Exercise, Good Health, Moderation

I never ever saw my mother run.

Or my father for that matter.

In their day it was eat steak, drink whiskey, and smoke cigarettes. Both of my parents smoked, both stopped. How many people do you know who smoke cigarettes now? I know some but I used to know a lot of them.

Exercise.

I'll bet you people who did that back then were considered oddballs or at the very least, different. I remember when jogging began. Now you see runners all the time. Early in the morning. Late at night. In the heat, in the cold.

Even in the rain.

It's hard enough to hail a cab in the rain much less run in it. But they do. And 'they' covers both sexes, the young and the old.

Back in the day I read that a jogger looked like he'd just robbed a bank and was leaving the scene of the crime. Running from the scene actually. We didn't know then what the rest of the world already knew. Exercise, moving, is a big help as far as all kinds of things are concerned. Weight, good health, sleeping, helping to clear your mind, keeping you looking younger longer. Those are just a few of the many benefits.

Let's talk about this looking younger thing.

When I was a kid 40 was ancient.  Now, at 40, you're just getting started. In fact, looking fantastic at 50, 60, 70, and beyond is now normal. Go to a gym. You'll see people who were once considered old, working up a sweat. Every day. And when you see them in real clothes they look great.

Exercise, exercise equipment, exercise apparel, all are big business. Where a beer belly was once just the way it went, it's frowned upon now.

Eating healthy.

I wonder if healthy cookbooks and diet books were in the book stores and on the best seller lists in the 20s, the 30s, the 40s. It seems like there are a ton of them now and more coming out every day.

There is salt and sugar and preservatives in, it feels like, everything. We used to not care. Now it's a big deal. Huge. Watch the ads on tv, read the labels in the super market. Fat free, sugar free, no additives, low cal, and on and on.

Even McDonald's offers apple slices in Happy Meals and has oatmeal on the menu.

We eat more poultry and fish than ever before and everyone is counting calories and paying attention to what they're eating. That used to not be the case.

It is now.

Oh I still have cookies, cakes, and pies, just not like I used to. I still eat pizza and nachos, just not like I used to. I could go on.

Everything in moderation.

How does that old song lyric go?

I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger.

I do.


#MarkMcEwen
Subscribe to my blog: Mark McEwen's World
Follow me on twitter: @mcewenmark
Like my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/markmcewensworld
And also visit my website: www.markmcewen.com