Suddenly you’re feeling old!
One day you’re fine, then the next day you notice less strength and energy, and you wonder when your pants started shrinking! What’s happened? Whether you’re a baby boomer or older adult, eventually your mental picture of yourself and the image in the mirror don’t jive any more!
Blame It On Mother Nature…
OK, we’ll start here. Mother Nature’s just not kind to us as we age. Consider the following, which will occur if you do not intervene:
• The #1 leisure activity of older adults is TV watching. The amount of television watched correlates strongly with sedentary time, a public health problem that leads to an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease and early death.
• By the time you reach age 70 or 80, you’ve lost a significant amount of muscle mass. Loss of muscle leads to a decreased ability to live independently; the relative percent of body fat increases, upping your risk of chronic diseases.
• Weak muscles and bones lead to falls. Every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall.
• The brain loses volume, cells and connections with age. These problems are related to dementias, including Alzheimer’s.
So if you do nothing, you’ll end up in trouble. Like some of my clients, you might have medical issues that weaken your legs. You drop into a comfy chair for a year or two, and when you’ve finally had enough sitting, you simply can’t get up. Or, like others, you’ll lie in your hospital bed waiting for open-heart surgery, wondering how you got there.
…But You Can Take Control of Aging!
We all grow old, but it is possible to control how and when we age. In fact, many of the conditions we associate with old age (including Alzheimer’s) are not a normal part of aging. As Dr. John Ratey says in one of my favorite books (Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain), “Growing older is unavoidable, but falling apart is not.”
With conscious and careful effort, it is possible to thwart Mother Nature. The first step is awareness. Now take the next steps!
• Stand up! Within 90 seconds, your body starts to push blood fats and blood sugar into your working muscles, lessening the chance of diabetes and heart disease.
• Pump weights! Research shows it is possible to increase muscle size and strength with 12 weeks of training, well into your 80s.
• Practice balance exercises. These will help prevent falls. Check with your local senior center, YMCA or online for programs.
• Understand how exercise supports your brain. Physical activity brings oxygen and food to the brain, adds new cells and new connections between them, especially in the areas related to memory and reasoning.
So if you have aches and pains that have been bothering you for awhile, check with your healthcare provider for help. If your knees are stiff and you’d rather not go on that walk, practice daily stretching and go anyway. If it’s easier to sit on the sofa and watch your grandkids play in the yard, get up and join them!
Don’t wait until it’s too late, or so difficult, to regain your strength and confidence that it’s no longer an option.
Enjoy your family this holiday season. Weather permitting, bundle up and walk through the neighborhood after dinner to enjoy the decorations. Take the dog for a walk instead of watching TV for hours on end. Keep moving; cherish and protect your good health!
For more ideas to stay healthy this holiday season, contact me for a free call.
We can discuss some practical tips and discover if any of my programs or classes are a good fit for you.
If you’d like to schedule that call with me, just CLICK THIS LINK, and let me know in the message that you would like a 1-on-1 call with me right away and I will be in touch to schedule that – oh, and leave me your phone number in there too since email is not as reliable as it used to be! Thanks.