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The ageing process hits different people at various stages of their lives. Some feel old at 50 whilst others lead totally full and active lives into their 80s and 90s. The speed at which we age can sometimes be attributed to genetics but a massive part of it is down to our lifestyle plus one specific other characteristic - our attitude. With this in mind I would like to characterise three personality types: The Surrenderer, The Denier and The Optimiser.
The Surrenderer:
The Surrenderer is someone who accepts getting older as an inevitable consequence of life and that you might as well just give in to it. If your feet hurt, sit down. If your hip hurts, don’t walk. If your knee hurts, don’t bend it. They perhaps think, ‘Gaining a few lbs is bound to happen as we get older anyway, so why bother – I can always get myself a mobility scooter when I can’t walk’.
The Denier:
The Denier is someone who goes to the other extreme. They are in denial that their body is ageing and they will do anything and everything to hold onto their youth. As Dolly Parton famously admitted, ‘If I see something sagging, bagging or dragging I'll get it nipped, tucked or sucked’. I adore Dolly Parton and she has carved a phenomenal career from Dolly being Dolly, but for we normal folks, this is an unrealistic and potentially unwise path to tread.
The Optimiser:
The Optimiser is very different. Whilst accepting that getting older is a fact of life, they want to make the effort to look after themselves by eating healthily, exercising safely and effectively, and by making the most of themselves while they embrace their advancing years. Their driving force is their desire to live every day to the full and to be happy as possible as they enjoy a healthier and longer life – and they are prepared to work for it.
There are no prizes for guessing what we advocate on www.rosemaryconley.com. We want to help you optimise your health and fitness so you can live a long and healthy life. If we eat healthily and lose any unwanted weight sensibly, we can have plenty of energy and look wonderfully trim and fit. If we exercise sensibly within our physical capability, we can look after our heart and lungs and retain our muscle strength which can protect us from catastrophic medical conditions that could cut our lives short. By having a fit body, we hugely increase our chances of being able to enjoy living an independent life, plus we can do facial exercises to help us avoid the need for cosmetic surgery.
Take a look at some of these pages: Ageing Well Exercises; Facial Exercises;
Menopause, HRT & Osteoporosis; Stroke and Heart Health; Arthritis;
Ageing Skin & Facial Hair; Nutrition & Weight Loss; Eye Health – Cataracts,
plus the new exercise videos included in Mary’s Fitness Challenge for this week.
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Recipe of the Week
Spicy Fresh Tomato and Basil Soup (vegan)
This home-made tomato soup is a real winner and one of my favourites. Bursting full of antioxidants and vitamin C, this soup is ideal to make when tomatoes are prolific as it freezes really well. For a non-spicy soup, leave out the red chilli pepper.
This soup will keep in a refrigerator for three days and is suitable for freezing.
Serves 4
Per serving: 115 kcal, 1.1g fat (excluding accompaniments)
Prep time 20 mins
Cooking time 20 mins
1kg fresh ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 medium onions, finely chopped
Rapeseed oil spray
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 generous tablespoons tomato purée
1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped (optional)
Handful of fresh basil leaves, washed
200ml hot water with 1 vegetable stock pot
Freshly ground black pepper
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Using a Soup-Maker
- Fry the onions and crushed garlic in a large non-stick pan sprayed with rapeseed oil and cook until soft, then set aside.
- Roughly chop the tomatoes and remove any hard central cores. Place all the ingredients, except the basil, into the soup-maker and season well with freshly-ground black pepper. Cook for 20 minutes on ‘High’.
- When cooked, pulse for 30 seconds. Add the basil and pulse for another 30 seconds. Season to taste.
- Place a sieve on top of a large jug or bowl and pour the soup, a little at a time, into the sieve and work it through the mesh with the back of a wooden spoon. With a metal spoon, scrape the thick pulp from underneath the sieve allowing it to fall into the soup below. When you have worked every bit of pulp through the mesh that you can, discard the remaining skin and seeds.
