The Senior Walking Fitness Blog

Hello Everybody,

If you can lose weight by Christmas you will have a lot less to worry about when Christmas arrives. We all know that most people not only wake up with a big hangover on 1 January but with a big waistline as well. But if they decide in October to lose weight by Christmas the worst to happen will be they go back to their October weight. That seems to me a good idea. Eating more healthy food at Christmas is also a good idea and worth a try, but it could be forgiven if once a year healthy food takes a back seat.  This, of course, is the best of reasons to lose weight by Christmas.

How much weight can you lose in just two months? You can drop a dress or pants size without much effort. You can lose 16 pounds with a little more effort. To drop a dress size, assuming your present weight is steady, all you need do is take in 500 calories less a day. That means cutting out a butter croissant and caffe latte or a slice of Victoria sponge. You will need to take some exercise to help things along and you should exercise for 30 minutes each day.  Just do something that feels like exercise, jog, walk the dog, dig the garden, clean the house. Do that and you should lose about 1 pound a week. If you want to lose more you will need to look at your overall diet and lifestyle and start eating more healthy food.

Whichever route you take you should lose weight by Christmas and reach the holiday slimmer and healthier. If you like what you see maybe it is time to look at eating a more healthy Christmas dinner.

You may think that messing with Christmas dinner is dangerous ground. But there are a few tips – recommended by the British NHS no less – which can reduce calories without promoting a family riot.

Turkey.  Most of the fat is in the skin. Prick it to allow the fat to drain away. Make sure your turkey is not cooked sitting in fat, so put it on an upturned oven proof plate or something similar.

Stuffing. Sausage meat contains a lot of fat. Stuff with cranberry, orange and roast chestnut stuffing instead.

Roast potatoes. Potatoes are fine, but if roasted in oil they will contain fat. Baked potatoes are a lot better for you, but be careful with the amount of butter you use when you eat them.

Gravy. Low fat gravy can be made by pouring the turkey juices into a jug and spooning off the fat when it rises to the surface.

Bread sauce.  Luxury bread sauce mix contains a lot of calories. Use semi skimmed milk and add a clove of garlic for flavour.

Christmas pudding.   You can save calories by replacing cream and brandy butter with low fat custard made from semi skimmed milk or fat free Greek yoghurt.

So there we have a Christmas dinner which tastes about the same as the dinner everybody was expecting and saves over 100 calories. You will have to compromise of course, the Christmas pudding may be sacred, but do your best. Everything helps and if you have already managed to lose weight by Christmas you might still be able to wear a smaller dress or pants size on 1 January.

See you soon,

Peter Stockwell

Cambridge UK

Photo. Elana’s pantry (Flickr)

Technorati Tags: christmas weight loss, lose weight for christmas, lose xmas weight, slim by christmas, weight loss by christmas, xmas diet

Hello Everybody,

Looking good over 50 is not just a matter of dressing well and going to the hairdresser, although of course that helps. You need to be fit and healthy as well; for some 50 is the new 40 but for too many of us it is the new 60. A devotion to fast food and daytime television can pile on the years as well as the pounds. Only small children want to look older than their years, so what can you do about it?
First of all convince yourself that whatever age you are, and however out of shape you are, looking good over 50 is achievable. Just look around, there are fit people of 50, 60, 70 and more years of age. You will see them jogging, riding, sailing, cycling and doing many other things. What they will not be doing is sitting in a bar with a beer or wandering about eating a hamburger.
Fit older people have one thing in common. They exercise and some of them exercise a lot. To get fit you will have to do the same. What if you have no time? Find the time – we are only talking of 30 minutes a day. You can even do it in two 15 minute sessions if time is a really desperate problem. Your daily exercise is essential and 30 minutes is the minimum, do more if you can and you will get fit faster.
Exercise can be any of the things I mentioned or a gym if you prefer indoor exercise. Think of what you can do in your daily life. Use stairs rather than the elevator, walk to the post office or the station, get off the bus a stop early – it all helps. Don’t use bad weather as an excuse not to exercise, it might go on for a week, just get wet or cold and thaw out when you get home. Sometimes exercise is at its best when you stop doing it.
Of course you will not find looking good over 50 easy with exercise alone. You can probably do it with enough exercise, but it will be hard to burn the calories eaten if you are a junk food addict. Give up the junk food and problem solved. By junk food I mean most of the food you get at fast food stores, including what they call healthy options. Also snacks in packets and fizzy drinks. You don’t have to live on lettuce, just try to cut out fatty food, sugar, and white processed foods along with the fast food. There is plenty to eat which tastes even better than junk food and will give you a healthy balanced diet.
Looking good over 50 does need some dedication, if it didn’t everybody would be fit and healthy, but it is well worth the effort. Take your time; losing 1-2 pounds a week is fine. Short term fast weight loss will do you no harm if you pick a good diet such as Collagen Renew. Stop it after you have lost a few pounds and never let your weight yo-yo with fast weight loss diets. You need a long term change in lifestyle not a quick diet to keep you looking good at 50. It’s not too difficult to get fit and look good and then enjoying life comes easy.

