Sunday, January 27, 2019

Fat But Fit?

Stock Fitness Photo From Here
January is a month when many people make resolutions at the first of the month and, unhappily, have already broken them by the end of the month. Oftentimes those New Year's resolutions pertain to fitness. So, although I do not make New Year's resolutions, I believe that today's post on fitness and health is timely.

I have had a longtime interest in fitness, health, nutrition, food, wellness, quality of life, and longevity factors. I am the sort of person who actually reads the health bulletins handed out at pharmacies, and the health columns in newspapers, and every new update on whether dietary fat got a bad rap in the Canada Food Guide of 30 years ago, and why we should eat colourful fruits and vegetables. And wine. Is that one glass a day actually good for you, and what are the risks, and is a glass of beer just as beneficial? Kathy Gottberg, on her SMART Living blog, has written a lot on these topics, for example, here, here, and here

Red Wine Stock Photo From Here
 As well, I am an outdoorsy person who enjoys athletic pursuits. But, as I have written here before, until I retired 18 months ago, I worked long hours at a sedentary desk job that left little time for anything else. Some of the things that were lacking in my life back then included: enough sleep, a satisfying social life, enough time to spend with Rob and other family members, sufficient exercise, and time for personal passions like writing, art, gardening, cooking, and travel.

Although I have always enjoyed cooking, and in the past I grew some of my own fruits and vegetables, during the final five years of my career it became very difficult to maintain a healthy approach to eating. On a typical day, I'd eat a light breakfast, throw together a bag lunch, and race out the door to be at work by 8:30.

The morning was filled with meetings, preparation of agendas and updates for meetings, phone calls, and answering emails. At noon, I would eat lunch at my desk, preparing for the afternoon slate of meetings or answering emails. The afternoon consisted of more meetings, and some were highly political, or involved stressful personnel issues. Finally, at 4:30 when the staff went home, I would sigh and dig into the work that required real concentration and uninterrupted time: writing reports, working on the budget, or planning. I'd also make a cup of tea and dig into the remains of my bag lunch, often high energy foods like granola bars, or crackers and cheese, or puddings. Finally, at 7:30 or 8:00, I'd head home, starving. I'd cook dinner and we'd eat at 8:30 or 9:00.

The lifestyle was a prescription for high stress, lack of activity, and poor eating habits. You can see how it left little time to lead a well-rounded life. Although most of my life I have been short and slender, in the final five years of my career, I packed on 20 pounds and moved into the "overweight" category. One reason that I retired when I did was that I began to have worrisome health indicators that made it obvious to me that I could not sustain that kind of a lifestyle and remain healthy.

So, since retiring, it has been very important to me to reestablish healthy habits and live a well-rounded life. I get enough sleep every night, and refuse to participate in activities that require me to set an alarm clock. I eat three well balanced meals a day, and make sure that I drink enough fluids, especially water. I have an active social life that includes new and old friends, and I spend lots of time with Rob, my kids, and my grandkids. I make time for writing, art, reading, and other personal pursuits.

Alpine Skiing
 And I have increased my activity level. I do at least 30 minutes a day of at least moderate exercise five days a week, as well as yoga twice a week.These photos show two examples of activities that I have done in the past week: A day of skiing, and a hike with Rob up the steep hill to the viewpoint near where we live.
Hiking













For Christmas, I was gifted with a wearable fitness device. This is something that I had not imagined wanting, but it has delighted the data nerd inside my head. The small screen on my wrist tells me how many steps I have taken that day, how many hours of the day I have been physically active, my pulse rate, the distance I have walked in kilometers, estimated calorie burn, how many flights of stairs I have climbed, how many minutes I have spent in sustained exercise (such as brisk walking), how many hours of sleep I got, and whether I have met my goal of 30 minutes of exercise a day, five days a week. If I wanted to, I could also track weight and fluid intake.

It is synchronized with my phone, so at the end of every day, I can look at a report on my phone, and I get detailed stats on all of those categories, with appealing multi-coloured graphs, and stars for the goals I have achieved.

This is the Graph Generated to Show My Sleep Patterns Last Night
 Well, who can resist stars? Not me! Gold stars and graphs motivate the heck out of me.

This is not all. The device also sends me a weekly report. I can see how I did this week in each category, as well as cumulative kilometers walked, etc. Since I put the device on my wrist on December 25, I have been going strong, trying to beat my own stats.

Using the heart rate data combined with age, height, weight, and activity records, the device has estimated my general fitness level. It tells me that my cardio fitness level is excellent for a woman my age. 

I am fat but fit, and I'm happy with that.

18 comments:

  1. Love this post and your shift to focusing on your health! It's amazing what those fitness trackers will tell you and how it motivates you too.

    Weight is just a number and with all your doing - that number is likely to change too. If you are looking for something to read - that is enjoyable and wellness focused, consider Younger Next Year. You are clearly 'swimming against the tide of aging' with all that you are doing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Vicki. It’s good to hear from you! I remember your recommendation of this book. Are you still involved in organizing the “Younger Next Year” Facebook group?

      Jude

      Delete
  2. I’m impressed, Jude, with how you took your retirement and immediately went into action, turning your life around for the better. Such a balanced person you are now, doing what’s most important to you and staying healthy.

