Exercise, the fountain of youth

After a year of retirement, I have noticed a difference in my health. During the summer, while building a nice chicken coop and run for my 10 little ladies, exercise was not a problem. I averaged 10,000 to 15,000 steps each day along with carrying wood, climbing up and down a ladder, swinging a hammer, and wielding a heavy drill. However, once finished with the project and with colder weather, days were filled with more sedate activities like knitting, painting, crocheting, writing and reading. The result, 10 pounds heavier, pain in my legs and arms, along with a sluggish thyroid.

While working with seniors for seven years, I knew the relationship between retirement and failing health among the elderly because I watched it happen with so many. For me, it was a lack of exercise, and all of the studies and research I’ve read support that conclusion.

A 2022 study published by Population Reference Bureau (PBR), “Rising Obesity in an Aging America: Policy and Program Implications” details the increase of obesity among the aging population and the costs as a result of it.

According to PBR, obesity rates have risen dramatically in recent years and nearly doubling among older adults in the U.S. to the rate of two in every five Americans ages 65 and older. It is considered the epidemic of the 21st Century. This condition has destroyed generations and only continues to worsen as technology and the lack of incentive grow like an uncontrollable waistline. However, a younger body can shed those unwanted pounds a whole lot easier than an older one, and it can ward off the devastating conditions that seem to plague the elderly. But, there is a fountain of youth, even for the senior—exercise.

PBR research suggested that addressing the obesity epidemic will require attention to both individual behaviors and other related factors such socioeconomic disparities. According to many studies, older people with obesity face a higher risk of chronic illnesses, functional limitations, and shorter lives than those seniors who are not obese. Preventing obesity earlier in life may be important to preserve good health in later years, so developing good healthy habits can promote a longer, healthier life.

Any book, magazine article, or study link obesity to chronic illnesses such as, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, dementia, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses to the lack of exercise, social interaction, and mental stimulation. During my years while working with seniors and caring for aging parents, when asked the question, “When did you first see your health declining?” the answer was nearly always, “when I retired.” While working, they were physically moving and communicating one-on-one with people, whether it was a colleague, a client, or a customer, they were engaged with another human being in one way or another and making important decisions.

For young adults—get moving, catch it before it becomes serious, and encourage your aging parents to do the same. If a person is overweight and diabetic, see how quickly they can shed the insulin when they shed the pounds. It is a known fact that exercise helps control blood sugar levels, and when people with diabetes are encouraged to exercise, it helps to not only control their sugar levels, but it also reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases because muscles that are working use more glucose than those that are resting. Exercise also helps to lower blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels and lowers the risk of stroke and heart disease.

Seniors, the answer to nearly all conditions is exercise the body, the mind, and the soul. A healthier lifestyle means a healthier diet, get out of the house and talk to people, and become involved in activities that moves the body and the brain. Rather than sitting at home in front of a television every day, get back to work and volunteer at a nearby senior center; that is a great place to start.

When sitting alone in a house all day, a person has lots of time to have pity parties and think negatively about all their illnesses and problems, but put them in an environment that keeps them busy, they have no time to dwell on the negative, only replace it with the positive. So, walk down the hall a couple of times, do a few knee lifts, or even some wall push-ups, anything to strengthen bones and muscles. But, before starting a regiment, always ask your doctor what exercises are best for you.

For me, I’m back to my Oculus exercising with Flow and Boxing every morning, and I’m out of the holiday food mode and now into the healthier menus to help lose those unwanted pounds. Losing weight means less stress on knees and back, and don’t forget to stand up straight and hold in that tummy to increase core strength that helps with balance and strength. With 2025 just beginning, why not begin a whole new healthy lifestyle along with it, and perhaps along with losing weight, you might be able to lose some of the medicines you are taking.

Remember to exercise and enjoy “aging gracefully” through your “golden years.”