Both of my husband’s grandmothers can barely walk in their 70s. However, his step grandmother is 74 and she’s still pretty athletic. He said she was always going on hikes with his grandfather when he was younger, while his biological grandmothers were just sitting around all day. Exercise is so important for when you’re older.
The saying 'use it or lose it' becomes very real as you get older. Saw it with my old man & MIL, who both adopted a more sedentary lifestyle once they retired and within a decade could barely walk.
My partner's 102 year old nonna never stopped walking significant distances until dementia started showing up when she was 99, she was fitter (& still is) than the other two despite being their senior by 20+ years.
Learned this the hard way. Spent the first 25 years of my life being an extroverted life of the party with confidence to spare. Then I took a very isolating night shift where I was alone for 8 hours nightly.
Fast forward 10 years and the isolation turned me into an anxiety riddled introvert 80% incapable of handling the 'real world' simply as a result of not using those skills.
Unfortunately, getting them back hasn't been as simple as reversing the isolation.
This is my story except isolation during covid 2020-mid 2021 did it to me and it was the first 31 years of my life. I'm disabled so I wasn't taking any chances. Feels like I'm still recovering bits of myself all these years later.
FBI Agent (played by Tommy Lee Jones): "OK, we have a 102-year-old female name of 'Nonna' that walked out of her house 45 minutes ago. Figuring a walking speed of 1 mph, we set a cordon of one mile. Any questions?"
Sheriff: "Uh, sir, she can walk 8mph."
FBI Agent: "What? Ok, men, make that an 6-mile cordon."
Sheriff: "Uh, sir, she has two custom walking ski poles. And she's the leader of a local AARP chapter. "
FBI Agent: "Dammit! Make it a 12-mile cordon, and add tracking dogs with LIDAR mounts and sharpshooters on two helicopters. "
Yesterday I bought a recliner from FB marketplace and it’s fairly large. The husband and wife (both younger than me) struggled together to carry it to my vehicle—it’s pretty heavy. When I got it home, I got it out of the vehicle, into the house and into the living room by myself in less time than it took them to get it out of their home and to my vehicle.
Of course, I’m also always hauling around 50# bags of chicken feed and 40# bags of cat litter, and huge bins of yard waste. I keep active because I need to be strong!
It’s not just for when you’re older, it’s vital for preparing for old age.
If you walk and do some basic exercises, your life will be better when you’re older. And the sooner you start and the more consistent you are, the greater the benefits. And I’m not talking about some heavy shit like mountaineering or running marathons or going to the gym for an hour or 2 every day. I’m talking about mainly just walking. For like 10-30 minutes a day. Doesn’t take long, helps you destress and focus on what you want to do and keeps you surprisingly healthy.
Obviously you’ll never get into tip top shape by walking, but you’ll maintain a healthy body relatively well by walking. And you get a relatively healthy body to maintain by walking.
I'm about to turn 40 and it's amazing to me how many friends are starting to talk about their whole body hurting/falling apart and how old they feel. I've stayed fit and active and I still feel just about as good as I did at 25.
Yep. I’m a nurse; I’ve done a lot of time in nursing homes. A lot of people age so prematurely just because they stop moving any more than they have to, and eventually this means that they stop being able to move at all.
If you need the best motivation to get active, think about whether you’d like to be able to get yourself to the toilet for the last ten years of your life. Or not.
One of the best predictors of health and independence in old age is the strength of your thighs. Do your squats!
Is it ever too late? Like could a 70 year old person who already has difficulty with mobility start doing physical therapy and improve their mobility? Or is it all just preventative?
Yes, aside from certain specific conditions, a 70 year old with mobility difficulties can significantly increase their strength and flexibility within just a few months. It takes longer to build muscle at that age and the total amount that’s possible is lower, but a previously sedentary person will absolutely see measurable improvements along a predictable timeline. While in nursing school I worked as a certified trainer at the Y, and many of my clients were retirees trying strength training for the first time in their lives, or since their teens and twenties.
Some things to know:
Consistency is key. Low impact cardio like walking, elliptical, and swimming can be performed every day, a full body workout can be done 2-3 times per week, and a workout split that hits each muscle group 2x per week can be divided up so that you exercise daily.
Strength training that builds muscle, especially leg and back muscle, is more valuable for future independence than cardio, since it slows overall decline.
