rest of us, but they usually would fall asleep. What I do remember is that after dinner my grandparents would take a walk, they walked for about an hour and then usually when to bed. 

So what I’m getting at is that they were healthier people then my parents and my parents were probably healthier than people in my generation. Why might you ask? When we were all living under the same roof our diets were all about the same. We all ate the same food, some ate more than others, but the food was all nutritious and we were all healthy. My dad was the heaviest, he had more body fat and he was less active. He had an office job, stayed at his desk and stayed on the phone most of the day. I would say it was probably his diet and his love of Golf that helped keep him healthy, in those days you walked the Golf Course.

Today life is much different. The average family eats out three or four times a day. Restaurant food will put weight on you. Most low price restaurant food has little nutrition and is basically comfort food that adds weight almost immediately. Plus the fact we are not as active as past generations, so it’s a combination of the food we eat today and the lack of exercise which is producing a generation of people with serious health problems. 

You can do something to break the cycle you're in, by doing things today to take better care of yourself. To eat better, more quality food and to get more exercise even if that means walking the dog.