Women Over Fifty—Dance Your Cares and Your Pounds Away!
As a leading edge baby boomer woman, I’ve been facing some of the less than fabulous telltale signs of aging. In fact, my body parts seem to slipping and sliding with a vengeance and landing right around my middle. As my friend Caryn Leschen says, “Just when you’re getting it all together, your body falls apart!”
Well, I’m happy to say, there are things we can do about this unfortunate turn of events. I interviewed Pam Archer, a fitness coach, on Feisty Side of Fifty Radio this morning and she had some simple and effective tips to help us shed those unwanted pounds. I’m going to follow one of her great suggestions and turn on my favorite Motown tunes while I’m cleaning up the kitchen. It will make the chore a whole lot more fun and have me “sweating to the oldies” and burning calories at the same time. Movement with music is also a terrific mood lifter. You get endorphins with a beat and that can’t help but make you happy.
Exercise in any form is truly the fountain of youth. It aides your health and well being in a number of ways: it oxygenates your brain and makes it function better, it wards off serious illnesses like cancer and heart disease, it strengthens your bones, and it tones your muscles. Another fabulous side effect of exercise—it boosts your metabolism so you can eat more without gaining weight! Each pound of muscle on the body burns an additional 40 - 120 calories daily while each pound of fat burns a puny 1- 3.
So, next time you’re feeling blue and lethargic and feel like being a sedentary senior couch spud, put a little music on. Make sure it conforms to what the legendary spinner of songs, Dick Clark, told us: “It’s got a great beat and you can dance to it.” Then turn up the volume; dust off your blue suede shoes, and dance, dance, dance!
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November 28th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Hi Feisty,
I love to dance, too, though I have to admit I’m best at dancing when there’s no one around to watch. Then I really let go and have a great time… like you’re talking about doing when you do the dishes, etc.
I agree that rocking out to the oldies is great, and here’s a secret I bet few others have tried: I have Type 2 diabetes, have for a couple of years now, and of course, I test my blood glucose seveal times a day. IF the numbers aren’t where I’d like them to be, I find I can - almost instantly - lower them as much as 20 points simply by strutting my stuff to the oldies, and singing along.
Happy to share that trick with anyone else who wants to try it!
Meanwhile I wrote a post about Chinese hip hop dancing grannies a couple of months ago - during the Olympics. You might enjoy that story as well…
Now I can’t wait to find out about Beverly’s Zumba…
November 13th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Had to check out Zumba! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4 Yikes! I wondered if I could still move like that - and sure enough, I can, even though I’m a little rusty/creaky/awkward. It’s definitely fun! Thanks!
Shawn, InnerPeaceActivist.com
November 12th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
My favorite thing in the world used to be dancing! How sad that I’ve forgotten to keep it in my life…
but after reading your uplifting and informative message, I think I’ll invite Tina Turner or Aerosmith to sweep the floor or vacuum with me!
November 11th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
What a pleasant surprise to have found this site. Just wrote a post “use it or lose it.” Muscle and body shape fits in there. Dancing’s another one. Keep on dancing or you’ll not only forget how, but forget the fun it is. It certainly is a bugger the way the ‘flubber’ appears around the middle. I’m thinking of getting a hula hoop. Not sure if it will work, but it could be fun.
Brigit from http://hotmiddlescence.com
November 9th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Music is a definite mood uplifter. And good music will make you want to dance. I’ll have to remember that next time I’m cleaning.
November 8th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Oh, Eileen and Bev, you are too sweet! I do love to dance, and it is a super way to burn calories. Exercise in disguise is what Zumba calls it.
Dancing is a way to exercise in a natural way, while you are going about daily chores. Cranking it up a bit burns away excess fat, elevates mood, and boosts metablolism. It’s a win win situation.
November 8th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I like to turn on my favorite fast and fun music when I am housecleaning. It makes things go a lot faster even though I may not be dancing.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:59 am
When I was in my twenties my friend Betty and I went out clubbing almost every night and danced every chance we got - I never had a problem with extra pounds and I ate whatever I wanted!
Also, I used to love to go on cruises and booked a couple a year. The best and worst thing about cruises is the constant great food - you can eat gourmet 24 hours a day! You can even call your steward in the middle of the night to pop popcorn for you! I learned very quickly never to take the elevators, to take the longest routes, to hit every port and walk everywhere I could, to use stairs and to dance at the discos every night to burn off those extra calories!
November 7th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I love to dance! Having a teenager in the house with her dance music last year was great because she was always trying to teach me a new step.
Wait until Pam teaches you the Zumba. You’ll discover body parts you didn’t know you had!