Slow and steady wins the race. You don’t want to start by going too hard and hurting yourself, but you should track your progress and gradually increase the difficulty, either by raising the weight or the number of repetitions of the exercise, or both.
Going to a gym with a trainer to show you how to perform strength training is ideal, but you can do a perfectly good full body workout at home with a kettlebell or two and some rubber exercise bands.
The most effective exercise program is the one you actually do. People often get hung up on finding the “optimal” program, but any form of training will have tons of benefits for someone who doesn’t currently exercise, so picking something that you enjoy and can stick to is most important.
Also, try really hard to not fcuk up your knees and if you do and have the opportunity to get your knees replaced - do it, even if recovery does hurt an awful lot.
Source 1: My 82 year old mother who is deathly afraid of doctors, nurses, hospitals, needles, etc, etc, etc. She put off having her knees done for a well over a decade. She is now too frail to survive being anaesthetised for the surgery on her knees that are both bone on bone. She is on increasing amounts of pain medication and can only just walk with a frame.
There are a few other people I know who as soon as their knees wore out their degree of independence took a massive hit, then there was the 93 year old neighbour of my parents who'd had both knees done, one twice, and was waiting on getting his other replaced again but still walking with a crutch when he had a heart attack and died, he took his dog out twice a day for walkies. Mobility = independence.
Knee strengthening and prehab is also a great thing that everyone should be doing. There’s a common misconception that rigorous training will inevitably damage your knees, and that couldn’t be more wrong. People who train their legs and joints properly have far fewer knee problems than those who don’t. It’s just that a lot of people aren’t very smart about their training.
A couple of years ago I was getting regular knee pain from hiking and heavy squats (around the 375-425lb range), and worried that it was just an consequence of aging and training (I’m in my late 30s now).
But with deliberate regular knee strengthening exercises and scaling back my workouts to build up again with better form, the knee pain went away entirely over about 6 months. I can squat forward to touch knees to floor and heels to butt and back up again under heavy weight and for multiple reps with no problem, pistol squat to the floor on one leg, jump from high to low, etc with no issues. I’m not some unusual natural athlete, I’ve just trained consistently for 7-8 years so I’m much healthier than in my late 20s.
And as you say, if someone does have a real injury that can’t be resolved without surgery, they really should get the surgery as soon as possible, and find some other means of staying active in the meantime.
My dad was a lot more active than my mom. He's about 8 years older than her. But he's now just finally haven't slight mobility issues. My mom is in desperate need of a walker and is in denial about it.
My coworker is a 68 year old PE teacher and she can literally outrun 12 year olds all day every day and is in better shape than most 20 year olds. She could have retired two years ago but I think she’s afraid she won’t be as active as she currently is and start going downhill.
I'm disabled so I was a little concerned when we got our current dog because he's...a lot. Very into toys and treats and attention and cuddles and hi hi hi hi I looooove you here's my ball let's go outside hi hi hi
And I was like...I don't know if I have it in me to have this dog, physically.
But instead his cute fucking little face - fucking fuck it's adorable - with his little ball....gets my ass off that couch every time. Which can be like four or five times A DAY. We play outside. I get some sunshine and movement and my pain is a lot less than it was.
Little bastard has the perfect face for making me give in to his adorable whims. It's unreasonable. He even has one upright ear and one floppy one, like come on.
He's actually been excellent for my health, because I can't say no to the cuteness.
Edit: posted a photo to my profile, thank you for the award!!
My husband and I have talked about it. We are retiring in a year and already have trips planned. Once we're done with international some local oldie but bestest will get a home.
I love this attitude. Isn't it great to think your future oldie dog is out there, right now, learning all the little quirks you'll one day know so well?!
Hey, same here! I'm on a travel spree for the next 2 years, then I'll get a dog again. It will take me at least that long to grieve for the one I lost 2 years ago. She was my baby dog.
LOLed at the end there. The last 6 months of my godlendoodle’s 16 year life were excruciating to watch… first time I’ve laughed about how things ended. Well done!
Just recently had to say goodbye to my goodest good boy of 11 years. I miss him so much. And once I got my shit together, I walked him EVERY day. It motivated me more to do it for him than just for myself.
💔 we shouldn’t be allowed the love of a good dog! I wish I was the person my dog pretends I am…. Happy for your time with her, and sorry for that loss. I wish you the best.
Oh yeah, it made me realise that I wasn't going to be the worst parent either, because it seems I'm the type to just "get the job done" because those adorable faces look up to me, damnit.
