ONE STEP AT A TIME your health
At Every Age
Let’s get physical. Exercise recommendations remain the same at every age. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, do moderately intense cardio exercise like walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or vigorously intense cardio like running 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. In addition to one of those, pump iron twice a week. Choose eight to 10 strength-training exercises that work all of your muscles, from your biceps to your back to your calves and thighs. Perform eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise.
Get your beauty rest. “From young adulthood on, a person’s sleep needs to decrease only slightly, so it is a myth that older people need less sleep,” says Lawrence Epstein, M.D., director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep. Because there’s no magic number, the best way to determine if you’re getting enough sleep is if you wake up feeling rested each morning and get through the day without feeling tired and sleepy, explains Epstein. Get on track by establishing a sleep routine. Give yourself 30 minutes to unwind before going to sleep, and go to bed at the same time every night.
Eat heart-healthy. Opt for a Mediterranean diet that’s rich in fish, whole grains, beans, nuts, fruit, vegetables and good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated). Go easy on refined carbohydrates, sugar, processed foods, and saturated fat found mostly in dairy and red meat. This kind of diet can help protect against obesity, heart disease, diabetes and possibly even arthritis and cancer. Mediterranean-style eating plans are high in fiber, which helps fortify the immune system, says Mark Liponis, M.D., Canyon Ranch Corporate Medical Director and author of UltraLongevity. High-fiber foods will also keep you fuller longer, and keep your energy levels up—which can be a challenge at any age.
Keep your weight down. Maintaining a healthy weight is much easier than trying to lose it—and it becomes especially difficult to shed excess pounds as we get older. Starting in our 30s, our metabolism slows down by five percent every decade. That means every ten years, your body will burn 100 fewer calories per day. If it takes 3,500 extra calories to gain one pound, that’s nearly a one-pound weight gain every month, if you don’t adjust your food intake. To maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) now and into the future, watch your portion sizes, avoid mindless snacking and try to add an extra mile of walking into your day.
32 HEALTHYADVICE.COM
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