What do you do for your health?

[Kirby]

As I've gotten a bit older, aging and health in general have been on my mind more frequently.

What kinds of things do you do to maintain your health as you get older? Specific diets and/or exercise?

[gowan]

Speaking from my vantage point in my 85th year:

1. Keep moving, including exercise to keep your joints lubricated. Do some work with weights to help from losing muscle mass.

2. Don't overdo.

3. Don't take things too seriously.

4. Learn new things to keep your brain agile.

5. Take heart from a motto from Go Seigen: 寿石不老 Juseki Furou Loosely meaning play go all your life and you will not become senile

[jlt]

I am only about 50, but already feeling old despite trying to eat enough fruits and vegetables and exercising moderately all my joints. Last year I was affected with pain or discomfort in various parts of my body, and was almost unable to write more than a few lines or to run more than 2 km. I believe that the root case was excess uric acid, since my condition has been slowly improving over the last few months since I took appropriate medication. Apart from that I did and will do checkups for cancer (results are fine so far), since my father died at 61 of cancer.

So to summarize, eat well and exercise regularly without excess while you still can, but at some point natural methods may not be enough and you may need medical help, so don't neglect medical checkups.

[Knotwilg]

Another quinquagenerian here

A meta principle I try applying is: the more you do good the less room there is for bad.

It's not so easy for example to quit drinking coffee or beer (in my case). But if I drink liters of water, at least my system won't crave for liquid and the stomach is full.

Likewise, if I arrange for a walk or a bicycle ride, there's less time left for procrastinating behind the computer.

All discipline needs energy and therefore sleep. Going to bed is my biggest challenge.

[Kirby]

A meta principle I try applying is: the more you do good the less room there is for bad.

I like this idea. I don't have a problem exercising, but it's difficult for me to consistently diet. Maybe the answer is more activity to keep my mind off of snacking.

[jlt]

Snacking is not necessarily a problem, it depends on how often and how much you snack, and of the kind of food you eat. But the best way to avoid snacking too much on junk food is not to have it available at home, or at least not every day.

[Kirby]

Snacking is not necessarily a problem, it depends on how often and how much you snack, and of the kind of food you eat. But the best way to avoid snacking too much on junk food is not to have it available at home, or at least not every day.

I agree with that. I probably snack too much, now that I'm working at home. I'm in the basement, and when I want to take a break, I go upstairs and check the pantry. It's kind of a habit. I'm not always particularly hungry, but I'll grab something anyway. Usually nuts. Maybe not super unhealthy, but I think the calories add up.

I'd like to cut about 5% body fat, but I've been about the same weight and body fat percentage for awhile, now.

I have been doing crossfit on a regular basis, and that's helped me to feel a lot better in terms of my ability to move around and do stuff. But it seems that with the extra exercise, I probably eat more, too, because the added activity seems to have had about no impact on my weight since January.

[jeromie]

I like this idea. I don't have a problem exercising, but it's difficult for me to consistently diet. Maybe the answer is more activity to keep my mind off of snacking.

I like what Knotwilg had to say, but knowing some of what you have discussed in other posts I would just be careful about thinking that filling up all of your time with activity is healthy. Rest--and not just sleep--is also an important part of a healthy life.

For my own honest answer to the question, lately the answer has been, "Not much." I walk pretty much every day, but not enough to keep me very fit. Redeveloping healthy rhythms is something I need to work on.

[drmwc]

I am lot more mindful of this than when I was young.

I became overweight when I was 28. It eventually turned out that this was a really bad idea; therefore three and half years ago, I lost about 3.5 stone (50 pounds, 22kgs). This was sufficient to reverse the deleterious impact of the excess weight. I went from a BMI of around 28 to around 21; and a waist circumference of 36 inches to 28 inches.

The miscellaneous things I do are:
1) Log everything I eat. I got into the habit of this on my diet, and I carried on.
2) I went teetotal, as it was the only way I could hit my calorie goals during my diet. I haven't got around to restarting my drinking.
3) I cleaned up my diet, and I avoid food with added processed sugar. I eat a lot of plants and get a lot of oily fish.
4) I move around a lot. This tends to be climbing, caving, hiking, lifting weights or scuba diving, but there can be other stuff as well.
5) I'm better at monitoring things than I used to be (blood pressure, cholesterol etc.) to get early warning if things are going awry.
6) I have a cold shower every morning, but this is more likely placebo than genuinely benefiical.
7) I go for an hour's walk before breakfast to get sunlight early on in the day. (I do this with a friend; if she doesn't come along it may turn into a slow run.)