September is Healthy Aging Month, a time to set yourself and your body up for success to grow older in a healthy manner. Aging is bound to happen, but did you know you can prevent a lot of aging signs by improving your physical, mental, social and financial well-being?
Steps to Healthy Aging:
- Stay socially and physically active. Make sure to hangout with friends and get at least 30 minutes of light exercise a day.
- Start a routine. It doesn’t matter what the routine includes, its just a healthy way to keep your day filled and your mind healthy.
- Be aware of slower metabolism. You can do things to help speed it up like drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning and eating smaller meals and more snacks throughout the day.
- Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Your diet is one of the number one factors that influences aging and weight gain (which is directly linked to aging). Make sure to eat more fruits and vegetables and less sugar and carbohydrates.
- Watch your sleep. A healthy, rested person will age less. Make sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night.
- Relax more. You have earned it, read a book, lay by the pool, take a vacation.
- Travel somewhere new. It’s your life, live it! Go visit that destination you have always wanted to but never went! Go travel Europe or explore the place of your dreams.
There are also several physical changes that come along with aging.
- Your bones can become thinner and more brittle. Make sure to take vitamins and keep up that calcium intake.
- Your heart can become slightly larger and heart rate tends to get lower. Make sure to do exercises to keep that heart healthy!
- Your skin loses elasticity and may start to sag or wrinkle. Its said the botox is actually a good preventative solution to this as well as wearing sunscreen and staying out of the sun!
Also make sure to not neglect yourself. in order to not do so you should go to regular check-ups with your doctor, dentist, and optometrist, its even more important now. Always make sure to take all medications as directed by your doctor. Limiting alcohol consumption and cutting out smoking are huge factors that influence aging. It’s important that you tend to your emotional health as well. Reap the rewards of your long life, and enjoy each and every day.
