Senior caregivers may be in the right job for healthy aging, it turns out. Recent research shows that just by sitting at a desk all day long, you increase your odds for heart attacks and other health risks. Caregivers certainly don’t sit all day long so that risk is not a problem.
Aging is a natural process that everyone experiences along with the gift of more birthdays to celebrate. Healthy aging is the name of the game and senior caregivers who view all the ways aging can be unpleasant, especially for individuals who have smoked, eaten the wrong foods and stopped exercising, there is more of an incentive to take care of yourself. Who cares how long you live if you aren’t going to feel good, right?
Bob Greene, Oprah’s personal trainer who has developed training programs and diets, now joins the conversation on healthy aging. His findings aren’t different from the Blue Zones or information from Dr. Andrew Weil, which is comforting. It is a blend of common sense with mastering knowledge of healthy foods and exercises along with socialization.
What are the secrets for health aging?
- Keep moving: exercise 30 minutes a day
- Eat superfoods for good nutrition
- Take vitamins
- Skincare – use the right lotions for your skin type
- Sleep well – if this means buying a new mattress, do so
- Socialize
- Relax – and it is okay if that includes a glass of wine at the end of the day but do not over-indulge in alcohol
Bob Greene now packages his tips in a new book promoting that living by his rules will make you look and feel 20 years younger. This is terrific marketing. His biggest emphasis is on exercise – make it an appointment you can’t cancel, he says. Another way to persuade yourself to get moving is to learn about the costs of senior care, should you need extra help when you are older. Find out about nursing homes and senior home care agencies in your area. We hope you won’t need them but insurance actuaries calculate most Americans will need caregiving services for at least 2 years of their senior lives.
