Author has a high vantage point on health and aging well
NEW BOOK shows the author on the cover, running a marathon.
“EAT WELL” AUTHOR at the top of the Empire State Building, after climbing 86 flights of stairs.
Patricia Greenberg believes in living life to the fullest, including from the heights of the world’s’ tallest skyscrapers.
The nutritionist and author has run 20 marathons and countless half marathons, and in her 50s she took up the sport of tower climbing.
Yes, tower climbing, which, unlike rock climbing, is done from the safety of indoors, she tells us.
She’s conquered the 86 flights of stairs of the Empire State Building and climbed One World Trade Center in New York. In Los Angeles, she’s scaled the U.S. Bank Tower and the AON Center, and she’s climbed the John Hancock Center in Chicago.
She plans to reach the top of the 1,128-foot-tall Hancock skyscraper again in February.
“It’s a 96-story climb, it takes about 30 minutes,” she tells us. She trains for the venture on stair networks in Silver Lake and Santa Monica.
As we get older it’s important to try new things — within limits. She’s not running up the exteriors of skyscrapers, after all, although that too is a sport.
“The one thing I always say about aging is, after 50 or 60, we won’t become a major league baseball player or Olympic athlete, but we certainly should try new things.”
There are “wonderful events and trips and new foods… if it’s something you want to do, start out on a small scale.”
Besides doing the research and necessary training, check with your doctor, and then go for it, says the Hancock Park resident who, in November, released her fourth book, “Eat Well, Live Well, Age Well.”
She draws on her nutritionist background — she has a bachelor of science in nutrition and food science. She also has a degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale, and she is a certified sports nutrition and senior fitness trainer.
As the “Fitness Gourmet,” she has speaking engagements with groups as well as being a guest expert on national TV and radio programs, where she promotes “bite-size” health and “attainable fitness” suggestions.
In the book, she looks at the aging process, our emotions tied to getting older, the challenges of our culture and the impacts of stress.
The benefits of sleep and family and friends are heralded by the wife and mother. She recommends decluttering (“clutter causes confusion”), managing your finances and leaving your will and paperwork in order before you take the final step.
You’ll feel more relaxed, and your loved ones will thank you long after you’re gone.
There are even fashion tips. “Dress well every day… Get rid of any clothes that make you feel old, fat or unattractive. Don’t even wear them around the house…
“Ignore articles about ‘what to wear at 40’ or ‘best haircut at 50.’ If you want to wear a bikini or long hair or a mini skirt… do it.”
The 242-page paperback includes the latest research on what we can do to keep ourselves strong as we age.
A chubby teen, she peaked later in life only to find that those around her expected her to “act her age.”
She found that a positive mental attitude towards aging and surrounding herself with like-minded people was better than anything she found in a jar.
Though she’s tried plenty of beauty potions, and although dyeing grey hairs and good facial products have their place, anti-aging is a myth, she’s discovered. “I only feel better about myself if I am working on my self-esteem, rather than my appearance.”
She shuns sugar and eats tons of fruits and vegetables and lean proteins of fish and eggs.
And alcohol has benefits, in moderation (one glass for women, two for men daily), she says. She cites research from the world’s “Blue Zones,” areas with the highest proportions of people who reach age 100.
Her new book joins her previous ones: “Scrumptious Sandwiches, Salads and Snacks,” “Soy Desserts” and “The Whole Soy Cookbook.”
“Eat Well, Live Well, Age Well” is available on Amazon. Visit thefitnessgourmet.com.
Category: People