First - those dogs are obese due to their diet. Dogs a mainly carnivores and the food pushed on the public is loaded with cheap carbohydrates like wheat, rice and potatoes. No dog (and especially no cats) should be eating that crap. Dogs should eat animal protein, they will thrive on that diet and their body fat will normalize. It's all about keeping the metabolism running well - carbs and vegetable oils gum up the works and slow the metabolism.
This goes for people too. We are not genetically adapted to thrive on the things most people buy from the grocery stores. Vegetable oils were created as a machine lubricant and should be treated thusly. Nobody should be eating them. Grains and sugar are bad as well. What isn't bas are red meat, saturated fat and cholesterol... the things the "health experts" tell us to avoid. We've been given bad information about diet for a long time but after our COVID experience why would we ever assume the experts are giving us good advice on diet?
Second - with studies like the ones you mentioned it's difficult to determine cause and effect from observational studies. Do people live longer because they're active or is it that people who are healthy and more likely to live longer are more active? I'd say it's the latter - people who feel good are more likely to go out and be active... it's not the activity, it's the being healthy in the first place.
An analogy is that many studies have shown that vegans are more prone to diagnosed mental illness. Is it the veganism that causes the mental illness or is it that already having a mental illness makes you more likely to become vegan? I have no idea what the answer is.
So this second point actually dovetails back to the first - eating a proper diet filled with protein from animal sources and avoiding vegetable oils, grains and sugar will make you healthy and help you retain muscle as you age - making it more likely that you can stand up from a seated position. Being active is great but not ruining your body with sub-optimal foods is where the biggest gains are made.
Just get a dog that needs long walks. You might deny yourself that walk but you'd never let your dog down, would you?
Stay thin if you can. Don't eat junk. Eat little but eat well. It's surprising how little you really need to eat to just stay average/slim as you get older.
Find something that keeps you thinking. It has to be something you get some enjoyment from. Likewise with the exercise. If you hate the physical and mental exercise and you hate your restricted diet, you'll probably go back to your bad habits.
Once you get really out of shape mentally and physically it's really hard to turn it around.
Forgive yourself if you slip up. Today is what matters. Start the change today, not tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.
Well, a surprise for me! Got down easily but could hardly stand back up! Thought I was in pretty good shape but apparently not. Time to go back to yoga. Can’t remember why I even stopped. This was a very interesting and fun posting, Dr Malone. I love the way you mix up your topics!
I have noticed lately how overweight we all are. We are trying to calm ourselves with food. We can’t do anything about inflation, personal and political attacks, multiple wars, the knowledge that things are dicey at the moment, and truth tellers are few and far between. (Political, employment, healthcare ramifications are abundant for speaking out.) Quite frankly, I am exhausted most of the time. Lots of naps, trying to eat well, some foods just don’t agree with me, cheese, milk. Anything that is high in fats means I will be in the bathroom for a while. I have no gallbladder and my lower intestines are gone due to an surgery. I also live in a food desert, fast food, but healthy food is really hard to come by. While I live in a farming community, it is beef, not vegetables that is grown here. We have had serious droughts, water restrictions, and the ground is sand based which means hard to grow things. There are lots of people like me. An everyday average person who is trying and failing to remain healthy. I want to ask you to ask readers are you sleeping more? I don’t watch tv anymore, don’t listen to the radio, and watch really old black and white tv shows. The rifleman, lost in space, wild Wild West and I knit. I work very part time and that will end this December because I fear that 2024 is going to be really rocky and rough. I want to stay close to home. Everything a walmart, grocery store, target (don’t shop there anymore) is at least an hour to hour and half away. It is both a plus and minus for me.
I love my husband, state and country, its just damn is living getting harder and harder and not because I’ve done anything wrong. I have had two deaths in my family. My mom in January and my nephew this month. My mom had a good long life, my nephew a rougher life due to personal choices which I believe cost him his life. A wife, mother three sons are grieving. There is nothing I can do, nothing. I think people are scared, unhealthy, and undereducated. I too, will shuffle off this mortal coil at some point I am in my 60s now. While I have love, food and housing, why do I feel like the deck is stacked against me through no fault of my own. Anyone else?
I'm 71 and was able to do this quite easily until late March of this year when I injured my left knee. It has been nearly 7 months (without surgery or pain reliever - just PT) and I hope that eventually, I will regain this ability but who knows?
Two additional resources: Rock Steady Boxing is an exercise program for Parkinson’s and related patients. It works wonders by incorporating not just muscle but coordination.
Also, John Ratey MD wrote a book called Spark, the New Science of Exercise and the Brain. He has videos as well. Exercise profoundly helps not only learning outcomes in youth but dementia or depression in seniors. We need to remake hospitals and classrooms into day spas!
I scored a 9. A year ago I would have had to have someone pull me off of the floor. I was in a car wreck 4 years ago. I have three severe curves in my back from scoliosis . But because I have been active all my life my scoliosis has not slowed me down.
