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Be a Big Loser

Plenty of exercise and balanced eating -- that's the advice of many nutritionists when it comes to maintaining a healthy body weight. Problem is, sometimes to whittle your middle you need to get a little more creative with your diet. Let Matthew Kadey help. Our nutrition writer offers 14 simple eating better strategies that will help you shed pounds -- and keep them off.

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The ride to Arnold It's May 2, 1983, my birthday. I am 31 and have just purchased an interest in a cabin in Arnold, Calif., 85 miles and 6,000 vertical feet from my home in Stockton, Calif. It strikes me that it might be challenging and fun to use two wheels instead four and to bicycle with a good friend, Frank Bowden, to this second home in the hills. I am fully employed at the time and unable to start this adventure until after lunch on Friday. The weather is hot, the bikes are heavy, and we shun the thought of bike shorts, as they may give the wrong impression. (To whom, we don't know). . . . keep reading...>> How to Cope with Stress (Fractures) Dear GeezerJock Doc: I was recently told I had developed a stress fracture. Any advice? The GeezerJock Doc responds: A stress fracture is a reaction of the bone to abnormal forces. This phenomenon was described as a "march fracture" in military recruits. New recruits were repeatedly made to march long distances with little time for acclimatizing to these new routines. Many recruits complained of foot pain, and x-rays revealed stress fractures. . . . keep reading...>> Be a Big Loser Plenty of exercise and balanced eating -- that's the advice of many nutritionists when it comes to maintaining a healthy body weight. Problem is, sometimes to whittle your middle you need to get a little more creative with your diet. Let us help. Here are 14 simple eating better strategies that will help you shed pounds -- and keep them off. . . . keep reading...>> More

Geriatricks "To An Athlete Dying Young" popped into my head last week. I remembered it from high school--not the poem but the title: "dying" and "young" together in the same thought put a brief shiver in our teen-age immortality illusion. Who was this dead guy and what did him in: Heat stroke? EPO? Coronary? A sidewalk punk shot him for his bling? The poem itself, which I just Googled, doesn't offer much in the way of hard news. Literary gossips pursued the tabloid angle: the unnamed "athlete" was the love object of the poet, A.E. Housman, who hid in the closet and never came out. . . . keep reading...>> The Wright Stuff In this final installment of the cartilgage series, we'll address "healing with steel." Are you getting the idea that dealing with cartilage wear is a difficult problem for Masters athletes who want to stay active? It is a difficult problem. This is because cartilage has a poor healing capacity at any age and this simply gets worse the more years we accumulate. Despite amazing conservative, surgical and biologic advances in the care of worn cartilage, there sometimes is a point where even the athlete must consider "healing with steel." Just because you have arthritis does this mean you have to quit being active? . . . keep reading...>> The Irongeezer Chronicles Here are some simple exercises that require no equipment, but can help you boost your fitness if you spend just a few minutes every day. Here's the first one: Dance -- Pop in your favorite upbeat CD and dance. Put plenty of energy into it wiggle your hips, wave your arms and lift your knees up, have fun for three tracks in week No. 1, four in week No. 2, five in week No. 3 and six in week No. 4. . . . keep reading...>> Geezerjocks Just this morning, I swam the 50-yard freestyle -- two lengths of my local Chicago Park District pool -- in 43 seconds. For me, that's going as fast as I can. The world record for the 50-meter freestyle (which is about four yards farther than the 50 yards I swam) is Frenchman Alain Bernard's 21.50, which was set earlier this year. He had the advantage of diving in and actually knowing how to do a flip turn, but essentially he swims about twice as fast as I do. Sometimes being a Masters athlete is a humbling experience. But you know, no matter how slow I am, I can't get enough of this stuff. . . . keep reading...>> Stone on track The night after Michael Phelps butterflew to his mind-boggling eighth gold medal in Beijing, a local TV news channel I was watching in San Diego went to a local youth swim meet and interviewed some kids. They all wanted to be like Mike. That's natural. Olympic superstars are a great source of inspiration and motivation. But kids aren't the only ones who want to emulate their heroes. How about middle-agers who saw Dara Torres the same night set a personal best in the 50-meter freestyle in taking silver -- at the age of 41? How about the adult fun-runners who saw Romania's Constantina Tomescu win the women's marathon earlier in the program -- averaging 5 minutes, 35 seconds per mile for 26 miles, 385 yards -- at the age of 38? Or the young Masters hurdlers who saw Jamaica's Danny McFarlane take fourth behind the U.S. sweep in the 400-meter hurdles? McFarlane is 36, and his time of 48.30 is a world-age group record. . . . keep reading...>> Training with Lisa We had a brutal winter here in Chicago last year. This was followed up with predictions that we'd have a miserably hot summer. That's what usually happens when winter has been a bear. But this summer has been lovely. I've only run my air conditioner a handful of times. The sun has been shining plenty and it's been beautiful. Not so for a client of mine who live in Texas. He is trying to get in speedwork and long runs in temps that exceed 100 degrees for a daily high. They are headed for their 20th straight day of 100+ temps. Ugh. So how do you handle training when it's so hot? . . . keep reading...>> The Villages Life Not often does one get to celebrate their 66th birthday and have a new experience all in a matter of days! It just doesn't get any better than that! In early July, I flew to Buffalo, NY, where I was raised, to participate in the "Tri in the Buff." I was signed up for the Olympic distance triathlon (1.5-Kilometer swim, 40-kilomter bike and 10-kilomter run). During a triathlon in Florida in the spring, I met a fellow Buffalonian, Dave Lillie, who happened to be a neighbor of one of my brothers. He had told me about this event and we rode out together to the event. We became the best of friends when we found out we were in different age groups -- all you age groupers know how that is! I had even shipped my bicycle up to Buffalo and had practiced putting it together. Believe me, I was prepared. I had even considered contacting some old classmates from high school to see my triumphant return to the Buff and witness my athletic prowess! . . . keep reading...>>

Gear up for tennis Here's the latest tennis gear designed to improve your game. There's Nike Air Max Breathe Cage II tennis shoe, the Wilson [K]One racquet and the Bolle Swiftkick Sunglasses. Read on for more detailed information. . . . keep reading...>> Tennis 101: Why you should play tennis It's clear that we need to work out several days a week to stay fit and active. But working out sounds too much like working -- and not like all that much fun to us. So how about "playing" instead? And playing the game of tennis is a perfect fit as we age. Tennis is resurging in popularity among players of all ages and abilities. Among traditional sports, tennis is the only one showing consistent gains in participation in the past five years. Why should you be joining these folks on the court? Well, the game is a great physical workout. But before you start playing, we suggest visiting a doctor for a check up to get the go-ahead to run around the court. Tennis is an exceptional workout if you can rally with a partner. If you learn the game's fundamentals, both in terms of the physical skills and strategy, we think you can enjoy playing for years -- with the right approach. . . . keep reading...>> Competition EVERYWHERE The organization has a large network of local leagues, which are generally based on skill-level rather than age. It also has an extensive array of age-group competitions where players from 30 up to 95 can vie for titles at national competitions on a variety of surfaces -- clay, grass, hard court and indoor. Among the organization's national age group competitors, Lee Burling of Oswego, N.Y., may hold the record for the most titles. The 76-year-old has won 41, including one this past March for doubles in the 75-79 age group in the National Women's Clay Court Championships in Houston with her partner, Nancy Reed. . . . keep reading...>> More