Aging well with Dr. Mark Williams

In his book, The Art and Science of Aging Well, Dr. Mark Williams writes about the current science on aging in a way that give insight into how we should live to make sure we have the highest quality of life as we age.  He notes a statistic that is quite relevant to aging.  The death rate for humans is one per person, in other words, we all die.  It is all just a matter of how and why.

Eight myths

1. All old people are the same and they are falling apart.  We all age at different rates.  Even the organ systems age at different rates.  Because of the nature of growth and experience, as we age we become more valuable, not less.
2. Losing weight will make you live longer.  We are very weight conscious, yet severe dieting can increase your chance of death.
3. As we age we become more forgetful and senile.  It is true dementia, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's are more common when we are older, but those are disease states.  Forgetting names, walking into a room and forgetting why you're there, and losing car keys are all symptoms of being normal.
4. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.  We don't naturally lose productivity as we age.
5. There is nothing we can do about aging.  We can make choices.  Only about 30% of our longevity is genetics.  That gives us 70% of the puzzle for aging well.
6. Old people are an economic burden.  We can ensure we have systems that don't cause a larger, older population to be a burden on the young.  In fact, older people provide a lot of uncompensated productivity through volunteer activities.
7. Old people are not interested in sex.  Older couples do remain active and are happier with their sex life.
8. You're going to end up in a nursing home.  Only 3% of people end up living in a nursing home.

Cell Aging

It used to be thought that cells live forever.  This was disproved by Leonard Hayflick.  A cell can replicate approximately 50 times before they effectively die.  The only way to break out of the aging control is when the cell becomes malignant.

Cells count the number of times they can replicate.  Each time a cell replicates the end is slightly shorter.  A telomere is an end-cap that causes the cell to stop replicating and the cell dies (apoptosis).

Sugar and Aging

If our blood sugar is high, which is typically measured in blood work as A1C.  This shows advanced glycation end products (AGE), which gums up the works.  High consumption of high glycemic and processed foods age us faster.  Avoiding these kinds of foods are important for aging well.

Benefits of Exercise for Aging Well

We were made to move.  Physical exercise is a key requirement for aging well.

Proven benefits of exercise:

• Reduced risk of heart disease
• Reduced risk of sudden death
• Lowered blood pressure
• Improved mood
• Less of depression
• Weight loss and loss of fat
• Reduced risk of diabetes
• And most likely a reduced risk of cancer

How much exercise should we get?  An answer came from one of Dr. Williams' clients.  Work up a good sweat every day.

Three Keys of Aging

1. The amount we lose is surprising small due to aging itself versus other things.
2. The older we get the more important self-maintenance activities become.
3. The opportunity to improve goes up if we're not on the extreme ends of the fitness continuum.

Links:

Facebook – Mark Williams, MD

 

Cracking the Aging Code | Josh Mitteldorf

5 Supplements You Should Consider Taking

Supplements are supplements

The first thing I want you to remember about supplements is that they are just that, supplements.  You should focus on getting your nutrients from real food and only use supplements to fill the gaps.  In this episode, I will link to some products (affiliate).  I take all of these supplements at some time or another throughout the year.

Fish Oil

I covered fish oil in detail in Episode 39, so I will just briefly discuss it here. The only place to get fish oil from real food is to consume fish. Many people struggle eating fish.  I recommend you try multiple species and preparations of fish before you completely give up on them.

The main caution with fish oil is that it can go bad. You should never take bad fish oil.  I recommend only buying good quality fish oil.  You should store fish oil in the refrigerator.  I also recommend checking a gel when you first purchase the oil and once every few weeks, if you keep it that long.

Creatine (EP 79)

I covered creating in episode 79, so here's a brief description and caution on creatine. Creatine has been show in many studies to not only improve muscular performance, but to have protective qualities for the brain.  Creatine causes muscles to hold more water, therefore you could retain as much as 5 – 7 lbs of water.  If you're a scale junkie, this might cause you some distress.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is essential. Fortunately, our bodies make vitamin D through sun exposure. Time indoors and sunscreens have severely cut the amount of sun we are exposed to on a daily basis. If you're not exposed to the sun on a regular basis or you live in places where there are lower exposure (far north), you may want to consider taking a vitamin D supplement. You can get a blood test to determine your status.

Multivitamin

In episode 143, I explained how I am not using ketosis as a way to reduce fat and retain muscle mass.  As a result of my eating less than 50 total grams of carbohydrates, I'm limited in the volume and variety of fruits and vegetables I can eat in any given day.   To make sure I'm getting what I need, I'll add a multivitamin to my regimen.

Magnesium (sleep)

Magnesium has been shown to improve people fall asleep, stay asleep and have lucid dreams.  I find that taking a magnesium before bed helps me wake up more refreshed and I am more productive and creative.

As I noted at the beginning, you should look for ways to get the nutrients you need from real food.  When you can't, supplements can be valuable for maintaining health and maximizing your health.