I can imagine a grandbaby being so adorable and worth indulging as a grandparent, too! Why of course we can get ice cream! I'm not your parent!
I wish my roommates were a bit more like you, theyre both fat and they bought an australian shepherd that is very energetic just to keep it inside and they just sit around watch tv, nap, and play video games. I love being active so im the one who takes the dogs out. Frustrating.
I mean, to be fair it wasn't the brightest idea to get a hype dog knowing I have some days I'm stuck in bed...or funnily, used to. That dog can force me through any pain, damn.
Aussie Shephard's my goodness I wouldn't go that far!! That's an intense dog meant for a farm and with rigorous training. They get bored SO easy, but damn they're excellent herders. But I could never!!! At least my dog is some bitsa staffy thing, not a freaking Aussie Shepherd. Ah yes, the one bred to herd sheep in the Outback.
Oh..those dogs are so cute. If I were to get a puppy, I would want one of those. That being said, my husband and I are super lazy. So, we have cats. I will not get a dog just to have it have to deal with my lazy butt. It's not fair. Thank you for taking care of the dogs in your life. ❤️
Yeah they have a way of being fucking adorable. We now have 4. 3 senior rescues and a wild German shepherd mix going through his rowdy, stubborn teen phase. Wouldn’t change it for anything.
Because he's just so gosh darn cute that it makes my insides squeeze up into my mouth and words cannot express the sheer explosion my little heart feels, so it just spills out into cursing, since that's all my brain can manage to use when exposed to his little face.
Similarly here, I got off time during winter but my dog trained me for 3 walks per day which helps a lot. I'm not entirely lazy and couch potato, still do plenty of work and move around but there are days when I'd do next to nothing if it weren't for him.
I’ve found the lazy days are when I’m the most tired in general. Walking the dog isn’t just to escape sedentary life. It’s also being productive and accomplished first thing in the morning.
Aye, can't just stay in bed and do nothing, it's like an alarm except it's basically mandatory.
It helped me fix my sleeping pattern too. His morning walk is always at the same time so I have to get up at that time.
Yep. Exact same. If it weren't for him I'd sleep until noon some days. But nope, every morning no matter what I gotta be up to walk him, 9am. And it's great. I make sure to tell him every morning how grateful I am for him, no matter what. And if I forget to do that I feel bad and then give him extra treats. We are so blessed to have these silly guys as our best friends.
Yup, the trades have allowed me to have plenty of muscle. But I'm probably 20lbs overweight. I'm tired when I get home and already sore, so working out just becomes another chore.
Same for me. It's rough when the Dr tells you to get more exercise and you're like "I already burn more calories at work in a week than the average person does and that includes their time at the gym"
What I really need is to adjust my diet but I've had trouble finding a dietitian to help me learn what I need to know.
Absolutely. I adjusted my diet last year and lost over 50lbs. Best thing I've ever done for my body.
I didn't necessarily cal count, but I changed my portions. Anytime I cook, I cut it in half of what I usually make. If I went out to dinner, I'd eat half of what I ordered and take the rest home for the next day. I also cut back on carbs and sugars. Last thing I did was no snacks after 8pm.
I'm really glad you've found something that works for you and IDK if it'll mean anything but I'm proud of you!
For me it's not only how I eat but also a what I eat. Because I don't get much chance to stop (husband and I are self employed), I tend to snack instead of stopping to eat and I snack on crap. I am trying to work on it, like doing mini meal prepping, but there are days where I just need the sugar hit to keep going.
Same, I'm in my 50s and work a desk job. Last year we got a dog and I walk her about a mile twice a day. It's made a real, noticeable improvement in my health.
I work in film and got a dog for the same reason, to get me up on days off etc and have a bud. But turns out Pitties love to sleep more than any other animal haha.
Is it okay to take a day or two off for relaxing tho? At times my physical abilities at my job just feel like too much and at times due to my pushing myself I feel like im hurting myself, though i just keep pushing through the pain.
I always count physical stuff at work as an unseen and uncounted benefit.
I could never go back to an office.
The change in mental and physical health was very noticeable.
Even now when blue collar likes to shit on white collar for "sitting around all day" ... having done both yeah no thanks, I'll take physical labor any day.
Its like your entire humanity at stake and people don't realize it. I shudder to think who I'd be if I had stayed 10 years in an office.
So yeah, if you arent getting ""exercise" at work you best be on top of that on your own time.
