This article concentrates on injury prevention, recovery, diet and exercise. I don’t profess to be an expert in exercise, diet and nutrition, but hundreds of hours spent on research, some expert guidance and trial and error, I now know what works for me. I would like to share that you. Please take from this what you will.
A short bit of personal history
I suffered with chronic lower back pain for many years, this was partly hereditary and partly due to an accident that occurred in 2003 where I injured my back quite significantly. Although I had experienced back pain prior to 2003, it is fair to say that following 2003 back pain had an unfortunate and undesired impact on how I lived my life.
With chronic back pain for many years, which gradually grew worse, I sought medical intervention on many occasions. The medical intervention basically told me I had learn to manage pain. This was a combination of prescription medication, and learning what pain is or indeed, how our brains understand and represent pain.
The chronic back pain became worse until I was constantly on prescription medication. The impact of the prescription medication, the cocktail of drugs, had the effect of making me feel spaced out permanently. However without the medication I could hardly walk. Life became a balance of necessity and function.
I became frustrated with my own limitations and sought advice far and wide. A friend of mine at that time, had then recently undergone an operation called a microdiscectomy and lumbar decompression. He informed me that this surgical intervention had changed his life. I then researched what this surgical intervention was, the risks involved and what alternatives were available to me.
I went to see my general practitioner (Doctor) and requested a second opinion on the options available to me. The second opinion was given to me by a surgeon. Before the surgeon gave his opinion, he examined me and sent me for an MRI scan.
Looking at my scan he could not understand why I was told to manage this pain. He informed me that the best option available to me was to undertake a surgical procedure, a microdiscectomy and lumbar decompression. I undertook this surgical procedure in 2016.
Enough of the history and gloomy stuff
I want to return to the part where I went for the MRI Scan. The woman that booked me into the scan had also suffered from back pain for many years. She told me that she went to Pilates classes and that helped her tremendously.
I had exercised for most of my adult life, injury permitting. I had heard of the Pilates but had always thought that it was a soft form of exercise. How wrong I was!
I went along to Pilates classes once a week at first, just to see what it was like. I can honestly say I was shocked at the impact that Pilates had on my pain, it was like taking a powerful analgesic (painkiller). I later started to practice yoga. I believe that two complement each other. I was asked recently; ‘if I could only do one, Pilates or Yoga, which would it be’? My response was, it depends on what my body needs.
As I age I notice differences in my physical ability, shape and need for recovery but more importantly I notice the impact that diet has on my body. I am 55 years old, male, 184 cm tall and 83 kg.
I now practised yoga twice a week and I undertake two sessions Pilates every week. Part of the advice I was given following the surgical procedure was to ‘keep my weight down and my core strong’. The surgery would only do so much the rest was up to me. In other words, how successful the surgical intervention was to be all depended upon what my habits became moving forward.
As good as exercise is, it cannot manage our body shape by itself. Exercise should be complemented by an adequate diet and appropriate rest. I am certainly not evangelical about diet and exercise, rather I believe in an 80:20 principle. I try to be good 80% of the time but allow myself 20% of downtime, that may be just eating chocolate, having a drink or two, or simply doing nothing.
I want to turn to diet now. Specifically what constitutes an adequate diet. Our diet should basically comprise of a combination of protein, carbohydrates and good fat. But I think the most important element of an adequate diet is making it part of your daily routine. This will take time but it will be time well spent. I do not believe that the fad diets that celebrities follow and many others follow as sheep have the long lasting effect we ever want them to have.
I’m going to concentrate on the protein element of our diet.
Why is protein so important as we age?
We reach peak muscle mass by our late 30s, and after that point, we begin losing approximately three to five percent over each decade. This age-related muscle mass loss is termed “sarcopenia” . Although sarcopenia is a normal aging response, research has shown that older adults who strength train maintain more muscle mass as they age, in comparison to adults who don’t include strength training.
Pilates = strength
Yoga = strength, flexibility and control
Our bodyweight and shape is more dependent on what we put in our mouths than it is on exercise, but choosing the right exercise for you is essential to keep you mobile as you get older. I also ensure I build rest into my routine and try to get a good night’s sleep. I have written about sleep in a previous article.
80% nutrition-you are what you eat
20% exercise-you are what you do
What type of protein should I eat?
If you include meat in your diet, look for lean cuts. To be considered lean, a cut of beef should contain less than ten grams of total fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and no more than 95 milligrams of cholesterol. The amount of protein for each type of meat depends on the serving size and preparation method (see below). Avoid cooking in oils—broiling, baking, and grilling methods are best.
Beef
Choose from the following cuts:
- Top Sirloin Steak
- Fillet Steak (bloody expensive though)
- Tenderloin Steak
- 95% Lean Ground Beef
Pork
Pork is as lean as skinless chicken breast and fits the guideline for lean. Choose any loin cuts for a very lean serving of meat.
