60 yrs and up

ridiculous59 wrote: »

... movement isn't a penance. It's a privilege. It's a celebration that here I am on the right side of the grass.

Thank you, @ridiculous59. Your words really struck a chord in me today. 🤗

Thanks to everyone for their encouraging and kind comments. I’m very focused on my health now, and will continue to do what I can. I charged up my Fitbit and am being more conscious of my steps. I’m taking more steps now than a month ago. Couldn’t face struggling into gym clothes, and never made the gym. Also, I bought a yearly pass to the Royal Botanical Gardens, and I love walking there. It was lovely weather today, and all the annuals have been planted. Peonies are getting ready to bloom. What a beautiful change from winter.

Melwillbehealthy wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for their encouraging and kind comments. I’m very focused on my health now, and will continue to do what I can. I charged up my Fitbit and am being more conscious of my steps. I’m taking more steps now than a month ago. Couldn’t face struggling into gym clothes, and never made the gym. Also, I bought a yearly pass to the Royal Botanical Gardens, and I love walking there. It was lovely weather today, and all the annuals have been planted. Peonies are getting ready to bloom. What a beautiful change from winter.

Good show, @Melwillbehealthy: Botanical garden walks sound excellent!

Usually, after I start getting re-adjusted to my somewhat higher summer rowing/biking volume**, I add some intentional walks to my routine, after rowing on rowing days. One of the great pleasures of that for me is seeing how the flowers, plants, fungus, birds, and more change seasonally as the Summer moves on. In my case, this is mostly wild stuff along a park trail, but also some ornamental plantings in suburban yards. We have some nice botanical/horticultural gardens at the local university where I walk sometimes, too . . . and of course, in Summer I get in a bit of extra movement taking care of plants in my own garden.

** For me, rowing a boat on water and riding a bike on trails are waaaay more fun than the rowing machine and stationary bike I do in Winter as my main active things - I do the winter indoor things semi-faithfully in part just so I don't have to start over from ground zero fitness-wise every Spring. Once I'm back doing what I enjoy most, it's natural to me to do it longer, so there's a bit of readaptation/reconditioning to the higher volume.

Speaking of gardens, I haven't victimized the group with any plant photos from my house/garden lately. This is Spigelia marilandica, a.k.a. woodland pinkroot, among other common names.

That's exactly what I'm talking about 🙂. Exercise doesn't have to involve a class, or a gym pass, or expensive equipment. Skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, paddling, walking.......they lift my heart in ways that a gym just can't. So it's not only the physical benefit that keeps me at it, it's the mental boost too. Plus I love spending time outside with my dogs 🐾♥️[/quote]

This is so true. I’ve been swimming in the pool, and enjoying it. I’ve always loved swimming, and at one point even took scuba, which I didn’t like😒. Very tired, but I can handle it. I do laps or I don’t do laps. I just make sure to move. I feel good about adding this activity again into my life.

bethe wrote: »

Still trying to figure out the best macro ratio for my body type. I'm a post-menopausal woman who is "skinny-fat", so I have skinny arms, legs, and shoulders, and a sizable spare tire. I've been focusing on keto, but internet sleuthing suggests that's not the best diet for skinny-fat women. Based on my current actual weight, recommendations are to eat 300 calories below my recommended maintenance diet (1750 - 300 = 1450), and it should consist of 35% protein, 45% fat, and 20% carbs - which is a bit different from keto. I'm also supposed to focus primarily on muscle building exercises (Oh yay. Not...). At this point though, anything I do will be muscle building so it's not as daunting as it sounds. Anyway, that's what's going on with me right now.

That relatively small calorie deficit and relatively higher protein seems like a good plan, in circumstances. Some of the keto plans might be lower than optimal - I gather some are more moderate-protein. I'm paying close attention to the "Prot Age Study Group" recommendations I posted about earlier, suggesting we need more protein as we age, spread through our day, like 25g per meal (or so).

As far as muscle building: I don't love weight training, either. That's obviously the most efficient route, but bodyweight exercises are a close second, might be less tedious for some. Really, anything that challenges current strength, in a progressive fashion, will have benefits.

Finding the balance between the theoretically ideal strength exercise, and what we realistically will do often enough to be beneficial, is a challenge, IMO. I admire people with more self-discipline than me (or who enjoy weight lifting more), who do the best thing. That's great! Sadly, I'm not that (psychologically) strong, when it comes to doing things I don't enjoy for themselves. I'm lucky that one thing I do enjoy (rowing) is on the strength-y-er side of cardio.

I admit, I'm a little surprised at the recommendation of 45% fat: Not that that's dangerous (it's not IMO), and many people find fat filling, plus we do need a certain amount. Maybe it's just my bias . . . fat is the thing I'm most likely to under-consume, if I don't pay attention. From other posts here, I gather that's not a common bias.

I'm personally a big fan of the small-ish calorie deficit - like your 300 calorie one - for those of us in/near the normal BMI range. I used a small deficit to (re-)lose a few vanity pounds ultra-slowly, a few months back, and it was virtually painless. On top of that, the small deficit gives us more nutrition (macros/micros). For someone at a higher bodyweight, there can be a payoff to lose faster (there was for me, earlier on). But once the general health markers are OK-ish (like blood pressure, A1C, cholesterol, triglycerides), slower loss can be a good plan, IMO.

Finding the individually right route is always the core issue, though - and there's subjectivity in that.