Turning 50 years old is a celebrated milestone for most people. After a health scare put St. Louis American Sports Editor Earl Austin, Jr. in the hospital, causing him to miss the last three days of his beloved Saint Louis University Billikens Basketball, turning 50 brought introspection with renewed determination to reclaim his health.
“Once you turn 50, you start to think real hard. Both my parents died before they were 70,” Austin said. “My father had hypertension and my mother had diabetes and several other problems. You start thinking about that when you hit that 5-0.”
Austin said he tried dieting over the years and could always drop 20 or 30 pounds, but was unable to stay committed to losing weight. This time, a doctor told him he needed to do something about his obesity. Step-by-step he got there, just by walking his neighborhood. Austin began walking only a few minutes at a time (which was all he could do initially). It increased to 30 minutes, and his endurance continued to build and he can now walk more than an hour at a time. The benefits are many. Austin now knows many more of his neighbors, the terrain, and has an easy way to clear his thoughts, feel better and lose weight. In just a few months after his 50th birthday, Austin has walked off more than 50 pounds.
“I was about 345 pounds when I got sick, and now I’m probably about 295,” he said. “And I remember I looked at the scale and I saw a ‘2’ next to it instead of a ‘3’ I remember crying, because that hadn’t been like that. It was after my 50th birthday – I went my whole 30s and my whole 40s over 300. I think I was in my mid 20s when I was last under 300 pounds.”
Walking is considered one of the easiest exercises. A good pair of walking shoes and a bottle of water for hydration is all you need to get started. You can walk indoors, on a treadmill or outdoors. Brisk walking is a faster than normal pace, which increases benefits. However, you should be able to walk and talk at the same time. By taking the “talk test,” you can determine if your walking is too intense for your body. According to Walking.org, “if you can’t hold a conversation without getting out of breath, then you’re going too fast.” Simply slow down a little to a pace which is more comfortable. The site states, “the talk test is a good guide at any walking pace, from a moderate to a brisk, aerobic pace and it will ensure that you never over exert and injure yourself.”
More than 145 million adults now include walking as part of a physically active lifestyle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Physical activity such as walking can help improve health even without weight loss, the CDS stated. Physically active people live longer and have a lower risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, and some cancers.
When he is away at tournaments, Austin says he gets up early to walk and takes the steps instead of elevators.
Austin finds it amusing when people tell him he looks skinny.
“It’s funny to be just under 300 pounds and people say ‘God, you’re skinny,’” he said. Austin still has incremental goals on his way down to where he wants his weight to be.
“I want to stay under 300; I think 275 might be realistic,” Austin said of his ultimate weight loss goal. “That would be another 20 pounds,” or 70 pounds total.
Earlier this year, Austin had high blood pressure and with pre-diabetic blood glucose levels. Walking has made difference. His blood pressure is down considerably.
“Between the medicine and diet and exercise, it’s normal. I’ll probably be on it for at least a year. My doctor wants to keep me on it for a year to see what happens,” Austin said.
Earl also decided to upgrade drastically his eating behaviors.
“Instead of eating a lot of fast food, a lot of fried food, a lot of big portions, I instituted more fruit. I like apples, bananas, grapes – I like pineapple,” he said. “I eat more vegetables – broccoli, spinach; especially I eat a lot of salads.”
He also drinks plenty of water.
“For about two months straight, I drank nothing but water and a lot of it every day,” Austin said. “And for the first time, I dieted and exercised at the same time. It got to the point where I walk three miles a day – an hour a day. If I’m not walking, I got an exercise bike in my basement.”
Earl said he wants to weigh 275 by the next basketball season in November. At the pace he is walking, that will be a slam-dunk.
https://www.stlamerican.com/your_health_matters/health_news/article_b29dc65a-46f2-11e5-b3a7-3b3d06d9a974.html
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