How I Stay Slim and Keep in Shape

I am 50 years old and I’m the same size today as I was when I was 15. People think I have some magic genetic reason that prevents me from putting on weight.

I’m no different to anyone else. I’m just like anyone else, if I eat more than I need I put on weight. If I don’t take any exercise my weight will increase, just the same as it does for anyone else. So my trick, if it is such a thing, is to only consume as much as I need.

A key factor in my weight maintenance technique is exercise. I don’t do any sports, I don’t go to the gym and I don’t jog, so how do I maintain my youthful physique and remain fit and healthy? I use a technique I call passive keep fit.

What is ‘passive keep fit’ you ask? Passive keep fit, for me, means getting exercise while going about my daily business. For example I will walk to my local shops rather than use my car. And when I walk I walk fast so that I get a little breathless. My visits to the shop take a little longer than they would if I’d used my car, but then I’ve burned some serious calories in the round trip whereas sitting in the car does nothing but make you fatter.

I use the same approach in buildings with lifts. I will always use the stairs and will often run up two stairs at a time to burn even more calories. I also try to get some upper body exercise when sat in front of my computer at work by lifting myself 10 or 20 times on my arm rests a few time every day.

Also, when I’m relaxing in front of the TV in the evening I break this up with a few abdominal scrunches (is that what they are called). This has helped me to retain my flat stomach and six pack, much envied by my friends who all have beer bellies.

When it comes to eating and drinking, I try to stick to a healthy diet. I don’t eat any junk food and when I do it is a very special treat. I actually get a lot more satisfaction from resisting temptation than I ever do from giving in. I have a pretty good idea of how much I can eat before I begin to accumulate fat so I have a habit of visualising everything that I have consumed in a day, as if it was all spread out on a table in front of me. My visualisation technique highlights whether I’ve had my five portions of fruit and veg in a day and quickly tells me if my days consumption has been less than ideal.

I don’t count calories, I don’t follow any sort of fad diet, I don’t work out at the gym and I don’t play any sports. Yet I am the slimmest and fittest 50 year old man that I know, and I still look OK in my Quiksilver board shorts and my cool Rip Curl T-Shirts – which can’t be bad for a many of my age.

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