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LenDentonThrive Letter #5 - Simple Rule #3: Remain in Motion

Part 3 of the 4-Part ThriveAge Simple Rules Series

Happy Saturday! I’m Len Denton, and I’m glad you’re here!

In the past two editions of the newsletter, we’ve looked at how Simple Rule #2 helps to put food to work for you to lose weight, get fit and stay fit for life. The ThriveAge FoodIQ approach does this through its three Food Zones; and its four Action Levels. If you missed that, you can catch up here when you have a few minutes to spare. It will be well worth your time to do so.

Now, it’s time to talk about exercise, and how it fits into the overall ThriveAge approach. Here’s a quick overview of this week’s edition of the LenDentonThrive Letter:

• The Big Idea - This week, we tackle Simple Rule #3 - Remain in Motion!

• Tip of the Week - this week, I’ll share two of my favorite ways to remain - in - motion.

• What I’m Eating - a quick look at a typical ThriveAge-compatible meal or snack. (Warning - non-professional food photos below!)

• What I’m reading - some final insights from James Clear’s Atomic Habits book.

I’m really glad that you’re here! We have a lot to cover in ten minutes or less, so let’s get started!

1. The Big Idea - ThriveAge Simple Rule #3

The Importance of Exercise

Every single person on the planet needs exercise. Most American Over-50 Guys don’t get enough exercise.

The stereotypical image of masculine exercise seems to be closely associated with guys doing brutal workouts in order to “get jacked.” And, for those of us who grew up around organized sports as kids and young men, it was all about “no pain, no gain.”

The whole idea around exercise was if it didn’t hurt, then either you weren’t trying hard enough, or you weren’t doing it right!

ThriveAge takes a different approach to exercise. The joint goals of ThriveAge are to help you lose weight and get fit - without crazy diets or killer workouts. ThriveAge prioritizes weight loss initially because the foundation of fitness is a healthy body weight.

It’s difficult to out-exercise a bad diet! Remember: we lose weight in the kitchen and get fit through exercise!

Therefore, ThriveAge relies primarily on your food choices to drive weight loss and on exercise to increase your fitness, which is defined by the following six dimensions:

1. Cardiovascular health

2. Muscular-skeletal strength

3. Endurance

4. Balance

5. Flexibility

6. Agility

And, exercise compliments our weight loss efforts by helping us to create that all-essential calorie deficit, which means that our bodies are burning more calories than we are taking in.

Creating a calorie deficit is very difficult through exercise alone. But when combined with an effective eating plan, both fitness and weight loss occur at an accelerated rate!

Building a sustainable lifestyle of effective weight loss with ever-increasing levels of fitness is the ultimate goal of ThriveAge. It’s called the ThriveLife!

The Best Exercise

Now that we’ve established the importance of exercise in the ThriveAge fitness system, you’re probably wondering: “What’s the best exercise for me to do?”

The answer to that question is simple. It’s whatever exercise that you’re willing and able to do on a regular basis.

It could be jogging or walking or swimming or biking or even dancing. Here are a few of my recommendations when making exercise choices:

1. Choose an activity that stimulates your heart to a target rate of 55-65% of your maximum heart rate.

(Note: You can estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. Here’s a quick example for a 65-year-old guy: 220 - 65 = 155. Now, multiply 155 by 0.65 to get a target heart rate of 100 beats per minute.)

2. In the beginning, give priority to cardio training over strength training. This burns more calories, adding to your calorie deficit. You can add strength training as you lose weight.

3. Choose an activity that you enjoy doing.

4. Choose an activity that you can perform over the long term. Avoid short-term strategies.

(Remember to consult your doctor before beginning new exercise programs.)

I’ve developed a simple framework to help you decide on the best exercise approach for your own unique situation. We’ll explore that next.

