As we are getting older, keeping active is very important and essential. Aging is what we do to ourselves. It is our own mind set that allows us to eat high fat food, smoke, drink alcohol, not exercise, etc.

Let's talk about some facts in a process of aging and how it effects our body and health. After your forties muscle begins to decrease and fat increases - muscle strength and muscle mass slowly decline. Bone density and strength declines. This can cause osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a medical term for decomposing bone and it is the primary cause of many fractures and poor posture in the elderly.

In late thirties you can feel stiffness in your joints and this can cause arthritis. As we get older our metabolism slows down. With this metabolic change we need to decrease caloric intake. Also with aging, lean muscle mass decreases and we have tendency to gain more weight.

Lack of exercising, may increase the risk of health disease like heart disease, decrease of immunity, high blood pressure, arthritis, weight gain, diabetes, loss of memory, etc. All of these health complications work against our aging process. These health conditions can make us age faster.

If you want a healthy and younger looking body, then you need to exercise. Every year we get older, we are faced with a loss of muscle mass, strength, flexibility and energy. This is why exercise, special weight training exercises and aerobic exercise are so important.

Weight training exercise will help you strengthen your muscle. Also, very important to mention is that by exercising with weight you can expect to increase muscle mass and lose fat. Aerobic exercise will help you increase your energy level. Stretching before and after weight training exercise can help mobility, flexibility and balance.

There are many people who exercise with weights and really look and feel great in their 30's, 40's and 50's. Bodybuilding has a very powerful and positive effect on our body, health, mind and youthfulness.

It is never too late to start weight training exercise. The older you are the more careful you have to be when you start weight training. Consult a doctor, a good trainer. Take every precaution. Learn proper technique. Get into training slowly. When you are older, injuries take longer to heal, so do everything you can to avoid any problem.

But the results can be spectacular. How old we feel and look depends so much upon how physically active we are and what kind of nutrition habits we have. So, in other words lack of weight training exercise and bad eating habits can make some people age faster then the others.

Stress, smoking and alcohol intake are all working against our body and health. Bodybuilding and weight training exercise can fight all of these negative habits. Bodybuilding cannot stop or reverse aging unfortunately. But definitely can slow down the process of aging and help you feel and look youthful.

Bodybuilding can shape not only your body, but also your mind in the most positive ways. As positive as your mind and attitude gets, you will have a positive lifestyle, too. Exercise and right choice of nutrition go hand-in-hand towards your youthfulness. The way you eat, what you eat and how you eat, can enhance the way you feel and look.

Good eating habits means longer, healthier and more balanced life, energetic and fit body, sharp and youthful mind and spirit. Healthy eating habits will help you maintain an appropriate weight and improve your overall well being. Now when we know what healthy eating habits can do for us, the question is - how do we develop and improve our habits?

Habit - What does this word mean? It is the same action or behavior which we repeat automatically over and over again. Habits can be good or bad, work for us or against us.

What kind of habits do you have, when it comes to eating? Developing the new habits takes time - 3 to 4 weeks for some people and 3 to 4 months for others. Keep consciously repeating good habits and it will become normal for you.

Improve Healthy Eating Habits

Let me give you some basics on how to improve healthy eating habits:

• Don't skip the breakfast. Skipping breakfast is not really the best you can do for your well being. Breakfast is the most important meal. To stop skipping the breakfast and start developing new and good habits of having the breakfast, try to do this:

• Write on a piece of paper the goal - "I am having breakfast each morning, right after I wake up."
• Keep this piece of paper right beside your bed, so this will be the first thing you are going to see and it will remind you what you should do.
• Choose the food for breakfast which you will like and enjoy eating.
• Keep repeating this and do not give up, until it becomes normal for you.

• Listen to your appetite. Listen to your body. Do not overfeed or starve yourself. Give your body the best nutrition you can.
• Eat 4-5 times per day, breaking the food into small meals. Have regular main meals as breakfast, lunch and dinner. And add two snacks in between in a form of fruits. Do not try to eat everything at one meal.
• Eat more food rich in carbohydrates instead of treats. Great sources of carbohydrate foods are: fruits, whole grains, vegetables, nuts. Good carbohydrates are rich in fiber. The fiber makes your stomach full, before you consume too many calories.
• Reduce intake of fried foods. This way you will be able to reduce your risk of heart attack and becoming overweight. Low fat food will help you reach your fitness health goals faster.
• Do not skip meals. Skipping meals during the day and eating one big meal at night will provide an energy overload. The body can metabolize certain amount of food at one time. The energy that body does not use will become fat.

• Do not replace water with caffeine, soda and tea. Limit the intake of these beverages, because they contain varying level of caffeine.
• Plan your meals ahead of time. Make right choices of healthy food for the right reasons. Planning your meals ahead of time is very important to stay on right food. When you do the grocery shopping have a list of food and stick with it.
• Do not over salt food. A key to healthy eating is choosing foods lower in salt.
• Cook and prepare food by yourself. If you do not like cooking, find the way to start enjoying and develop this as a new habit. Start with your favorite recipes.
• Enjoy what you eat and pay attention on how you eat. Take your time when it comes to meal, eat at a comfortable pace, and let yourself to enjoy the food you eat.
• Use food to feed your body, not your emotions. It is very important that you control yourself and not let emotions take control over you, your body or

Rest

One more factor that plays an important role on how you are going to feel and look as you get older is rest. Positive effects on your organism and body after rest are:

• Your heart rate slows.
• Your blood pressure normalizes.
• You consume less oxygen.
• You use oxygen more efficiently.
• You expel less carbon dioxide.
• Your breathing slows.
• Your heart pumps less blood.
• Your immune function improves.
• Rest also influences the look of your skin and hair.

Conclusion

In conclusion, three basic and natural steps to fight aging are:

1. Weight training exercise
2. Healthy eating habits
3. Proper rest

Do not forget, it is never too late to start taking action to look and feel younger, healthy and good.