Ah, thoughts of the good old days. i.e. turning the clocks back 40 years: Remember when we were much younger and could:
- Sleep the entire night without having to get up and use the bathroom
- Have lots more energy
- Could go out drinking at night and still be able to function at a high level
- Not need reading glasses
- Have most of our lives in front of us as opposed to the rear view mirror
So many more bullet points could be added to this list of the changes that age brings to us.
Focusing on weight control, the aging process plays a large role in weight control. When we were much younger, metabolic rates were much faster. Most of us could basically eat and drink what we wanted to without fear of gaining weight. Moreover, any added weight from eating/drinking benders could be readily “worked off” by exercising lots the next few days.
In addition to lower metabolic rates, the aging process also has a good chance of lowering our exercise potentials. Back, knee, hip and foot problems will result in much less exercise capacity. This will impact the “exercise” part of the “diet and exercise” formula for weight control.
The point of today’s entry: Take a step back and analyze whether the approach you are taking to control your weight has included age adjustments. What used to “work” in the past will not necessarily bring the same results. By no means am I suggesting that successful weight control cannot be achieved as we age. Rather, we all just need to factor in age adjustments.
Time passes much too quickly. It almost seems like yesterday, as opposed to 1978, when Al Stewart sung about Time Passages. Let’s go back to the 70’s.