Life style changes - would you?

Brush mowing with my walk behind mower , doing other outside chores or watching TV while peddling the air cycle for 20 to 30 minute sessions if the weather prevents outside chores adequately keeps my circulation and heart rate up for my exercise periods and keeps my weight below 200 pounds.

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

That was my reasoning also mowing the lawn, splitting wood, and other chores should be the same thing as "formal" exercise with the side benefit of actually getting something done!
But according to the "experts" Oh No it's not the same, reason cause you stop, halt, pause, vary your speed, and do not keep your heart rate up but let it fluctuate at best.
So your peddling would be what they are looking for but all the other "stuff" don't cut it according to them.

Back in the 50's there were some 90 year old folks around, they didn't know anything about aerobic exercises, or lipitor, none of that stuff. Most of those 90 year olds were more active than the average 50 year old is now. If pulling weeds and splitting firewood don't kill you, I reckon it'll keep you alive.

When it comes to doctors, and what they recommend, I'm very skeptical. First, you gotta remember, they won't make any money by actually helping you to the point you don't need them any more. Secondly, if I wanted to know how to be healthy and active into my 80's and 90's, I think I would ask someone who is in their 90's, not someone with no actual practical knowledge.

I'm only 63, so y'all can call me kid if ya wanna. Haven't been to a doctor since 1979 or so(torn ligament in knee). I have always and still do talk to a lot of healthy old people, the common factor seems to be their eating habits and staying busy. None of them know anything about different exercise programs and such. They laugh and tell me they're too busy working to do any exercising.

That's the big problem - you can't ask those that didn't make it to an old age why they didn't........

It is amazing how just a few changes can improve your QUALITY of life. I would and have made changes to my eating and exercise and all of these small things have had a huge reward in the way I am feeling. And I have incurable cancer. And it has helped my husband enormously as well. That is what interests me. If swimming can strengthen my leg muscles which in turn will give better support and flexibility to my knees thus hurting and impeding me less then I am perfectly willing to go swimming. Physical work is great for keeping you healthy but it does not necessarily work all muscle groups or increase endurance. My endurance has increased dramatically with swimming. And of course it is also important to keep your mind active and healthy and the experts do say that doing new things is one of the most beneficial exercises for your mind.

This is an interesting thread, Michael. Thanks for starting it.

Aging was something that never crossed my mind until just recently. My life "style" has always changed with the weather! Smoked during my 20s & 30s. (Kicked that with olives just so "smoke" would not be around those I loved.) Alcohol/drugs were pretty much ignored due to experiences with loved ones as a child. Grew up in a wholesome home with a wonderful mother; so playing around sexually was out of the question.

I have always had a very healthy body with a strong metabolism & never gained much weight; so never worried about what I was eating....until a few years ago.

In my 60s I realized my body was not as agile as it use to be, sodium was being held in my body and causing problems and I was "bordering" on diebetis. When I went to the doctor he "expected" me to have high cholesterol because I had been drinking so much goat milk. (HeHe Turns out it was the goat milk that was keeping my cholesterol at bay.) About this time my nerves were pretty freyed from all I had been dealing with and my body was not as able to turn off my emotions as well as it use to. For me this was all a simple wake-up call that I was, indeed, aging and simply needed to take a look at my diet.

I didn't need a doctor to tell me...was never good at taking advice anyway! So I cut out salt and processed foods, put more energy into growing the garden and fruits and processed my own meats. (The majority of what foods I eat now are home grown and very healthy.) In listening to my own body, I have been able to overcome all ailments except the pain in my right hip; and I'm working on that. I have, also, given my emotions permission to express themselves...no one around to object except my animals and they are just fine with....whatever.

I use a walk-behind brush mower for about 4 acres (Will cut this back as soon as I can get some hair sheep for the back part of this.), tend my own goats/chickens and work my dogs. Yes, age has taken a toll and I move slower and cannot multitask as I use to. Even my nerves prompt intimidation/inhibition of some chores. Still I am managing quite well. (Just yesterday I separated 8 large, playful kids with horns; and this morning I went up into a scary loft...black snakes live up there...and threw down 9 bales of hay.) Still have a bee hive in my processing center to tend to; but I'll get that done too...just as soon as I coax my nerves into letting me. ROFL

Retirement to me is a peace I've never had before...no one to take care of but myself; and only the weather tells me what to do and when. LOL

My faith in a loving God has always been strong; and has always given me strength; so even now that I'm 73 yrs old and this year has bombarded me with many diverse trials, I'm quite content knowing my Heavenly Father is ever watchful.......

..........Changing my life style to me means adapting to whatever situation I am in to accommodate whatever I need to do while maintaining my own personal health.........and, indeed, I shall do that until my Lord returns.................

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

emdeengee, having a wife that is a cancer survivor (4+ years) I can understand somewhat you and your husband are going through; to which my thoughts go with you. And yes, we did make major changes to our/her lifestyle because of it, but that's just my point to all this. There was a real reason for the changes and they have had a direct effect not only on her but on both of us.


To the changes they say I have to make is just for a "healthier" life style. There isn't a living longer, better, easier, or anything like that.
I'm just having trouble with this "living healthier" - what's healthier? A person's idea of healthy may not be the same as mine nor even the person next door and so on down the block. So for the "experts" to say do this to live a "healthier" life style - are they right or ______ not.

Everything in moderation except those things that are bad for anyone. My lifestyle was dictated by my birth and life challenges. I was born without a stomach (well actually I had one but it was outside my body and did not function) I was allergic to everything and my body could not process enough to sustain me. So it was/is/has been a lot of goats milk. I have changed my lifestyle as I have aged and because of injuries. Plain, simple foods, exercise, chronic pain and stress management. I didn't take up bad habits when I was young, just needed to adjust habits as needed. I have many side effects but with close management I have been able to stay medication free (except during a few short periods). Cholesterol is great, now. Blood pressure is low at times but manageable, Blood sugar is stable but lower than I would like. I have to work at it, to keep weight on, good thing to have but can be very hard at times. Each small bite is chewed 100 times to get it to a size and mixture of digestive juices so my system can take up the nutrients. Very small meals, often and complete, to provide nourishment. So far, I am still here. So yes, I have and will continue to change my lifestyle to live....James

I know that the modern way is to sneer at the "experts" (and there are those who claim to be experts and they are most definitely not) but when research has gone on for decades (all over the world) and certain things keep popping up as a positive then I think it is worth seeing if it will improve your life.

Great examples of this conclusive evidence through research is the world wide consensus on tobacco and alcohol and sugar which has changed the way millions of people live and has improved their health. Of course you can continue to smoke or drink or consume sugar in excess and just wait for something to happen but pro-active steps can't hurt. The best proof of change is personal knowledge whether it is your own or how something has improved the life of your friends and family. Giving up soda and other heavily sugared foods has reversed the diabetes prognosis for my friend. She wasn't a diabetic but was heading there.

As for what is healthier - that is not a mystery. Medicine has been studying this forever. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Chinese did it and my Mom and Grandmother certainly knew what was healthy.

The latest studies (over 70 years now has been the studying of the diet, lifestyle and DNA of the people of Okinawa Japan, Sardinia Italy, Ikaria Greece and Loma Linda California to find out what they got from history and what they are doing right today that has made them the healthiest and longest lived humans.

And then of course there is the keeping of disease records and statistics from around the world to study why certain countries have certain diseases running amok and others do not.