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Last Modified 07/22/04

Readers share:  Health after retirement

By Beverly Sherwood
Kansas Senior Press Service

When I turned 65, a physician friend said, "It would be a good idea to lose a pound a year from now on."

Maybe the challenge sounded too easy.  At any rate, rather than lose a pound a year since that time, I have gained an average of a pound a year - and that was more years ago than I want to think about.

At the time of the comment, I weighed perhaps five pounds more than I wanted to weigh.  I lived in a two-story house (two long flights of stairs) with a walk-out basement.  I walked three to five miles every other day.  I went on an occasional long hike with friends.  I enjoyed food.  I snacked and I ate fast.

Since the advice about losing a pound a year, my husband and I sold our house and moved to an apartment.  There was not as much house to clean, but a good walking path was within a few steps of the apartment.  Four trips around the path equaled three miles.  Sometimes I took longer walks around the neighborhood, but the bathroom scale told me it wasn't enough.

I began to notice pain in my knees, so I swam two or three times a week in the outdoor and indoor pools a the complex.  I enrolled in "Weights and More," a Johnson County Park & Recreation 50-Plus class.  After eight or 10 sessions, I felt the benefit of the upper-body workout and no longer noticed knee pain.

Every day we hear about damage caused to our bodies by extra pounds.  Diabetes, heart problems, cancer, and joint pain are the most common disabilities brought on by excess weight.  Don't we care?  Except for Weight Watchers, in my experience diets don't work and "weight-watchers" forget to "watch" when they leave the group.

Years ago my mother-in-law had a surgical incision that would not heal  The doctor told her she had too much belly fat, and fat has no blood.  When I heard that, I had the greatest incentive in my life to eat slower and eat less.  During that time, whether eating out or cooking for my family, I chose smaller portions.  From that experience, I know I can do it.

When I know better, why do I eat fast?  Why do I eat while doing other things, rather than chew and enjoy my food?  Why do I eat when I'm not hungry?  Sugar and salt are poisons in the way they encourage a person to eat.  Why do I take that first cookie, that first chip?  What is on my mind when I open the refrigerator:  thirst? boredom? loneliness?

Remember the old trains with the coal car behind the engine?  Here's the reality in my life right now"  I keep shoveling in the same amount of coal, but I'm not going as fast or as far.  Two 50-minute class sessions at a community center do not provide enough activity to fill a week.

As I age, I find that sitting is pleasant.  I have a view of a park and I like to watch the birds.  As long as I'm able to do more, why not take a short, quick walk or practice some of the exercises I learn in class?

Losing a pound a year is good advice.  Starting at age 65, it should have been easy - a lot easier than losing a pound a month.  My goal is to stay healthy in my old age.

Beverly Sherwood writes from her home in Overland Park.