How to Stay Young and Healthy at 60 and Beyond - Part 2

© Copyright 2010 Patrice Walker All rights reserved

In the first hub of this series, I told you a little bit about my experience staying fairly healthy throughout my adult life and three out of 10 steps I take to make sure I stay young and healthy. It’s time to take a look at the last seven things I do to make sure I’m as healthy and, if not young, at least as young-looking as possible as I move through my senior years.

1. Get enough sleep. Listening to my body has also taught me how quickly it heals and how much better I feel when I’ve gotten a minimum of seven hours of deep sleep each night. It’s during sleep that the body repairs itself, and the better quality sleep you get, the more effective that healing process is. As with water consumption, you’ll have to figure out how much sleep you need. A simple way I use to determine this is to notice how I feel when I wake up in the morning. If you feel tired and sluggish when you wake up, you may need to sleep an extra hour or two.
2. Eliminate as much refined sugar from your diet as you can. Yes, I know, this is a hard one. I’m sure you know most of the reasons why sugar isn’t good for you. At the very least, it’s full of empty calories that put on weight, and too much sugar consumption can lead to Type 2 diabetes, and as I recently learned on Dr. Oz, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and liver disease. Fortunately, there’s a product on the market that you can use instead – stevia. It’s a plant-based sweetener that is 100 times sweeter than sugar, has no calories or carbohydrates, and may help to regulate insulin levels. I’ve been using it for about five years now and absolutely love it. You can purchase it at your local health food store. There’s a new product on the market called “Truvia,” but it contains sugar. This is probably because the Food and Drug Administration has classified stevia as a supplement; so in order to sell it as a food, a bit of sugar is added to it.
3. Eliminate those refined carbohydrates, too. This is definitely a hard one for me, and I’ll admit, I eat a lot of wheat (as opposed to whole grain) bread which contains refined flour. I know I shouldn’t eat any bread, especially with the allergies, but I don’t have pets anymore and figure I can get away with it. But I now notice that when I eat it, I get constipated. However, following the next step lessens the impact a lot. Refined carbs include white rice, cookies, cakes, donuts – you know, all the “good stuff” we love to eat. If you can’t eliminate them entirely, try cutting back as much as you can and eating whole grains instead.
4. Eat as much raw fruits and vegetables as possible. If I eat one piece of raw fruit, like an apple, and one piece of raw vegetable, like half a carrot, a day, then I’m doing good. I also try to get a salad in a couple of times a week. These foods ensure that my lower gastrointestinal tract stays in good working order. I also like to drink a couple of ounces of aloe vera juice a day to keep things moving. Believe me, constipation is no fun. It leaves me depressed and lethargic, not a good way to feel.
5. Supplement with vitamins. I’ve always been an advocate of vitamin supplementation for two simple reasons: we eat a lot of vitamin-deficient, processed foods; and the soil that the fresh food we eat grows in has been seriously stripped of its vitamin and mineral content. Right now, I’m taking a vitamin-mineral complex that is designed for “mature” adults that I get from Costco. But the best way to find out what vitamins and minerals you need is to get your blood tested to determine what deficiencies you may have.
6. Exercise. Yes, I hate it too, especially the go-to-the-gym-three-times-a-week kind of exercising. On the other hand, I love to walk, so I try to get in two to three 45-minute walks a week. When I am unable or unwilling to walk this much (and it happens more frequently than I care to admit), I jump on my rebounder or mini-trampoline and “bounce-jog” for at least 10 minutes. Actually, I try to do this every day, whether I walk or not. If you’re thinking about a mini-trampoline, the main advice I have is to get one that has a “deep bounce.” I’ve seen some that have no springs whatsoever, and I understand that they can do more harm than good. It’s pretty easy to rebound every day, especially when I jump in front of the TV set. I also love tai chi and try to do one or two sets of the 24 Yang style form every day. The key is to find something you enjoy doing; otherwise, it’s going to be hard to be consistent if you view exercise as a chore. Staying mentally fit is just as important as staying physically fit as we age. Doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku, learning a new language or using your non-dominant hand are all ways to keep the mind sharp and the brain healthy.
7. Take some time to “be.” As quiet as it’s kept, we are human “beings” and not human “doings.” I’ve found that it’s really important to spend some quite time every day to relax and just be, whether it’s meditating in the morning, crocheting in the evenings, or reading a romance novel. It’s true that some of these activities entail “doing,” but I’m not trying to accomplish anything. I’m simply relaxing and enjoying myself. This is what I do for stress management, an essential ingredient of staying young and healthy for as long as possible.

The great thing about all of these steps is that, if you apply them consistently, you’ll probably end up losing some weight as well as get healthy. Eating less sugar and refined carbohydrates, as well as increasing your water consumption, are excellent ways to jump-start the weight-loss process. Getting enough sleep and de-stressing will also help you shed pounds since stress and lack of sleep result in increased cortisol levels which adds that unsightly and dangerous fat to your body’s mid-section.

It seems like a lot to “do,” but I don’t expect you to incorporate all of these steps into your life immediately. Take your time, listen to your body and see what works for you, and above all, be easy about it.

How to Stay Young and Healthy at 60 and Beyond - Part 1

How to Write Affirmations That Work

How to Satisfy a Sugar Craving Without Eating (A Lot of) Sugar

Using the Power of Now to Get a Good Night's Sleep

How to Make a Healthy Protein Shake That Tastes Good, Too

Redox Signaling Molecules: The Next Health and Wellness Breakthrough

My Favorite Romance Authors

Why Crochet Soothes My Soul