Never Too Late To Start Living Healthy

After watching the masters division at one of my fitness competitions earlier this year, my 52 year old Mother came to me with a fire in her eyes that I’ve never seen before. She told me that she wanted to change her lifestyle and learn how to be fit, healthy and strong again! I couldn’t believe it. My mother has never had a gym membership in her life, let alone able to identify what a sumo squat is or how to eat healthy. She eats Hostess Ho Hos for breakfast, spam sandwiches for lunch and thinks mountain dew is the next water. Since I knew that she wouldn’t know where or how to begin, I decided to take the knowledge I’ve gained over the years and help her jumpstart her journey to becoming a fit, healthier and stronger version of herself. To start her on the road to becoming a Beast. It's never too late to start living healthy, and my Mother is proof of that.

First, I put together a healthy meal plan based on her BMI (body mass index) and BFP (body fat percentage). She was eating on average around 1,900 calories per day and only 27% of what she was eating could actually be considered “somewhat healthy.” I took out all processed foods and anything with a lot of sugar and Trans fats. Now instead of Hostess Ho Hos, my Mother has spinach egg whites with a bowl of oatmeal in the morning. Instead of spam sandwiches, she has chicken with rice and brussels sprouts. I have her eating all natural foods every 2.5 - 3 hours and sticking to at least one to two ingredients per food group. I had her cut out all sodas and sugary fruit drinks, replacing them with water and hot tea. The first week was extremely hard for her because she had been used to drinking mountain dew every day for years and was experiencing withdrawal symptoms. After the second to third week the symptoms finally started to dissipate and she was beginning to notice changes in her energy levels.

After she got used to being on the new meal plan, I wrote up a supplement plan. I kept it to only the essential vitamins and supplements her body actually needs to reach her goals. Nothing crazy or overboard. I have her taking the following supplements:

A Women’s 50+ multivitamin every day, which will help boost her energy levels and ensure she is getting the recommended daily amounts of nutrients needed. Beast Sports Nutrition fish oil three times a day to ensure she is getting enough EFA’s (essential fatty acids) and to help reduce the risk of heart disease or a heart attack. Pure extra virgin coconut oil to help boost her thyroid function and improve her body’s ability to absorb fat-soluble vitamins.

Alpha-lipoic Acid (ALA) to help combat free radicals and rid her body of toxins. It will also help regulate her blood sugar levels, and after drinking multiple bottles of mountain dew daily for years, her body will thank me for this.

EFA’s w/CLA & GLA to ensure she is getting a good blend of fats to help reduce body fat and aide in muscle tissue recovery.

A Digestive Enzyme to help her body break down the foods she is eating and absorb the nutrients. Because she is over 50 years old, her digestive enzyme production has slowed down and needs a little boost.

1,000mg Vitamin C to help support her immune system.

Vitamin D to help support and maintain strong healthy bones since she is always inside working and not able to get enough from the sun.

A quality probiotic to support the digestive tract function by balancing the digestive environment and preventing growth of bacteria.

Beast Sports Nutrition Aminolytes during every workout. Aminolytes not only has all nine essential amino acids which cannot be manufactured by the body, but also an electrolyte blend for recovery. Not to mention the Beast Punch flavor taste like Kool-Aide!

Beast Sports Nutrition 100% Beast Whey Protein with Beast Glutamine Complex for aiding in muscle recovery once or twice a day. A secret I learned from my coach, Walter Martin: Pre-workout, I have her blend it with one serving of cream of rice and a tablespoon of almond butter, let it cool in the fridge to create protein pudding. Yum!

Concluding the program, I put together a personalized at home workout/cardio guide. My mother lives deep within the countryside of Ohio, and the closest gym to my mother is about 30+ minutes away, which makes it extremely difficult for her to find time to get to the gym after working 10-14 hour days. I’m sure some of you out there can relate to this as well. Putting together a home workout plan is more attainable for someone like her, with little accessibility to a fitness center. The only equipment needed is a set of rubber resistance bands, I like the SPRI rubber resistance bands. A stability ball, which you can find at Walmart for less than $10.00, a medicine ball, a kettlebell and a set of dumbbells. My next article will be the introductory to the five-segment at-home workout guide I put together for my 52 year old Mother, starting off with Hamstrings and Glutes. Remember it's never too late to start living healthy.