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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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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...>> Suffering for Others ENDURANCE ATHLETE MARSHALL ULRICH ran more than 300 miles before the pain in his shins from tendinitis started to become a problem. His support team doctor told him he could be risking permanent damage if he continued with his goal of completing the Badwater Ultra course -- a 135-mile trek through Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, Calif. -- four times in a row. The 56-year-old had 276 miles still to go. As Ulrich put it, recalling this record-book run in 2000, "I thought, If I do this for myself, I don't want to finish. But because there were others involved, it's important." On the road for 10 days with just a few hours sleep, with stabbing pains in his legs with every step and through 120-degree desert sun and 30-mph hot winds, he continued. His thoughts were of starving children. It put his plight into perspective. He crossed the finish line, 535 miles behind him and $70,000 in fundraising pledges secured. Charity fundraising from athletic events produces big money -- $1.64 billion in gross revenue last year, according to a study by the Run Walk Ride Council. More athletes, from 5k runners and triathletes to marathoners and ultra-athletes, hit the starting line knowing their success means not just a medal for their collection, but a nice donation to a worthy cause. . . . keep reading...>> 100% Inspiration TWO SIMPLE WORDS: They inspire. Fact is, each issue of this magazine teems with stories of athletes who inspire. Dozens of them. Over the course of a year, hundreds. Start with those who are candidates for the GeezerJock of the Year. Or Comeback Masters Athlete of the Year. Throw in all the others who are featured in assorted stories in these pages. For this story, we went looking for a few Masters athletes who have escaped our notice in the past but most definitely inspire by their deeds and their actions, their attitudes and their approach to life and the varied and difficult challenges (from illness and age to the loss of a child and the loss of a leg) it dishes out. Here are their stories. . . . keep reading...>> More

Geriatricks Late-in-life athletes have a psychological advantage, especially ex-couch potatoes. Stick with me on this: if you excel in your teens or 20s, whatever the sport, it's odds-on your personal best is old news, soon to be ancient history. For a childhood athletic flop like me (the only kid in phys. ed. who balked at the forward roll; the only kid in Little League to be relegated to the scorer's table--too inept, even to sit on the bench), there's a belated upside: redemption in your 50s and beyond. A latent aerobic talent came out with my gray hair --- I'd have bet my IRA against it (the talent, not the hair)-- but it put me on mountaintops and in bike races. . . . 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 Competition is good, and in track -- the more the merrier! I'm talking Web sites that post videos of Masters running, jumping and throwing. My latest fave is runnerspace.com. Created by Ross Krempley, an Oregon-based track coach and web geek, runnerspace is becoming the YouTube of track and field videos. of course, the original YouTube also hosts a gazillion track clips (including Masters track videos from around the world), but I love how average track fans and athletes with camcorders have embraced runnerspace. A great example is the Hayward Masters Classic, held this past weekend at the site of the Olympic Trials only a month earlier. . . . 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 Oh yes, despite a slow beginning, I'm beginning to even the score with Sister Mary Aggressive (wife, Carol)! After our most recent dual endeavor, a swim event called the Masters Mile challenge at Fort Myers Beach, it is now two to three in Carol's favor! This was our first U.S. Masters open water swim, and it was held in conjunction with USA Swimming 2008 Open Water 5K and 25K National Championships. We did see the 5K and some other USA Swimming age group events. It was really neat to see the up and coming swimmers in the open water category! As for our event, Carol and I were the second oldest male and female swimmers entered. We couldn't have asked for a better day and a water start, with only approximately 25 other competitors each. The course was rectangular, and during the long upwind leg against the current, I never thought we would reach the turning buoy. After that it was all downhill on the final leg to the finish! Carol was accused of fooling around with that buoy, try as she might, just couldn't seem to get away! Oh yes, it really was a buoy! No awards, but that is OK, great location, great swim, and great competitors, can't ask for anything better than that! And my time was faster than SMA's! . . . 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