Life as a senior is a series of new beginnings. You’re moving into a new stage of your life, able to make full use of your achievements, experience, and relationships. You may find yourself with more time to explore your interests and your hobbies. You’ll have more time to focus on your family and your community. All of that is wonderful, but being a senior carries one thing in common with every other stage of your life: you’ll want to take care of your health. Staying active in your golden years helps you get the most out of this time of your life. Here are some tips for seniors (and really people of all ages) for staying healthy and active.
Talk to Your Doctor
Before beginning any new exercise plan or physical activity, talk to your doctor. Your doctor can discuss your overall health with you including any limitations or chronic/ongoing conditions, and how this new activity will affect you. They’ll be able to provide the guidance you need to proceed in a safe and healthy way.
Find the Right Activity or Exercise Plan
Fortunately, you’re spending your golden years in a golden age of physical activity, with a wide variety of options available in most of the country. You can pursue more traditional activities like golf or tennis. Resistance training like weight lifting, resistance bands, or natural resistance exercises works for a lot of people. Low impact workouts that focus on balance and flexibility like Tai Chi, yoga, and pilates are also available. Most communities have walking, jogging/running, or hiking clubs for folks who enjoy pedestrian sports. You can pursue one or more activities as you see fit, try different things, and just enjoy getting up and getting active however best suits you!
Nutrition Matters!
If you want to get the most out of an active lifestyle, you’ll need to ensure that you’re getting the right nutrition and eating the right diet. The best place to start with this is a talk with your doctor, but in general, a balanced diet focused on vegetables and lean proteins while avoiding sugars and carbs is a good way to go. Alcohol should be approached with a spirit of moderation, and tobacco should be severely limited if not avoided altogether. “Garbage in, garbage out” as they say, and eating the right diet is an important part of caring for yourself as you get older.
Stay Engaged with Your Community
An active lifestyle doesn’t just mean physical activity. It means keeping yourself engaged intellectually, socially, and emotionally with the world around you. Getting involved with social groups who share your interests, participating in community events, and volunteering are wonderful ways to get out into the world, meet new people, and keep your mind and spirit active along with your body. It’s never too late to get physically active, and it’s also never too late to get out there and make new friends, engage with a new interest, or pick up a new hobby.
We hope this article both gives you some ideas for staying active in your golden years and some encouragement to do so. This is a new stage of your life with new opportunities, so get out there and make the most of them!