Sunday, January 16, 2011

An Experiment in Aging: I Am My Own Guinea Pig!

Do you ever think about what you will be like when you're 70? How about 80? Or 90? My mom just turned 90, so it's only natural that I look at her and wonder what I'll be like at that age. My husbands parents are in their mid-to-late 80's and I know there are a lot of us in the same boat. I envision myself teaching aquatic strength training to all my little old white-haired friends when I'm that age. I want to be as strong, feisty and independent as I am today. Since I don't have kids, I sometimes wonder who will take care of me someday, the way I take care of my mom. Not that I would ever want to be taken care of, by my own kids, or anyone else for that matter. I was born on the 4th of July, so independence is my middle name. That's why I've decided to be a guinea pig in my own experiment. I want to know just how healthy I can be if I live to reach the age of 90. I'm not even sure I necessarily want to live that long. But if that is my destiny, then I want to do everything I can right now to give me the best chance of having the least amount of pain, and the most amount of strength and independence. That means I will be designing an exercise program for myself, including both strength and cardio, stretching every day, keeping a food journal, getting adequate sleep and keeping stress to a minimum. If I'm able to stick to this program, in other words, live a healthy lifestyle, for the next 40 years, just think what a rockin' 90-year old I will be. I'll be tracking my food at MyPlate at www.livestrong.com and blogging about this journey. Stay tuned for the next 40 years to see how it goes!
 

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