How to Be Healthier in Your Fifties

You’ve come to that time in your life when you are more financially stable, when the path is set with most things. Your family choices have been made, your career is partially behind you and your life has a nice routine about it in a lot of respects. You may or may not be a grandparent, and life is full. However, the effects of time and life can be seen in higher cholesterol, more stringent medical exams by your doctors and a general slowing down. It’s possible to avoid those health pitfalls that life has put before you with a little determination and effort. Read on.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• initiative

1. To be plain, it is imperative that people exercise at least three hours a week, and eat low-fat, lean meats and higher levels of fruits and vegetable to achieve optimum levels of health. Increasing flexibility through stretching is a great way to avoid injury from everyday activities. Stretching will also help your blood flow and decrease existing back or joint pain.
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, in fact, a good seven and a half or eight hours of sleep every night is necessary for good health. Turn off that program earlier and get to bed at the same time most nights to take advantage of the benefits that sleep can provide.
3. Schedule some time each day, even if it’s fifteen or twenty minutes, to walk or jog. The cardiovascular exercise will increase your lung capacity and strengthen your heart. You can do this exercise in ten minute intervals if need be, but try and do it every day. You may even learn to use it as a relaxation tool as your body reaps the benefits of the endorphins released in your brain as a result of exercise.
4. In order to increase your resting metabolism, which can burn as many as fifty calories a day per pound of muscle in your body, three days a week of weight training needs to be added to your exercise routine. This isn’t to say that you need to begin bodybuilding, but 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. If you do you weight lifting on both Saturday and Sunday, then you’ll only need one more day a week to increase your muscle mass.
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 for women in their fifties 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.