Sure, there are some things we can't do as we grow older, but there are a lot of things you and I can at least try and do.  It takes a healthy life attitude.  An attitude that puts together a mental picture of you accomplishing what you may think is the impossible.  You may not be able to run a mile in six minutes or even walk a mile in twenty minutes.  But if you can picture yourself doing it and go just a little faster every week you'll be amazed at how your time improves.  It is the result of a positive mental attitude about yourself.

But a positive mental attitude is just the fuel for giving yourself a long, healthy life.  You will need to create new or improved habits.  The first and probably the most of these new habits is strengthening the muscles.  I'm sure many of you have seen a boxing match that has gone into the late rounds.  The fighter that is the most conditioning will usually be the winner.  What has happened to the other fighter?  From a lack of strength training he can barely stand up or swing his arms.  Much the same as you grow older and have not done the proper conditioning.  A lack of strength and stability.

As we age strength is not the only thing that begins to diminish.  Without proper training aerobic fitness takes a dramatic drop.  Have you ever looked up a steep flight of stairs wondering how you were going to get to the top?  It's nice when those thoughts don't enter your mind.  If you're not sure about the hows or where to start, just begin walking.  Walk to the end of the block, or walk around the yard.  Anything to increase your heart rate a bit.  You'll be surprised how quickly you progress.

Losing flexibility and motion is natural as we get older, and the biggest cause of it is lack of muscle use.  Flexibility and motion will improve as you progress in your weight and aerobic training but stretching will be needed for the best results.  Stretching of all the muscle groups is ideal but you need to concentrate on those areas that are the least flexible.  Although the results of the research is mixed as to whether stretching can decrease the chances of injury, common sense says it is good for you.

No matter how hard and how much you do aerobics, weight train, or stretch the end result will be limited by what you are eating.  Nutrition is huge in living a long life and a healthy life.  To maintain your body weight the calories in must equal the calories you are burning.  If the calories in are exceeding the calories out and you are not exercising, weight will be put on.  But if your're eating more of the right calories and have a good fitness program in place your body will lose fat and gain muscle mass.  This does not mean you will look like a bodybuilder, but it will give you the added strength you need to accomplish a healthy life.

All of this may look like a huge task.  I can tell you from experience that the hardest part will be starting out.  Once you start changing your lifestyle to better fit a healthy life you will be motivated and excited to continue on and disappointed on the days when you can't go for your regular walk or run.  Remember though that your body only grows and improves with rest.  Don't exercise more than two days in a row and get plenty of sleep.  Find a way to deal with the stress that seems always inevitable in our lives.  Start now and live a long and healthy life

Everybody needs to have aerobic training as a part of their plus forty fitness program.  Obviously this is true no matter what your age, and after 40 the importance increases.  Why?  Because you are getting older (in years) and there are things about your body that are declining.  Cardiac output is decreasing, maximum heart rate is getting lower, oxygen consumption is declining, and your muscles capacity to oxidate is falling.  The biggest contributor to all of these is a sedentary lifestyle.  All of which can be avoided with exercise.

Now for a short list of what happens when you start adding aerobic training to your life:

Increased calorie utilization
Decreased body weight/body fat
Reduced risk of high blood pressure
Reduced risk of osteoporosis
Improved sleep
Improved digestion
Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease

There are more but those should be enough to provide some stimulus for an aerobic training program.  Of course the best type of exercise will involve a certain level of stress, but just being active is beneficial.  Raking leaves, mowing the yard, gardening, and even housework can maintain your level of fitness.  But to
reach your goal of a healthy and long life there are a couple of things you will need to do.  First, do something that is a little challenging.  Walk once around the
block or go to the mall early in the morning and walk from one end to the other.  Then increase the distances or pick up the speed every week.  Keep track of this information so you can watch and record your progress.  Next, get on a schedule so that it becomes a habit to exercise at least four times a week.

Remember that the better your condition becomes the more you will be able to do.  Then to improve your conditioning you can start walking and running up hills to improve your health even more.  Notice that the subject has only been about walking and running so far.  If you are not able to run and/or walk because of weather conditions or joint problems there are a number of other forms of aerobic exercises you can do.  These are workouts on elliptical machines, cycling,stair climbers, rowing machines, and aerobic classes.  Swimming is a great alternative for the more conventional forms of aerobic exercises, but always be certain to include strength training to build muscle and maintain bone density.