The car wreck took a fragile back and left me in bad shape. I lost 2” in height and couldn’t walk far and had to walk slow.
I tried chiropractic, physical therapy, cortisone shots those didn’t work. I consulted a neurosurgeon who told me surgery would have a 70% chance of complications. The neurosurgeon told me that it was good that I was exercising all those years or I could be crippled.
Since I couldn’t walk I went to the water. I go 5 days a week and do water aerobics . I have freedom of movement in the pool. I found a chiropractor that uses a technique the triggers the muscles to turn on.
He has helped me so much and got me walking again. He keeps me moving. It has been a huge blessing.
If I hadn’t been active all those years I would probably be crippled. I have exercised 5 days a week for the last 40 years.
Keep moving it makes a huge difference. Find something you can do to exercise .
At age 45 in 2012, I ran my last 10K race. The next year, I realized I had to stop running because the dull ache in my knees was not going away. It's down to walking, biking, and swimming for me. But now at 57, I'm definitely low on springiness. I was afraid of what I might find with this test, but I made it down and up in pretty good shape.
A walking partner helps. In the last six months, I’ve increased my steps from an average of 5,000 steps a day to an average of 9,500 hundred steps a day. My walking partner is a 7-month-old lab.
Shift work and “on call” status for 32 years. Lessons learned:
Do not neglect sleep and keep the “sleep battery” topped up. If you are not sleeping there is a reason; figure out the reason(s) and get some sleep. No sleep aids…most are bad for you.
Stress and management thereof, without pharmaceutical assistance. Nicotine and caffeine are pharmaceutical assistance. Use carefully.
Regular exercise.
Get some fresh air and sunlight.
Eat the healthiest foods you can and try not to eat to soon before bed…. unless you like gerd and hiatal hernias.
If injured tend to the injury sooner, not later. I’m over a dozen for surgeries, that number would be less had I ate better, slept more and got treatment earlier.
The short version is when in doubt walk the dog and then take a nap.
We are all trying that test now and we are all stuck on the ground 😂
A couple thoughts:
First - those dogs are obese due to their diet. Dogs a mainly carnivores and the food pushed on the public is loaded with cheap carbohydrates like wheat, rice and potatoes. No dog (and especially no cats) should be eating that crap. Dogs should eat animal protein, they will thrive on that diet and their body fat will normalize. It's all about keeping the metabolism running well - carbs and vegetable oils gum up the works and slow the metabolism.
This goes for people too. We are not genetically adapted to thrive on the things most people buy from the grocery stores. Vegetable oils were created as a machine lubricant and should be treated thusly. Nobody should be eating them. Grains and sugar are bad as well. What isn't bas are red meat, saturated fat and cholesterol... the things the "health experts" tell us to avoid. We've been given bad information about diet for a long time but after our COVID experience why would we ever assume the experts are giving us good advice on diet?
Second - with studies like the ones you mentioned it's difficult to determine cause and effect from observational studies. Do people live longer because they're active or is it that people who are healthy and more likely to live longer are more active? I'd say it's the latter - people who feel good are more likely to go out and be active... it's not the activity, it's the being healthy in the first place.
An analogy is that many studies have shown that vegans are more prone to diagnosed mental illness. Is it the veganism that causes the mental illness or is it that already having a mental illness makes you more likely to become vegan? I have no idea what the answer is.
So this second point actually dovetails back to the first - eating a proper diet filled with protein from animal sources and avoiding vegetable oils, grains and sugar will make you healthy and help you retain muscle as you age - making it more likely that you can stand up from a seated position. Being active is great but not ruining your body with sub-optimal foods is where the biggest gains are made.
Second -
There is also the grip test.
Just get a dog that needs long walks. You might deny yourself that walk but you'd never let your dog down, would you?
Stay thin if you can. Don't eat junk. Eat little but eat well. It's surprising how little you really need to eat to just stay average/slim as you get older.
Find something that keeps you thinking. It has to be something you get some enjoyment from. Likewise with the exercise. If you hate the physical and mental exercise and you hate your restricted diet, you'll probably go back to your bad habits.
Once you get really out of shape mentally and physically it's really hard to turn it around.
Forgive yourself if you slip up. Today is what matters. Start the change today, not tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.
❤️👏🏼🕺💃🏻 Dancing along while doing daily chores is also great fun. Try it!
Well, a surprise for me! Got down easily but could hardly stand back up! Thought I was in pretty good shape but apparently not. Time to go back to yoga. Can’t remember why I even stopped. This was a very interesting and fun posting, Dr Malone. I love the way you mix up your topics!
