With age comes wisdom, and with that wisdom comes the opportunity to put your best foot forward. As you get older, a healthy lifestyle becomes as important as ever, and here at GLX3, our primary goal is to help you live your best life. It comes down to a well-rounded lifestyle built around health and wellbeing. To feel your very best after your 50s, follow these five simple guidelines.
Find a supplement that suits your lifestyle
Take a moment to think about an important aspect of your life which you’ve worked hard to grow and nurture over the years. This could be your career, or perhaps a close relationship with a family member or friend. While there are a number of factors that have allowed you to progress this aspect of your life, one of them often flies under the radar — optimization.
At work, you slowly learn how to tailor your workload and schedule towards being efficient and productive. With a close relative, you learn how to get the most out of the time you spend together — even if those times get fewer and further between. A supplement helps you optimize your health by ensuring a consistent intake of essential nutrients. Many of us, as we age, begin to notice increased pain and inflammation in our joints and muscles, and to counter that, we need Omega-3 fatty acids. Taking a daily supplement such as GLX3 gives your body the power it needs to minimize joint pain and inflammation in an all-natural way.
Keep it fresh in the kitchen
As you get older, it becomes increasingly important to eat healthy and monitor your salt intake. Too much sodium is bad for the heart and can lead to high blood pressure. If you can keep your salt intake to around a half teaspoon per day, you’re definitely on the right track.
Likewise, stay far away from those cheese covered, deep-fried appetizers. Most restaurants nowadays are accustomed to catering to customers with unique dietary situations, and as such, will provide healthier options. Swap out those nachos for spring rolls, and consider the amount of fresh veggies that come with your entree.
One of the best ways to do this is to follow a Mediterranean diet. Now, we know you’re likely not planning to relocate to Greece — though a quick visit might be in order, eh?) There’s no need to go that far from the family or the job to eat a diet rich in Omega-3s and a diverse set of vitamins and nutrients.
The Mediterranean diet is built largely around plant-based foods and uses natural herbs and spices to add flavor to a dish, not loads and loads of salt. Use olive oil instead of butter when you can, and opt for a handful of nuts — trail mix counts, so there’s a bit of a cheat — instead of potato chips.
Stick to your (sleep) routine
Many of us wish we had time to sleep more. Even lacking the time or ability to sleep in on a regular basis, there is actually a way to make the time you do spend under the covers count. The key is to find a routine that works for you and your schedule and stick to it. If you watch the news each night at 10, get in the habit of making that the last thing you do before getting ready for bed. Dim the lights before the opening segment, and use the time in front of the screen (or wherever you spend the last part of the night before bed) to wind down and let the events of the day fall off your shoulders. It can be tough to turn the TV off and not watch just one more episode or show, but a little bit of discipline goes a long way towards better health.
Of course, there will be times when this isn’t doable — a night out, an early morning to catch up on work, these things happen, and that’s ok. The key is to train yourself to wind down around the same time each evening, and to get started around the same time each morning. That way, even when you do fall off track for a night or two, there’s no need to be hard on yourself because it’s easy to recover — your body’s rhythms won’t be thrown off by a slight disruption.
Stay active
Your friends, your spouse, your kids — it may seem as though everyone has an opinion on which exercises you should be doing and how often. They might forget your birthday, but they sure do remember to nag you about getting out to the gym. The truth is, there are two people who know best what exercise you need — you and your doctor. Exercise gets a bad rap because it’s made out to be this dreadful event that requires you to dress in a ridiculous outfit and lift things that aren’t natural.
It doesn’t have to be like that.
Regular physical activity is important, but there are many ways to go about getting it. Maybe that’s power walking around the neighborhood park, or pushing your golf bag around the course instead of driving a cart. For those with young grandkids, an hour with them often brings plenty of exercise. What matters is that you keep yourself moving regularly, and avoid living a sedentary lifestyle.
Being active both feels good now and offers the long-term benefit of being able to continually do so.
Get out and enjoy yourself
There’s an old saying that we’d like you to remember the next time you’re deciding whether or not to splurge on yourself for a change:
“We don’t quit the game because we grow up, we grow up because we quit the game.”
Age is a number, and there’s no reason the number you’re staring at can’t be a fun one. Being healthy after your 50s requires a bit of laughter, a dose of sarcasm, and plenty of socialization. One thing we often find ourselve guilty of is taking things too seriously. Heck, get outside and play a bit. Find an activity each month to do just for yourself, for no other reason than that you want to. Take yourself to a movie, or check out that new fusion restaurant that opened up downtown. If you can, bring along a friend — maybe even someone you haven’t seen in a while, as odds are they’ve been waiting for the right time to reach to you too.
And don’t forget to laugh — you’ll remember the good times that much more fondly.
