Itâs January, the month when many Sun City seniors make their New Yearâs 2015 resolutions! According to Suburban Seniorâs Magazine (December 2014 to January 2015), “… a recent study found that 22 percent of people give up their resolution(s) within the first week. By the end of March, more than half of the people pledging New Yearâs resolutions had fallen from the bandwagon.â How can we then make promises to ourselves that are practical and worth keeping, especially to help our body and mind health?
You may remember Art Linkletter, a famous television host of the 50s and 60s. In 2006, Art (at the age of 94âhe lived to be almost 98) and his friend, Mark Victor Hansen, wrote âHow to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life.â
(Creative Woman by Vector Open Stock)
Among empowerment tips for seniors found in their book were the following: â(1. Do something that inspires you to get out of bed in the morning. (2. Boost your longevity and health with exercise and better diet. (3. Create new relationships with all kinds of human beings. (4. Embrace adventure, travel, and new experiences.â
Written by Chris Petrakos in the 2015 Winter publication, Vol. XXX No. 1 of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinoisâ LifeTimes are more suggested resolutions for seniors.
âSmall ways to get a ânew youâ for a new yearâ suggests that small goals may be easier to carry out and may lead to greater changes of health over time. Chris suggests the following: (1. See your doctor for an annual âwellnessâ checkup; (2. Eat healthier with fewer calories and the addition of many new fruits and vegetables; (3. Get yearly screenings and tests to catch health problems early; (4. Start exercising (take a walk) because even a small amount of body movement to begin with will improve your mood, memory, and sleep; (5. Get social. This is one of the best ways to relieve weather related winter-blahs and so easy to do here in our Sun City community; (6. Know your medications, supplements, and herbs and how to use them correctly; donât be afraid to ask your doctor or pharmacist questions if necessary; (7. Learn something new which is the exercise to keep your brain sharp.
Indeed, Americans are living longer and healthier with the help of repair and replacement of hinges, cataract surgeries, treatment of heart disease, along with many other advancements in medicine and medical science.
The problem is that older age can produce more age-related memory loss problems. Peter Jaret, a WebMD writer for 50+: Live Better, Longer Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, informs us of â8 lifestyle tips to help protect against dementia and Alzheimerâs disease.â You might recognize some repeated tips from our three authors above as you read Mr. Jaretâs suggested 2015 resolution goals for the health of the brain: (1. Stay physically active which will ensure through a healthy heart, lungs, and blood vessels that all parts of the body, including brain cells, receive the oxygen and nutrients needed; (2. Challenge your mind with something new which can help keep the brain and its informational processing area and brain circuitry in top form; (3. Eat a diet abundant in fruits and vegetables to produce antioxidants that can forestall the brainâs age-related decline; (4. Controlling high blood pressure will protect small capillaries of blood that deliver nutrients and oxygen to the brain; (5. Maintaining normal blood sugar levels prevents diabetes and the resulting damage to the lining of blood vessels which can lead to declines in mental flexibility, memory, and speed of brain processing; (6. Keeping cholesterol in check may prevent damage to brain cells which produces a higher risk of cognitive decline and age-related memory loss and dementia; (7. Taking depression seriously is recommended by researchers who believe that a lifetime history of depression causes inflammation in areas of the brain that can increase age-related dementia and be a risk factor for Alzheimerâs disease; (8. Staying connected with friends and family will prevent social isolation, which is a risk factor for many health issues, including mental decline and memory loss.
There you have it! If you were to compile your own list of 2015 New Yearâs Resolutions, which of the above suggested ones would you choose?
Would you add new resolutions to your list? On Saturday, Jan. 10, a group of Sun City/Huntley active seniors were asked to compile their individual top three health-related priorities for 2015.
Here are the results (in order of importance) from the eight individuals who participated. Survey says: (1. (17 points) Begin to exercise or increase your exercise schedule. Nick Koplos added this âGo beyond what you normally do – get out of your comfort zone. Try something different or new.â (2. (14 points) Eat a healthy diet; improve your nutritional intake. (3. (9 points) Lose weight and keep it off. My added (4. (2 points) Sleep an adequate number of hours nightly. In my next 3 articles, I will explore these 2015 top priority health topics: Exercise/Lose and Maintain Proper Weight, Nutrition 101, and Sleep for Your Health.