See you soon,

Peter Stockwell

Cambridge UK

20 October 2011

Photo. Healthy_Moves (Flickr)

Technorati Tags: 50 year old weight loss, how to look good, keep in shape, look good over 50, look your best, quick fitness tips

Hello everybody,

Most people ask at some time, ‘What is a good weight for me?’ They may have been told to lose weight by their doctor or not very polite friends or just think it a good idea themselves. But how much should they lose and what should they aim for? The best guide to healthy weight is the Body Mass Index or BMI.  You may know Body Mass Index already or have heard it mentioned. It sounds technical but it is not rocket science. Body Mass Index is just a way of working out if your weight is appropriate for your height. The actual calculation is weight divided by height squared.  This can be in either kilograms and metres or pounds and feet and inches. But don’t buy a calculator specially, just Google BMI and you will find charts galore. Type in your details and you will find your Body Mass Index. Be aware that there are separate charts for adults and children, so this needs to be taken into consideration.

When you have found your Body Mass Index compare it with the categories.  Below 18.5 you are underweight, 18.5 to 24.9 is normal. If you are 25 to 29.9 you are overweight and if you are 30 or greater you are obese. So the answer to your question, ‘What is a good weight for me?’ is somewhere between 18.5 and 24.9 Body Mass Index. But where? This rather depends on what you want; do you want to be really slim or a little more rounded in shape. It is obvious that if your Body Mass Index is 24 you should not be celebrating too much. Maybe less obvious is that if it is 19 you may not have cause for celebration either. If you are near to being underweight and have no medical condition you must beware of eating disorders. Perhaps you just eat right and exercise a lot. If so that’s fine, but do make sure you are not losing too much weight.

A reasonable BMI to aim for is 21, but if you feel more comfortable a little higher or lower aim for that. To find out how many pounds you need to lose or gain just go back to your Body Mass Index chart and type in various weights to see how your Body Mass Index changes as a result. Alternately lose or gain weight over a few weeks and then check your Body Mass Index to see where you are. Be aware that the healthy Body Mass Index range is not precise. If you are an athlete or very muscular you may get a higher Body Mass Index even if you are healthy. Forget the old wives tale about being heavier because of ‘big bones’. The old wives got it wrong – maybe on purpose. The normal Body Mass Index figures will not apply if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Losing weight is just a matter of consuming fewer calories than you burn in exercise and general activity each day. If you eat 500 calories a day less than you burn you will lose 1 pound a week. You can achieve this by eating a healthy balanced diet. Make sure you leave out the high carbohydrate, fatty and high sugar foods and exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes a day. It is easy enough to answer your question, ‘What is a good weight for me?’ Somewhere around the middle of the healthy Body Mass Index range is the way to go. Whatever your Body Mass Index you can reach your best weight. It is not difficult with time, exercise and a healthy diet. Don’t put it off – start today.

See you soon,

Peter Stockwell

Cambridge UK

13 October 2011

Photo. Mathew Wilkinson

Technorati Tags: best weight, BMI calculations, find my best weight, my best weight, what is BMI

Hello Everybody, 

 It is essential to keep our cholesterol level low, and eating fruit is one way of doing so. Naturally we want to find the best fruit to lower cholesterol and keep us healthy. But how do we choose the best fruit?  It helps to have a little background information. Increased weight, blood pressure and heart disease are caused by eating processed food and too much fat and sugar.

We need a better overall diet but problems with cholesterol can be solved by making sure we have more fibre and potassium in our food. What happens is that fibre and potassium reduces blood pressure which stresses the walls of the arteries resulting in scar tissue. The scar tissue is irregular and traps cholesterol causing dangerous narrowing of the arteries. The fibre and potassium in fruit can keep us healthy.  Here are some of the best fruit to lower cholesterol.

Blueberry.  We are told that blueberries can lower the levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol as effectively as statin drugs without the harmful side effects. But this happens in mice and clinical trials on people are ongoing. Whatever the results of clinical trials, blueberries are good for you. Although maybe not quite as good as the hype we are reading about them. They contain vitamin C, magnesium and antioxidants which are good for the heart. One cup of blueberries contains 3.6 grams of fibre and 114 mg potassium.

