How Do You Age Gracefully?

Today, we will talk about something that we all want to do, and that is to age gracefully. I’m not just talking about the way you look, I’m talking about your level of activity and how you are going to go into those later years of your life. 

Yes! You Can Age Gracefully And Here’s How

Aging gracefully isn’t just about trying to look younger, it’s about living your best life and having the physical and mental health to enjoy it. You can even get better with age, with the right care. Aging gracefully is more about being healthy than keeping the wrinkles at bay. Here are a few tips on how you can age gracefully!

Are you going to be prepared and as active as you are in your 20s as you are in your 60s? Things are going to change, but there is no reason why we can’t all age gracefully with a few useful tips that we can do. These are easy things, but they are something that we have to do consistently because remember: over time, things that are done consistently are going to compound, whether good or bad. So, it’s time to start doing the good things. Later on, we can still jump on and off the floor with our kids and our grandkids. We can do those hikes and all those adventurous things that we want to do, but in order to do that, we definitely need to age gracefully. 

Let’s think about a few sports figures. LeBron James: he’s not a spring chicken to be doing what he’s still doing, but he’s still going strong. How? Because he takes care of his body. What about my favorite Cardinals players? Yadier Molina and Wainwright: they are pushing 40, yet they are still putting up crazy numbers. Why? Because they are taking care of their bodies. There’s a lot of things that we are going to talk about when it comes to aging gracefully. 

The first thing most people are gonna think about is their skin. 

Your skincare is very important to aging gracefully. One thing that you must do is wear sunscreen. I guarantee you know several people who are older, even in their 60s and 70s, that said “I wish when I was younger, I would have worn sunscreen.” Skin cancer is something we all think about using, but sunspots and age spots happen, and those are things that you need to think about at an early age before you get to that point. There are things we can do. 

The main thing with your sunscreen is that you remember to reapply it frequently. How many times do you put it on before you go out to the beach or before you go to the pool? Hours pass and you forget to reapply it, right? It’s not gonna work all day, you must remember to reapply it. When you’re choosing your sunscreen, you need to look at what’s inside of it, because there are a lot of ingredients that can clog your pores, and if you’re putting that on, especially if you’re somebody that is active outside. You really can be doing your skin harm, as well, and cause a lot of breakouts and a lot of other skin issues.

Hydration is absolutely key to your skin’s health and the aging process. 

We need to keep our skin moist. That is key. I’m not just talking about drinking water, because that you need to do. Your skin needs water just like your plants need water. However, you need to also make sure when you are choosing the right products. Whether it’s your anti-aging skincare line, makeup, or lotion, you need to make sure water is a main ingredient. Water is what’s going to hydrate your skin. You want to avoid the products that have petroleum and mineral oils in them and you want to avoid things that have a lot of alcohol in them.

Get a couple of bowls, put water in one, and put a little bit of mineral oil in the other. Put a Ritz cracker or saltine or whatever kind of cracker you have at home in each bowl. Wait a couple of minutes and see what happens. The one with the water can barely pull out because it’s so moist. It’s falling apart because the water has just completely penetrated the cracker. The one that’s sitting in mineral oil is knocking on the bottom of the bowl. It sucked in all of that moisture, and if you leave it for hours, it almost becomes similar to hard plastic. You can just see what mineral oils can do to your skin.

Those are two things you need to watch for. 

Many products, including lotions, will have a little bit of alcohol. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be the consistency of a lotion. You don’t need six kinds of alcohol in your lotions. What is that really doing to help? You’re using it over and over again because it’s actually drying out your skin. It might feel good for the first few seconds you put it on, but five minutes later, you’re like “why are my hands white and chapped again?” That’s because it’s not a good lotion from all of the different types of alcohol in it. It surprises me so much when I look at the ingredients of some of these products, there’s even alcohol and lotions that we use to mix up acne medication. If we’re using acne medication and it’s drying up those pimples, what do you think it’s doing to your hands, or your face, or anywhere really? Please try very hard to avoid products that have those three ingredients. 

What else do we need to do? We need to exercise. 

Exercising regularly can significantly lower your risk of diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, and can help you retain your mobility longer. Exercise also lowers stress and improves sleep, skin and bone health, and mood. The Department of Health recommends that adults do: 2½ – 5 hours per week of moderate-intensity exercise, 1 ¼ – 2 ½ hours per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercises, or a combination of the two. Older adults should also focus on activities that include balance training in addition to aerobic and muscle strengthening exercises. According to the National Institute on Aging, evidence shows that people who begin exercising later in life can also experience improved heart function.

We can’t talk about anti-aging if we’re not gonna talk about your diet as well.

Diet is shown to be an important part of how people age. Make sure you are paying attention to the glycemic index value of the foods you are consuming. Foods with a higher glycemic index value can raise your BMI, increase your waistline, and spike your blood sugar. Also, make sure you are consuming the recommended amounts of vitamins as they help contribute to bone health as you age. Eating well is not just about your weight. It can also help protect you from certain health problems that occur more frequently among older adults. Eating unhealthy foods can increase your risk for some diseases. If you are concerned about your diet, talk with your doctor about ways you can make better food choices.

Now, we need to talk about your mental health. 

You can tell on people’s faces when they are stressed. If this goes day after day, it’s going to compound. Think of people in big positions, think of the president, think of the first day that you see any president take office, and then four years down the road, they look completely different. This is because of all the stressors that they have put on them. Even though we might not be the president of the United States, we have all kinds of stressors that are put on us all day long with our daily life. Being happy and keeping stress to a minimum plays a considerable role in helping you live and age well.  Here are some helpful tips to help you stay happy: spend time with loved ones, meaningful relationships and a strong social network improve mental and physical well-being and longevity. Accept your age, according to Oxford Academic, people who maintain a positive attitude about aging live longer and may recover better from a disability. Aging is inevitable, and learning to embrace it can make all the difference. Do things you enjoy: taking time to do things you enjoy will only fuel your happiness.

So, reach out to me. I’ll put you in my Facebook group. I will be expanding on these things and giving a little more tip to Aging Gracefully and how we can do it and do some questions and answers as well. Thank you.

Reach out to me to help get you started: CLICK HERE