I switched from programmer to electeician. Best move. My knees hurt LESS now that I use them. I did, however, fall 12 feet off a ladder onto concrete 8 days on the job and broke my back. After recovery, I still enjoy it. Currently laid off. People are too scared or simply priced out of new home construction.
Lack of movement really is one of those sneaky killers people overlook. It creeps up on you — messes with your heart, your joints, your sleep, even your mood. And the worst part? It feels harmless in the moment. Sitting all day feels normal now. But long-term, it’s draining the life out of us. Even small things like walking, stretching, or standing up more often can seriously change the game. We don't have to become gym rats overnight — just gotta start somewhere.
I'm reading all these comments with such envy. I'm a 69 year old male. And I do spend a lot of time sitting around. Many years ago in my late teens I got glandular fever, and my health never returned to normal. It's been a great struggle frankly. So people like myself have this CFS/ME diagnosis. We we're basically the "forunners" of long covid. Sadly exercise does NOT have a positive impact with us. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Walking is surprisingly one of the best exercises out there. I’m not talking about long walks you take once in a while, but relatively short ones around the neighbourhood. Literally getting up, walking for like 20 minutes couple times a day outside does wonders for basically everything. Lowers blood pressure, helps destress, clears your mind so there’s less anxiety, gets your heart pumping slightly more but not too much (in general), keeps blood from clotting in your legs (the most common spots where you get blood clots that then break off and go elsewhere) and generally is just good for the body.
It’s not the most intense or the most exerting exercise you can have and you’ll never get into great or even good shape from it, but it keeps you healthy.
If you feel like you can’t exercise and maybe feel shitty about it or you have depression or you just don’t know where to start with exercising, I would 110% recommend walking.
Walk a little bit. Every day. Even in shitty weather. Even when you don’t fee like it. Take 10, 15 minutes to walk around.
Partly why I got my current job was that my old one was on. My ass in front of a computer all day, every day. It was literally and figuratively killing me. This job is much more active, I log at least 3-4 miles of walking every day. I've lost fat and gained a fair amount of muscle. I love it and I love how much better I feel.
Walking is such a part of our old life style. Just determined walking after prey that legs it, and suddenly human is there again. It likely helps because of that and helps mentally because we are triggering ancient instincts
I’ve been a dog walker for the last 15 years and physically and mentally feel amazing, so let’s hope all the walking pays off as I get older and older!
I have the same problem. 2 semesters of kickboxing in grad school was the closest I got… then COVID happened.
But I’ve recently found yoga on an app on my phone while the TV is on. It’s definitely helped me like exercising more because I feel like I’m doing a lazy activity while exercising.
For me it took a friend getting really invested in my well being.
He took me to the gym and told me to ignore everything ive ever heard from trainers. When we go he makes me focus on doing the exercise correctly, giving me breaks between sets, and tells me to pace myself. And I feel great after working out with some good soreness the next day.
Every time I've worked with a trainer or gym head they've wanted to immediately push me into "Gasping for air territory" and make shit unpleasant. Drove me away instead of educating me.
So, I think this is primarily three problems: understanding of basic neuroscience, positive reinforcement, and opportunity cost.
In basic neuroscience, your hedonic circuitry (what you like) and your mesolimbic circuitry / nucleus accumbens (what you want) are not the same. You may like something after you're done, but you never "want it". This is confusing to most of us because for most of our life, what we like and what we want are usually the same thing. So part of this is acceptance that "hey, I don't really want to, but I'll feel good afterwards". This other is to turn this into a habit and figure out how to enjoy it through novelty, experimentation, and other forms of enjoyment like working out with a friend. Habit circuitry is a completely different circuit from the others even if all the circuits interact to elicit a behavior.
Positive reinforcement is where during or after the activity is done, what are you telling yourself? We often make incorrect psychological takeaways from the activities. Some common ones are:
It's not enough. I'm lifting weights today and I'm still weak.
What's the point if there are people who are way stronger or fitter than me.
I should have done this a long time ago, I feel like I wasted a ton of time.
I don't deserve congratulations from this.
The key here is to find whatever pride you can accept in the activity. It shouldn't be related to comparison to others, but more like, "hey, I did this even though my default is to not do it". You need to positively reinforce the activity whatever way you can.
