Meet Pattie
(Unfortunately I have no picture of her.)
She’s a waitress at the restaurant where I had breakfast a couple of days ago. She’s about 70 years old and she looks and acts like a 20 years old. When I saw her I just couldn’t help and not ask myself how can such an old lady keep herself in such a good shape at this age?
So I asked her. What she told me kind of makes sense, and if I think at other cases it really is the way things are.
The bottom line is that an active life style is the answer to staying fit for a very long time.
I remember when I was working in construction, on my lunch breaks, I used to talk to other construction workers who were also heading towards senior ages, yet they were looking and acting quite young. I remember one guy telling me that he really had some good choices (career wise), yet some time down the road he realised that if he wanted to live a long healthy life he had to change his lifestyle. Meaning that he had to take on more physical work. That’s why he decided to leave his office job and try construction.
Of course he had some hard times (especially at the beginning). I mean going from a nice clean, 9 to 5 office job to the hardships of construction is no holiday! But, according to him, he just persevered and managed to live through it. Now he has his own business, yet he is still working hand in hand with his employees. Because that’s what keeps him in shape.
Going back to Pattie, waiting tables is what she’s been doing for as long as she could remember. Of course it’s not construction, but (and as a former waiter myself, I can confess that) it does involve an active lifestyle. You’re running all day long (or you should). You’re moving all day long. You keep your body active whether you like it or not. You’re burning calories whether you want to or not.
I remember when I used to work as a waiter or construction worker myself, I used to feel a lot better. Now, when I wake up in the morning, I feel like a vegetable. I don’t feel like doing anything. Back then it was like: get out of the bed and get going.
And I can’t help it but think of my grandparents. They live in the countryside. They have manually worked their land all their life. They’re about 80 years old and still do a pretty good job at it.
Just look around you. Try going on a vacation somwehere in the countryside (a real one). You’ll see almost everyone looks fit as fiddle. And you’ll also see almost everyone has a very active lifestyle.
Even in a big city, you should notice that everyone who has an active lifestyle (like construction workers, people who practice sports or just plain go to the gym) are in a much better shape than the rest of us.
I know I sound like all those who advocate going to the gym. But there’s more to it than that. You read and hear on TV or radio about this stuff all day long. But when you actually meet real cases it kind of strikes you. You realize that it’s not all talk. There really is some truth to it.
Needless to say being able to move like a 20 years old at the age of 70, means that you have an overall healthy body. Of course there’s situations when certain medical conditions can’t be prevented (like hereditary ones), but by living an active life we can certainly minimize the chances of having other sort of health problems (bad blood pressures, cholesterol etc).
I am proud of the fact that when I have to go to a relatively close store, I walk rather than drive my car, however, I really wish my lifestyle would allow me to take on more physical activities. I hope I’ll be able to do it in the future.
