I remember some kind of TV commercial way back when that said, “Pay me now or pay me later.”
Indeed.
When it comes to physical fitness and good health, that certainly applies, in my humble opinion.
I see so many people walking — waddling? — around these days … overweight and obviously not moving and feeling as good as they could or should. Sometimes I want to go up to them and say, “You know, it doesn’t have to be this way.”
It really does make me sad.
Yesterday, pushing my basket out of the grocery store, I got “stuck” behind a woman pushing her cart full of groceries toward the exit. She was heavy and moving soooooo slow and there was no way to get around her.
Finally, there was an opening and I scooted around her right side. As I passed her going out into the parking lot, I said, “Morning.”
She looked miserable and tired, but returned my greeting and I headed on out to my pickup.
This lady looked to be around my age or maybe even younger. One thing I felt as I loaded groceries into the truck was blessed … to be my age and still strong and healthy and fit.
To me, exercise is so important to maintaining a good quality of life as you get older.
Seems obvious, maybe, but why then is two-thirds of the country overweight or even obese?
Five years ago, I was seriously overweight — bordering on obese according to some health guidelines — so I know how it is. If I hadn’t stumbled into pole vaulting, I’d probably be in even worse shape than I was.
I have a new client at the gym starting this week and when we did her initial consultation to talk about goals and such, she said something she wants to work on is flexibility and balance. It was so awesome to hear that.
Aside from regular exercise helping reduce the risk of things like arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, depression, and dementia, among other things, improving flexibility and balance helps avoid one of the no. 1 causes of serious injury and hospitalization among older folks — accidental falls.
Falling is one of the big things that led to my father’s slow decline. He broke his back falling down the stairs at home, broke his shoulder, an arm, shattered a leg when he fell while standing at the bathroom sink!!! That last one put him in a wheelchair that he never got out of.
It’s never too late to get in shape.
Why not start today?
