The study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, also found that walking program participants increased their peak aerobic capacity by 19 precent when compared to a control group and increased their physical function by 25 precent.

IT WAS Reg’s 70th Birthday this week. I joked to him that I was buying him an  Audemars watch but I gave him fishing gear months ago which he had fun using for two months while we were in Queensland  Then I gave him several novels on the day.  Reg keeps himself fit by walking regularly. He wears a pedometer and walks at least 5000 steps a day sometimes as much as 12,000 steps.  He aims for the 1,0,000 steps.  This, even with arthritis.  I am proud of my man J

 

I am still having fun, spring cleaning and setting up house, following my arrival back to base camp cottage in Victoria, on Thursday afternoon.
My current project is converting the lower level, storeroom area of the split-level bedroom into an exercise area. 

Three bags full of rubbish to go out, piles of ribbons, arts and crafts supplies and stock for a  downsizing sale to start soon, and 12 hours of physical work including furniture removal as my calorie burn effort for the day, lol, I did my strength training moving a heavy table.

In the cleanup, I found a BMI and WHR or Waist to Hip ration chart, I had made for me in a healthy weight medical assessment a year ago and the BMI put me at obese and the WHI puts me at normal healthy weight.  Two totally different figures and a skin fold test says I could still lose some excess weight but where that weight is, is not going to affect my health.  

 Three different, opinions from three, different tests, by the same-trained assessors.  

They put the least importance on BMI. 

As a swimmer, I have a lot of opportunity to see other women, entering or leaving a swimming pool wearing a costume that allows me to see the huge variation in each of us and I can plainly see that body fat percentage has nothing to do with height and weight. I can see for myself the total inaccuracy of BMI as a means of assessing fat percentage.

What is BMI

BMI was first proposed about 150 years ago as a way to estimate the body fat persentage of a human, using age, weight, height and sex to calculate the figure.  There are at least three different formulas you can use to work this out, none give an accurate assesment.  

The BMI value we can't tell definitely whether the person is thin or fat because it does not have the muscle mass to fatty mass percentage and yes some people's bones are thicker.  If you are assessing your body fat percentage and using BMI you may want to  take into account a number of other parameters along with the BMI.

Waist to Hip Ratio.

• Waist-to-hip ratio: if the coefficient is 0.5 or more this means that a person has too much abdominal fat.  it is assumed that a WHR of 0.7 for women shows that she is has the ideal shape and body fat for good health and fertility. For men the optimal value of WHR is 0.9.

As the formulas for calculating true body fat percentage are too much like mathematics for my liking, lol, I simply strip off and look in the mirror, and decide, 'Yes, I have a little more work to do", or 'Looking good, maintenance time', and I also put my faith in excellent gym trainers interested in fitness and health, not just body image and pushing you to be slim, to advertise their gym or slim program.

lol, I have a feeling, that moving heavy furniture at 64 yeas of age, with my husband of almost 70, after midnight last night, lol, J, had a lot more to do with being an eccentric, personality than achieving my goal of balance in my life, but J, no harm done this morning, J, and I am very happy to have got the hard part out of the way, the rest is just a matter of working through the, sorting, organizing and downsizing.  Nowhere near as much fun though as the radical stuff I got up to last night nor the delight in finding those hip to waist ratio formulas and my peak flow airway monitor, that showed a 20% improvement in my lung capacity, to remind myself, I am ‘doing OK. J 

I plan to create an exercise room in the lower section of our split level bedroom.

Reg is going to bring our caravan TV into our home bedroom and set the Wii Fit Plus, up in the bedroom and I am going to clean out the lower half of the bedroom as my exercise project today and get back to my Biggest Loser, Full body workouts and weight loss yoga I enjoy. 

I will also be getting my Vitamin D levels checked, they are usually low even though I take Vitamin D3 supplements and try to get some sun exposure.  Low Vitamin D levels do affect our ability to lose weight as do other body functions  HCG weight loss Austin  Is a company that believes in testing thyroid function and Vitamin D, and more for people with weight problems; it is worth asking your own doctor foe some of these tests if you have been struggling in trying to loose weight.

I have been home one day and I am already comparing gyms. 

Trying to make up my mind up, if I will be, attending a gym.  

The Best gym is 6 kilometers away, in Shepparton, a 12 k round trip.  pool can get too crowded to enjoy so I started skipping the swimming, I do love the assessments and the workout equipment there.

Little gym closer to home is just over 4 kilometers away I am thinking I could put my joggers on and get a 6 plus kilometer powerwalk or part jog in just going too and from gym. on a good day. Then swim in their smaller but warmer and less crowded pool. 

Their gym, equipment room, ‘sucks; too noisy, old noisy treadmills and blaring music, I would need to wear ear muffs to use that room. 

Best gym advantages are lots of classes and pump class three times a week. Small gym advantage is enough classes and one at the same time each day two of them pump, I could get into a routine more easily there.  

Then of course I could walk the river trails at no cost and use my own weights and do my Wii Fit plus, Biggest Loser full body workout and weight loss yoga, at home. 

I will probably take out a 10 visit pass to the local gym and try it out. J. Think that’s the best option at the moment. 

Financial aspects to consider are:- Cost will be about $45. a fortnight, regardless of what gym I choose, for a one year membership and I can take a 6 week holiday from the smaller gym each year and a three month (better because I will use it), holiday from the larger gym and I can cancel my membership before the year is up, with a doctors letter, if I need to, from the larger gym. I had to do that last year, due to carer duties, so that is a huge savings if it is required.  

I have been tying my own jogger shoe laces this way for the past three years and find it gives me a firm  fit.  I was shown how to do this when I bought them.

We are returning home to our summer retreat  with my husband Reg a lot healthier than when we left for this tour, due largly to good shoes and lots of walking. We bought our summer retreat a few years ago, pulled up the grubby mismatched carpet and put down new timber look, cheap laminate flooring, that I love.

Last year I spent $350. on the same brand, different style of show, for my husband who was very unfit having wasted a lot of muscle after a debilitating bout of whooping cough that that then turned into weakness and pain throughout all his joints and muscles. He was in a bad way, and was walking, hunched over and very slow, using a walking stick and only managing short distances.  He did have a fantastic attitude and he put those new shoes on and made every possible effort to improve

I know it sounds funny to say I ‘inspected’, him naked this morning, lol J, but I did, and although he is thin, he has regained some muscle definition on his legs and buttocks where 6 months ago he looked wasted away.   He now wears a pedometer and walks 10,000 steps every day and takes pride in this J.   The difference, between him having slipped into the frail elderly,  as a result of an illness and having stayed there, getting worse as a result of lack of exercise and him regaining, fitness and the joy of life, was positive, mental attitude.

‘Just do it’, even when, it was hard, and a decent pair of well fitting shoes, ‘hang the cost’.  

The greatest wealth we have is our health.

My man turns 70 this month and I have my friend and companion back J due to his determination of spirit and a pair of properly fitted shoes that helped him get walking again.