How Our Bodies Age, with Tracy Cromwell

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

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And they went to answers for elders radio and we are here with senior fitness restalist, certified personal trainer, Tracy Cromwell, and Tracy is here talking about how our help evolved and how are in beating process really affects how we, you know, can stay healthy and there’s things that happen to our bodies and we talked a little bit about I love hearing about your background and, of course, knowing you back in the day, Tracy, I would have never known that you’ve had those issues, right, because I know I hit them. Well, you know. Finally say you know, Lady, that I knew and certainly you know we all had our impact and the things that we did and you certainly, you know, touched me as a wonderful friend and here we are today, a deck over a decade later. Yeah, and you know, kind of gone off on our own path. So I’m so thrilled again that you’re here with us. Is Our you know, one of the things that we touched on in the last segment, Tracy, was you know, as we age, our body evolved. Tell us a little bit about the aging process. Yeah, so there’s different stages and every person, I think you know, we have our chronological aging. That’s just basically how many years with it on the planet. We have biological which that’s determined by the amount of decline evident he in our organ systems and tissues. So there’s biological, there’s functional. Functional was determined by the use of attrobutes such as appearance, our mobility, our strength and our mental capacity. So that’s functional. Primary is that’s primary decline in function. Their declines and functions that are independent of disease or environment. So it’s just primary things that happen not do to illness or anything like that. And then there’s secondary and aging, which is these are pathological changes that are a result of trauma, environmental effects or disease. So we have all these stages of aging and that’s I think nowadays to you can look at somebody, you you try and peg their age. It’s very hard because everybody really, you know, ages differently. These two do to their all these all these areas, the environment, possible injuries, you know, biological challenges, even some DNA, all of that. So I too remember going through menopause. I read this indasing book called the wisdom of Menopause. I don’t know who you remembered. That was written by Dr Christian orths. He talked about the women’s body and how the lack the lack of hormone production will do things like cause, you know, more brittle bones can do you know, the stooped over, you know in the shoulders, different things like that, that that can happen. And he talked about the fact that sometimes when we have expectations that are fifties, that we should look the same or have the same body as we had in our S. that’s not really because our bodies have evolked. It’s not. Doesn’t mean that we don’t have that we don’t have the capacity to be in physical shape. But what what was really interesting, is because I was a hundred and twenty five pounds when I was in my twenty doesn’t mean I’m going to be hundred twenty five pounds in my fifty S. is that correct? All depends on your what how your body is throwing through the aging process, because I’m if I was to look at myself from stages in my s and S, I’m in better shape, I’m stronger, I might have better one capacity. I I am much healthier than I was then, and so that’s where that is where we I think if we look back at how aging was viewed for our parents and their parents before them, you know, number one, we just have a longer life, expensive expectancy today, but I think they’re you know, we’re learning so much more that that. We thought it at fifty. You know, life’s over and we we just let our bodies decline because that’s what we saw in the past. We didn’t have a life expectively we have, and my life expectancies weren’t, you know, as long as so what I like to challenge everybody on is that, hey, you know, have fun figuring out what you’re dynamics of your body are by learning about it. I’m a proponent of, you know, let’s be super slouth. You know how what does it respond great to? What makes it upset when you eat it? You know what foods just make you feel awful, you know, and sometimes it’s stuff that we have a relationship with. Usually it’s sugar or something like that. That’s really hard to to listen to the body and and respect it when it tells you your prediabetic. You know. Well, my head was it should just accept everything I give it, I don’t care. It should tolerate if that’s where my head was, and why? And so so what I love about aging today is that you can the body wants to heal itself. It’s program to do that. It’s program to to turn cells over, and and and so what we, as the cares for our own bodies, are figuring what that is what makes each one function better. My my diet probably might be similar to someone else’s, but there might be someone else that has to have a completely different one. And so I think when we realize that, I to me it gets fun and it gets exciting to figure that stuff out. So so the other thing is that as we age, what can happen is it is now and like our our connection from what we think in our mind to get our body to move. Sometimes that can slow down if we don’t utilize that resource. So so areas that can be a challenge as we age. Like you mentioned flashing show, you know, shoulders