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Fitness in Middle Age Impacts Later Years

I know there is supposed to be some rule that women never divulge their age. But I have never believed in that—or perhaps it’s just that I tend to have a rebellious side in me. I have no problem letting people know that I am 43 years old. In fact, when I turned 40, I felt terrific. It felt like the best of my years were just beginning. Apparently there is something else about the 40’s that could make a significant difference in your later years…your level of physical activity. In a recent study, there was strong evidence that those … Continue reading →

Midlife Fitness Level May Predict Future Heart Health

What if there was a way to predict what your future heart health might look like? Well there just may be and it’s done by measuring your fitness level mid-life, starting in your 40’s. Two studies were done…one by the Cooper Institute in Dallas and another by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. The results of both indicated that potential heart problems could be predicted by determining your level of fitness. We already know that certain risk factors can also indicate whether or not you are more likely to have future heart problems, such as smoking and obesity. But … Continue reading →

Garden Your Way to Fitness

Do you have a green thumb? Then you might think about gardening your way to fitness. Not only do you reap the rewards of healthy fruits and vegetables but you can also burn a lot of calories. Yard work in general can be a great way to incorporate fitness into your spring and summer routine. We are hitting that time of year where many of us are beginning to plan out our gardens and what we will grow. If you have perennials then you know you have to prepare the area around them, begin weeding and other tasks. Think of … Continue reading →

TV Wives as Role Models: My Faves from the 1950s-1970s

Since November is National Inspirational Role Model Month, I thought it’d be fun to list some television wives I’ve admired over the years. Even though they are TV wives, in a TV world where everything’s scripted and a happy ending is assured, there’s wisdom and inspiration to be gleaned from their foibles, mishaps, and messes nonetheless. Because conflict, confrontation, and duress are guaranteed at some point during the half hour or hour time slot in which their shows run. That’s what makes it entertaining: to see how they’ll deal with, and eventually overcome, the problems they’re faced with. I’ve listed … Continue reading →

Fitness & Your Hula Hoop

Does your child hula hoop? Before the Nintendo age, the hula hoop was a hit on every child’s block. I owned three of them and I could hoop with all three. My daughter has a pair of hoops and she loves to hoop herself, though she complains she’s not that good at it yet. They do hoops at her school, not as much as she would like, but they do have them there. Yet hula hooping seems to be a dying art for kids’ fun, but that’s okay, adults like me are getting back into the hooping at their fitness … Continue reading →

Women’s Fitness: Time Marches On

When it comes to getting in shape, we’ve often said that women are different from men. But how they are different is very specific. How are they different? Let’s talk about that today. First and foremost, sometime around the age of 25, women who do not exercise begin to lose an average of 7 pounds of muscle every decade and gain about 15 pounds of fat. This continues until we’re in our 40s and 50s. Then comes menopause – after menopause those numbers double. If that isn’t a frightening set of numbers, I don’t know what is. We call it … Continue reading →

How Old Is Your Body?

Do you know how old your body is? Sometimes, our body is older than we are and that is not what most of us dream about. Whether we are in our 30s, our 40s or 50s, we want our bodies to be younger, fitter and trimmer. We want to be in good shape and we want to feel good. Your body age is determined by a test of strength, cardiovascular condition, body fat percentage and flexibility. Our physical age is determined by the number of years that have passed since our birth dates. But our body’s age is determined by … Continue reading →

Live Longer

Most of us would probably say that we’d love to live as long as possible. I would have said that as a teen, in my 20’s and in my 30’s. But now that I am in my 40’s, it has started to mean a lot more to me. Now I am looking closer to a time where my children will be getting married and starting their own families. Wanting to be there for that is a great motivation to do all I can to stay on this earth as long as I can. The “U.S. National Cancer Institute” just released … Continue reading →

Menopause and Muscle Tone

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About a year ago, I got out of the shower. I was surprised to looked down and see my grandmother’s legs. No, my beloved, dearly departed grandmother hadn’t come into the bathroom. But, I noticed my legs had started to look like hers. Before you ask how I knew so much about my grandmother’s legs, let me explain. I lived with my grandmother for almost twenty years after the death of my mother when I was 19. My grandfather had died about five years before that. With my father remarrying, I decided to spend my 20’s and most of my … Continue reading →

Middle-Aged Inspiration

So if I’m 43 years old, am I considered middle-aged? I think it depends on who you ask. I really hate that category…it sounds so…well, old. But I felt better about it when I recently read an article about Michelle Obama and Ellen DeGeneres having a pushup contest. The article even included a little clip from the show, so I could see it. Without even breaking a sweat, first lady Obama was able to do 25 pushups. What impressed me even more was that it wasn’t the kind you do from the knees, these were from her toes. Ellen, on … Continue reading →