[cotmfk]

I'm going to avoid most of the posts in this thread (I actually didn't read a lot of them bc it's just people arguing back and forth). Anyways, on the thread title topic - balance and strength are two of the things that go away when you get older. It's really important to try and do what you can to stay in good physical shape as you age. Not only will it extend your life, but it will extend your "useful life" - meaning the part of your life where you're still active, aware, and able to do things.

So, how to do that? Obviously, eating well is one. Exercising is another. Running, biking, swimming are all great cardio. Lifting weights (it doesn't have to be the heaviest weights in the world) helps to maintain muscle mass and reduce muscle loss as you age. Then, people often forget about balance exercises. These can be done without weights. Things like standing on one foot with your eyes closed as long as you can, then doing the same on the other foot. I wouldn't recommend jumping right into that, though, if you're already having balance problems. If you're already having balance problems, do it with your eyes open at first and make sure the area around you is ok to fall into/onto.

Best of luck. Aging is tough. As I like to say - 98% of us will die someday. I just hope that I can prolong the useful life portion of my life as long as possible.