How to shop for good food

Don’t Let Your Anxiety Run Your Life | David Klemanski and Joshua Curtis

The timing of this book, Don't Let Your Anxiety Run Your Life by David Klemanski and Joshua Curtis, couldn't have been better for me.  I've been struggling with anxiety lately and needed the tools taught in this book.  I'm certain you've dealt with anxiety from time to time.  We all do.

Almost everything in life has the potential to make us feel anxious, but only if you let it!  In other words, it is entirely possible to skillfully manage your anxiety by examining the relationship you have to your fears and worries and embracing them (rather than avoiding them!) ~ From the Introduction of Don't Let Your Anxiety Run Your Life.

Anxiety goes beyond just being a negative mood state.  It is a future-oriented state, where people worry about some future event.  It can be real or perceived.

There are three diagnosable conditions in the anxiety spectrum:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder – months of worry, feeling keyed up and on edge.  Excessive worry beyond the normal level of worry.
2. Panic disorder – Physical conditions that are often related as they felt they were having a heart attack.
3. Social anxiety disorder – Anxiety about social situations.  Fear of being judged.  They often begin avoiding being in social events.

Self-diagnosis is difficult with these disorders.  It may require professional attention.  The anxiety becomes clinical when it interferes with their normal lives.

It is very common for people to avoid going the gym when anxiety over what others are thinking of them kicks in.  Avoidance sets up a negative cycle.  It is important to be exposed to the gym and not use avoidance behaviors such as not making eye contact or to isolate themselves in an empty area of the gym.  Instead, you should do the opposite and engage and face your fear.

Other tips or practices:

• Pay attention to your anxiety and your reaction to it.  The more you pay attention to it (rather than avoiding of suppressing it) the better you'll be able to chip away at those emotions.
• When you're working on using these skills you'll need to be forgiving of yourself.  These skills build over time.

Links:

Online companion website at New Harbinger Publishing

 

Start here | Eric Langshur & Nate Klemp

Mindfulness eating with Lynn Rossy

In this episode, we meet Lynn Rossy, PhD.  Her book, The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution explains how mindfulness eating is the key to weight loss. With thousands of diet books on the market, you would think there wouldn't be a need for another one. Yet one thing stands true: diets don't work.

We may change how or what we're eating, but once we revert back to our old ways, the weight just comes back.  What we should be looking for is something more sustainable.  That's where mindfulness comes in.  Being in the moment with your food allows you to enjoy it more and make sure your body gets appropriate signaling for when you are full.

Lynn has three steps to address health:

1. Diet – Don't bother with a particular diet unless prescribed by your doctor.
2. Scale – Avoid the scale.  It won't satisfy you and is needless beating up on yourself.  Instead, focus on how you look and feel.
3. Goal setting

Mindfulness is about being in the present moment.

There are three components for mindfulness:

1. Intentional
2. Attention
3. Attitude (without judgment)

Approaching food and our bodies without judgment will allow us to get healthy and maintain balance in our lives.

The basics of mindful eating:

B – Breathe and belly check

A – Assessing your food

S – Slow down

I – Investigate your hunger half way through your meal

C – Chew thoroughly

S – Savor

Mindfulness eating allows you to enjoy your food completely, be in touch with your body's signaling, eat less, and feel full and satisfied.  Mindfulness eating takes some practice, but with everything that takes effort, the payoff is significant.  Give mindfulness eating a try and let me know how it went in the comments below.

Links:

LynnRossy.com

Finding mindfulness with Bruce Langford

Breath and breathing for better health and fitness

Baths for health with Paulette Sherman

You Can Run Pain Free | Brad Beer

In this episode, we meet Brad Beer, the author of You Can Run Pain Free.  Brad Beer is a physiotherapist in Gold Coast, Austrailia.  He works with professional athletes and Olympians, along with everyday runners (or wannabe runners) to help them pursue their sports without pain or injury.

What are the benefits of running?

• Cardiovascular fitness
• Increased longevity
• Lower risk of stroke
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower risk of heart disease
• Lower risk of diabetes
• Improvements in body mass index
• Reduction in depression
• Improvement in cognition

Five step method for evaluation of running

1. Discovering the running body
2. Running with great technique
3. Understanding running shoes
4. Hips stability
5. The power of rest

What's your running body?

This first step is critical.

Understand your flexibility

• Floppies – Hypermobile individuals.  Need strength training to protect their joints.
• Flippies – In the middle of mobility.  May need a mix of both strength mobility training,
• Stiffies – Non-mobile individuals.  Need mobility training to protect their joints.

Know your optimal body weight for running.  

If you're carrying too much body weight, you'll be putting too much strain on your joints.  Losing a little weight, even if it isn't body fat, will mean less stress on the body.

Running screen/evaluation

Using a 10 point checklist, a running expert can evaluate your running form.  This checklist looks at the length of muscles, endurance tests, mobility, etc.  You can get the full checklist from the book.

