Key Ways to Stay Fit as Your Age

Getting older is inevitable. And while you can’t stop the ageing process, you can support your Body and overall health by making wise choices along the way. From the foods we eat to the exercise we do daily, it all affects how fast or slow our bodies age.

By lowering your chances of heart disease, cancer, hypertension and diabetes and reducing the risk of falling or breaking bones, your quality of life is extended well into your later years. So grab your nearest bottle of alkaline water Australia and learn the ways you can stay fit as you age.

Diet

Small changes in your eating habits and dietary choices can have a massive impact on your chances of developing diseases associated with ageing and declining health.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Minor differences in body weight can significantly impact your overall health. For example, losing just 5% of your body weight can actively reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes and improve metabolic function in the liver, fat and Muscle tissue.

For many, losing weight feels like a daunting task. But approaching it as just 5% reduces the intimidation and makes it a more realistic and reasonable number to achieve.

Avoid Processed Meat

Processed meats typically found in hot dogs and sausages have been through several processes to reach their final products, including salting, curing or smoking. Multiple studies have found a link between eating this type of meat and poor levels of health.

A Harvard review found that eating one serving of processed meats daily could increase the chances of heart disease by 42% and diabetes by 19%. While saturated fat and cholesterol are present, the biggest culprits are high levels of sodium and chemical preservatives.

Eat the Colours of the Rainbow

You shouldn’t plan your entire diet around eating superfoods, but including them in your meals will help you reap their benefits. Incorporating dark-coloured fruits and vegetables like blueberries, cherries, spinach, and kale will add nutrients, fibre and carotenoids to your diet.

Research has shown that eating three or more servings of blueberries, for example, can lower your risk of diabetes by a whopping 26%. At the same time, another study indicated that eating a cup of blueberries a day will lower blood pressure. Additionally, these types of food will keep you fuller for longer, meaning you are less likely to binge on unhealthy food.

Cut Down on Packaged Foods

The simplest way to ensure you eat a clean and healthy diet is to skip processed food and beverages. This will guarantee you avoid the added sugars, preservatives and chemicals that your body simply doesn’t need.

When you rely less on packaged foods like chips, granola bars and fast food, you naturally start to eat more fresh produce, lean meats and whole grains. This can be summed up as the Mediterranean diet, which has been shown through numerous studies to be one of the healthiest and most balanced ways to eat.

Exercise

Keeping your body in motion will allow you to age with fewer aches and pains compared to spending all your free time on the couch. Approaching various core elements of fitness will help you cover all your bases.

Strength Training

You start to lose muscle around the age of 30, with every decade that follows knocking off a bit more each time. Naturally, this raises your chances of failing and breaking bones. But this muscle isn’t gone for good.

Incorporating strength training into your exercise routine, including free weights, weight machines, resistance bands or your body weight, allows you to tone muscles, keep your joints strong and combat feelings of anxiety and depression.

Stretching

Regardless of your age, to stay limber, you need to stretch. But stretching isn’t to make your muscles longer or bigger. Instead, the goal of stretching is to allow your body to recognise that it is safe to move in new ranges of motion.

To get the best results, engage in active stretching, where you move through the full range instead of staying in one place. Yoga and pilates are great options for this.

Balance Work

Without even realising it, you are working on your balance every time you stand up or walk. But as you get older, this practice needs to be done more frequently. This is due to your body naturally losing its ability to maintain balance as it ages.

By incorporating simple exercises into your daily routine, such as walking backwards or standing on one leg while doing the dishes or folding the washing, you are improving balance, building stamina and working your core muscles.

Physical Activity

Exercise is categorised as deliberate actions performed for the purpose of getting stronger, fitter, healthier, and perhaps, to lose some weight. Physical activity is all the movement we do in our daily lives while performing tasks and chores.

It might be walking the dog, cleaning the house, mowing the lawn or doing your weekly grocery shop. Both types of activity are needed as our ability to move more is predicated on the ability to start moving in the first place.