Chronological age 'v' Biological age

Just watched 'Biggest Loser'.  Tonights episode looked at amongst other things the contestants chronological and biological ages.  Our chronological age is our true age, the number of years we have lived, obviously this can't be changed, although we like to think we can turn back the clock! 

Our biological age on the other hand could be changed, but it can go both ways, you can look both older or younger than your true age.  For example if your chronological age is 44 and your biological age is 57, then you really should be doing something about that! A 44 year old with the body of a 57 year old is not a good look, especially if people mistake your true age as the latter.  Conversely should you be 57 and look and have the body of a 44 year then fantastic, keep doing what your doing! 

Sadly some of the contestants on the programme had incredibly high biological ages, some as much as 10 years, one had added an extra 20 years to her chronological age! You are putting yourself one step closer to the grave!

This has mostly been achieved through inactivity and sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits or most likely a combination of all three.  Avoid people mistaking you for your older sister (or brother) by implementing these three small steps:

1. Walk more - if you are overweight or obese walking is a natural low impact activity.  Get some walking activity into your day, such as parking the car further away from work and not two feet from the front door!  Walking your children to school instead of taking the car.  At the super- market park as far away as you can from the front entrance. You may also be encouraged to walk more frequently if you headed to the shops 2 or 3 times per week instead of going once for a big shop.
2. Spend less time social networking on the Internet, we've all done it.  Five minutes checking emails or updating your facebook page can easily turn into hour!  Imagine what you could have done in that hour; ran or walked 5km, hoovered your house, done some gardening, washed the car, etc the list is endless. 
3. Seriously look at your eating habits, after all nutrition is around 80% of the big picture.  No doubt if you put crap in to your body, you will feel crap.  You will get bigger, your joints may get sore, you'll pick up illnesses easily, you may lose confidence, you may want to stay indoors and not come out, and so the story goes on and on.  Or better still drink plenty of water, and eat little and often of a variety of foods - its not rocket science!  Think about what food you are about to eat and what affect it will have on your body, negative or positive.

These three small steps are a good beginning and can easily be implemented into your lives. 

Make this year, the one you use to turn your life around.  Best of luck.