By Kristin Glasure, FAIRHOPE president and CEO
September is Healthy Aging Month, which is an ideal time to focus on adopting a healthier lifestyle that includes staying active, improving physical and mental health, eating healthy food, and getting restorative sleep. Here are seven tips to help incorporate healthier habits into your lifestyle:
- Manage stress. Individuals who have higher levels of baseline stress are more prone to diabetes, depression, heart disease and obesity. Discover a creative outlet or take up activities to improve your flexibility and mobility with stretching, yoga, and mindfulness to help reduce stress.
- Focus on regular exercise. Physical activity improves overall health and well-being, and it is ideal to incorporate at least 30 minutes into your daily routine. Exercise builds strength, improves balance and coordination, and can help prevent disease and weight gain. A personal trainer or group fitness instructor can provide support when a customized experience is desired.
- Expand nutritional knowledge. Maintain a well-balanced diet by eating a healthy diet rich in colorful fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats. Limit starchy, fried, and processed foods.
- Catch enough rest. Adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night to allow the body time to refresh and renew itself.
- Schedule healthcare appointments. Yearly annual checkups and other preventative screenings, including pap smears, colonoscopies, mammograms, and bone density scans (DEXA), can help detect diseases in their early stages. Hearing well is important to cognitive and overall health as well as maintaining a productive lifestyle, and assistive technologies can provide hearing help when needed. Additionally, telehealth options including virtual video visits with providers and specialists and remote monitoring provide additional health data from home.
- Stay socially active. Healthy aging includes finding new things you enjoy and learning to adapt to change. A sedentary and isolated lifestyle can lead to health issues and depression. It’s never too late to reinvent yourself; find a new hobby, pursue a new career, join a class, or sign up for volunteer opportunities.
- Maintain cognitive health. A rich, varied mix of learning, processing and problem solving will keep your brain alert. Mental stimulation preserves brain cells and can even generate new cells and connections. Exercise and challenge your brain by taking the opportunity to learn new skills like a language, instrument, or hobby.