Picture this. It’s your 90th birthday party. You’re at a park surrounded by your family. Your great granddaughter asks you to play catch with her – she just joined the middle school softball team. You don’t hesitate, you just say yes. You have no doubts about your physical ability because you haven’t stopped moving or living a healthy lifestyle your whole life. With people living longer and longer lives the importance of increasing your health span rather than just your lifespan has increased dramatically. However, it’s hard to know what is important to focus on to truly increase the quality of your life, not just the quantity. We will explore tips and tricks to help boost your energy levels, keep your mobility, and improve your overall well-being. These small but consistent lifestyle changes can lead to long term benefits and help you get to that 90th birthday party where you get to play catch with your great granddaughter without your family worrying you will hurt yourself (although they will probably do that no matter what).
1. Staying Physically Active
If you don’t use it you lose it. We’ve all heard that phrase before but it is extremely important to remember when it comes to activity. There is absolutely no age restriction on ANYTHING when it comes to physical activity. I’ve seen 80 year olds go from needing a walker to confidently walking upstairs without using the hand rail. Just because you’re aging doesn’t mean you need to downshift. So let’s talk about what you can do to stay physically active.
First of all, the most important thing to do is make sure you are cleared for activity by your physician. If they have never given you any activity restrictions and you have no serious medical conditions, you can typically assume you can try some of these activities. However, it’s always wise to have a conversation first if you’re at all worried.
Next, find a variety of activities you like to do regularly. Is there a walking club in your town? Water aerobics? Group fitness classes? Have you checked out Silver Sneakers offerings in your area? These are all excellent ways to start to build consistency in your routine because they are also social avenues that will help to keep you accountable.
Another important element of a well balanced physical activity program is strength training. That doesn’t necessarily mean joining a gym and pumping iron like Arnold but it could mean standing up and sitting down from your couch 10x in a row when you finish watching a TV show. It could mean lifting a heavy pot up to the cabinet 5x in a row a couple times a day. Or doing glute bridges while you’re listening to the news. Remember those physical therapy exercises you got that one time? Take a peak at those again and incorporate them in your everyday life.
Building a physical activity routine is all about what you can do on a daily basis. Finding a way you like to move and challenging your muscles regularly will help boost your energy, make you more independent as you age and also keep your metabolism high from building and maintaining muscle.
2. Eat a Balanced, Nutrient Rich Diet
Ahh nutrition. Everyone’s favorite and most confusing topic when it comes to health. You probably have a lot of questions when it comes to this topic. Most people do thanks to the millions of diets that have been introduced to us over the years. But in reality nutrition is really, really simple.
If you know it’s junk food. Throw it out.
Eat *majority* non-processed foods (this means shopping the perimeter of the store rather than the aisles)
Eat protein, fiber, and healthy fats with each meal.
Make your plate look colorful.
Minimize alcohol intake. Recent studies have shown that there is no positive health benefit to any amount of alcohol. In fact, it is being proved to be detrimental for our health in any quantity.
Stop eating when you’re full and comfortable, this is usually at 80% full, not 100%.
As we age, the importance of getting enough calcium, vitamin D, B12 and omega-3s goes up. You can get calcium from high quality dairy sources, nuts and seeds. Vitamin D comes from the sun primarily but has to be absorbed by the skin when you don’t have sunscreen on. Depending on the intensity of the UV in your area, 10-30 minutes of sun exposure a day is healthy and doesn’t increase your risk of skin cancer. If you live in the northern half of the United States, it’s recommended to supplement with Vitamin D year round because the sun is not powerful enough to get you everything you need. B12 typically comes from eating high quality lean meats and is helpful in red blood cell formation which can help prevent things like anemia. If you are plant based, you still receive some B12 from plant sources but it is also recommended to take a high quality B12 supplement. Lastly, you can find omega-3s in fatty fish, or if you’re plant based, in flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts and soybeans. You can also take a high quality fish oil supplement if you do not eat these foods daily.
3. Prioritize Mental and Emotional Well-Being
We’ve talked a lot about how to keep your physical body healthy but as we age it is just as important to keep your mind healthy. If you are past the point of working everyday – congrats! Hopefully, your stress levels have naturally lowered. However, working in some mindful practices, like deep breathing, drinking your coffee before you read or watch any news, or getting outside first thing in the morning, can really help maintain your stress levels.
