Healthy aging isn't super complicated. Live a fit lifestyle and you will age gracefully.
Of course there are challenges along the way and this is one challenge in particular I want to address today.
It is harder to affect noticeable change in your body as you get older. It's not impossible. It's just going to be harder and we have to learn to accept that and fight for what we want.
Let's look at inches.
The size of our belly or your arms or our legs or any other place we choose to measure is basically two variables that we can affect.
One is muscle mass and the other is the amount of fat that we have.
Fact. It's harder to maintain and gain muscle mass as we grow only.
Fact. It's harder to lose body fat as we grow older.
Fact. Men gain muscle and lose weight faster.
If you are a 50 year old lady don't get into a measurement contest with a 25 year old guy.
It also goes without saying that people that have less or more to lose will lose less or more.
I hope that all makes sense.
Measurements are important. Don't get me wrong. Just don't get addicted to the outcome, especially the older you get.
Go ahead and take measurements if you are starting a fitness journey. Just don't compare yourself to other people and especially other people that are a lot younger or older than you are.
It's apples to oranges.
Remember also that when you take measurements you may add muscle and this is a good thing! It's two steps forward and one step back. You may lose 10 inches of fat and add 8 inches of muscle. If you think that two inch loss isn't highly significant you are wrong!
To measure progress on your fitness journey you need to look at many factors. Inches lost can be one of the factors. If you have a lot to lose and you are younger than you are going to really see some great results!
If you are older and don't have a lot of body fat to lose focus on other factors like how long it takes you to do a mile or how fast you can do a baseline workout.
Too often I see people get frustrated along the journey because they expect a certain arbitrary number to change in an arbitrary way. This is how and why people quit.
Focus on day to day process of becoming fit. Look at numbers along the way but don't get addicted to the outcome.
It's not a contest. It's your life. As long as you give your best effort then you automatically win the day.
You can do it. I have faith in you.