BBC How to stay young

[antimatter]

Has anyone watched it and got as motivated as me and wants to join in improving fitness level and losing weight too? Because those are the 2 areas I decided to concentrate on between now and Christmas.
I watched 2 episodes (link below) and TBF it terrified me because I am nearly 51 and recognise many of the symptoms that those 6 volunteers tracked so far have described.
Being overweight and hardly exercising I am definitely at least 75 if not more in actual body age. I am overweight and don't exercise near enough to hit 150 min of exercises a week which is recommended.
Until today my only exercise was walking my dog and an occasional yoga class. I will try to find time for my yoga too but weight loss is my priority for now.

First step: I got myself Polar M430 Fitness Tracker from Decathlon. My Fitbit broke a while ago and I know that using FB was definitely making me be more active.
I am going to work out functionality on M430 to use it to encourage me to be more active and to track minutes which count as exercise. I researched activity watches last week and I think this one fits my needs best. I want to make sure when I am working out my heart rate is in the right range. I don't care about having music on it. My primary consideration was heart rate and M430 has the best reviews for it without costing a bomb.

So far I know from last 2 nights that I got 95% proper sleep. This is pretty good considering that not that long ago I was suffering from Insomnia.

here's link to the first episode
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b095b3tm/how-to-stay-young-series-2-episode-1

I need to install the app on my laptop tonight to plan my exercise.
This lunchtime I managed to go for a run to my local park. My dog was so happy 😃
On Polar found some functionality which recorded my slow jog in 1 min laps. I managed 40!!!! This plus cooling down and warming up gave 65 min of activity counted as High. I only run for 2 miles but as slow as I would walk. The v.slow jog gives the same benefits as a fast one but prevents us from knee injuries. And as much of it as possible on a grass.
What I gathered from the bbc program was that those who managed high exercise level and improved on one other area such as diet, sleep or managing stress improved the most.
I am hoping to get at least 60 min of exersises a day and cut down to a manageable 1200-1400 cal a day.
I hope it all makes sense 😉

Link again

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b095b3tm/how-to-stay-young-series-2-episode-1

I would not run if I were you. Being heavy could cause damage. Here’s what I tell clients: go slow and steady.

First things first : how is your mobility? And flexibility? If you’ve done nothing for a while go safe and do yoga.

Once you get that going (say a few months) : I would ensure you have strength. Heavy weight training to offset sarcopenia and ensure a good foundation for cardio. Again a few months further.

Only then would I consider cardio and there are other options than running if you’re still heavy. Biking, rowing. Etc.

Now for the weight loss (exercise will not do it for you) there are a lot of options but they all boil down to the concentrations of carbs vs proteins vs fats with a view on calories. Basic question: How fast do you want to lose weight?

I watched the first one and have sort of set myself a 12 week task of working on my sleep which has a tendency to go wonky every so often and just generally make sure I keep up my exercise and drink enough fluid. Have yet to watch the second episode but will. Stress has been a bit of an issue here and has been reflected in rise in resting heart rate, though starting to reduce a bit.

For music I have a homemade version of a flipbelt to hold my phone which works well and I listen to running music whilst I both walk and run, I find it helps me walk faster and my body is sort of conditioned to it now so speeds up a bit when I put it on.

C25K is very good, breaks you in gently if you want to run. The key to it is as you are doing, go very very slowly, you want to be able to have a conversation. I have always made sure I have a rest day in between which I understand is important but walk that day.

I've also found if I have too much of a calorie deficit it affects my jogging. Down about 80lbs so far with just over 30lbs to go. At the beginning I was able to maintain about a 1000 calorie deficit a day which meant I averaged 2lb loss a week . However that is too much now and I am at roughly 500 cal deficit a day which now comes mainly from exercise (3 x 30 mins runs a week plus daily walking )and I eat around 2000 to 2100 cals a day. Just looking back at last week I ate 14896 cals and burned 3705 from exercise. Loss this week was 1.25lb.

Probably a good idea to run your info through a TDEE calculator to get an idea of what you need depending on your activity levels. Walking is great and you notice big improvements to your fitness levels quite quickly. I've found including Hills on the routes helps too. Swimming good too if you like it which I do but find it a bit of a faff and easier to just chuck trainers on to walk or run. If you are going to run it is a good idea to have your gait analysed and a decent pair of running shoes to minimise chance of injury, if you haven't had it done already.

Olivia I am using this technique for running www.runningahead.com/groups/LOWHRTR/forum/999ac91e4b9d445182dc91ecfc22d4c2

is very slow and I probably run a bit too fast today anyway as I should be running at age*2=100

I sometimes do 90 min hatha yoga class. I usually walk 13-16K steps a day. I may not be as unfit as I think I am but not as fit as I would like to be.

I can't do weights as I am suffering from tennis elbow and am hoping start when I recover.

PostNotInHaste - I can do the 30 min run, and will be working on the distance now, it would take a while.

I know that diet is most important and need to start tracing my calories. I am on the path to become vegan and this with low-carbing will require huge change of my cooking style. 500 cal deficit would be something I would aim for too.

Reading that I think you're a fair bit fitter than you think you are !

I'm 58 (just). It seems really old.

I watched the programme. I wasn't surprised at the women, but the bloke looked really fit and lean! Just goes to show, I guess..

I just do MFP plus on average 10k steps a day. 1200 cals, which I try not to eat back. I eat anything, in moderation.

I do weights, which I feel is really doing me good. I've gone from a large 12 to a 10 in most things.