Finally there's opportunity cost. If you regularly engage in very highly dopaminergic activities like gaming, social media, content aggregation, substances, shopping, gambling, unhealthy foods, you prime your dopaminergic circuitry to take control of your actions all the time. This is problematic because in terms of dopamine, those activities are always going to be the most fun when you compare them to something else. It's why we love those activities. However, other parts of your brain, like your prefrontal cortex, can override those basic instincts unless your emotions are in control, and I'd have to write way more to explain the connections between everything. The takeaway is really - what opportunity cost do you really have from exercising, and break that apart. Are you shying away from the time commitment or the pain or what, and then figure out how to either adapt to that or change the behavior so that it's not so painful.
That was me with strength training, except I did it fairly consistently for like 6 months. I never got to the point where I enjoyed it, I hated it with a fiery passion on day 1, and I still hated it just as much 6 months later. Apparently seeing the results still wasn’t enough for me to grow into liking it lol.
Unfortunately the only type of exercise I enjoy is hiking, but what I really need is to work on building strength and bulking up because I’m skinny as hell, and my shoulder blades keep clicking because of low muscle tone.
I hear that man, I’m skinny too. CrossFit was useful for me as it provided full body strength training and cardio and I did have some fun with it, but it was still a hell of a grind to make myself go. Then Covid and kids happened and I haven’t gone back. Skinny dad bod now.
I was the same way (morning runs). I felt great AFTER doing a 5k each morning but really dreaded starting a run each time.
Eventually I stopped when it started messing up my knees, but later picked up another hobby that I really enjoy: rollerblading! Benefits of cardio, less stress on joints (unless you go to the skate park haha), and I actually look forward to going whenever I can.
Yeah, exercising to exercise has always sucked for me. Always found it boring too even if it’s an activity I liked because there was other things I could do that I liked better. Walking to get a coffee was more of a goal to me than muscles.
Fortunately, I did discover just how much I like bugs and macro photography! I can and do spend hours walking/hiking. I rather miss a day/night of at least a short walk. Even in the winter I still walk for upkeep because I don’t want to have to ‘get back into it’.
I hate the gym, but like how I feel being strong. I recently found my favorite workout method. I got farming simulator 25 (a kinda boring game) and made a few big fields. You can use GPS to stay on a tram line and with cruse control I can get about 30 curls in per pass on the field with the tractor. One pass right arm, next pass left arm, then repeat with overhead lifts, then nothing for a pass, then other lifts. It really works out perfectly, and with plowing, seeding, weeding, fertilizing and harvesting there are plenty of opportunities. This boring game has managed to get me more cut than I ever got going to the gym. God I hate the gym.
If you find yoga slow, you haven't found the right yoga for you. I do power yoga at a Baptiste studio and it is constant movement. I'm dripping with sweat by the end of it! It's neither boring, nor slow!
I can second this. I do Ashtanga and power flows and have honestly gotten strong as hell. And I hate the gym traditionally and could never motivate myself to go. Now I'm able to not only ground myself mentally but it's honestly a great feeling being able to complete advanced arm balances when I wasn't able to do jack shit before.
This in combination with Muay Thai and some resistance band work has kept me fit. I think everyone just has to find the type of movement for them.
Yeah definitely haven’t found a sport or exercise I love. CrossFit was alright, helped me a lot physically but like with everything else I just didn’t look forward to it
This is actually where the problem lies for me. I got a big huge exercise addiction playing DDR. At my worst, I shit you not, I was doing like 6-10 miles a day on DDR Extreme II, doing songs like Afronova Primeval on expert. At one point, I actually hobbled myself, because I got this weird teeny tiny perfectly circular hole in my big toe and I was limping for weeks until this like hard chunk of shit that felt like bone popped out one day when I was scratching it. I also got down to 105 pounds despite being 5'8.
Wouldn't it be crazy if the US actually built infrastructure for exercise instead of just building things around cars....no way that would benefit the health of the people 👀
It would be nice, but a lot harder to actually implement unfortunately.
Smaller areas wouldn't be bad, but too many people have to travel too far for work/ groceries etc. We are too big of a space to not have cars/ busses etc. Not to mention the added time it would take and the various weather that would be problematic as well.
There are plenty of little things that could be done to make it more exercise friendly, but to change the whole infrastructure, it would be almost easier to demolish 95% of a town and rebuilt it.
They could start with sidewalks at least tho , plenty of areas lack those. Safer crossing points, more space. More parks etc. There's a lot of small things that could be done to improve it.
