Tips For Healthy Living

Your golden years are a time to relax, enjoy your permanent time away from work, travel, explore new hobbies, and revel in the ability to sit and do nothing. While this season of life is all about kicking back, you shouldn’t let your health take a backseat. There’s a lot to stay on top of, from navigating the world of Medicare to eating right to getting proper exercise and more, but the following tips will help set you on the right track for a healthy lifestyle.

Get to Know Your Medicare Plan

One of the big milestones you reach when you turn 65 is becoming eligible for Medicare, but once you get into it, you quickly realize just how confusing all the plan options can be. Medicare and all its various parts can provide coverage for medication, doctor/hospital visits, nursing care, as well as important preventive screenings such as diabetes, depression, bone density, cancer, and various vaccinations. It is important that you fully understand all the plans and the financial obligations that come with it. For example, seniors typically don’t pay for Medicare Part A, but you could pay as much as $437 a month if you worked less than 7.5 years.

Make Eating Right a Priority

With age comes changing nutrition needs, such as consuming more calcium and vitamin D for bone health, fiber to lower heart disease and diabetes risk, and potassium to lower blood pressure. Try to stay away from the unhealthy fats found in junk food and fast food, and instead incorporate healthy fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) found in olive oil, fish, and avocados. Finding the time to cook, especially if you only need a meal for one or two, can be hard to come by, which is where these freezer meals come in. Cooking can be made even more difficult if you have health issues that make moving about the kitchen and preparing meals difficult or unsafe. Thankfully, you can take advantage of home meal delivery services such as the ones offered by Global Meals. These meals are delivered right to your door and can be modified to meet your nutritional needs such as vegan, low sodium, and gluten-free.

Find Ways to Incorporate Exercise

Retirement is the prime time to sit back and relax, but exercise should still be a part of your daily routine. Regular exercise increases your muscle strength and bone density to help prevent falls and fractures, reduces your risk of developing dementia, and serves as a beneficial supplement to doctor-prescribed medications for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and high cholesterol. Find ways to make exercise fun such as taking a swim aerobics class, going for a bike ride, hitting the bowling alley, going for a walk, or taking over the grandkid’s Nintendo Wii for a quick round of golf, tennis match, or yoga session. Add in some socialization by starting a walking group with friends or try a new class at your local senior center.

Dabble in a New Hobby

A hobby or fun activity can serve as a way to get in some exercise, keep your brain sharp, lower stress, and incorporate socialization. The best part is that there are so many to choose from that you’re guaranteed to find something you enjoy and can be done safely should you have mobility issues. You might even be able to turn your hobby into a small side gig to make some extra spending money to splurge on yourself, family, friends, or the grandkids. A quick internet search will return plenty of ideas, including some unique ones, such as building a chicken coop for farm fresh eggs, blogging, house sitting, setting up an aquarium inside your home, or learning something new such as a language, recipe, or skill.

With age comes more freedom to do the things you enjoy. Thankfully, living a healthy lifestyle can be something you enjoy as well. Not only that, but healthy living is essential to make the most of your golden years. It’s never too late to begin, so use the tips above to get started.

-Guest Writer Karen Weeks of elderwellness.net