I have noticed lately how overweight we all are. We are trying to calm ourselves with food. We can’t do anything about inflation, personal and political attacks, multiple wars, the knowledge that things are dicey at the moment, and truth tellers are few and far between. (Political, employment, healthcare ramifications are abundant for speaking out.) Quite frankly, I am exhausted most of the time. Lots of naps, trying to eat well, some foods just don’t agree with me, cheese, milk. Anything that is high in fats means I will be in the bathroom for a while. I have no gallbladder and my lower intestines are gone due to an surgery. I also live in a food desert, fast food, but healthy food is really hard to come by. While I live in a farming community, it is beef, not vegetables that is grown here. We have had serious droughts, water restrictions, and the ground is sand based which means hard to grow things. There are lots of people like me. An everyday average person who is trying and failing to remain healthy. I want to ask you to ask readers are you sleeping more? I don’t watch tv anymore, don’t listen to the radio, and watch really old black and white tv shows. The rifleman, lost in space, wild Wild West and I knit. I work very part time and that will end this December because I fear that 2024 is going to be really rocky and rough. I want to stay close to home. Everything a walmart, grocery store, target (don’t shop there anymore) is at least an hour to hour and half away. It is both a plus and minus for me.
I love my husband, state and country, its just damn is living getting harder and harder and not because I’ve done anything wrong. I have had two deaths in my family. My mom in January and my nephew this month. My mom had a good long life, my nephew a rougher life due to personal choices which I believe cost him his life. A wife, mother three sons are grieving. There is nothing I can do, nothing. I think people are scared, unhealthy, and undereducated. I too, will shuffle off this mortal coil at some point I am in my 60s now. While I have love, food and housing, why do I feel like the deck is stacked against me through no fault of my own. Anyone else?
Oh heck yeah! The floor test - able to get up on my own - was real eye opener.
I need to do my stretch exercises again!
I have a bum knee so it is a lil more work than normal getting up
I'm 71 and was able to do this quite easily until late March of this year when I injured my left knee. It has been nearly 7 months (without surgery or pain reliever - just PT) and I hope that eventually, I will regain this ability but who knows?
Two additional resources: Rock Steady Boxing is an exercise program for Parkinson’s and related patients. It works wonders by incorporating not just muscle but coordination.
Also, John Ratey MD wrote a book called Spark, the New Science of Exercise and the Brain. He has videos as well. Exercise profoundly helps not only learning outcomes in youth but dementia or depression in seniors. We need to remake hospitals and classrooms into day spas!
Hi Dr Malone - Lots of good advice. I just got home from climbing our local mountain. Have you watched this from New Zealand? https://nzloyal.org.nz/
I scored a 9. A year ago I would have had to have someone pull me off of the floor. I was in a car wreck 4 years ago. I have three severe curves in my back from scoliosis . But because I have been active all my life my scoliosis has not slowed me down.
The car wreck took a fragile back and left me in bad shape. I lost 2” in height and couldn’t walk far and had to walk slow.
I tried chiropractic, physical therapy, cortisone shots those didn’t work. I consulted a neurosurgeon who told me surgery would have a 70% chance of complications. The neurosurgeon told me that it was good that I was exercising all those years or I could be crippled.
Since I couldn’t walk I went to the water. I go 5 days a week and do water aerobics . I have freedom of movement in the pool. I found a chiropractor that uses a technique the triggers the muscles to turn on.
He has helped me so much and got me walking again. He keeps me moving. It has been a huge blessing.
If I hadn’t been active all those years I would probably be crippled. I have exercised 5 days a week for the last 40 years.
Keep moving it makes a huge difference. Find something you can do to exercise .
At age 45 in 2012, I ran my last 10K race. The next year, I realized I had to stop running because the dull ache in my knees was not going away. It's down to walking, biking, and swimming for me. But now at 57, I'm definitely low on springiness. I was afraid of what I might find with this test, but I made it down and up in pretty good shape.
Okay, I tried it but it reminded me of Margaret Thatcher's quip to HW, “This is no time to go wobbly, George.”
A quick question Dr. Malone: Can you do that feet crossed sit down, rise back up test ?
A walking partner helps. In the last six months, I’ve increased my steps from an average of 5,000 steps a day to an average of 9,500 hundred steps a day. My walking partner is a 7-month-old lab.
The get up test.
Grip test.
Hanging test. (Look up Dr. Peter Attia)
Passed all of them at a high mileage 58.
Shift work and “on call” status for 32 years. Lessons learned:
Do not neglect sleep and keep the “sleep battery” topped up. If you are not sleeping there is a reason; figure out the reason(s) and get some sleep. No sleep aids…most are bad for you.
Stress and management thereof, without pharmaceutical assistance. Nicotine and caffeine are pharmaceutical assistance. Use carefully.
Regular exercise.
Get some fresh air and sunlight.
Eat the healthiest foods you can and try not to eat to soon before bed…. unless you like gerd and hiatal hernias.
If injured tend to the injury sooner, not later. I’m over a dozen for surgeries, that number would be less had I ate better, slept more and got treatment earlier.
The short version is when in doubt walk the dog and then take a nap.