Exercise and Depression

 I considered  separate posts on each of the above topics but my goal since my 2024 update is to encourage my reader to be more active. In other words read then close the computer or phone and move your body.

Be more aware of what you SEE... more in what you are being TOLD. Then consider what stage your aging process is at. There are many well documented scientific facts on how aging affects the body.

For myself, I know I need more protein, and for me is a known fact that I have lost muscle mass with age. Do I worry now about weight gain as I did when younger? No. I make better dietary choices focusing on protein as I need a lot more protein with aging now yet have a decreased appetite.  

In the many different moves I stated in the updated 2024 post, I did not always lift weights. I always did some walking but not enough. Move. MOVE the body. This is probably the one statement that is the most important. The second is LIFT WEIGHTS. 

In the past I read and tried different dietary advice and chose so many different programs for exercise. Back then it was a period of so much being advised because of wanting to look a certain way.  Now I know better and make choices for an aging body. The surprising thing is with the choices I did make since becoming 50 I now get comments I look 20 years younger than my 75 years. 

The one comment I end any consultation with when recommending products is that what you put on the end of your fork is seen on your skin. Choose wisely.

It took me three years to be the competition lifter I now am. In the gym I lift weights with women over 80 years old. They began with 3 pound weights. It's important at our age to have a very competent trainer who watches the amount you lift and increases that weight as you progress.

I don't know what the years I have left will bring but I do know that is not only known to Jesus but is also up to me now more than ever. I will be more aware of what I SEE...obesity and disease that were once only attributed to the older population  are now seen in our children at younger ages. 

So now I question what I have been TOLD through many years. One being I don't need aggressive heart pounding exercise for 20 minutes or more as I once did. Not at this age and not for me. Try a great set of squats giving you strength and ability to get up from chairs or a good gym session of weight training. You will feel the heart pounding effects that not only strengthen the heart but avoid loss of muscle.

 Another very well known symptom of the aging process is depression. Exercise helps. Especially weight lifting!

God Bless and ❤️  Norma Jean

 

2024 UPDATE

As a first post since being silent for too many years the following I'd like to share with you. 

The family went through 5 moves in 4 states with job relocation. Though I was busy I quickly became aware that the moves would provide me more opportunities for education and experiences. That's what I did along with caring for family and many life changes.

Over those years I wrote a small book (His Foods) along with articles for a skin care publication (Dermascope). I taught in classes speaking to many about the importance of understanding our dietary choices and the effect on not only our daily lives when younger, but how those decisions impact us in our later years. Now at 75 I continue to have good health and 3 years ago returned back home where I am at the gym I joined over 45 years ago. More about this gym later. I only dabbled in various gym programs over my many moves and at times doing wery little of it. I did experience the dreaded menopausal weight gain which I no longer have.  I have become a power lifter and hold national titles for my age and weight group. We CAN hold on to good health as we age for our bodies strive to be healthier when we make even a few changes. I am now a skin care consultant and when I leave a customer with the education and importance of 3 products I always say one thing. What you choose to put into your body and on the end of your fork will show in the skin especially when older. I now focus my consulting business for women over 50 for we have way too many products we have bought over the years. Social media and advertising promising quick results often leave us disappointed and out of money we did not need to spend. I know how you feel for I tried a few of them too and you know what I did... I returned to what I knew worked with a focus on the SCIENCE of skin and body and a few products that do produce results.

I will post again soon. Many hugs and ❤️ Norma Jean

Where did time go

Well the years have gone by with not a post on my blog for a long time, and that is something I will work on. I have been through many life changes including the death of a beloved aunt, my pets illness, a diagnosis of Alzheimers in my Father, and as they say...life happenings. So, with that in mind I will catch you up with things and then we will get back to why I began this blog, to share what I can about health, nutrition and beauty as we age.
First, as I said above, I watch a father dying of alzheimers and say to those out there who are caring for loved ones with this miserable disease, my heart goes out to you, for this is a disease that truly in my opinion, is worse on those watching it, for it is heartwrenching to see it rob our loved ones of all ability to function. No wonder the Dr. said that the caretakers often die before the afflicted person. Very hard indeed. More about what I feel about this disease and what those of us can do for ourselves in another post. Then there was the diagnosis of diabetes in my dearest pet and love, a sweet 7 pound Yorkie dog named Jacob. I have fought this battle with him over a year now, and that means I learned to blood test, take diabetic blood glucose curves,understand fasting numbers and doses of insulin. I know when and how a hypoglycemic incident would present itself and what to do about it. I also know he will go blind, and it is race now to keep his sugar at the best possible level to stave off that blindness. So, those things along with the attitude of ...not many people find my blog anyway...which I hope someday changes...well those things just kept me from posting. I promised myself today that will change. I have lots to say about the health, nutrition and aging fields, possibly more now than ever for I like everyone else, am getting up there. More than that fact, is that with the added years come experience, and the observation that what one thinks is right to do or possibly feels right to do, just may be an answer or at least worth the try. Now at 62, feeling great and hoping I stay this way and (have to throw this in here)... KNOWING how to stay this way.... which is indeed a choice we make daily is not always easy, but the other outcome if we make the bad choices is not an option for me. Look around you, and you will see what I mean. Dis-ease is everywhere. I hope to share much more with you. Till then, Norma Jean

Goodbye Cardio

Watching TV recently I was thrilled hearing the news about getting off the cardio whirlwind of the past and finally realizing that real weight loss and health is largely dependant on resistance muscle training. Make no mistake, we need to walk with all the benefits of deep breathing and movement for the lymphatic system, but nothing will preserve our bone and muscle, even reverse the aging process, as well as doing resistance training. Whether it is using resistance bands or a set of barbells, we must realize the importance of this type of exercise, especially as we age for we loose muscle mass when older.

