The Golden Years: How to Age the Healthy Way
The golden years are a period of your life post-retirement in which you can enjoy free time, leisure and relaxation. This is a time when you can explore new hobbies, travel, or enjoy a nap. However, your golden years won’t be all fun and games if you don’t make an effort to take care of yourself. Healthy aging is crucial in order to preserve your physical and mental health, as well as maintain your ability to learn, grow and meet your most basic needs. The following tips will help you transition gracefully into this next stage of life so that you can enjoy all it has to offer.
Create a Medical Support Group
You might be healthy now, but it is important that you stay on top of routine checkups such as physicals, vision/hearing screenings, and dentist visits. These healthy habits can detect and address issues before they become a problem, as well as prevent them all together.
Modify Your Home
You may need to make some modifications to your home for safety and accessibility. As they get older, seniors are at serious risk of falls in the home, especially in the bathroom. Some fall-prevention modifications you can make include installing grab bars, converting your tub into a walk-in shower, and replacing slippery flooring with a non-slip surface.
Adapt to Your Dietary Needs
It should come as no surprise that your dietary needs change as you age. Once you transitioned into adulthood, you realized all too quickly that the junk food you consumed as a teen doesn’t pair well with your slower metabolism. Now that you’ve entered the golden years, you are at an increased risk for malnutrition due to changes in your smell/taste, dentition issues, dry mouth, and even depression. Dehydration is another common issue due to the decreased ability to recognize thirst that comes along with aging.
It’s critical that you get all of the key nutrients to prevent loss of bone density, development of chronic disease and promote a healthy lifestyle. If getting out to the store is an issue or you just don’t know what to prepare, consider food delivery services such as groceries, meal kits or prepared meals.
Exercise Your Body and Brain
Exercise is important at every age, but once you hit the golden years, you’ll need to adapt your exercise routine to ensure you stay safe and injury-free. For seniors, low-impact exercise such as swimming, golfing, bowling, and gardening are fun options. If you’d prefer to hit the gym, check out senior-oriented classes such as Silver Sneakers, or talk with the fitness instructor about ways you can adapt a particular class to your needs such as using a chair as opposed to a yoga mat.
Keep in mind that your body isn’t the only thing that needs exercise; your brain needs a workout too in order to keep your memory sharp. Plus, it’s a great way to learn new things and discover hobbies that you can pursue with your free time. There are plenty of brain-stimulating activities such as crossword puzzles, board games and the thousands of brain game apps available on your phone or tablet. Even something as simple as gardening or baking has mental benefits, not to mention stress relief.
Aging happens naturally, but doing it in a healthy way requires some effort on your end. Be sure to stay on top of doctor’s visits, as well as adapt your nutrition and exercise routine to meet your needs and abilities. By taking the time to pursue a healthy lifestyle, your golden years will be as golden as ever.
