When I read decades ago that Jim Fixx, the father of the running craze, died of a heart attack at age 52 while running, I decided running was not my thing.
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Neil Armstrong was asked about fitness and exercise, apparently in a local Wapokaneta radio interview, not sure. Anyway, in a in an unusually unguarded reply he said “I believe we only have a finite number of heartbeats, I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste mine running around the block”. LOL. The Astronaut office had a cow, and about week later he “clarified” his comment and waxed enthusiastically about the wonderful myriad benefits of exercise.
It is good to be fit, and aerobic exercise is good. But obese people should not try to run, that’s idiotic. Put the fork down, can’t outrun your fork.
My life changed when I started seeing a registered dietitian. I am vegetarian, and have been since my teen years, not from principle, but simply out of taste and preference. The dietitian got me into drinking protein shakes. I buy them at Costco and go through at least three a day. I now incorporate a lot of fruit in my diet, especially in these summer months when fresh cherries and grapes are abundant. I keep my intake of bread and pasta to a minimum. All this gives me a huge boost in energy, which I use at the gym, and it is getting back to how I was forty years ago.