‘Climbing the stairs used to make me breathless…so I’d avoid it because it made me feel uncomfortable’
^^^ A message I got last week from a lady on one of my body transformation programmes
You see, she said this because we were chatting about a recent article in…The Daily Mail (my favourite ;-))
It was about a recent study from Nottingham University that appeared to find the ‘miracle’ anti-ageing pill
^^^ Which is very exciting by the way…and could lead to new medicines being produced to halt dementia
But what does this mean for you…right now?
You don’t know how long this will take to be produced AND…
Just as the mum of a good friend of mine who recently lost his battle with cancer said:
“It’s Not the Years in Your Life That Count. It’s the Life in Your Years”
Having the energy to be more productive, spend more time with your loved ones and play with your kids
Having the confidence to do the things that scare you and live the life you want to live (without worrying about what others think, say or do)
Which brings me to the ‘anti-ageing’ pill that you can action TODAY…
Your quality of life as you age seems to ‘live or die’
On your muscle mass
^^^ Did you know this also helps you burn more calories at rest?
How do you preserve or build muscle?
1) Eat your protein (just look at the Norwegians…which I’ll come on to in a second)
2) Load your muscles (which again…I’ll come on to)
Now, we know that conditions like diabetes and cancer, as well as joint issues
Can all contribute to you losing muscle and making you more prone to conditions like osteoarthritis
Making everyday tasks, like shopping, cleaning, rocking babies (as I was earlier), getting out of bed, and climbing stairs…
HARD
^^^ Which is quite depressing
It makes life a struggle
Takes your more energy to do the things that you have to do JUST to get by
^^^ or ‘plod along’ as my client used to say…thinking there was no better way
Now, do mobility issues cause muscle loss or does INACTIVITY cause mobility issues and muscle loss?
No one will ever really know
^^^ even my brother-in-law couldn’t tell you and he’s a Dr in this area…
But what he can tell you is this:
The best time to start loading and moving your muscles… is NOW
It’s NEVER too late
Don’t like using weights or doing body weight work?
Try walking up hills?
Failing that?
Just get moving and have FUN (so you keep doing it)
Now, as for protein
Our government recommend you eat 0.8g of protein per kg of your body weight
Now, I could bore you to death with research saying it should probably be a bit more…
But I won’t
Instead…I’ll use the Norwegians as an example
A country that has long winters
a super high cost of living…
But appears to be one of the best places to ‘age well’
And what do they recommend for protein?
About 1.1-1.2g of protein per kg of your body weight (more than us)
And something I see with new members on my body transformation programmes is that they’ve been following a very low protein diet
Now, I’m not saying you need to eat a ton of protein (like Dr Atkins would say)
But I do have a minimum amount I like you to hit in my Nutrition System
Why we often falling well below this?
Well, maybe it’s because we’ve become SO scared of saturated fat
Which means we cut out red meat (as we’re “not allowed” more than 3 portions per week…)
Ditch the eggs
And end up eating more…wholemeal bread and porridge oats (which aren’t bad but I’ll go into more another day)
Forgetting that we’ve swapped one type of NUTRIENT (that gives you ‘stuff’ you need to have more energy and recover)
For another (which you probably have in a surplus anyway…)
And going back to the Norwegians…
they’re generally MORE ACTIVE
Taken straight out of the Norwegian guidelines:
‘positive effects of resistance training have been seen even in 85- to 97-year-old subjects’
So, in summary:
* Eat your protein
AND
* Get moving and have some fun
BECAUSE…
”It’s Not the Years in Your Life That Count. It’s the Life in Your Years”…
Matt ‘Head anti-ageing Scientist at NASA’ Fruci