The next chapters in this book covers gut health and staying physically active. There are so many different opinions on gut health I believe it really boils down to listening to the biofeedback your body provides. If you are allergic or have reactions to a certain food, then you know not to eat that food. Most of the time you can tell when a food is causing inflammation in your body. So… lets move on to staying physically active.

Google what exercise can do for you and you will get a list that looks something like this:

• Improves mood
• Boosts energy levels
• Enhances sleep quality
• Reduces the risk of heart disease
• Reduces the risk of stroke
• Reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes
• Helps with weight management
• Strengthens bones and muscles
• Improves cognitive function
• Reduces blood pressure

Walking used to be the chief form of transportation and still is in some of the major cities. I enjoy re-reading the book, Entre Nous A Woman’s guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier… usually about once a year. According to the book, Parisians credited walking fast throughout the city to the French girl’s thin frame (At least they did in 2003 when the book was copyrighted.) They also cooked from scratch and ate very fresh food obtained pretty much daily, as they walked. However, I’ve heard that even the French girls might be putting on some weight these days. 😉

As you age, you may have to adjust how you exercise… but don’t stop. There are so many exercise programs on YouTube and other social media that it is always possible to find things you can do, and like to do.

Some of my favorite forms of exercise are doing exercise videos with a large yoga ball and weights, doing Pilates on YouTube with Lottie Murphy, working out with Schellea (Shelly) on her YouTube channel fabulous50s, and riding my stationary bike while watching a movie or a YouTube video on something I’m trying to learn to do. Gardening and cleaning the house are also great forms of exercise and earn you some of the highest numbers for calories used on apps like Lose It.

Now… as you look at the cover of the book above … I’m going to include a quote from the book that I think is very important for all of us to know. It will spur you on and give you hope. Here goes…

Susan Neal says, “My ninety-year-old mother-in-law (shown on the cover at age eighty-seven) walks over two miles every day. She takes no medication and lives alone. Walking is her secret to longevity without illness, disease, or a fall.” (p. 46)

Kenneth H. Cooper is an American doctor. At age 94, he is known as the “father of aerobics.” If you go to his site, Kenneth H. Cooper Institute… you will learn that… “for three years, the back of Baked Lay’s packages included this quote from Dr. Cooper, ‘Fitness is a journey, not a destination. It must be continued for the rest of your life.'”

Here are a few more quotes from Dr. Cooper to inspire you to exercise:

• “We do not stop exercising because we grow old – we grow old because we stop exercising.”
• “It’s easier and more cost effective to maintain good health, than to regain it once it’s lost.”
• “[Walking’s] overwhelming advantage is that it can be done by anyone, anytime, anywhere – and it doesn’t even look like exercise.”
• “If you look at body fat, it seems to increase with age, even though your weight does not. That’s a physiological fact of aging, they say. Heck it is. It is an adaptive effect of aging.”

So… keep moving and remember, Jesus walked everywhere He went. (Except that one time with the donkey and a colt… see Matthew 21:7 and a few boat rides.) 🤗

Have a great week and try to include a scenic walk somewhere. Now… I just made myself want to do it, too!