In addition to keeping your stress levels low, keeping your brain active is also very important. Doing different puzzles, reading, learning a new skill, finding fun social interactions that push your comfort zone are all ways to keep your mind sharp and help ward off dementia and Alzheimer’s. Finding a hobby you enjoy no matter what it is is key to keeping you excited about life on a day to day basis. We’ve all met those older people who have nothing they enjoy doing and they are just angry at the world all the time. I truly believe no one wants to end up like that so finding something to do daily that makes you happy and challenges your mind can help you keep a positive outlook on life.
4. Get Quality Sleep
Before you roll your eyes at this just wait. We know that as we age, your sleep need goes down so that means you might not need the 8 hours of sleep that your 30 year old kids need but when you sleep, you need to make sure you’re getting truly restful sleep. These small steps can help you to ensure when you do sleep, you’re truly recovering and regenerating your body.
Keeping a consistent sleep schedule. This means going to bed around the same time and waking up around the same time daily. One hour of variation doesn’t impact your sleep too much but any variance greater than that can impact your sleep quality.
Limiting screen time and over-head light before bed. Ideally, screens are off an hour before bed and don’t come in the bedroom but sometimes that’s not realistic. Using blue-light blocking glasses can help minimize your exposure to this sleep blocking light and help your drowsy signals work better. Also, turning off the overhead lights and using lamps after dinner can naturally tell your body it’s time for bed, much like the sun going down.
Creating a calm sleep environment. As said before, screens don’t really have a place in the bedroom. Ideally, your bed should only be for sleep and…well we’re all adults here. You know what the other activity is. Setting up your bedroom in a way that makes you let out a big breath and feel calm as you enter is key. Sometimes that means using an essential oil diffuser with lavender oil. Sometimes that’s making sure your bed is made in the morning and your room is decluttered so when you walk in it’s your oasis. Whatever it is for you, take steps to make sure your sleep environment is as calm as possible.
5. Maintain Social Connections
Blue Zones are areas in the world where there are an unusual amount of people who live beyond 100. They are not just living beyond 100 but many are healthy and thriving beyond 100. Across all of these Blue Zones, one constant is there. It’s not the food they eat, or the physical activity they do, but the purposefulness of their community. All of these areas in the world have a strong connection to their community that keeps them going. We can all take a lesson from these areas to our own lives. Most of the time it’s not realistic to move into a new community where this naturally happens so you have to create it for yourself. Some ideas to boost and create your social connections are:
Joining clubs that pertain to your hobbies, interests, or skill sets.
Volunteering. Finding a purpose beyond yourself that fuels you.
Connecting with your friends and family regularly. Whether that’s in person, or making sure you call them regularly, connections make life worth living.
This is your bonus step because you should already be doing this. Stay on top of your preventative care.
Seeing your physician is important and essential for managing any health concerns that do come up. Also, when health concerns come up, make sure to advocate for yourself and get second opinions. This is especially important if you do not live in a big city. Unfortunately, the highest paying jobs in the medical field are in big cities so the best doctors with the most resources are there. You are the expert on your own body. It is your responsibility to advocate for, and manage your own body and your own health. Ask questions, seek to understand a diagnosis, ask for second opinions, and have someone you trust come with you to big appointments to take notes so you can be sure you have all the information you need about your own health. It’s not nearly as important for anyone besides you.
Now that you know the 5 essential steps for increasing your health span – staying physically active, eating a well balanced, nutrient rich diet, prioritizing mental and emotional well being, getting quality sleep, and maintaining social connections – it’s time to implement some of these tips. Changing your routines can definitely be a challenge at first, but with consistency, it gets easier and easier and easier. Hopefully you find joy in these tips and you are excited to do them daily because joy truly makes it so much easier to stick with. Are you picturing your 90th birthday now? Good. Keep that image handy anytime you need a reminder for why you’re making these changes.
If you have any questions or concerns about your own personal health and wellness and want to set up a consultation, please CLICK HERE to be connected with the author of this article and health expert, Caroline Beebe.