- Pork Tenderloin
- Loin Pork Chops
- Loin Pork Roast
Poultry
- Skinless cuts
Dairy Products
- Milk: 8 grams per cup
- Yogurt: can vary depending on the type
- Cheese: 7 grams per ounce
- Eggs: 6 grams per egg
Plant-based Protein Sources
Keep in mind that when you are getting your protein from plant sources, you need to make sure that it’s in a combination that provides all the essential amino acids. For example, combining rice with beans, peas, or lentils provides all the essential amino acids needed for a complete protein. Think legumes with grains, or with nuts or seeds. Of course adding milk, eggs, or meat sources with plant provides complete protein.
- Edamame: 18 grams per one cup cooked
- Tempeh: 16 grams per 3 ounces
- Tofu: 8 grams per 3 ounce serving
- Lentils: 9 grams per ½ cup
- Black beans: 7 grams per ½ cup cooked
- Lima beans: 7 grams per ½ cooked
- Peanuts 7 grams per ½ cup
- Peanut butter: 7 grams per 2 Tbsp
- Wild rice: 6.5 grams per 1 cup cooked
- Chickpeas: 6 grams per ½ cup
- Almonds: 6 grams per ¼ cup
- Chia seeds: 6 grams per 2 Tbsp
- Steel cut oats: 5 grams per ¼ cup dry
- Cashews: 5 grams per ¼ cup
- Pumpkin seeds: 5 grams per ¼ cup
- Potatoes: 4 grams per 1 medium white potato
- Spinach: 3 grams per ½ cup cooked
- Avocado: 4 grams per one avocado
- Broccoli: 2 grams per ½ cup cooked
- Brussels sprouts: 2 grams per ½ cup
What about protein supplements or bars?
Another easy way to up your protein intake, especially if you’re not able to sit down for a meal, is with high protein drinks or bars. Just make sure that they’re not adding a lot of sugar along with the protein. Reading labels is crucial for determining which supplement or bar offers real nutrition instead of excess sugars and other fillers. My personal approach is using whey isolate powder. Whey protein is absorbed into the body quickly. I drink a protein shake about 30 minutes before I exercise as research shows that protein shortly before exercise is more beneficial then protein after exercise.
Casein protein is absorbed slowly by the body and is ideal before you go to bed at night, about 40 g should be adequate, I don’t do this as my exercise regime is not intense enough to require this extra protein support.
Something as simple as increasing our daily protein intake can make a significant difference in how our body ages. Maintaining our muscle mass throughout our lifetime can help us continue to be active and strong.
If we want to be healthy as we get older and where ever possible remain injury free then we may need a lifestyle change, but most certainly a lifestyle choice. Ask yourself; Who and what do you want to be?
So where does that leave us now?
Let’s go back to the 80:20 principle. Your body shape is determined predominantly by what you eat, we have all heard of the saying, ‘you are what you eat’. Another favourite saying of mind is; ‘calories in-calories out’. But it is not only about the calories we consume, it’s about the type of calories we consume. Trying to cut down on some foods we love is tough, sugar tastes great but it increases insulin uptake in our bodies and this in turn, turns into fat. Some of my favourite meals are also some of the most unhealthy, but I limit those. Just as I limit my alcohol intake, and I really enjoy beer sometimes.
Being healthy and happy as we age is not about being perfect, it’s more about balance. My personal belief is that this balance will vary according to our physical needs, our time, our motivation, our goals and indeed whether we have the physical capability to exercise. Some of us have more control over what we are able to do than others, we’re lucky even if at times we do not feel so. I guess the question is who do we want to be?
“Happiness is not a goal…it’s a by-product of a life well lived.”―
If we want to be all that we can be, then we need direction and must set and specify goals. We must make these goals meaningful and challenging but not unreachable, as setting unattainable goals will just demotivate us. Once we have set and specified our goals we should then set incremental steps to achieve those goals. Try and follow a schedule. Once we have a direction and our goals we must then determine our value structure, that is how do we see the world and how do we see ourselves within the world.
One of my favourite sayings is, ‘there is a gap between my actual self and my ideal self’.
Be realistic with yourself, be forgiving to yourself, be patient and listen to your body but above all be consistent. Work with the body you have, not the body you desire.
As an aside, did you know that fluid IQ decreases with age? It has been scientifically proven that exercise is the best way to slow down this is decrease. It turns out that exercise feeds your brain, who knew?
I realise I have concentrated on the more physical aspects of life, there is of course cognitive aspect to personal growth but this article is not going to cover that. There will be plenty of articles to follow this that will.
In summary
Setting goals for who we want to be, taking a dedicated, educated approach to diet and exercise, being consistent, being patient and being realistic all help us to become healthier and happier as we get older.
It’s not an easy journey but it is a rewarding one, we must learn new tricks, make new lifestyle choices. A friend of mine once told me, ‘it isn’t that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, the problem for the old dog is unlearning the old tricks’. To some extent it is our choice to shed our old self to become our new self. To become what we can be.
DREAMS don’t work UNLESS you do