If I think back to when my Grandmother was alive I dont recall her ever moaning about her weight or staying in shape and she definitely didnt go to the gym because there weren’t any.
I do remember that both of my grandmas’ were very active, strong and physically capable people well into their 60’s.
Most days Grandma would walk the mile to the local shops to buy bread, milk, meat and a newspaper. She would probably do this every day and carry 2 shopping bags back each time.
She cleaned the house by hand which took almost a full day. This included beating the rugs outside, brushing the floors by hand and scrubbing the kitchen floor on her knees. (No labour saving devices!)
Washing was done by hand and the items then put through the mangle to wring the water out. Then the heavy cotton sheets & woollen blankets were hung on the line. She lifted the heavy washing basket herself!
Grandma & Granddad looked after the garden together and spent most summer evenings and weekends tending to the flowers, weeding and cutting the grass (although it wasn’t a particularly big garden).
Granddad also had an allotment where he spent much of his time at the weekend, growing flowers and more importantly vegetables for the dinner table.
Whilst Grandma was busy at home all day (and believe me she never stopped) Granddad cycled 3 miles to work every morning, come rain & shine, back for his lunch spot on 12 noon and then back again to start the afternoon shift at 1pm and finally back for his tea @ 5pm.
And talking of mealtimes, they had 3 square meals a day - breakfast, lunch ( the main meal which they called dinner) and tea (usually a sandwich or beans on toast).
All meals were cooked from fresh rather than using processed/convenience foods and there were no snacks between meals.
In the 21st century, health and fitness is a massive industry and there is an abundance of information, facilities and trainers available to help us stay in shape and get rid of the fat. Yet despite this as a nation we are fatter and less fit than our forebears. We spend time travelling to and from the gym when actually we could stay at home and stay in shape just as easily. Ironically we go to the gym because we don’t have time to be habitually active and yet in all the time we waste in getting there we could easily go for a walk, attend to the garden or just play with the children.
Getting back to basics has many advantages especially in the current economic climate. If we could live like Grandma with an habitually active lifestyle, regular, well balanced, eating pattern and home prepared food we’d probably all be in much better shape as well as better off.
Maybe Grandma knew more about staying in shape than I gave her credit for at the time.
Thanks for reading. Next time I’ll show you just how you can stay in shape for pennies (or less)
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