5 Top Tips for Losing Weight over 50
Fabafterfifty: Fitness/Diet
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Article by Dr Khandee Ahnaimugan The most common thing I hear from women over 50 who are trying to lose weight is that diets that used to work (at least in the short-term) in their twenties, thirties and forties stop working once they’re into their fifties. Does this mean that women over 50 can’t lose weight? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that you need to change your approach. Here’s how: 1. Understand what successful weight loss really is. The fact is, as people get older, it takes longer to lose weight. If you’re 53, you can’t expect to lose weight at the same rate as a 23 year old. That might seem like a bad thing, but it’s really not. Because losing weight fast is not the key to success. Losing weight and keeping it off is the real aim. Who cares if someone loses 10 pounds in...
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Exercising with Diabetes
By Anne Elliott Serious health conditions can hit at any age and when they do, they are invariably life changing. However, with many of them the problem is that as soon as a condition is diagnosed the patient can go into a kind of psychological lock down. From the body’s point of view, it’s pretty sensible; it wants to protect itself but this means it can misinterpret very sound advice and practice. One such case in point is being diagnosed with Diabetes. Many adults who are told they have the condition closed the gates and hunker down for the long term being too scared to take part in many activities in case it makes matter worse. This is far from the truth. It’s all to do with insulin. Food we eat is broken down in the gut and converted into useful nutrients. Carbohydrates become glucose and are put into the...
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Doing all the Right Things and Still Can’t Lose Weight?
Article by Dr. Khandee Ahnaimugan (Dr. K) Here is a question I was recently asked: I am 53 and have been dieting since I was 14 I am bigger now than I have ever been and yet I watch what I eat and I exercise twice a week. Why is this? Is there anything more frustrating than feeling like you’re doing all the right things and still not getting anywhere? And yet the situation described in this situation is so common, especially for women over 50. How can it be? As I see it there are two parts to this question. The first part is the “watching what I eat” and the second part is “exercising twice a week”. Most people would consider these two actions to be the cornerstone of a successful weight loss regime. But for this woman (and countless others) it’s not enough. So let’s look at...
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Body Pump – Increase Your Fitness & Tone Your Body
Article by Fabafterfifty Achieving your fitness goals is much easier if you work with others, and articles often advise finding a friend so you can motivate and inspire each other through tough patches. However, it’s not always possible to find someone who you want to do this with, or who can meet your busy schedule. So attending group exercise classes is another way of achieving this goal, all the motivational benefits of being in a group along with a qualified instructor challenging you throughout. To maximise your results you should always look to eat healthily and follow a diet plan. If the thought of exercising in a group with strangers fills you with dread, let me tell you that things have moved on a long way since the ‘Green Goddess’. Good quality modern group exercises classes are up-to-date, created with scientific precision to achieve specific fitness goals and generally accompanied...
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Tips to keep your exercise goals on track – don’t lose your resolve!
Article by Anne Elliott. How is your New Years resolution going? Good and strong I hope. Unfortunately, although January might be the biggest uptake of adults joining gyms, it’s the second half of February that sees the biggest number stopping. Why do they stop? Perhaps it was harder than they thought, perhaps it was a bit too intimidating, perhaps it wasn’t as much fun as they’d hoped. So if you’re still exercising at the end of February, you are already ahead of the game. I know it’s not easy to keep going though, especially when the first flush of newness has evaporated and you see how slow and how hard and how long it’s going to take to get fit and look gorgeous. This is the point to add an extra something; a new dimension that will allow you to keep your resolve strong. One very effective method is to...
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Keep in Shape over 50 with Pilates
Article by Alan Herdman The main principle of Pilates is to concentrate on the strengthening the ‘core’ muscles which help support the spine. Pilates also helps strengthen smaller muscles, allowing them to take some of the strain away from larger muscles. Invented by Joseph Pilates in the 1900s, the regime is a low impact but effective way to strengthen and tone muscles, by isolating individual muscle groups and working them without putting strain on other (sometimes already fragile) muscles and joints. As a contemporary dance teacher Alan Herdman was invited to New York to learn about the Joseph Pilates Method. He worked with two instructors who trained with Joseph Pilates himself and was so impressed he returned to the UK to set up Britain’s first ever Pilates studio. Among his first clients were actors, dancers and singers. Word soon spread and doctors and physiotherapists began recommending Alan to patients struggling...
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Ena, Fab after 50 and 80 years young!
Article by Ceri Wheeldon As Ena Mallett sends out invitations for her 80th birthday next month, she wonders if she may be expected to ‘throw a man or two’ around the floor. “I think my guests might expect it” says Ena. Why? 2 years ago Ena became the only woman in the world to achieve a 7th Dan Black Belt status in ju-jitsu martial arts. Don’t even suggest to Ena that allowances have been made for her age in achieving this – the answer is a very firm ‘no’! Ena has boundless energy and a very busy life. She teaches martial arts classes to both adults and children, has started a keep fit class for ‘older’ people, works as a lollipop lady, and takes long walks with her dog. When Ena opted to take a martial arts class as she thought it would be more interesting than flower arranging, she...
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Fitness over 50: Jane takes up rowing and is aiming for the world championships!
Article by Jane Turner How fulfilling an old age we will live largely depends on how we live our lives today. Fitness is key. With many years invested in bringing up families or pursuing careers, many women reach their 50s and find that they finally have time to invest in themselves – and their own fitness. Many women in their 50s return to sports that they enjoyed in their youth. We caught up with Jane Turner, who has rekindled her love of rowing. I am 52, and a few years ago after a long illness I was trying to come up with something new to invigorate my life. Failing to identify anything that inspired me, I thought back to the things that I had most enjoyed doing in my life – and one of those was rowing at university. I tentatively joined my local club, and discovered that I still...
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Best exercises for Power toning your arms, bust and neck from yoga guru Barbara Currie
Article by Barbra Currie Following on from the best exercises to power tone tums Barbara shares her best exercises for Power toning your arms, bust and neck – just looking at Barbara in these photos is great motivation. If Barbara can look like this at 70 then there is no excuse to not follow these exercises along with others in her latest book (see below). 1.The Chest Expansion These movements are not only dramatic in the way that they tone and firm the arms and the muscles that support the bust, but they are also excellent for correcting posture, relieving tension in the neck and shoulders, and realigning the spine. Stand with your feet together and your back straight. Interlock your hands behind your back, gently pulling your shoulders back and straightening your arms. Inhale and lift your arms up as high as possible behind your back, then exhale as...
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Best Yoga exercises for Power toning your abdominals, midriff and waistline
Article by Barbara Currie For anyone needing a little motivation to start exercising, Yoga guru Barbara Currie looks fitter at 70 than I have ever looked in my entire life. Barbara shares with us some of her best exercises to improve our flexibility and tone our midlife bodies. Unlikely to be the case if you are over 50, but just in case we have some younger readers joining us, Barbara does not advise to attempt these movements if you are pregnant. 1. Yoga Abdominal Lift This is like a wonderful gift. It takes 30 seconds a day and is brilliant! This movement must be done on an empty stomach. The ideal time to do it is before breakfast. Stand straight with your legs about 1 foot apart and place your hands on your upper thighs. Inhale deeply then exhale fully and keeping the air out of your lungs pull your abdominals in and...
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