Getting Fit And Healthy After 50

To a determined individual, getting fit and healthy at midlife or the latter stages of life should not be looked at as an impossible task.

I started seriously with my own regular getting fit and healthy program when I was already age 52. I had chronic low back pain, my cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood sugar, went past the normal levels. Exacerbating the situation was my lack of a health insurance coverage.

I knew I had to do something about my situation. I was athletic and physically active during my youth, but all my health gains from my active lifestyle slowly dissipated through the years when I started working and raising a family. There was little time for my favorite sports. So with jogging, which became intermittent and far between. The stress of everyday living was also wreaking havoc on my health. [read Thyroid Solution To My Unknown Illness]


So, my getting fit and healthy program started with something I was already thoroughly acquainted with. I started jogging again regularly, almost daily, around our neighborhood block, for an hour. Six months later, the results of my laboratory tests in the biannual Watch Your Health program of the Knights of Columbus, showed that my cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood sugar levels, were all in normal range. I have managed to maintain the normal levels from thereon.

I have not stopped jogging since then, although lately, I resort more to brisk walking because I see no further need to lose some more weight. I don't want to look gaunt as it makes my appearance older.

How I got rid of my chronic low back pain is a story of its own. I'm going to make a separate post on it. It had something to do with how I got started with working out in a gym. I work out thrice a week, usually immediately after my morning jog or brisk walk. If working out in a gym poses a problem for you, I suggest you invest in a P90X Home Fitness Workout Program. If there were no cheap gym workouts in my neighborhood, it would certainly be my workout alternative.

Since I never smoked all my life, my program had nothing to do with that very big health problem besetting a lot of people.

It was only lately that I started to look into my diet and nutrition. First to go were the soft drinks and coffee, which I substituted with green tea. I stopped buying sugar, baked products, and processed foods. I initially limited my chocolate intake to dark chocolates, but then realized I was only fooling myself and had to let it go completely. It's because of its hydrogenated oil component which is a source of trans fats. I replaced it with nuts, specifically walnuts and peanuts.

I now eat more vegetables and fruits, especially banana. More and more, I'm substituting nutrient-rich boiled bananas or sweet potatoes for rice. Meat, especially chicken meat, is still very much a part of my menu, although in regulated quantity.

By God's grace, a decade after I started my serious getting fit and healthy program, I find myself in good health, with no maintenance medication so far.