NYT article on exercise and aging

[Trek420]

It's so sad to me that my mom (in her 70s) won't even take walks, and as a result, she's really starting to slow down and show her age a lot more. She thinks it's too late to do anything to improve or to feel better. She's wrong, but she won't listen to me as she thinks I'm just an exercise fanatic, and what works for me couldn't possibly apply to someone like herself.

That is sad. Does she live nearby? Can you go for a walk with her?

It is sad that for many women in our parents generation athletic and outdoor activities is not the norm. Showing her how walking as part of what she does now can be pleasant can help. Not to over generalize but can you walk to a store or out to lunch together?

Take her out for a good time that is her idea of a good time but with a short walk and she may see that even a little helps and that it is fun to walk and talk with you. She may find others her age who enjoy it.

Duck on Wheels and I are lucky that our mutual 85 year old Mom saw ahead when she moved from a 3 acre place in the country to a smaller place in town she knew she'd be getting less exercise. The remainder of the farm was just too much to handle alone. She chose a place near town, on a path and frequently walks to the store or to run some errands. She's told me that she feels a little "off" if she does not walk daily. There are times she can't work in the garden because of weather, maybe the soil is too soggy to cultivate or plant in yet she can still get a walk in.

I can't begin to imagine how it is for her to have lost a partner of 62 years and be living alone and independently but I think walking, and seeing the hills they both loved lifts her spirits.

She inspires me each day in my training.

It's not about living forever because nobody gets out of this alive but a proactive stance towards your health can give you quality of life .... longer. It's about being able to open the peanut butter jar. Not just living to see her first great grandchild as being able to lift him when he wants to come up and "see gland'ma"

She now needs help to haul the 30lb pumpkin she raised into the kitchen. But I'm thankful each day that she raises that pumpkin in the first place.

I'm aware it may have spared her many of the problems many elderly face long before her age. It may be what's enabled her to continue to be such an activist, participating in a peace vigil each week and so on.

And selfishly, her pumpkin bread is very good

Pictured below Mom attempts to "dead lift" the pumpkin which ultimately my niece at left picked up.

[emily_in_nc]

That is sad. Does she live nearby? Can you go for a walk with her?

Unfortunately, we're over 2 hours apart, and I work full-time, so we don't visit all that often. And when we do (here or there), she won't walk at all. I've asked her to take a walk with me, and she's just not interested; there's always some excuse. Neither of us live in places where you can walk to the store or anything like that, unfortunately -- she's way out in the 'burbs, and I am in a very rural, wooded area far from town. The only time she will walk is when shopping. Sad! She does garden, and I encourage that. She also paints (not easels, but interior rooms in her house, including some decorative murals -- and stage sets in the community theater!), goes up and down ladders, stuff like that, so she's not completely sedentary, but anything aerobic, forget it.

My step-father loves to hike, despite bad arthritis in his knees, but she won't even try to join him, so he usually walks and hikes alone. I think it's mostly because she's overweight and feels very out of shape and embarrassed. And she doesn't want to sweat at all -- that is a generational thing, I guess; her mother was the same way. Southern ladies just didn't sweat in her world.

We went to the beach with my mom this past Christmas, and she took a short walk on the beach just ONCE in a week. My DH and I were out there at least twice a day, taking long, fast walks. Mom is bookish, spends her time reading, watching HGTV and the Food Network, shopping, and cooking, but anything that smacks of athletics, just not her thing.

By the way, your mom is cool! I love the photo!!!

Emily