How to Be Healthier in Your Forties

Have you heard that the forties are the new thirties? Well, with life expectancies extending, this can very well be the case. Unfortunately, nobody told our bodies that they need to slow down the aging process, so it’s up to us to do it ourselves. A life filled with career, children, and activities can make it difficult to fight the effects of time. Read on to learn about the traps that exist and how to combat them effectively.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Initiative

1. You’re set into your career. Your kids are in school full time. Life has a distinct rhythm to it, but why does it seem that there’s not time for you? With longer working hours and kids that have two and three activities all year round, extending schedules are making it more and more difficult to follow healthy life practices. With little time to prepare meals, eating out is more often the option. Exercise is even harder to achieve and easier to excuse as a trial on already short time. To be healthier, it is imperative that people exercise at least 3 hours a week, and eat low-fat, lean meats and higher levels of fruits and vegetable to achieve optimum levels of health.
2. To find your way to a regular exercise regime, it’s necessary to realize that it is not an option up for choice. But that’s not to say that you have to stop sleeping to be healthier. A good 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night is necessary for good health.
3. Schedule some time each day, even if it’s 15 or 20 minutes, to walk or jog. The cardiovascular exercise will increase your lung capacity and strengthen your heart. You can do this exercise in 10-minute intervals if need be, but try and do it every day.
4. In order to increase your resting metabolism, which can burn as many as 50 calories a day per pound of muscle in your body, 3 days a week of weight training needs to be added to your exercise routine. Increasing your muscle mass protects your joints and helps fight the gravity that has begun to work on your body. Thirty-minute routines are fine, being careful to watch form and not worry so much about the weight of the dumbbell.
5. Diet is the last component of improving your health. A good rule of thumb is to fill half your plate with vegetables, a quarter with lean meat and the rest with starch. Don’t cut out carbs completely, because they allow for absorption of some key vitamins and fats. Dairy is essential especially for women in their forties to help maintain bone density. Although the timeline has ended to increase it in your mid-thirties, you can still fight off osteoporosis by taking in three portions of cheese, milk or yogurt every day. Lactose intolerant? Try soy-based products or a calcium supplement. If you don’t already, take a multivitamin to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs.

Tips & Warnings

• Always check with your doctor before beginning any exercise routine.