When I was a boy living in England Seniors were not fit. The only exercise they ever took was putting the cat out, or walking to the bus stop. The full English breakfast of eggs, bacon, fried bread and a mug of sweet tea didn’t help, and by the time they turned sixty they were taking afternoon naps and coping with high blood pressure. I generalise, but this is not far from the truth.
A holiday in Austria was, for me, a revelation. Here were Seniors of sixty, seventy or more, slim, sunburnt and happily climbing mountains day in day out. It was obvious that their quality of life was much, much better than people of equivalent age back home.
So I tried it myself, I practiced what we now call Walking Fitness, which because time has a habit of passing, became Senior Walking Fitness. I am the fittest Senior on the block. There is of course more to it than just walking, a full English Breakfast followed by a half mile amble will not improve your health very much. So a healthy diet and morning exercise is all part of a programme to achieve lifetime fitness. What is a healthy diet? The Southern Europeans have traditionally lived long and active lives, they ate well. A Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest in the world. Try it.
Programme? Do you have your excuses ready? There are answers to most of them.
I’m not fat, I’m big boned. Stomachs do not have bones, madam.
It’s in the genes, all my family are big. They all live in McDonalds, sir.
I’ve no time for exercise. You’ve time for TV, my friend.
Scary? Not really, just do it and you can take as much or as little time as you like. You can walk anywhere, the country is best, there’s no pollution and you don’t get run over crossing the road, but cities are fine. Look around, you’ll develop an interest, whether its birds, bugs, cloud patterns or shop windows, just keep moving. Even an artist, a sedentary occupation if ever there was one, can put a sketchbook and pencils in a rucksack and go walking in search of a subject.
A five mile walk is better than a one mile walk but it all helps, and there’s a lot to see on the way.
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