Are you at the stage where you think it is too late to start exercising and watching your weight? WRONG it is never too late to start correcting any excess in body fat or lack of energy, the latter probably caused by the former.
Before retiring in 2000 I held a commercial pilots license and was a chief flying instructor. To retain my license I had to have a strict medical every six months so I was acutely aware of the necessity of keeping in good shape and understood the importance of keeping my weight under control to minimize the possibility of high blood pressure and all the other possible undesirable effects of being overweight. I had always been fairly active, played a lot of golf, skied annually, enjoyed swimming and walking so kept fit without any specific exercises or keeping to boring diets.
However, on retiring and due to traveling extensively plus partaking of all the delightful varieties of foods available I found my weight increasing considerably. I was very tempted to resign myself to this as a natural process due to aging but when I noticed that after playing eighteen holes of golf I was not interested in another nine and that the pit stops on the ski slopes were becoming more attractive and difficult to leave, I decided it was time to do something about it.
The crunch came when, while playing in a friendly soccer match I tore my Achilles tendon. This required surgery and afterwards six weeks in plaster and on crutches. It was another couple of months before I was able to walk comfortably without a stick and by this time my weight, mostly belly fat, had seriously increased. I was unfit and fed up. My physiotherapist had advised me to join a fitness center to workout regularly and to watch my diet. I spent a couple of months going to the gym, pumping iron, doing crunches and curls, pounding away on the treadmill and while feeling slightly stronger and fitter, did not experience loss of body fat. I was beginning to accept the likely fact that maybe I was just too old to lose my belly fat.
Fortunately someone at the gym suggested I hire a personal trainer. This I did and was started on a full body workout routine three times a week. Whereas before I had been randomly going from one exercise to another I was now on a monitored and varied workout which was designed to reduce my belly fat and at the same time to tone up my muscles. Even so it was some time before I saw any real results in loss of weight but as my trainer explained to me the reason for this was although I was losing my belly fat I was at the same time building up my muscles, which weigh more than fat. I had noticed by then that he was starting to cut back on the muscle building exercises and was concentrating more on the cardio work and that's when I began to see a regular reduction in my weight.
During this time my trainer had been trying to persuade me to talk to the dietitian at the club but I have always been opposed to diets having known so many people who had been on a range of them, some cutting out carbohydrates, others semi starvation etc. etc. Virtually everyone I knew either lost some weight but immediately put it back on when they stopped the diet, or got so depressed with being deprived of so many foods and drink they enjoyed that they adopted the attitude it was better to be fat and content than lean and miserable. I therefore continued to eat as I have always done with a good variety of meat, fish and vegetables in reasonable quantities and still enjoyed a regular pint of beer and wine with my meals.
As my contract with my trainer was nearing its end he naturally wanted to know if I was going to renew it. I told him I felt that I was capable of continuing on my own after all his excellent advice. He told me that although I might know the workout routine I was still ignorant of the best way to eat healthily and in particular what foods to avoid and this might lead to a gradual increase in weight, which if not checked would put me back to square one. He urged me to purchase a couple of books written by acquaintances of his who were professional trainers, body builders and qualified nutritionists and which were available for download on the internet. Having reviewed a number of books on the subject, the majority of which seemed a load of rubbish I was naturally doubtful but was confident my trainer would not risk his reputation by recommending them to me unless they were something special. I took his advice and these books were a revelation. Not only do they contain all the information required for any workout routine, whether it be to lose weight, to build muscles or great abs they also contain a wealth of information on how to eat healthily and give excellent advice to both male and females of all ages plus adaptable to suit your own requirements. I still eat more or less what I enjoy and have my usual beer a day with wine at dinner. What I have cut out are most of the foods that are bad for your health, there are not that many, many of which I was not aware of before.
It is not surprising that one of these books has become the best selling book on the internet of all time on ANY subject and that really speaks for itself. The combined price of these books is just a fraction of the cost of a good trainer for a couple of months and you have them available for reference for life or to pass on to your children or friends. I have read them both over and over and each time discovered something that I missed previously and think WOW how did I miss that?
By now I can hear you thinking I have only written this article to promote these books and make some money. NOT entirely true. I am not like the majority of people marketing goods on the internet that assumes most people are suckers just waiting to be taken for a ride and who will purchase anything given the right sales pitch. As I told you I am now retired and as a hobby have taken to designing and publishing my own websites and as a further challenge to review and promote books on a large number of subjects. However these two books have helped me and a large number of my friends and acquaintances to maintain a standard of fitness and health that would have been unsustainable without the advice contained therein. Obviously, I make a small commission from each sale but more important to me is the satisfaction I get from all the thank you mail I receive from the many I have recommended this book to, in particular those of my own age who had nearly given up on the quest to keep their weight and fitness under control.
I hope I have made it clear that it is not easy to lose excess body fat; it is far easier to prevent it by regular exercise and moderate eating and drinking. To get rid of it requires desire, motivation and determination plus a lot of hard work. If you are looking for a quick or easy solution do not expect to find it in these books but beware of all those offering fancy diets that guarantee you will lose X amount of weight in a very short period of time. Sure anyone can lose weight by starving themselves but it sure as hell will come back with a vengeance and damage your health at the same time. Even more dangerous is to resort to pills or potions, again these may work initially but once you stop taking them look out for problems!
