Yvette chronicles her journey in "Expedition out the backdoor". Among other things, she went on foot from Shropshire, England to Knoydart in Scotland ("sleeping rough" along the way) despite chronic osteoarthritis. Her ostoearthritis progressed to necrosis of the hip, and led to a total hip replacement. She and her family have since moved to an … Continue reading Still Moving- A lot- Despite Osteoarthritis and a Hip Replacement
Tag: healthy aging
Tips For Those That Need a Hip Replacement
Thinking about what it’s like when you find out you need a hip replacement made me decide to write up some advice based on my experience. This is pretty daunting, especially if you’ve never had major surgery before. The first step is to find a good surgeon you have confidence in. I was lucky enough … Continue reading Tips For Those That Need a Hip Replacement
Challenge Yourself (But Choose Your Challenge Wisely)
I got this idea from Clarence Bass, in his book Challenge Yourself. It can be much easier to motivate yourself to be physically active if there is some challenge you’re pointing towards. But we can tend to have a “bigger is better” mentality and choose tests like marathons, century rides, or climbing Mt. Whitney. These … Continue reading Challenge Yourself (But Choose Your Challenge Wisely)
Biking
Biking is another activity that takes us back to being kids. The feeling when you were first able to ride a bike on your own, and the freedom of how far you could go under your own power. A lot of our cities our getting more bike friendly now, with good bike lanes or car-free … Continue reading Biking
Other Aspects of Fitness- The “Four Pillars” of Healthy Aging
In my opinion, there are four components or “pillars” of healthy aging. Staying active is one of them, healthy eating is the second, and the others are social support and stress management. There is a lot of emphasis on the first two on this site but I consider the others equally important. In this post … Continue reading Other Aspects of Fitness- The “Four Pillars” of Healthy Aging
Physical Activity and Weight Loss
One of the big debates you’ll see is whether physical activity is beneficial for weight loss. The reasoning is usually based on calories in vs. calories out: “if you walk for half an hour you might burn 150 calories. You take in more than that by eating one doughnut”. My first thought is “Uh, don’t … Continue reading Physical Activity and Weight Loss
Suggested Reading- Inspiration
These are books I've recently read and enjoyed about staying active despite aging and injuries, illnesses, or other setbacks. Watch this space! There'll be more suggested reading to come on this and other topics. The Anna Meares Story -When Courage Triumphs Over Disaster, Anna Meares. Inspiring description of Anna's comeback after she broke her neck … Continue reading Suggested Reading- Inspiration
Walking
Walking is the most natural activity for most people, since it’s just an extension of an activity of daily living. Just try to sneak it in as often as possible. In rainy weather get a nice big umbrella, in cold weather wear a scarf or ski mask in necessary. When I lived in Boulder we … Continue reading Walking
Paddling and Rowing
Rowing, and paddling (which includes canoeing, stand-up, and kayak paddling) are fun activities that are a great upper body workout. This is important because many aerobic activities like walking, hiking, running, and cycling are lower-body dominant, so you either should supplement them with resistance training or complement them with upper body activities (or both!). I’d … Continue reading Paddling and Rowing
Getting Started With Resistance Training
As I mentioned in previous posts, resistance training is vital to preserve muscle and bone mass as we age, and it also helps keep our metabolisms from slowing down with age quite so much. I’ve already discussed ways to make it enjoyable, and promised there to give a short program that hits the high notes. … Continue reading Getting Started With Resistance Training
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