The 4 PM Framework

Every Over-50 Guy is unique. We all have different preferences, abilities and life circumstances. So, I created the 4 PM framework to help you choose an exercise approach that fits your life and meets ThriveAge recommendations. It describes five elements (four Ps plus one M) that you should use to guide your exercise choices:

• Personal - an activity that you enjoy

• Practical - an activity that fits into your life

• Portable - an activity that goes where you go. This is less of an issue if you don’t travel much.

• Permanent - an activity you can do for an extended period, preferably for life.

• Measurable - an activity that can be counted, tracked, reviewed and evaluated. After all, what gets measured, improves!

Let’s consider a couple of examples of hypothetical 4 PMs:

A good example - Joe is retired and rarely leaves town. He chose daily lap swimming at the local YMCA as his exercise. He can swim daily and tracks his laps and times to improve.

A bad example - Larry chose biking as his exercise. But, he’s a traveling salesman, so he rarely gets to ride his bike more than once or twice a week. Larry needs a better 4 PM!

My 4 PM-Compliant Exercise Plan

My exercise is power walking. When I began my ThriveAge journey, I had a bad leg injury that prevented me from running. It hurt too badly to run, but I was able to walk pain-free, so I walked every day. Here’s how walking fits into my 4 PM:

• Personal - I love walking and it gives me lots of time to listen to audiobooks or podcasts. It also gets my heart rate into my target range of 100-110 beats per minute.

• Practical - due to that initial leg injury, it was all I could do at the time, but it is still working for me today.

• Portable - I’m a frequent global traveler, so my walking routine works really well for me whether I’m in Auckland or New Delhi or home.

• Permanent - I’ll be power walking as long as I can walk. I expect to be doing this for the rest of my life.

• Measurable - I used a Fitbit to track my steps and miles on a daily basis. I’ve now got nearly ten years of statistics to show for it.

Power walking was the right exercise solution for my needs when I began my ThriveAge journey. And, it’s still the right solution for me nearly ten years later.

But, what works for me may not work for you. And, that’s okay. You can use the 4 PM framework to choose an exercise approach that fits your life as well as power walking fits mine.

I was also able to add strength training to my daily plan that still fits my 4 PM. I use a routine of body-weight exercises (calisthenics) to build strength and flexibility. Like my walking, it requires no extra gear and fits perfectly into my travel plans.

Summary

Exercise is an essential component in the ThriveAge approach to creating a sustainable lifestyle of health and fitness. It’s the perfect complement to ThriveAge’s FoodIQ eating strategy. And the 4 PM framework helps Over-50 Guys to develop an exercise program that perfectly meets their needs and fits their life!

In order to lose weight, get fit and stay fit for life, you need plenty of the right exercise. That’s why Simple Rule #3 is Remain in Motion!

Want to Go Deeper?

Do you want to dive deeper into ThriveAge and what it can do in your life? If that sounds like a smart move for you, then consider subscribing to the LenDentonThrive Letter. It’s totally free!

As a bonus, new subscribers will receive a free .pdf version of Chapter 1 of my upcoming new book, The ThriveAge Way (The Over-50 Way To Lose Weight, Get Fit & Stay Fit For Life).

ThriveAge is the roadmap to your custom-built ThriveLife!

2. Tip of the Week: How I Remain in Motion Daily

There are two things that I do every day to help me to remain in motion:

1. My daily step goal - I use a target of 12,000 steps a day, measured by my Fitbit tracker. (FYI - some of you will have higher goals than this. I started at 4,000 steps when I began in early 2014. The right goal for you is to do whatever you can do.)

2. Hourly activity goals - my Fitbit has a feature that reminds me to walk at least 250 steps every hour. This gets me up and keeps me moving throughout the day.

Here are a few of my other favorite ways to Remain in Motion:

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator

• Do “walking meetings” when possible

• Walk and talk during phone calls

• Use a standing desk

• Park at the far end of the lot to increase your steps

What are some things that keep you in motion?