Links

running.physio

The tao of running | Gary Dudney

Health and Fitness Foundations

When I first launched 40+ Fitness Podcast, I posted an episode each Monday for the first ten weeks that was a lesson that touched on each of the health and fitness foundations in my Forever Fitness Personal Training Program.  These are the principles I share with my clients to help keep them progressing and meeting their health and fitness goals.

Commitment

I start with commitment because without it, you'll never see success.  Willpower fails, motivation wains and resolutions are dropped.  When you know your “why” and a vision of what health and fitness looks like for you, you can put these together to make a vow.  This vow paired with self-love makes all the difference.  If you really want it, go past making a decision and commit.

Sugar

We get fat because of sugar.  The average American eats 150lbs of sugar per year.  Sugar raises your insulin, which is the core hormone for fat gain.  The only way to successfully lose weight is to reduce your sugar intake.   Aim for 50 grams or less per day and you're going to see great results.

Success Keys (Persistence, Progression, Patience)

Persistence is what keeps you going, Progression is what keeps the results coming.  Patience is where you're going to face this challenge over the long-term.  Applied together, these three keys are what all successful people have.

Sleep

Our body goes through some very important functions while we're asleep.  Our hormone cycle is driven by our sleep.  Memory development and muscle repair also occur during this time.  You'll want to get 7 – 9 hours per night, but focus on quality rather than quantity.

Water

The liver is responsible for dealing with toxins.  It makes its job easier by pushing the toxins into the fat.  Now that we're losing weight (aka burning fat), we're releasing these toxins and the liver is forced to deal with it.  Beyond not adding more toxins, it is important to give the liver plenty of water.

Our brain, joints and skin all use water to perform well.  If you are dehydrated you're going to look and feel worse.  Your

Plateaus

Our bodies were built to find balance.  For this reason, we will often find ourselves hitting plateaus. You can build in strategies to break through plateaus or avoid them all together.  Periodization can be effective particularly in muscular strength, muscle mass, or endurance.  Or you can look for a way to push past it.  Just don't quit.

Lab Rat

You are a unique individual.  As a result, what works for someone else may not work for you.  Don't be afraid to experiment to find the things that will work for you.  Take the time to educate yourself and then apply and tweak your programming and food.

Fitness Modalities

Recognize that there are different fitness modalities and you should consider most of them.  Focusing on one at the detriment of the others will keep you from meeting your goals or accomplishing your vision.  A few fitness modalities to consider follows:

• Muscular strength
• Muscular mass
• Mobility
• Endurance
• Balance
• Agility
• Speed

Strength

Of all the fitness modalities, the one I almost demand my clients do is strength training.  Strength is the most important factor to being healthy and fit.  Heavy lifting boosts testosterone production (libido) and helps maintain strong bones.

Lifestyle

Once you've seen success, it is important to shift from this being a project to it being a lifestyle.  If you've made good healthy habits, this becomes easy.  Avoid language like diet.  Diets are temporary and when you go back to eating the way you did before, you'll go back to what you were.  Health and fitness is a continuum.  You can always get better.

Health and fitness is a state of being, not a destination.

We are 100! Best of the past.

 

Real Food Fake Food | Larry Olmsted

Today we meet Larry Olmsted, an award-winning food author and columnist.  In his book, Real Food Fake Food, Why You Don't Know What You're Eating & What You Can Do About It, Larry discusses how various foods we are served in restaurants or buy at grocery stores may actually be something entirely different.

There's nothing more fundamental than knowing what you're putting in your mouth. ~ Kelsey Timberman

Fake Food

When you don't get what you think you're buying. This is not a judgement on the quality you're getting. This comes in three forms:

• Something completely different – As in where you order flounder but the actual fish served is tilapia (an entirely different species of fish).
• Inferior version – A worse quality or it is diluted.  This is common with extra virgin olive oil.
• Geographic indications – Despite offering you Kobe beef the restaurant may be serving you beef that is not from Kobe, Japan.

Fish

Nearly 1/3 of the time, a different fish is substituted with another fish.  Sometimes this is where you're served farmed fish that was marketed as wild-caught.  Or it may be an entirely lower standard species of fish.  The more expensive the fish, the more likely it is to be subject to fish fraud.  Nearly all of the red snapper served in restaurants is not red snapper.

As a tip for getting what you're paying for, go to the fish markets on the water.  There you can often see the whole fish, which makes it much harder for you to be duped.

Olive Oil

Good extra virgin olive oil is very good for your health.  This is the top most rating for olive oil and is quite rare.  Studies have demonstrated that the majority of olive oil sold in grocery stores do not meet the standard for extra virgin.  You can order olive oil from online club like Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club.  It can be quite expensive.  I personally buy olive oil at a specialty retail store, where I'm able to taste it before I buy.

Olive Oil is a fruit oil and as a result, it goes bad quickly.  You should check the harvest date or pressed date.  Good quality olive oil should be used within a year of harvest.  Upon opening a bottle, you should use it within a month.  Knowing the source, so you can make sure you're buying real olive oil.

Links

RealFoodFakeFood.com

 

Caught in the dorito effect | Mark Schatzker