Staying healthy and feeling your best is important at any age, but growing older carries with it major life changes, from career changes and retirement, to children growing and leaving home, to loss of loved ones, to physical changes or perhaps declining health.
Coping with change can be difficult, but learning to adapt to change can also open up new possibilities and joys. You may find that you have time to focus on yourself and your loved ones in a way that was not possible in younger years; you might even decide to take on new hobbies or activities that are challenging and rewarding in equal measure.
Healthy aging is about resilience and reinvention. It is about learning to cope with change, discovering new ways to enjoy life, staying connected with loved ones and with your community, and getting physically active, eating and sleeping well to enjoy optimal health.
Coping with Change
There are some steps you can take to build your resilience and find healthy ways to cope with change:
- Practice gratitude. Focusing on the people and things you are grateful for will help you cope with loss and other changes that happen as you age. You may find that taking stock of what makes you grateful helps make people and experiences more precious and can elicit feelings of appreciation and joy.
- Don’t bottle up feelings. Showing emotions can be difficult, but burying your emotions can lead to anger and resentment, which have a damaging effect on your mood and your relationships. Find ways to share your feelings like talking to a trusted friend or writing in a journal.
- Remain positive. Like in the previous tip, coping with change is really about your outlook and attitude. Try to see the good in any situation. Even bad situations can teach us something valuable; for example, if a mistake has led to a bad situation, acknowledge this and learn for the future.
- Don’t let challenges accumulate. Ignoring a problem rarely makes it go away. Deal with challenges as they come. Take small steps to deal with a problem each day – this will give you confidence in your ability to resolve the issue.
Discover new joys
Everyone has different ways of experiencing meaning and joy, and the things that generate these positive feelings can change over time. Take the time to find out what brings you joy and pursue activities that feed that sense of wellbeing:
- Reconnect with an old hobby or learn a new one
- Play with your grandkids, nieces, nephews, or a favorite pet
- Learn something new (an instrument, a foreign language, a new game, a new sport)
- Get involved in your community (volunteer or attend a local event)
- Take a class or join a club or sports team
- Travel somewhere new or go on a weekend trip to a place you’ve never visited
- Spend time in nature (take a scenic hike, go fishing or camping, enjoy a ski trip)
- Enjoy the arts (visit a museum, go to a concert or a play)
- Write your memoirs or a play about your life experiences
Get active
Physical activity can have a tremendous effect on your wellbeing. Aging involves inevitable physical changes, but remaining active can ensure that you do not suffer from discomfort or disability.
Ideally, you should choose an activity that incorporates aerobic exercise, strength training, and balance and flexibility. Talk with your family doctor about what exercises might be right for you.
Aim for 30 minutes of moderate cardio-respiratory endurance exercise each day; choose exercises that get your heart rate up and have you breathing harder, like walking, cycling or swimming. Aerobic exercise increases the body's ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues and to remove waste from these tissues. If you find you tire easily, break the exercise into smaller periods of time, like exercising for 10 minutes at a time.
Strengthen muscles by performing repetitive motion exercises to prevent loss of bone mass and improve balance. Do these types of exercises using weights, resistance bands, specialized machines or what you have around you (like chairs, walls or the floor) to provide resistance.
Stretching exercises build flexibility to avoid injury and muscular aches and pains. Some people opt to include stretching as part of a warm-up or cool-down when doing aerobic or strength training exercises, or by doing yoga, Pilates or Tai Chi to stretch their muscles.
Eat well
With age, your metabolism decreases, your senses of taste and smell change, and your digestion slows. All of these changes will affect your appetite and the foods you find appealing. Adapt your eating habits to your changing needs and inclinations:
- Opt for high-fiber fruits, vegetables and whole grains. As your digestive system slows, increasing your fiber intake will help you feel well. High-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains provide the fuel you need to feel energetic.
- Make food look and taste good. As your senses of taste and smell change and as your appetite decreases, making food appealing by flavouring, preparing and presenting your food with care will help you meet your nutritional needs.
- Stay hydrated. We become more susceptible to dehydration as we age, so make sure you drink plenty of water.
- Socialize during meal time. Eating with company is more enjoyable than eating alone, so invite friends and family over to share a meal. And don’t be intimidated by additional clean-up; make the meal a pot luck and ask guests to help with the clean-up.
Sleep well
Take note of your sleep habits and make changes to improve your sleep. Some tips to consider are:
- Make your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool. Noise, light, and heat can interfere with the quality of sleep.
- Develop bedtime rituals. A soothing ritual, like taking a bath or playing soft music will help you wind down.
- Go to bed earlier. Adjust your bedtime to match when you feel tired, even if that’s earlier than it used to be.
- Increase activity during the day. If you are tired at bedtime because you’ve had a full day, you are more likely to sleep better.