Raspberry. These contain more fibre and potassium than blueberries. But I don’t know what the mice think about it. Raspberries contain vitamins A, B-9, C, E, K and antioxidants. One cup of raspberries contains 8.0 grams of fibre and 186 mg potassium.

Orange.  A big favourite; oranges contain vitamins A, C and B. One orange can provide nearly all the recommended daily intake of vitamin C.

If you can’t eat an orange then drink some juice. One medium orange contains 3.1 grams of fibre and 237 mg potassium.

Apple.  In season apples taste a lot better than those out of season, but any apples are good for you. They contain vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. The pectin in apples fights ‘bad’ cholesterol.  It is said that two apples a day may lower ‘bad’ cholesterol levels by up to 16 percent. One medium apple contains 4.4 grams of fibre and 195 mg potassium.

Bananas.  Much loved by tennis players.  They contain vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. Convenient and popular, you should eat bananas with care. They contain more calories than some fruit (100g of banana has 95 kcal). They are also high in potassium and should be excluded from a low potassium diet. One medium banana contains 3.1 grams of fibre and 422 mg potassium.

So these are some of the best fruit to lower cholesterol. There is not really one best fruit. If you like apples, eat apples, if you like bananas eat bananas – but not too many of them. Or maybe eat a different fruit each day.  They will all lower cholesterol, but not if you combine fruit eating with a high fat, high carbohydrate diet. Make sure you look at your lifestyle as well as finding the best fruit to lower cholesterol and you will be fit, healthy and lose weight as well.

See you soon,

Peter Stockwell

Cambridge UK

6 October 2011

Photo.zakzorah (Flickr)

Technorati Tags: best fruits to lower cholesterol, fruits to lower cholesterol, how to lower cholesterol, lower cholesterol

Hello Everybody,

 Of course we should all eat healthy food, but some of it is not cheap. We need to know what are the cheapest healthy meals so that we can eat well without spending a lot of money. It is quite possible to have a good diet for the same or less money than junk food. Healthy does not have to be expensive but it does need planning. Here are a few suggestions.

Oats.  This is said to reduce ‘bad’ cholesterol as well as being a good cheap breakfast. Scotsmen will eat porridge. But the rest of us can mix oats with low fat yoghurt and add grated apple or cinnamon for flavour if we prefer.

Wholegrain Pasta.  The Italian way; part of the Mediterranean diet and many other healthy dishes. It is easy to cook, easy to store and cheap as well.

Whole wheat bread. Much better than white bread, the cost can vary but cheap loaves are available. Use for sandwiches, but don’t eat too many sandwiches.

Frozen vegetables.  A good option if fresh vegetables are difficult to obtain. Frozen vegetables are healthy, but I would always prefer fresh produce if possible.

Fresh vegetables in season. Any vegetable in season should be cheaper. If your shop does not lower the price go somewhere else. It is possible to eat in season vegetables at most times of year. If you have the land grow your own, they will taste the best of all. But if you have a craving for carrots in March there is always the freezer to help out.

Fresh fruit in season.  Eat fruit every day and buy it fresh in season. Out of season fruit can taste terrible and is not worth the money. In season fruit is cheap and good. Like vegetables grow your own if you have the space. If not, and you have access to the countryside, buy off stalls or at farm gates. There is usually a surplus at the right time and producers sell cheaply. You may even be able to pick your own in hedgerows. Not many fruit will freeze, but there are a few and it is worth freezing your own if you can.

Meat.  Cheaper cuts of beef are available. Some are tougher than prime cuts and need greater skill from the chef. If you cannot afford grass fed produce do not eat a lot of beef.  Chicken is much cheaper. Free range is the best. This is more expensive than battery produced chicken but it tastes better and is still cheaper than beef.

Fish.  Fish can be a cheap meal. Any fish is good. Oily fish like mackerel is better. Don’t eat tuna – it would be a pity if our grand children never see tuna because we destroyed the species by over fishing.

There are many ways of eating healthy food without financial ruin. It does take a little more time and organisation than just picking up junk food from the superstore. You must decide if a healthier lifestyle is worth the effort – it will not take long to see if eating the cheapest healthy meals is costing you extra money. If you are spending the same or less than eating junk food it has to be a good idea to carry on with your healthy lifestyle.

See you soon,

Peter Stockwell

Cambridge UK

2 October 2011

Photo. Biphop (Flickr)

Technorati Tags: best cheap food, cheap food, cheapest healthy food, cheapest healthy meals, eat cheap, healthy meals