According to ISI Translation Services, only 17% of seniors above the age of 65 are still making New Year’s Resolutions. But when they do, aside from weight control, improving the mind is a top priority. Here’s my list of researched items found in the top 11 needs for providing you with optimum health or anti-aging resolutions for the year of 2012. We, as Sun City residents, are very fortunate to have so many amenities (located just brief distances from our homes) that will help many of these resolutions become reality!
1. Eat regular, nutritious meals. Try including more dark greens in your diet. You’ll be happy that you did! Kale, spinach, broccoli, even vegetable seaweed are excellent sources of iron, calcium, vitamins A,B,C,D, and E. Don’t forget to drink 8 8-ounce glasses of water each day also.
2. Add or continue to exercise in your daily routine. You may even want to try a new physical activity, such as tai-chi. Exercise, together with a healthy diet, are the best ways to control your weight and strengthen your body to ward off illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, as well as to gain better control of arthritis. Your sleep will also become more regulated after physical exercise.
3. Engage your mind. Try meditation to get to know “your inner self,” as well as for stress relief. Stretch your horizons by trying something new! Perhaps you might want to learn a language, develop a new hobby, take a dance or art class, or even read a self-help book that can teach you tools to control “your own destiny.” Challenge your brain with games, puzzles, and brain-teasers that rely on logic, word-skills, and math that speed the brain’s functions and its memory.
4. Socialize with others. If you feel “alone” or are desiring “more community,” you need only to look in your monthly Lifestyles magazine to see the myriad numbers of clubs and social activities that would best increase your own personal social stimulation. What better way to develop an optimistic attitude through sharing laughter with friends! Mental, physical, and emotional health gains are greatly enhanced as well. Don’t forget to volunteer in Sun City, as well as in our local communities.
5. Clean house. As we age, we tend to become packrats. Give away to family, friends, or a charity items in your house you will never use again. See the joy that comes from sharing your treasures!
6. Get your affairs in order. Put important legal documents and information in a vault box. Make a list of your personal belongings, and let a family member or trusted friend know where the vault box is located and where they can find a key to it. Balance your budget to alleviate money worries throughout the year.
7. Surf the internet. Even if you don’t have a computer in your home, find one in Sun City’s library or computer lab, or Huntley’s library, and learn how to use the internet. E-mail, of course, will help to keep you in touch with family and friends, but there is nothing like the learning experience of opening a whole new world of information on websites. Learn, learn, and learn!
8. Schedule visits to your doctors, dentist, and necessary labs. Early preventative detection of problems is critical! Make sure that your prescriptions are up to date and located at one pharmacy.
9. Make your house as safe as possible. One in three people over the age of 65 fall and sustain injuries. Remove items from floors that can cause falls, arrange furniture for the easiest exit path, add grab bars/guard rails where needed, check your fire alarms, and make sure all interior and exterior areas are well lit.
10. Daily habits of adequate showering, maintaining clean hands, brushing and flossing teeth, as well as getting the proper amount of sleep will strengthen your body’s battle against bacteria and viruses leading, hopefully, to a healthier you.
11. If the doldrums of winter and “cabin fever” have become apparent in your household, plan a vacation. Nothing helps better to eliminate “winter depression” than a trip to new scenery at a chosen destination.
Nancy Turngren, RN, BSN, Sun City’s Wellness Center Program Manager for Centegra’s Health System, has also listed her 5 Wellness Tips for the New Year:
1. Change before you have to, or in other words, practice preventative medicine for both the body and mind.
2. Focus on goals, not just on resolutions. A greater percentage of accomplishing your resolution will come from becoming goal-oriented and sharing that goal with someone else who will hold you responsible for it.
3. Improve your relationships by practicing responding better to a situation, rather than instantly reacting to it.
4. Meditate. “By 2020, non-physical activities will become as important as physical exercise is now,” according to Nancy. She adds that residents should check out meditation programs available in the Wellness Center Program Guide found inside the Wellness Center for Winter 2012.
5. Use a Healthy Mind Platter or the following seven mental activities to optimize brain matter and create well-being: focus time, play time, connecting time, physical time, time in, down time, and sleep time.
