A sense of freedom as we age..........

I feel more free the older I get.

At 77 I'm no longer on anyones radar.  No one expects me to accomplish anything at this point, I don't have to be anywhere at any particular time, I don't have to worry about raising my children or sending them to college. That's all in the past.

Jody and Arnold

My ambition today is to live happy and stress free. Career pursuits are behind me, so I can do what I want to do, where I want to do it and when I wish to do it. Sounds good and it is, except for the following caveat:                    

Good Health and Financial Resources.

In my opinion, you have considerable control over both of these essential components. If by the time you retire and don't feel you have enough money then downsize. You'll find it's easier when your older and retired. You don't have to buy a new car as often, you don't have to keep up with the latest clothing fashion, or go to expensive restaurants, blah, blah, blah. There is plenty of information out there to help you downsize, just do some research. Take advantage of all the senior discounts that are available because there are lots of those. Keep your life simple and enjoy it.

Now to Good Health which is my domain.

Most important to keep in mind.  If you don't have good health by the time you retire, a lot of your existing financial resources will be spent on doctors and hospitals. That's the first reason to begin good health habits starting at 50+ by exercising every day and eating a healthy diet. And don't fall into thinking that, "I've worked hard all my life so I deserve to eat what I want and how much I want." Bad idea!

Always remember to play with the cards you're dealt, meaning one third of our longevity is determined by our genes, which leaves two-thirds within your influence, in other words,  your Good Health for the most part is completely in our hands.

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.

Watch for my website, aprimelife.com, coming soon.

What to do about aging.....?

Nothing, absolutely nothing because there is no alternative.

The good news is we all age at the same pace, so in my opinion as a 76 year old don't worry about getting older it doesn't help just stay healthy and enjoy each day as much as you can.

Don't get caught up in worrying about forgetting things that you recently experienced because it's one part of aging, just enjoy what your experiencing at the moment and don't concern yourself about remembering what it was later, you're not 20 anymore. What's my answer, I take a lot of pictures, it's a lot better than my aging memory.

I can go on about all the changes we begin to feel as we age but remember these changes occur slowly and in most cases not obvious in our daily lives. When I was in my 40's I could run a 10k in 40 minutes but 30 some years later I'm lucky to make it under 60 minutes. That's aging folks! The good news is I can still run a 10k, that's the goal. I use to be able to read a 300 page book in a week now it's more like a month but I can still read and enjoy it.

It's never about your age it's always about you health. If you stay vital as you age by daily exercise and healthy eating habits you will be able to do the same things you did 35 years ago, but now as an older person you can enjoy it in a leisurely pace and in an unhurried fashion.


Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.

Watch for my website, aprimelife.com coming soon.

Just live your life each day to the fullest that you are able too.

Do stuff in nature............

"The challenges of exercise are more complex in the real world as opposed to the controlled environment of the gym."

Let me say that more simply, exercise in a natural setting meaning outside, in my opinion, is the best way to exercise. Spinning classes and running on the treadmill are things that people do quite often especially when the weather is bad or it's just easier when you have time constraints. Having said that there is no exercise experience like riding outdoors on a bike path, running through a park or on a mountain trail which not only pushes you harder but also allows you to breath fresh air from nature.

As a runner, biker, tennis player and a sometime gym guy let me tell you how little I like going inside to the gym. I do it because strength training, in my opinion, helps me in the other three sports so I put up with the bad lighting, stinky air and silly chatter.

I didn't mention yoga, which I do on occasion, because it's so focused and concentration is so important. Outside noises can be very distracting to this very calming form of exercise. So inside is good though I have seen it done in parks which I do whenever possible.

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.

Watch for my website, aprimelife.com coming soon.

Popping pills as supplements.....

Some one asked me recently about taking fish oil as a protection against all kinds of heart diseases and prostrate problems so I began a little research. I was surprised at what I found. All the recent research has pointed out the fact that too much fish oil especially concentrated in pill form can actually be dangerous and do just the opposite of what you want. So here is my advice as a 76 year old guy.

You are better off when you can get your nutrients and vitamins from a natural source.

Example: eat an orange everyday and forget the vitamin C pill. The orange not only has all the nutrients to satisfy your vitamin C needs it also gives you the oranges fibre which is a very important part of the fruit. The pill can't give you any of that.

Vitamin D is another example. The body produces vitamin D when exposed to the sun 

most efficiently, need I say more. If you can't get out into the sun enough there are many foods, not those fortified with vitamin D but contain vitamin D naturally like salmon, tuna, eggs, cheese, sardines and mushrooms to mention just a few.

I can go on about many other supplements that people take that are un-necessary when the natural food is available, so before taking these supplements do a little research. Just Google it!

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.

Watch for my website, aprimelife.com, coming soon.

Lowering Health care costs................

Lowering health care costs has become one of the most important challenges of our time. By reducing these costs it will help those who are having a tough time paying their premiums and will help government, both local and federal, bring down the cost for the taxpayer. It's not as complicated to accomplish this as we have been led to believe, actually it's fairly simple and here is my answer to the problem. Work on Staying Healthy!

Lisa (daughter) and Arnold

As a almost 77 year old my experience in staying healthy was to start an exercise program and begin to eat a more healthy diet just after I turned 50 years old. At that time I was 170 pounds, drank too much, eat way to much fatty and processed foods and really didn't do much exercise, oh yes an occasional hike or workout at the gym but nothing consistent. I realized that I needed to do something about my health so I slowly began to jog a few times a week, go to the gym more often and start to play tennis, which I hadn't done in years and most important cut out most of the fatty foods that I had been eating all my life.

Twenty seven years later I'm 148 pounds and able to do all the things I did when I was much younger. I never let a day go by without some sort of exercise for at least an hour. I eat more of a plant based diet which includes some meat, chicken and fish. The fatty and processed foods have not been in my diet for years. I would say that I eat a mediterranean diet.

Now the only time I have to go to the doctor is for my annual visit, which I reccommend to anyone over 50 years old.

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.

Watch fo my website, aprimelife.com coming soon.

"Take care of yourself..........

"Take Care!" How many times have we said that to friends or family as a parting phrase. I never gave much thought too what I was saying when I used that phrase, and only now having reached an age (76) do I stop to think about things I'm saying.

Arnold & Jody

I never say as a parting phrase, "Be Famous!" or "Be Rich!" that wouldn't be appropriate but "Take Care of Yourself!" is so appropriate. The phrase can mean so many things but summed up it means "good health." Since we say this all the time on so many occasions it should resonate that your health is somehow involved. If we "take care" as we age we can prevent so many diseases by making the right choices about a good exercise program and good eating habits.

Were reminded of it everyday when a friend says, "Take care of yourself" you can do just that "Take care of yourself".

Keep it Simple, Consistent and Fun.

Watch for my website, aprimelife.com coming soon.

Nature demotes us as we age..........

Life demotes us, though no one wants to hear it unfortunately that's exactly what nature does to us as we age. We can no longer do what we did physically or mentally when we were younger but that's OK it happens too all of us and no one escapes this phenomena.

As a 76 year old guy I can tell you it's true, I'm a bit slower with the memory and though I can do all the things physically that I did when I was 25 I do it considerable slower but I can still do them.

Arnold & Jody sailing on the 4th

This is how I deal with nature taking it's course. I try to stay in the best physical condition that is possible for me and keep as intellectually active by reading, being adventures in my travels and continuing to learn about tech stuff that sometimes really baffles me.

Each day is a good day when I learn something new about myself and the world I live in.

Keep It Simple, Consistent and Fun.

Watch for my website, aprimelife.com coming soon.