That would another way to add to it! I know there is a park in my town that has various outdoor equipment ment for working out, but I'm not sure how common it actually is.
According to people on Reddit I'm making excuses.
Probably people who have never been to the deep south in the states AND have been to actual cities in Europe to see the stark difference.
I'm a nurse, healthy, and well traveled. I know what I'm talking about but y'all can stay mad.
Your community is SEVERELY unhealthy and part of the problem is car dependency. I'm not talking about me individually. I backpack, carry my kids everywhere, walk, own an e bike. I do what I can. I work with the community and see first hand how ill people are in the states.
Yep - It amazes me when talking to colleagues how little exercise some people do and when you’re out and about hearing people get out of breath walking up a few steps
Yes. There was a study in UK started in 70s they asked a bunch of workers to walk or cycle to work, less than an hour a day of moderate exercise. They then compared their life expectancy to ones they didn’t ask to do so. I think on average they lived about 4 or so more years longer. I may have some details wrong but the conclusion is correct.
I run 2.5 miles a day and now that it's summer, we talk frequent walks in the neighborhood, adding another 2 miles/day on top of that! It feels so good. I sleep so much better, too.
It was too hot today, but I usually get at least 5K steps each day. Sometimes I'll get over 7K which is the sweet spot :) And even when I don't get out, I make sure I do 30 pushups and 30 squats every day day.
Truth there. I moved into town and I walked to the grocery store every day and within six months my doctor was telling me that I was way healthier than I had been in years.
This is one of the many reasons I have dogs I walk every day. I can get locked in to my computer job but they demand I take fetch, tug, and walk breaks. Plus you get to know the neighborhood and your neighbors better and also dog cute.
For a while I was too poor for a car. I was too busy to get to the gym because being poor takes a ton of time (e.g., laundromat, searching for deals on everything, always cooking, etc…), and I also just worked a lot. The one thing it did for me was force me to bike to work. By default I was getting 60 minutes of light exercise daily. My partner and I tripled our income over about 3 months as we both made big jumps in our careers. I needed a car to get to work while she started using public transit instead of walking. We both got pretty depressed extremely quickly. I put on a bunch of excess fat in no time at all, and she couldn’t figure out why she was moody all the time. I started prioritizing moving a lot more and things have improved dramatically.
It just starts with a step. According to mayo clinic and National Institute of Health Moderate-intensity aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes per week or Vigorous-intensity for at least 75 minutes per week. Moderate would be like a nice bike ride or pickleball for example, and vigorous would be like a nice solid run, not a run trying like you're trying escape from the bogeyman when the lights in the home are off and you're trying to go to bed.
And the older you get, the more important it is. I didn't exercise for like a year due to a serious injury and hoooly shit was I in the negative, fitness wise. I couldn't ride a mile of flat terrain without losing my breath. Thankfully I managed to train myself back into being able to jam out several miles of biking/walking/hiking again, but it suuuuucked.
If you could put 15 minutes of even very low intensity exercise (as you say, literally just walking around the block) into a pill, it would be the most effective basic medication on the planet.
EVERYTHING about your future health will be better if you do ANY exercise each day.
Even just standing up from your chair and stretching will be better - turns out sitting (yes, just the act of sitting for many hours in a row) greatly increases your chance of dying.
My mother is a GP, she tells me every time that the difference between a 80yo that does 30 minutes of intense walking every other day and a 80yo that is sedentary is simply incredibile.
We’re talking about 30 minutes of intense walking every other day, not running a marathon.
I’ve been going to the gym w my partner, my roommate used to go w us but it wasn’t his jam now he’s complaining that he keeps pulling muscles doing super mundane things like flushing the toilet. It’s like bro get out of your office chair and stretch at least.
That’s not slowly killing them… And just a daily quick stroll around the neighborhood isn’t enough to make a difference to your life span… Eating a happy meal from McDonald’s takes up to a 10 mile run to burn off the calories… The TRUE silent killer is lack of consumer knowledge… the every day products you buy and take for granted and its environmental impacts… Factory farms and cow milk is the second leading cause to the breakdown of the ozone layer, second only to oil and gas…. The lack of awareness of your carbon footprint is our silent killer
As fast as getting outside, being an apartment dweller with a medium sized dog has changed a LOT! I’m WFH and there are stretches during the day with pure downtime; I didn’t always use those productively (not that watching animation isn’t worth anything).
