As you make resolutions and goals for 2020, consider adopting a few proven strategies for maintaining good physical condition. These will optimize your overall well-being, including your mental, social and emotional health.
Melissa Winberry is Assistant Director of Rose Centers for Aging Well in Cleveland and she pushes against the assumption that it’s acceptable to become increasingly sedentary with age.
MOVE MORE
Winberry says, “Exercise is very personal. While my top three recommendations are walking, yoga and swimming, my true recommendation is: do whatever will motivate you to stay active and just keep moving. Do what you like.”
The benefits of exercise include a decreased risk of falling, maintaining cardiac health (“your heart is a muscle; work it”) and helping to maintain optimal weight.
The rewards of maintaining your physical well-being extend far beyond the confines of your body. Winberry says, “When our bodies are in a good physical state, that naturally transcends to a positive emotional state. Getting out, keeping busy, maintaining an active mind and socializing with others naturally makes one feel better. Isolation is to depression, as socializing is to connections. As humans, we’re naturally wired to desire connections with others.”
ADJUST INTAKE
When it comes to her top three recommended dietary recommendations for those 50 and older, Winberry says:
1) Drink water every day. “As we age, we dehydrate faster than when we were younger. If you wait until you’re thirsty to drink, you’re already dehydrated.”
2) Limit sugar. “Sugar is not good for the immune system, which is already weaker in older adults.”
3) Make 50% of your diet vegetables and fruits. “A diet high in fruits and vegetables fosters a healthy intestinal tract.”
LEAN IN
Winberry offers these lifestyle tips for maintaining wellness at any age:
1) Learn something new. This keeps your mind stimulated and active.
2) Talk to at least one person, face-to-face, every day, even if it’s a stranger that you pass on the street and say ‘hello’ to. “This keeps isolation at bay; experts are now reporting that isolation is as detrimental to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
3) Continue to work in your chosen field, whether full-time, part-time or as a volunteer somewhere. “We all need meaningful work. We need to feel that we are contributing, valued and needed.”
Winberry reminds us that aging is a bonus that not everyone receives, so we shouldn’t take it — or our well-being — for granted. “Aging is not inevitable; it is a gift, and if viewed as such, chances are, it will be positive. We cannot control what happens to us. The only thing we can control is our response to it.”
HEAR THIS!
It’s not your imagination; it keeps getting harder to hear.
As you age, your senses can start to diminish, especially your hearing. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), age is the strongest predictor of hearing loss among adults aged 20-69, with the greatest amount of hearing loss in the 60 to 69 age group.
While just two percent of adults aged 45-54 have disabling hearing loss, this rate increases to 8.5 percent for those 55-64.; 25 percent of those aged 65-74; and 50 percent of those 75+ have disabling hearing loss.
With these stats in mind, Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center (CHSC) recommends getting a hearing screening every three years after age 50. According to Dr. Bridgid Whitford, CHSC Director of Hearing Services, “by age 65, 30% of people have hearing loss and by age 75, that number increases to almost half of people. Unfortunately, it typically takes seven years for someone to seek help for hearing loss.”
Beyond its effect on the physical senses, undiagnosed hearing loss can cause relationship troubles. According to the American Speech and Hearing Association, the insidious nature of hearing loss allows many adults to ignore it for years or decades. One of the first signs of hearing loss is often an inability to hear and understand speech in noisy environments like restaurants. Because of its slow progression, people don’t acknowledge their condition until a spouse or significant other becomes increasingly frustrated by the miscommunication hearing loss creates.
“As with anything health-related, detecting an issue with your hearing as early as possible means better chances for better outcomes,” says Sharon Dundee, CHSC Director of Marketing & Communications.
“Detecting potential hearing loss is critical for diagnosis and treatment. Hearing plays an important role in maintaining communication and socialization in adults. Untreated hearing loss affects quality of life — including relationships and other social connections.”
Get a Plan: Retirement
Retirement doesn’t have to mean withdrawal. More and more retirement-age adults are discovering this stage of life is an opportunity to spread their wings in new directions, reinventing themselves by taking on a new career, volunteering role, hobby or another unexpected venture.
“One’s 50s, 60s and 70s don’t have to be defined by retirement and failing health,” says Melissa Winberry, Assistant Director of Rose Centers for Aging Well. “They can be a second career or a twist on one’s original career. They can be years filled with connecting with friends and family, travel and hobbies one always wanted to try.”
She recalls a story about a 98-year-old man who was brought to a Benjamin Rose senior center by his daughter because he was spending too much time by himself at home. His nickname was Rev, as he used to be a church pastor.
“One day at the center, I noticed he was sitting at the piano playing, so I went up to him and asked, ‘What are you playing?’ The Rev replied with a big smile; ‘I’m not really quite sure. I don’t know how to play the piano. I always wanted to learn while I was a kid, but my family didn’t have money for lessons. I saw that the center had a piano so I figured I would teach myself.’
“Based on what I heard on the piano that day, I wouldn’t have known that he hadn’t taken lessons previously or that he was in the process of teaching himself. If at 98 years old, a retired reverend can decide he’s going to teach himself to play the piano, we all have the ability to learn anything we want to at whatever age we want to. It’s never too late.”