3. What I’m Eating

ThriveAge is a food-first approach to health and fitness. I call it '“fitness for food lovers!” So, each week I’ll be giving you a quick insight into one of my typical meals. No crazy diets, just real food.

This week’s entry is a bit of a change-up to our normal routine. That’s because we’re talking about Thriveage-compliant fast food!

That’s right! Restaurant dining and take-out meals can be a part of your FoodIQ routine with the right planning. I’ve actually compiled a list of more than 25 restaurant meals that are part of my ThriveAge strategy. I’ll share more about these options in a future newsletter edition on eating out.

This week’s entry is one of my favorite take-out choices. It’s a Chicken Burrito Bowl from Chipotle’. I’ve adjusted their standard version of this entree by making a few healthy changes, as you’ll see in the break-down below:

Here’s the break-down:

• Fajita Chicken (Green)

• Brown Rice (Green)

• Pinto Beans (Green)

• Tomatillo-Green Chili Salsa (Green)

• Fajita Veggies (Green)

• Romaine Lettuce (Green)

• No Cheese

This is a total of about 560 calories. Deleting the cheese and swapping out the white rice for brown rice avoids at least 1 Yellow and 1 Red. The changes make this a healthy option that scores a perfect FoodIQ of 300. It’s another perfect ThriveAge meal.

With a little forethought and planning, you can find healthy meal options at nearly every restaurant!

Enjoy!

4. What I’m Reading

This week, I’ve reached the end of Atomic Habits by James Clear. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to create new habits or change old ones. Atomic Habits is filled from cover to cover with great ideas on how to systematically improve your performance and behavior.

As I came to the end of the book, James had some valuable insights that I’ll share here:

1. The Goldilocks Rule - this describes the zone of effort and motivation that is best for creating a new habit. Our motivation to achieve a goal (new behavior) is greatest when that goal is neither too challenging or too boring. It needs to be “just right.” When you can structure your goal attainment to fit into this Goldilocks Zone, you increase your chances of achieving it. The greatest threat to success is not failure, but boredom.

2. The key to successful habits is sustained small changes.

   • Make it obvious.

   • Make it attractive.

   • Make it easy.

   • Make it satisfying.

Atomic Habits is a tool that can help you become 1% better every day. This can be a big part of attaining your own ThriveLife.

Recommendation - If you want to change your life by creating new habits or changing old ones, you need to read Atomic Habits. And, for ongoing insights into James Clear’s thinking, sign-up for his 3-2-1-Thursdays. It’s a short, wisdom-packed newsletter that I read every week. Sign up for your copy at: https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1

I’m Writing A Book!

I’m a busy Over-50 Guy who has spent the past ten years building a practice of personal health and fitness that relies on real food and smart exercise instead of crazy diets and killer workouts. This process, called ThriveAge, helped me to lose 70 pounds and keep it off for going on ten years. Now, I want to share what I have learned with other Over-50 Guys. So, I wrote the book!

In The ThriveAge Way (The Over-50 Way To Lose Weight, Get Fit & Stay Fit For Life), I share everything I’ve learned about the principles and practices necessary to create and sustain a healthy lifestyle. I call it my ThriveLife.

New subscribers to the LenDentonThrive Letter will receive Chapter 1 of my new book for free. To get your free copy of Chapter 1, just subscribe to the LenDentonThrive Letter.

Upcoming Topics

Here’s a quick look at some of the topics I’m working on for upcoming editions of the newsletter.

• ThriveAge Simple Rule #4 - Measure What Matters

• ThriveLife - What It Is, And How To Get There

• Ten Things I Would Tell My 50-Year-Old Self

• Develop a Longevity Mindset to Add Years to Your Life

Please let me know if you have a particular preference in how I prioritize these for publishing, or if there’s a topic you’d like to see in future editions.

Thanks for your time and attention. Have a great weekend. See you next Saturday!

Thrive & Prosper,

Len

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