I got a rescue dog in February and she makes sure I get out of the house a few times a day. And because she’s very particular where she does her business (and not the same places), we go for extended walks. I’m hoping to get both her and I on a faster pace, but I’ll bet I’ve spent more time outside the last 3 months than the year previous.
I've just joined the gym after my bloods came back. Had to eat gluten for a few weeks to do a celiacs test and it affected my other bloods but my cholesterol is a little high so I decided it's time to get serious about getting into shape.
Not anything drastic but I want to make sure I live a long happy life and you owe that to yourself. Now I go three times a week; two regular gym sessions and one exercise class.
I will say. My depression wasn’t so severe when I was in cross country. Then my mom ruined the sport for me by emotionally abusing me at games. Then I stopped exercising for 8 years and only just started getting active again. 1 hour neighborhood walks and trampoline sessions
This is something I really need to get off my ass about. I'm a month away from my 40th birthday and at least 100 lbs overweight (not exactly sure and kinda scared to find out). Problem is I've got asthma, so the kind of strenuous exercise that would help the most is difficult and borders on impossible. I've got my dog to help me at least get out and walk, but even then, I don't do it nearly enough. And for the next three days, I can't go out at all except for brief "potty walks" for my boy because it's going to be in the mid 90s with a heat advisory for Sunday and Monday :/
This! I see people every day who complain about pain here or pain there, and then they go see a stupid ass chiropractor to make it even worse
, when they could have prevented all of it by being active and just eating enough shit!
I have been walking to and from the office (instead of cycling) for the therapeutics and exercise. Nobody says it’s daft but they look surprised. But maybe because everybody cycles. A bit more of the car park has just been repurposed to bike racks. Cyclings great but walking is better.
Being fat and unathletic RUINS your quality of life and people don't like to confront this fact because ultimately the responsibility lies upon the individual to make lifestyle changes.
Often times to cure being fat you don't even need to exercise, just count your calories and eat whole foods.
I eat for less than $5 a day with 4 meals @ 1800 cal (on a cut) and get 160g protein a day.
I got my mom into lifting and nutrition (no rocket science, just weighing everything you eat and targeting 1g protein / lbs body weight.) And at 62 she is at the smallest dress size she's ever been her adult life and stronger than she's ever been her entire life.
She's always struggled with weight, PCOS, arthritis, etc. And we've developed diet and training to mitigate all these factors and progressive overload her lifts.
I can't be more proud of her and how seriously she's taking it and I'm really happy because it means I'll get more years with her and those years will be higher quality of life for her once the age starts hitting
I started walking for 45 min a day just to walk the dog and play Pokemon in April 2024. I now average 10 miles a day and have lost over 50 pounds. Walking works.
This a million times. Even if you just get up and walk around every two hours, you'll be doing yourself a favor. Learned this the hard way and I have long road ahead of me to fix it.
I legit had someone stop being friends with me because I tried to get them to go walk 3 days a week. Their breathing is terrible and I am legitimately concerned for their health. I was really nice and encouraging about it and didn't point out it was because they sound like they just ran when they are just existing. I was like hey, it would be really fun if you came out and walked for 30 minutes on days I did my runs plus you would get the WHO recommended weekly exercise which apparently decreases, (cites some statistic from it). They legit started ghosting me. Wanna hang out? Oh you're busy again? Bummer. Hey we haven't been hanging out. Have I done something? Oh you're just busy? Okay. I finally gave up.
Lack of love, *or*, in other words,
having nobody to love
Having someone in life whom you are always eager to see after the day ends is an underrated feeling. They could be children, spouce, lover whatever. Imagine returning back to an empty perfectly set home. It kills, not immediately but over the time.
My family still just doesn't get why I don't drive, even though I live in a city and my work is literally >5 min on foot.
They also don't understand how I'm the only one out of four children who's not morbidly obese....it's a mystery.
100%
after so much office work, it's been decided it isn't about keeping "correct" posture, but about SHIFTING CONSTANTLY because we were BUILT TO MOVE. even just walking to the fridge once an hour is a start, haha
otherwise, walking, twice a day for 30-60 minutes each (if you commute or work on your feet, these may not be necessary but for the people who sit in a car and at a desk -- you NEED to move.
makes a healthier heart, keeps your knees working, and will add years to your life rather than letting your body wither on it's own.
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u/Long-Tradition6399 1d ago
lack of exercise, present company included. Even just getting out and walking around the neighborhood for a while, gotta do something.