Exercise and Diet are not the end product.
If not, what is?
Look closely at most health and fitness websites and you will find they are promoting exercise programs or nutrition programs as the end product — an end unto itself. Most are either muscle building programs or pure weight loss programs. A few are some combination of the two. And that’s fine if your end goal is a lot of muscle or quick weight loss. But as we’ll see, that’s probably not the end goal for most seniors.
Chances are with those kinds of programs, one of two things will happen: 1. You get discouraged at your lack of progress and stop, or 2. You reach your goal and your mind tells you that now that you’ve reached it, you can stop. So you do. And your new muscles atrophy or the weight sneaks back on.
Of course, nutrition is not a settled science. I am convinced that the diet industry thrives on confusion and once the science is really settled (I mean truly, honestly, unequivocally, totally settled), up will pop new authors, new theories, new programs and we will again spend our time and money searching for that everlasting quick fix that simply isn’t there.
The goal of exercise and eating right is to recharge your personal battery, your Energy Source, so you can continue living your life on your terms rather than living it dependent on someone or something else — on their terms.
To continue to keep your physical batteries recharged, there are certain fundamental things you have to do. You must keep moving your body. You must fuel your body with high octane food, oxygen and fluids. You must get plenty of rest and sleep, consistent with your own, individual needs.
And to keep your mental battery charged, you’ll need to add some meditation, visualization and sometimes affirmations into the mix, to tap into the energy of your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is a powerful tool that is used to fortify your mindset. A mindset of energetic self-empowerment is every bit as important for Seniors, as the physical side.
While muscle building and “program” diets can be useful, the results they offer are either temporary muscles or a temporarily skinny body — not the long term health and fitness improvements that you are most likely striving for. True Health and Fitness is a long term lifestyle “practice”. It must become part of your personal identity.
So it’s not the activity itself (diet and exercise), it is the benefits of the activity that really matter. The main benefit for us, as seniors, is to enjoy our senior years with gusto and meaning, on our own terms, and with a fully charged battery at all times. That feeling of being fully alive as you age is the real end product. And to get there you must move and eat healthfully.
Yes, you’ll like it when people notice your energy and appearance. You can’t help but enjoy feeling better that you have in years. Those are nice benefits too.
I have a gym friend who just turned 80. He is an avid skier. But he doesn’t ski to stay healthy and fit, he gets healthy and fit so he can continue to ski. He is living life on his terms because of what he does to take care of himself.
In the final analysis, it’s the end result that counts — a long, healthy, happy and productive life, a life you are fully able to live on your own terms, with the energy and gusto of a live well lived.
Thank you for reading this SeniorFlow Moment.
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