Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

It's April - and probably time to make the push towards getting fitter. This is a true battle for most of us, but the "SMART" method can really work for most of you.  S. M. A. R. T.  Fitness Goals  Specific - Forget "I need to lose weight". It has to be something like, "I will lose 30 pounds". Measurable - You need numbers here. I use weight and body fat percentage with my clients, both measurable quantities. Achievable - Don't reach too high in the sky. Make the goal reasonable - something you have a decent shot at accomplishing. Relevant -  Is your goal consistent with what you are trying to accomplish, such as gaining strength, energy or self-esteem. Time-Bound - Set a time limit.   "I will lose 30 lbs. by Memorial Day". Don't try this alone. Do this with another person, a small group, or a crowd. Competition helps, as does being accountable to someone other than yourself. Good luck!  

 Call it evolving- or call it adapting - but remaining active and viable past the age of eighty requires a boatload of changes.  "You can't tweak your little finger without your brain initiating the action." -- Tom Lane Everything starts with your brain . Having passed the 80-mark almost two years ago, I spend a good amount of time pondering how I will fill the next day. This is as basic as it gets . Spending eight decades on this earth creates a lot of habits - both good and bad. Lethargy wants to take you out of the action, and it needs to be fought. A lazy lifestyle is a killer and will take you out sooner than later. "Lack of curiosity in older folks separates them from the younger set." -- Tom Lane I learn more from my mistakes and those of others than I do from success. Daily movement is critical. Mental stimulation is vital. Living in the past on previous glories and not getting out of your comfort zone creates a downward slide.  My family members (da...

 Several days ago, I witnessed an older man become airborne in a gym as he tripped over an object - hitting the floor hard enough to break some ribs. It was his second serious accident in the gym in the short period of time after joining. H e broke one of the prime rules of survival - in gyms and the world, generally. BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS One other quick point about gyms. With weight-management time right around the corner, remember that endless cardio (treadmill, elliptical, etc.) won't get you lighter and leaner. It is a poor use of your time and energy. Alter your nutrition to lose weight and uise the gym for overall health and well-being. 

 You were born weak, frail and afraid. Don't end up that way. If my memory served me correctly, some form of the above quote was part of an old ad for a protein supplement. It got my attention.  Just Google the term "sarcopenia" and you will find a wealth of information on the effects of losing muscle as you get older. This Harvard Health piece is only one of many on the subject. The point is simple, but the process of maintaining - and certainly building - muscle is not . It can be difficult, but worth the effort.  It has been a year since I underwent a surgical procedure to replace my aortic valve . I went into the hospital in great shape for someone 78 years old , but I had to curtail most of my exercise prior to the operation and had lost some strength and muscle mass. By the way, I had ZERO symptoms from the severe plugging of the artery with calcium, but my surgeon told me that my first symptom may be to drop dead. Predators prey on the weak-old-and-frail. Not j...

 Author's Note: This is the first of an undetermined number of thoughts from a guy who turns 80 on his next birthday.  "When you stop moving, your body shuts down!" --- Tom Lane I watched as both my dad and brother retired early and gradually moved less and less as the years passed. Both died at the age of 64 . My father died of ALS, which may have been unpreventatble, but my brother, Don, died of heart failure.  My granddaughter, Courtney, was born with cystic fibrosis and died at the age of 25 . I often pestered her into moving more to remain as healthy as possible, just as I had with Don. Both reuttered my movement/body shut-down axiom a few times, but never followed it. They both should have lived longer. My mom and sister passed away at 48 and 19 years of age , respectively. They were unlucky - with my mother contracting cancer and my sister dieing of MS. I have weathered both cancer and heart disease but have (thus far) beaten both. We were born to move. I preac...