Whichever method you use, this soup is delicious served hot with a slice of wholegrain bread.
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Using a Pan
- Place the chopped onions and crushed garlic in a large non-stick frying pan or saucepan sprayed with rapeseed oil and cook until soft, then set aside.
- Roughly chop the tomatoes and remove any hard central cores. Add the chopped tomatoes to the large pan with the onions and garlic and add the stock, tomato puree, and chopped chilli (if using). Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and season well with freshly-ground black pepper.
- When cooked, allow to cool a little before placing in a liquidiser. Liquidise for 30 seconds. Now add the basil leaves and liquidise for a further 30 seconds or until completely smooth.
- Place a sieve on top of a large jug or bowl and pour the soup a little at a time into the sieve and work it through the mesh with the back of a wooden spoon. With a metal spoon, scrape the thick pulp from underneath the sieve allowing it to fall into the soup below. When you have worked every bit of pulp through the mesh that you can, discard the remaining skin and seeds.
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Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
When we think of exercising there are some important areas of the body that we hardly even consider - until they become a problem. Take the pelvic floor for example: It's only when an embarrassing little leak occurs that you think you may have a weak pelvic floor and that it is in need of being properly and safely exercised.
In my younger days, when teaching high impact aerobics, we discovered that 'Jumping Jacks' were not ideal if you had a weak pelvic floor as it is a move with a double footed take-off with legs going wide apart. That understandably puts enormous pressure on the pelvic floor. The introduction of low impact 'Half Jacks' was well received!
Many of you who visit this website are of the older generation and ageing does play a part in weakening the pelvic floor. But it can also be a problem following a pregnancy, giving birth, from enduring chronic constipation and by being very overweight, making it a problem for many different age groups.
Rosemary and I have just recorded a short video that is well worth a look to explain the need to exercise our pelvic floor and how to do it safely. As usual, there is a solution and it comes in the form of a series of very effective exercises called Kegel Exercises that specifically target the area. Go to our new Pelvic Floor Exercises video to learn the correct technique. With consistent practise you will definitely see results over a couple of months. Pilates is also a very effective programme for those wanting to keep the pelvic floor strong after doing the Kegel Exercise.
You may also be interested in another new video we have recorded for exercising the hands. Our hands have the smallest muscles and joints in the body. Not only do they become weaker and less mobile as we get older but the message from our brain to our hands becomes less 'sharp'. This short Hand Dance exercise video encourages you to mobilise all those wrist and finger joints, strengthening the muscles in the fingers as well as improving those messages to the brain. Why not give it a go!
As well as focussing on these small but very important areas of real importance, we have also filmed a new Standing Weights Workout to keep your whole body strong. By offering you different workouts we hope to keep you motivated and upbeat with your fitness regime. This workout gives you a whole-body strength programme ensuring that you build and maintain a strong and healthy body with a safe and effective exercise programme.
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This Week's Fitness Challenge
- Walk every day for at least 30 minutes, (breaking into two 15-minute walks if necessary). Aim to include an incline en-route to challenge your heart and lungs.
- Do the Standing Weights Workout three times this week.
- Learn how to do Pelvic Floor exercises and practise them three times every day!
- Do the Hand Dance twice this week – if not to benefit you, find an elderly relative and do the hand workout with them.
- Walk up and down stairs x 3 consecutively, three times this week. No stairs? March with knees high x 120.
Enjoy the new workouts and have fun!
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 Well done to Rosemarie Wilkinson who was the first to contact us last week when she spotted we had omitted to list leeks in the ingredients of the Sweet Potato and Leek Soup. Thanks to her eagle eye we quickly amended the ingredients list on the website!
Thank you Rosemarie!
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And Finally...
Achieving and maintaining a healthy body as we advance in years is fundamental to our longevity and well worth the small amount of effort that we invest. Remember, exercise is like a super-saver bank account that pays double dividends! Let’s go for it!
With love and best wishes,
Rosemary Conley CBE DL
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LIVE LONGER | LIVE HEALTHIER | LIVE HAPPIER
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