I'm not in fantastic shape, but my knees no longer creak, I no longer get random painful joints, and I have a smooth outline in clothes, with no muffin top.

I'm the slimmest of all my old school friends but I have no idea of what's going on in the inside.

I tried the link but as I am in Australia viewing is restricted. However on youtube I found this one , not sure if it is the same as it was aired in 2016. Quite interesting facts on veganism.

Just revoked at your link. It says series 2, so I guess the ones on youtube are series 1

I watched this because I have reading about this topic and it has got me thinking.

I am not overweight but I am definitely skinny-fat, I am also very sedentary so I need to make some changes whilst I'm still young to get into good habits.

So far I have joined the gym again and bought some new trainers...

PostNotInHaste - you may be right, but I would like to get to play dodge ball in London for one of the teams and they are all young and very fit.
I used to be very fit until I was 31 and gave birth to my dd.
It is my fault to let myself go.

I remember that a while ago Boots used to have weighing machine which also analysed fat levels. I can't find any info on them any more :(

KingIrving yes, this link is from the first series.

I would still be very cautious about running. Most people don't know how to run properly - gaits are completely off. In addition the fat-heeled shoes which are popular nowadays promote a heel strike vs a forefoot strike as we're supposed to do as humans. We never had Nikes or ASICS before the 1970s and still managed to run ... This heel strike tendency means you will absorb a lot of force through knees and hips, exacerbated when heavy. Notice how marathon runners run in very thin-soled shoes called flats ...?

Anyway, diet matters more - about 80 to 90% of the health equation according to some. I subscribe to that theory.

Calories matter ... somewhat. As an overall cap to keep an eye on. But it is false to consider weight loss as a pure calories in and out process ...

But weight loss via calorie restriction is harder to achieve if you don't also change food composition - ie watch carbs, proteins and fats (so-called macronutrients). This is because a calories are not all the same. A can of Coke and a chicken breast with the same calories are processed differently. They will have completely different effects on your body and weight loss efforts.

Let me know if you're interested to know more and we can slowly progress to an approach you're comfortable with.

OP check out your local parkrun (Saturday mornings, 9am, totally free!) - I think you'd really enjoy it if you're not already participating in one!

I found it scary. I know I am not active enough. I am going to join the gym today!!!

I'm with Olivia's philosophy on this one. My mate when we were still very young did loads of sport, swam every day and ran but she was still over weight. She drank a lot of alcohol and ate a lot of unhealthy food inc lots of carbs.

I'm around your age bracket, I did a lot of contact sports when I was young, I wouldn't now. We break something it takes far too long to heal. Nit sure how injury filled dodgball is though.

Also: bear in mind vegan low carb diets are almost impossible to achieve. Very restrictive food wise mainly because plants have carbs and the ones you need for special types of protein especially so. So it might come down to a choice.

OliviaD68 low carb vegan diet have a high content in nuts. When talking about low carbs and veganism it is more related to avoid pasta, rice, bread, oreos, doritos.... than the carbs you get from leeks and spinach.
But then again it is highly complex, because cold cooked rice becomes resistant starch which is good for us.
I haven't seen the program, hopefully it will be uploaded on youtube but thanks antimatter for pointing it to us

@Kingirving. I understand and you're right.

I suppose my mindset is: do low carb to get into ketosis and get all the attendant health as well as weight loss benefits, but that isn't necessarily always the case. Low carb can still lead to weight loss without ketosis. One just doesn't get all the health benefits of firing the body mainly off of ketones.

Thanks for reminding me. I'm a bit of a purist.

I haven't watched the program but I wanted to say well done op. Sounds like you are doing some really positive things to get healthy. 🤸🏼‍♂️

Just watched Season 2episode 2 and was shocked at how body age of the guy. Was interesting about exercise and the brain which we all know but the explanation of why and to se change in the lady's scores. I'm going to watch the other ones.

Was relaying the info to my Brother as our Mum had Dementia. He instantly bought a waterproof MP3 player and is going to get back in the pool regularly.

@PostNotInHaste : have a look at research on Alzheimer’s related dementia and the impact of glucose vs ketones on the brain. Increasingly being referred to as Diabetes Type 3 in some medical circles ...

Treatments increasingly successful using ketones as fuel either nutritionally derived or exogenously supplied. Seems at some point in our lives the brain can no longer function with glucose and ketone bodies are needed as they were when we were infants consuming breast milk.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213453016301355

Will do, thanks OliviaD68

There’s an easy way to test whether glucose can ketones make a difference to an Alzheimer’s victim in terms of alleviating or arresting symptoms.

Try exogenous ketones which are most often beta hydroxybutyrate used by endurance athletes like cyclists and ultra marathoners. The body can produce the compound on its own but it requires a state of ketosis so more complicated to achieve.

If I can help further give me a shout.

Olivia I agree that most people run far too fast and are likely to injure themselves. In that link I added above there's technique which I am using and that means I don't land on my heals, instead I land on the mid part of my foot. He also points out to wearing flat shoes so I think it is exactly the same points as you are making which are covered by the slow jogging by Tanaka

I know that low carbing with vegan food is very hard. Not sure if Ketosis can ever be achieved by a vegan.
However (after watching 1-st episode of series 1) I am seeing the reason why vegans are likely to be healthier. Eating pulses are helping with ridding off visceral fat, failing that we would need to eat protein supplement called Inulin.

This article has few points from that first episode:
www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/angela-rippon-what-ive-learned-about-the-science-of-staying-youn/