  Time, comfort and curiosity - their profound affect on aging "Time seems to stand quite still In a child's world it always will"   "Morning. Another morning" by The Moody Blues The  days for a child pass quickly  but the years pass like a slow-moving freight train. As an adult, I want the same.  Time , or at least our perception of it,  can be controlled . Here is  Scientific American's James M. Broadway  on the subject: “Where did the time go?” middle-aged and older adults often remark. Many of us feel that time passes more quickly as we age, a perception that can lead to regrets. According to psychologist and BBC columnist Claudia Hammond, “the sensation that time speeds up as you get older is one of the biggest mysteries of the experience of time.” "Engaging in a novel exploit makes time appear to pass more quickly in the moment. But if we remember that activity later on, it will seem to have lasted longer than more mundane experiences." Tha...

I picked up a 3-month membership at Anytime Fitness (ATF), Pawleys Island, South Carolina after doing some research.  My 31 years in the fitness field helped me find the (near)-perfect gym, not only for seniors - just just about anyone. Why? 1.) It's close. Only a 4-minute drive with busy traffic makes it much tougher to talk my self out of going. 2.) It's complete. My goals are to regain strength and muscle lost when I was told to stop all exercise prior to an aortic heart valve replacement. This gym has everything I need for those goals. 3.) No duct tape. What the Hell does that mean? Duct tape on the machine and bench pads is a sign of a gym heading downhill. This gym has none. 4.) No pool. Pools take up space - are a pain-in-the-ass to maintain - smell of chlorine - and except for lap swimming, are not effective producers of a fit physique. 5.) No group fitness space. This gym got rid of it. Good move. I won't apologize to the aerobics devotees. 6.) Courteous me...

  Gyms are intimidating to seniors - prove you belong As I write this, my wife, Linda, and I are spending the winter in South Carolina as I approach my  74th birthday . Our permanent home is in the  North Country of New Hampshire , but it is too damn cold to stay there. I am a former  Research Enginee r,  Police Lieutenant/Investigator  and present  Health Coach/Personal Trainer . My background is diverse, and my professional and life experience will be combined into all of my blog posts. While avoiding purposely offending anyone,  I will be direct . We joined a gym down here upon arrival and go there most days of the week. Monday was Martin Luther King day, and our gym was mobbed. The place is huge, but I could hardly move in there without getting bumped. I have worked in health clubs for the past 25 years, and it often occurs to me that many of these people, a large portion of which are seniors, don't belong here. Not yet. Don't get me wrong, be...

  New day - new beginning . Morning is a vital key to health, fitness and mental well-being . Eschewing the flawed idea that a king's breakfast and pauper's supper is best for everybody, here's my case for the opposite stance. Imagine you are a kid at an amusement park , and your mom has given you only so much money for the day. Spend most of it early in the day, and you are set for a miserable time in the afternoon . You get the analogy. Protein and vegetables get you leaner . I go with one or two eggs, into which I throw canned spinach, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, etc. One egg is only about 80 calories, and the veggies and fungus are almost a non-factor in the calorie count.  My breakfast this morning was one scrambled egg, mushrooms and one link of turkey sausage cut up into the pan. Calories? Maybe as much as 120. With two eggs, it would be 200 - w/3 eggs, it gets to 280. Still under 300 calories. I will follow with a 100-calorie whey protein shake after my worko...

 So here we go! After close to 30 years as a Personal Trainer, Weight Management Consultant and Health Coach - in addition to being an-almost 78-year occupant of the planet - this is the first brief idea that some folks out there may want to follow. You are not a test tube! A test tube is an inert glass vessel to which are added various chemicals to produce a known reaction. That is not you. You are a distinct individual . There is no one in the Universe exactly like you. Carl Sagan said it best. So whatever your goal - weight loss, strength gain, added muscle, longer life, etc. - you need to EXPERIMENT to see what works for you as an individual.  "You become what you eat", so I will devote much attention to nutrition. I began my health and fitness career after working as a research engineer and police investigator, so don't expect the mundane or run-of-the-mill.  Tip # 2 will revolve around the idiotic adage, "Eat breakfast like a king and supper like a pauper...