Taking care of your health over 50!

 

I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day and we were discussing the difference between coping with everyday life challenges now in comparison to how our parents coped years ago.

For example, in their 50’s our parents were working towards the assured comforts of retirement, with children having grown and already flown the nest. Mortgages paid off, debts cleared, hence the only thing left to do was to look forward to finally enjoying life. Or so they thought!

Today, both women and men in their 50’s are coping with children leaving home later in life, mortgages with negative equity, notwithstanding expensive divorces, and with the prospect of retirement just a pipe-dream as most of us will be working well into our 70’s.

However instead of relishing the freedom of what retirement can bring, our parents now find themselves gifting part of their pensions just so their children “us” can pay off debts, or put deposits on property. And not only that, but we’re also asking them to mind our children while we work, and mostly free of charge!

Is it any wonder then that four out of five adults in Ireland are overweight or actually considered to be obese leading to a whole host of weight related illnesses? Increased blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity are all factors to what is termed “The Metabolic Syndrome” a cluster of symptoms which lead to Type 2 diabetes, stroke and in some cases heart disease.

I’ll shortly be teaming up with a leading Cardiologist to study and report through statistical analysis the effects of weight reduction by adopting a healthy eating approach and lifestyle change. We anticipate our findings to prove that weight reduction coincides with an avoidance of the potential risk of heart disease and other similar illnesses.

Visceral fat, or fat surrounding our internal organs is the most dangerous fat potentially leading to a serious risk of illness. Visceral fat reduces simply by adjusting your eating pattern, for example consuming less processed sugars and saturated fats and eating more vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and good fats i.e. nuts, seeds etc..

No one relishes the compromise and determination it takes to lose weight and lots of people lose weight either to look better in clothes, or for an important event. However you must consider not only the image benefits but the most important benefit that weight loss can bring, and that is to your health. If your Physician told you that they could extend your lifespan by 20years if you lost weight. Wouldn’t you jump at the chance? Look after your health!

Martina