It’s the thing no one looks forward to – aging.
The thing about aging is that, although it brings us closer to retirement and well-deserved free time, many of us experience declines in our health and physique. We lose energy, we start to feel lonely. As we age, life tends to lose some of its sparks.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though!
Aging doesn’t have to be a downer! By taking care to take care of yourself as you grow and age, you can enter even your golden years feeling like a million bucks.
For seven secrets on aging well and loving every minute, keep reading!
Table of Contents
1. Be Active
Even if you’re 10 years old, regular exercise is imperative to a healthy, happy body. But especially as you age, it’s critical to work in time to get your body moving, your heart pumping, and your lungs working each day.
Start small, a 10 or 15-minute walk with the dog in the morning. Eventually, you should move up to longer walks, or add a walk in the evening, too.
Whatever activity you choose, stick to it!
Remaining active as you age improves joint health, overall weight, and provides many other physical benefits. Even more importantly, regular exercise improves brain function, as it keeps brain cells healthy and full of oxygen, so much so that many experts agree that an active lifestyle can delay Alzheimer’s progression!
2. Stay Social
When you were young, you probably spent lots of your time around others. If you’re still waiting for your retirement, you likely spend much of your time at work interacting with people. But as you reach retirement age, or experience other social shifts in your life, it’s important not to get lonely.
Prolonged loneliness and feelings of solitude can lead to dementia and depression. It can also lead to many other negative physiological changes, which compile to drag down your overall health.
Even if your social interactions come simply from getting out and volunteering, from attending church, or having regular interactions with family, interactions are key.
3. Mind Your Mind
As you get away from your school days and work becomes more routine or obsolete (hello, retirement!), it can be easy to leave your mind idle for long periods of time. If you’re taking a short mental health break from critical thinking, no worries! But if you find that you’ve sort of stopped using your brain start again!
Keep your mind sharp with new hobbies and studies. Take up crosswords or suduko. Or, even better, learn a new language!
Especially as you settle into retirement, it’s important to keep your mind sharp throughout your carefree-free-time! Push your brain the way you did in college. Write that book you’ve always dreamt of, finally learn all about that weird technology that’s always fascinated you.
Whatever you do, keep the gears of your brain turning!
4. Take Supplements
At any point in life, this tip is likely good advice. Whether you’re 8, 25, 40, or 85 years old, it’s likely that you could benefit from a well-rounded daily dose of nutrients. It’s easy to take our prescribed meds, but sticking to a vitamin plan can be a little tougher.
After age 50, most bodies could use a little help getting things like Calcium, Vitamin D, and Vitamin B. Although you should seek these nutrients out through your diet, supplementing your diet with pill forms of these nutrients is far better than not getting them at all.
Talk with your doctor to determine which sorts of supplements will benefit you the most – then stick to them!
5. Drink Up
Ahem. Water, that is.
For most adults, the target amount of water consumption is 8 8-ounce glasses of water every day. In our busy lives, many of us fail to suck down all that liquid as dutifully as we should. But, as with many things, the importance of getting enough water skyrockets as we age.
The older we are, the greater the risk we have of becoming dehydrated. That’s why it’s especially important to continuously replace our bodies’ supply of water throughout the day to ensure we remain standing upright and feeling good.
Water is also an important aspect of hair and skin health, and getting plenty of it can actually directly impact the way our bodies look. Do you want to age like a fine wine, right? Drink up!
6. Eat Right
Again, this tip is imperative at any point in life. But as we age, our bodies become less able to fight back against week-long pizza binges and Lucky Charms.
Talk with your doctor about their main concerns about your diet, but as a rule, think fiber. Take the time to learn more about what it’ll take to sit down and talk diets with your doctor.
Fiber is a superhero when it comes to the diets of older adults. It doesn’t only help with digestion, but it decreases chances of overeating, lowers cholesterol, and risk of heart disease and cancer. Greasy food may have been your life-raft when you were 22 and hungover, but as you age, fiber will be the nutrient that keeps you afloat!
7. Value Sleep
Your family may make fun of you for falling asleep at the movies. And in your armchair. And while reading. But as you age, sleep becomes even more critical than in your younger days! To stay young and spry, you’ll need to place some serious value in sleep.
Some older adults tend to struggle with insomnia, whether it’s the falling asleep or the staying asleep. A sleep schedule can help with this, as can regular exercise.
Whatever you do, as you get older, don’t skip the naps.
Want More Tips on Aging Well?
Whether you’re a recent retiree or a forward-thinking college student, it’s never too early to start thinking about getting older. Taking care of yourself now is the very best investment you can make in your own future.
If you’re looking for more tips on aging well or other tasteful lifestyle tips, check out our page!