    The Fitbit seems to be the perfect Christmas gift for you! I have an older and less advanced version and am not impressed with how it tracks my sleeping habits. But, it is cool to keep track of all those other things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liesbet, it might seem as if I jumped straight into retirement, but I didn’t really. In fact, there was a long winding down period at work that went through several phases. First there was the decision of whether and when to step down from my term as administrator, which took many months and finally crystallized when I broke a bone in my foot and it failed to heal. Then I gave six months notice for my administrative term ending, but continued to work at an intense pace, winding up projects and preparing for the leadership transition. Then I was on sabbatical for a year, a transition time during which I continued to go to the office most days to work on my research while also trying to decide whether to return to work in a new capacity after the sabbatical, or whether to retire, and if so, in what manner (graduated retirement or full retirement), and where to move to and when. It wasn’t until July 1 2017, my first day of retirement, which was also the day we took possession of our new house on Vancouver Island, that I began to seriously turn my mind to the way I wanted to spend my time in retirement. Balance and health were big elements in the new lifestyle that I started to build. I think I have finally settled into this new retired life!

      Jude

      Delete
  3. Hi Jude! First of all....in your photos you don't look FAT by any estimation I have. And while you (or I!) don't look like svelte young things....why would we want to? Instead we look fit and happy and to me that is the great advantage. And I'm very happy to know that you found some of my articles to be helpful enough to share with your readers. I think the more we spread the good news about aging around to others, the better off we will all be. And congratulations on your fitbit! It sounds like a perfect way to monitor your good health. ~Kathy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kathy. I always appreciate the thoughtful research you put into the articles on your blog, and I think about the ideas you discuss for a long time afterwards.

      I totally agree with you about not trying to lose weight to look a certain way or to pretend to be younger than I am. I like my body and it has served me well. I do not believe in weight loss diets, as research shows that they are mostly ineffective and can result in unhealthy food behaviours and negative attitudes about oneself, and even life threatening illnesses like anorexia.

      That said, my current BMI is in the overweight range. Carrying an extra 18-20 pounds on my small frame is a lot. To put it in perspective, I was a healthy 97 pounds when I was 21! Obviously, I have no expectation that I should look the way I did 40 years ago, and all of my (short) female cousins and aunts also are/were rounder around the middle, just like me, once they reached their senior years.

      But being overweight is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Being heavy puts extra stress on the joints, and as I have already had issues with arthritic knees, it would be better to be a little less fat. I am pleased that Fitbit says my cardiovascular fitness level is excellent. And if the daily activity data it generates motivates me to get off my butt and be even more active than I usually am, that’s great!

      Jude

      Delete
  4. You have all the right priorities in place for retirement! - Health, Family, Activity!
    As Kathy said, you're looking pretty good to me 🙂

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joanne. Health, family, and physical activity: those terms certainly describe key intentions and how I spend quite a lot of my time each week.

      Jude

      Delete
  5. Ditto Joanne - You have your priorities right.
    Ditto Kathy - You look awesome (both in your photos and IRL).
    Looking forward to catching up again soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Donna, I’m still trying to figure out how to juggle my time to fit in ALL of my priorities. But there’s no doubt that being active and fit are goals that are front and centre. See you Wednesday!

      Jude

      Delete
  6. I’ve had a Fitbit for a couple of years and am totally addicted! I’m looking at your sleep stats with envy though, I never manage anything like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahh, a fellow addict! Isn’t data seductive?

      Amazingly, since retiring, most nights I sleep 8-9 hours a night. It is one of the most wonderful things about retirement. No alarm clocks! I go to bed when I wish, and wake up when I happen to wake up. Usually I have a bout of insomnia about once every two weeks, but I haven’t happened to have been wearing the Fitbit on one of those nights yet. (Usually I take it off at night to give my wrist a rest).

      Jude

      Delete
  7. Now that sounds more human! :-) I’m sure you’re happy about finally having made the choice to retire. I knew some of your backstory from your earlier blogs and our talks and it seems that those steps were needed for you to get where you are. I still think it’s amazing that you know what you want and have found a good balance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Liesbet. I think I did retire at the right time for me. If I had retired earlier, I might have felt that I had not yet fully completed my career and maybe felt some regret. If I had hung on longer working, I might have left work feeling bitter and worn out, or in a state of poor health. I am grateful that both Rob and I still have good health and the energy to live and active life in retirement.

      Jude

      Delete
  8. You are a posterchild for what a satisfying retirement looks like! Too many people - after having a Go Go career path - want to settle in and take it easy in retirement. Although it may be an attractive image in our fantasy, relaxing and doing nothing can get boring quick (to say nothing of the negative heath consequences. You are doing great and looking great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Janis, and welcome back! I get bored easily, and never have had a desire to do nothing. I guess I’m just a GO-GO kind of person. For example, at a beach, I last about 10 minutes tanning on a towel, and then I jump up and go for a swim, or make a sand castle, or start taking pictures of the reflections in the water. I don’t actually know how to be bored.

      Jude

      Delete
  9. This is wonderful to read, Jude. You've got your priorities right and living where you are is a perfect place for your fitness and artistic activities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Natalie. I certainly don’t manage to fit in as much exercise per week as you do, or as many art/cultural events per month, or as many travel destinations. But still, it works for me.

      Jude

      Delete