Do you judge a person to be old by the numbers? Or is it that first glance you take as someone walks toward you that gives you an "age snapshot?" I don’t know about you, but even if hair color or laugh lines denote more than four decades of life, when a middle-aged or older person moves easily, stands erect and dresses appropriately for his or her body type without looking old-fogey, it has always been difficult for me to think of them as old.
That’s why, when I decided to re-launch an exercise program I had started last year with a well-known exercise guru in my area, my requests were more specific this time around. In this, the year of my sixth decade, I want to move like a much younger person. Tall order? Could be. This means being able to turn my head to look behind me as easily as I did at age 30. It also means being able to get up without using my hands from a full squatting or kneeling position on the floor. To top that off, I want no slouching (and no middle-aged paunch because of it), and I want to be able to remember how to jump again. There, I said it. Jump. Are you aware that we jump less and less as we age?
Like many of you, I am a Boomer who refuses to go gently into that good night. But unlike a 35-year old who is a little out of shape, needs to drop a few pounds and who wants to achieve a hard-body appearance, my exercise goals include flexibility, balance, great posture and a waist that does not disappear completely.
El Dorado Hills, CA-based ‘lifestylist’ Wendy Harris acknowledges that so much of what we do to be and stay healthy is all tied together – weight control, movement, style AND self esteem – especially as the years progress. “A good food regimen is important, but concentrating on diet without exercise or exercise without the proper diet is like whacking off a weed and expecting it not to grow back,” she says.
Anti-aging goals, however, run the gamut, since so much of what we eat and how we treat our bodies is tied to how quickly we begin to appear “elderly.” But are watching our diets and exercising all we need to appear more youthful? I think not. Just like ‘ruts’ we get ourselves into with the food we shouldn’t eat or the amount of activity we STOP doing, there is more to the equation.
“Once you get all that under control, it’s time to see if your new self-image matches the changes you made physically,” she adds. Harris’ next step, then, is to analyze body types and help her clients select clothing combinations that make them look their best at ANY age. “Narrow shoulders, wider hips, no derriere, a generous bustline – these aren’t things that change as you age,” she says. “They are as permanent as the location of a house. But they can be balanced off with clothing and accessories and the result is nothing short of magical.”
How often have you seen a makeover reality show where the subject guest (even a young one) has lost a lot of weight but hasn’t really changed the way she dresses? She persists in wearing baggy clothing and chooses drab colors -- despite her new sveltness -- mostly out of habit. Then the styling gurus step up and introduce clothing that flatters her new shape, showing off assets she never knew she had. By the end of the show, she is strutting her stuff with new hair, new makeup and a completely new attitude that no doubt had been hiding beneath the surface for most of her life. She will never be the same, and all it took was her being able to grasp a reality she already owned.
Sure. It’s about getting it all under control at last. It won’t be easy, but with some Advil on board along the way, exercise, a healthier diet and paying attention to how I present myself are all important elements of whether I look like an old lady walking in your direction or one you can’t quite categorize.
I am, therefore, as old as I feel.
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