Aerobic training is a must for your goal to live a long and healthy life.  You just need to start with day 1.

If you don't have the right attitude about living a long and healthy life you are doomed.  Anyone can sit in a chair, read a book, and think about improving your life.
Until you actually believe you can do it and can picture yourself doing it any attempts made will end in failure.  Sounds harsh, doesn't it?  But it's the truth and there is no way to be honest and not bring it up.

A technique sometimes used to perform a task or action is psycho cybernetics.   An example would be if you wanted to shoot a basket.  Before the shot you would picture in your mind all aspects of shooting.  Standing there with the ball in your hand, the ball gliding off your finger tips, the ball gliding through the air, and finally the ball going through the basket.  This process would be pictured in your mind several times before actually taking the shot.  Your chances of making the shot have now increase many times over.  And if you didn't make it you are encouraged by how close you came and you picture it in your mind again and again. 

The point is that if you want to live a long and healthy life, you need to picture yourself as being healthy.  You need to visualize yourself doing all those things necessary to get there.  See yourself doing your aerobics, improving your strength, and eating the right kinds of foods.  Reinforce those images with what you don't want to be.  Always tired, overweight, and feeling old.  Find someone who can be your role model.  Someone who is at a place you would like to be, or someone who was like you but has got up and done something about it and changed their life.

Seems like we have been programmed to think that as we age our life should consist of frailty and disease.  That is just not right and you can't think that way.  Frailty and disease are primarily a result of inactivity and poor lifestyle choices.  Because you have been programmed to have an image of what an older person should look like you are expecting and accepting that is the way you will look.  Change your attitude about this because it is not true.  Have the attitude that you are always young and there is no reason to believe you can't do things.  Your attitude is fueled by your belief, and your belief is created by what you picture in your mind.

Get the right attitude, believe you can do it, picture yourself doing it, and have a long and healthy life.  

If you have ever been on a diet, calories have probably been the main focus of the program.  Typically that focus has been that to lose weight you need to reduce your calorie intake.  The outcome was more than likely that you lost weight during the first few weeks, which got you pretty excited, and then there was a change.  You actually started to gain some weight and before you knew it your weight was greater than when you started.

The truth is that you were doing just the opposite of what you should have been doing.  With a calorie reduction your body thought it was going to starve so it went into a storage mode.  What you should have been doing is following a nutrition plan that had you increasing your calories, adding an exercise program, and increasing your metabolic rate.  Then you would be seeing fat lose and muscle gain.

But increasing calories does not mean that you can eat anything that you want.  All calories are not the same.  Calories from red meat is not the same as calories from chicken, and calories from a white bread is not the same as calories from whole wheat.  To have a long life and a healthy life your nutritional diet needs to be from eating the right calories, or foods.  A healthy life nutritional diet should be around 20% fat, 30% protein, and 50% carbohydrates.  Of course this can vary per individual and can change for certain health reasons.  Some people, in fact, are carbohydrate intolerant and tend to gain weight easily from carbohydrate consumption.  If you notice that you easily gain weight around the middle then lowering your carbs might be necessary.

A healthy life nutritional plan also includes the frequency which you eat.  Instead of eating three large meals a day, try eating five or six meals a day.  You will find that you can actually eat more and avoid those feeling of starvation coming over you and eating way past the feeling of being full. Eating more often will keep your metabolic rate up and help build muscle.  But only when you have included a fitness plan with your nutritional plan.  This doesn't mean that you can no longer have treats or cheat days.  Pick a day a week to have a small bowl of ice cream or a piece of pizza.  Just don't gorge yourself so that you are taking steps backwards.  Remember also that chunk food eating is a habit and just like the person that can't have one drink some people can't have just one piece of pizza.  Think about that before you cheat.  

The word dieting has been used a fair amount just because it is familiar and convenient.  Diets are only temporary, and what you are accomplishing is a lifestyle change.  If you eat this way for the rest of your life it is not a diet, it is just the way you eat.  Make nutritional planning a part of your total live long and healthy lifestyle.