forward. I notice a lot of young kids like that. You know, are the muscles on the front of our chest, a pectora muscles are stronger than the muscles you know that control pull our shoulders back. So, as an aging adults wanting to have the posture, I’m going to make sure I do some row exercises and I really work and squeeze those shoulder blades together and and stretch the muscles on the front so I don’t look important. Yeah, yeah, balance good. It’s good too. And you know, one of the things you mention, and I think this is really important to is like I’m hearing your story and I’m also going, you know, I do better with different foods in my husband’s though, same here, same here. So it’s and yet talking about putting myself last. Okay, what do I tend to do is I tend to cook for him, and so I put myself in, a word, situation. So I am learning to make better choices in what we eat. And you know, and it’s it’s like sometimes I have to dragon kicking and screaming because you’ll say this isn’t enough food for me or you know, I need and you know, but there’s certain times to that, you know, I can run, I can splurge with him, you know, and you know, like the other the other day was his birthday. What did he want? Steak and to bake potatoes, to bake potatoes, and I’m going like, you know, I had one big potato, but I made myself the smaller one and that’s all had. But in the loads of sour cream and cheese and bacon and all that stuff, and I just laugh. I go, you know what he has no issue. He doesn’t have a weight problem. He doesn’t have it’s if they look at it this way too, because I think your husband’s a lot of following me right. Yes, yes, so mine is too. Yeah, what I’m doing was what happened with me, and everyone else listening see if that’s happening with you. Sometimes the smaller person ends up eating the same amount as the much taller person, the much bigger person who’s gonna need more food. And that’s what happened to me. I was eating the same amount of food as he was. I didn’t even think about it, you know. And of course I’m not going to burn those calories. I don’t need that much food. And so my brain panic when I, you know, realized that I was having too much, and it’s for I was going to start to death, you know, if I cut my my servings down. I had to go through some emotional you know, it’s really funny. I love it, because it’s like you’re gonna die, you don’t you know, and you’re like, well, let’s just try it, you know. Well, let’s just try it. And so here’s a good piece of advices. Is this for protein? Look at the palm of your hand, the size of your palm of your hand, and then compare it to his. And then you’re going to say, oh my gosh, okay, so really protein, sighs of steak or something’s the palm of your hand. And and and then vegetables, but which I love, you know, I don’t every time, up up on bedges and maybe just have a quarter of the baked potato, you know. And and that way you’re still having fun, you’re still enjoying the other thing. You can always do two. It’s cooked to the minimal. I love this. You Cook something to the minimal and then and then you have all sorts of spices out, different toppings or whatever. The only cook once, but you have these the sides of someone likes the food hot and spicy, you go ahead and have that on the side of the table they want better, go ahead and have it. But you don’t have to put it all in the main meal. You don’t have either let everybody at the table add because it’s so stressful trying to cook for everybody. So I cook to the minimal and then I put all the different Doudas or them stuff on the table. It’s really fun, you know, and really it’s the stress immensely trying to solve the meal for everybody. So well, and I here’s the here’s the great thing is you said. You know, I think we all can make better choices, and even by me making better choices, it’s like like I the other night I grilled the Sparagus, which I love to grow, sparagus yum, and you know, it’s easy for me because, like, all I have to do is just throw you know, marinated in a little bit of Baltsi mcminiger and all the WAN garlick. That’s all I do, you know, and just and then throw it on a hot grow and imperfect and I can’t get my help to eat it, which is really you know, and he may not want to and there might be an alternative for him. One thing helped me too, with instead of looking at eating healthy as a as a discipline action, at a disciplinary for doing something wrong, I turned it to how is this food going to help me? How is this food going to nourish me? And all of a sudden, and then I just started the crowd things out. I didn’t make drastic adjustments, I just started to add the good stuff that I know it would help me and then I slowly started to lower the amount that was which I knew was harming me. So sometimes that help. Tracy, give us your website before we go to the next second. So it’s Tracy cromwellcom Tracy Crom is a Maxwelcom and then your and we are going to be right back right after this and we’re going to talk a little bit about how you can make your body your keeammate. This is a really interesting I love that is. So we’re going to be right back right after this. Answers for elders radio show with Suzanne Newman. Hopes you found this podcast useful in your journey of navigating senior care. Check out more podcast like this to help you find qualified senior care experts and areas of financial, legal, health and wellness and living options. 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