by Pat Lunsford

Created on: April 06, 2008

Keeping fit despite your age is something I and my family discovered a few years ago. I am thirty-eight, my daughter is seventeen and my father is sixty-two. Having gained a little weight over the past few years, I decided I needed to lose some it and get back into shape. While researching proper diet and simple healthier lifestyle changes, it occurred to me that my daughter and father needed to be fit as well.

Sitting them both down, I had a talk with them about getting together on a fitness plan in which we could all take part. It would greatly benefit our health and we could support each other's efforts. My father was all for it. He had high cholesterol and blood pressure, and he too was a bit overweight.

However, my daughter was a little less enthusiastic about it. She was young and didn't think she needed to worry about it. When I pointed out the fact that she was getting a bit pudgy and that a lot of her favorite clothes were getting a little tight on her; along with the fact that she couldn't walk from the mall to the van without getting winded, she relented.

We got together on a diet, cutting back on sodas, snacks, fatty foods, and started a daily exercise program that we could all live with. We didn't go to extremes at first so we wouldn't get discouraged. We started out slow with a few simple changes in diet and we would go to the mall or a park once a day and walk for about thirty minutes to an hour.

It was about three weeks later when my daughter came to me and said her jeans felt a little looser, but she still had to lie on the bed to zip them. Nevertheless, she was motivated and her goal was to be able to zip her jeans without having to lie down. My father said the swelling was going down in his ankles and I had lost three pounds.

We increased our efforts and cut back a little more on our diet, cutting out all sodas and substituting with cranberry juice, green tea and lots of water. We eliminated sugary snacks and replaced them with healthier ones. Our walks took place strictly at the park where we upped the pace a notch or two.

A few weeks later, my daughter stood before me and easily zipped her jeans right up. I had lost eight pounds and my father lost six, and within a few months, he came off his cholesterol and blood pressure medication.

Therefore, keeping fit despite your age is just a wise choice. You'll look and feel better. Life is simply too short to waste our health.

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