I have engaged in muscle building and training for years now but have seen myself fall off the wagon on occasion. When this did happen, weight crept on and my health deteriorated. Never did I run for the treadmill for I knew better. What I did do was get control of myself and run for the barbells instead. They never disappointed me. Finally, finally, one can, with no guilt, say goodbye to the endless hours on the treadmill. Glad I never fell into that trap.

Norma Jean

Another useless drug

The news on the drug Vytorin today will disappoint many that look for a quick fix for a problem instead of trying to rectify it with a change in lifestyle. It is too hard for most today to walk away from the American way of eating processed and fat laden foods and sedentary lifestyle that affects the heart. Instead, they want the magic pill.

Well here it is. One more time we are given the go ahead for a drug that does not do as it should, and in fact in this case, makes plaque buildup within the arteries even worse. Isn't that great? With the news today, I am glad I sprinkle lecithin granules over my foods, eat 80% live enzyme rich food, and get an amount of exercise in throughout my day. I am grateful for my extremely low cholesterol (126) and very low triglycerides (34) and know that I will never have to worry about these cholesterol/heart drugs,.... but then I work at it.

Norma Jean

Old vs.Young

As I watched the election returns last night and observed the speeches I could not help but notice that one more time it gets down to young and old, in looks and in how one is perceived. Listening to the speeches at the podium I not only noticed the past as the "old" in Bill Clinton and Madeline Albright standing behind Hillary Clinton, I felt the past, and it all reminded me of what was. Watching Obama speak with his young family and surrounded by youth and "beautiful people" behind him reminded me of the "new" or young, and the future.

I do not mean to belittle this important race from a viewpoint of young or old, beautiful or dowdy and I have no political agenda here, but again a picture is worth a thousand words or maybe in this case a few thousand votes. What is coming through loud and clear is this, the old and dowdy that talk about the past, surround themselves WITH the past and do not move toward the future will in fact, be left in the past. As I remember the past as "the good old days"... I often think that those good old days maybe were not so good after all.

And in a world where youth and beauty sell, it will always be important that if one is not young, be sure to keep your ideas and your image as youthfull as possible, not just in a presidential race but for that job, or a promotion or in fact for just about anything ...sad as that may be, it is the truth.
Norma Jean

New Diet Guidelines

Here is a link to the new pyramid recommendation for our aging population, specifically those over 70 yrs old.


Notice that there are more foods that contain live digestive enzymes, those being the fruits and vegetables and with good reason. These foods are the antioxidants that contribute to health and contain the nutrients that feed the cells and fuel the body. More importantly these foods are live and enzyme rich. As we age the body's digestive enzymes are depleted and these live foods contain their own enzymes helping to aid in digestion. This is why eating a salad with a meal will often help in the digestive process due to the live enzyme rich greens. "Live" foods, will become the next big push toward healthy eating.

However I feel we need to go one step further as the body is older and the organs of digestion are not working as efficiently as in our youth. Because of this,these foods will have a harder time digesting even when following this new recommendation. Consider the liver is only working to 1/4 of the capacity it once was. In fact some of these organs are diseased themselves, making their job very difficult. The digestive system is responsible for our health and reliant on what we place in it so it can preform as best it can. So beyond following this new pyramid, what can one do to help this entire system preform all its necessary functions for cellular health?

Combine foods that will digest easily.

There are many books about digestion and "foods that fight" each other and I highly recommend reading some of them. Eating like this is not the American way of life because our meals are complex, filled with too many different foods.

Eating foods that are having an easy time digesting allows the digestive organs to easily derive the nutrients from the foods and then get on with the task of repairing THEMSELVES so they can better take care of us. Think of how one feels after a Thanksgiving meal. Those organs are having a terrible time digesting that meal and we feel it as fatigue, bloat and indigestion. And we see it as cellulite and weight gain!

Try it sometime and follow a few of the rules of digestion. I have an 80/20 rule. 80%of the time I do what is right for my health. The other 20% of the time, I break a few rules for it is not what we do 20% that harms us but what we do 80% of the time likely will. One more thing. That 20% time that I break the rules for easy diestion I will take a couple capsules of digestive enzymes.

Eating healthy will not matter if a system sends out putrified, toxic poison into the body due to faulty digestion! Maybe we will hear about this next...they have it half right!

Norma Jean, N.D.