Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

Sleep is an essential need that the human body requires. It is vital for the infrastructure of good health. Not getting enough sleep can have a great effect on the body physically and mentally.   

The two basic types of sleep are rapid eye movement (REM sleep) and non-REM sleep. Deep sleep is known as non-REM, while dreaming state typically occurs during REM. Generally, non-REM and REM sleep present themselves in a regular pattern of 3–5 cycles each night.  

Your body’s effectiveness to operate and feel well during the day relies on whether you are getting enough total sleep AND adequate amounts of each type of sleep. It also depends on whether you are sleeping at a time when your body is prepared and ready to sleep.  

Health Conditions Linked to a Lack of Sleep  

Adults typically need a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. When the minimal amount is not met, health conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity can occur or worsen.   

• High Blood Pressure: Blood pressure levels go down during normal sleep. Staying awake longer or having problems sleeping means your blood pressure is staying higher for a longer amount of time.  
• Type 2 Diabetes: Diabetes causes sugar to build up in your blood. Getting enough sleep may help people regulate blood sugar levels. Researchers believe that sleep restriction may affect blood sugar levels due to its effects on insulin, cortisol and oxidative stress.  
• Obesity: The part of the brain that controls hunger needs a healthy balance of the hormone's ghrelin (makes you feel hungry) and leptin (makes you feel full). Not getting enough sleep may cause more ghrelin levels to increase, which will make you feel hungrier than when you are well-rested.   

How Do I Get Better Sleep?  

• Stick to a routine - A regular sleep schedule will cause your circadian rhythm to stay on track. Go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning. Try not to vary too much, even on the weekends. 
• Physical Activity - Get enough exercise during the day. Try not to do too much physical activity within a few hours of your regularly scheduled bedtime.  
• Don’t eat or drink within a few hours of bedtime - Eating or drinking too much within a few hours of bedtime causes your organs to “wake up”. It may impair your sleep cycle and cause you to have trouble managing your blood sugar.  
• Keep your bedroom dark, cool and quiet - This type of environment is the most welcoming environment for your body to prepare for sleep.  
  
  

What do you do to prepare for sleep?

When we think of aging, some think about wrinkles, aches, and pains and the negative associations of the aging process. Yet there is so much more to aging! No, we cannot stop the aging process, but we can choose to live a healthy lifestyle. This is the time to do things you have never done and find enjoyment.   Here are just a few things to consider when aging gracefully and living your best life!

Be nice to your skin

To keep your skin looking and feeling at its best:

• Stay hydrate. On average we should drink 7-8 cups of water a day to keep our skin looking good and our body functioning appropriately. When we become dehydrated our skin can become dry and folded.
• Wear sunscreen and even a hat to keep the sun off your face
• Wear sunglasses when outdoors to protect your eyes from sun damage
• Use gentle skin care products
• Make sure and have a yearly skin cancer screening

Exercise

Regular exercise helps control your cholesterol, blood pressure, body weight, and reduces the risk of hardening of the arteries, stroke, and heart attack. A good fitness program conditions muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones to stimulate bone growth and helps prevent osteoporosis while keeping your body limber and lowering your chances of injury. Exercise is also good for managing low back pain, arthritis, and diabetes. Incorporating regular exercise into your life can help you feel better, sleep better and give you the endurance to enjoy your best life.

• It is recommended to participate in cardiovascular exercise 3-5x/week for 30-60 minutes. Walking, dancing, and cycling are examples of cardiovascular exercise.
• It is also recommended to do strengthening exercises 2-3/week. These exercises can be done with weights or bands.

Proper Diet

• Eat food high in fiber to help with healthy digestion and to avoid constipation. High fiber foods will also make your belly full!   Men 51+ need 30 grams of fiber and women 51+ need 21 grams of fiber daily. When increasing your fiber intake start slow and work up to the proper daily intake.
• Fill your plate with 50% fruits and veggies, 25% grains and 25% lean protein. Try to use fresh fruits and veggies that aren’t saturated in sugars and sauces. When choosing grains look for items that are whole grain such as bread, cereals, rice or pasta. And when choosing proteins go for the those that are lean in fat such as peanut butter, nuts/seed, bean, fish, or chicken.
• Limit foods high in cholesterol, sugar and saturated or trans fats.
• Refer to myplate.org for more dietary guidelines for older adults

Mental Health and Mindfulness

Being happy and healthy goes a long way when it comes to mental health. Many factors can affect our mental health and some we don’t even realize. Being mindful of our stresses can improve our focus and our memory.

• To keep your mental health in check surround yourself with good people. People who motivate you to be better and give off positive energy. Spend time with family, friends and loved ones.
• Accept your age. Aging is unavoidable so learn to embrace it and live that best life
• Get sleep. Aim for seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Shut off the electronics and let your brain relax and let your body rest. Getting enough sleep can help reduce stress, depression and even lower your risk of obesity.
• Accept and live in the moment. Focus on the present and don’t stress over things you can’t fix. Engage in activities such as yoga or tai chi.

Though aging is inevitable we can influence how our journey goes.   It is never too late to start making healthy choices for a healthier happy future. Now is the time to age with grace and start living your best life!!

American is the land of opportunity and from the time we are children, most of our parents have encouraged us to take advantage of these opportunities. They encourage us to understand that we can be anything we dream of when we grow up, accomplish any goal we set our minds to, and with hard work can achieve what others think is impossible. While these are great confidence boosters for children, as we become adults many of us have a hard time distinguishing between being able to do anything and being able to do everything. It is great to set your goals high but you have to prioritize to be able to achieve them.

This is something I see day in and day out as a fitness professional with my clients. I also see it in the unrealistic expectations I set for myself. For example, if your goal is to run a marathon you can’t expect to strength train three times a week, lose those pesky 10 pounds that have been hanging around, keep up with kids activities, maintain a full-time job, sleep eight hours a night, volunteer at your church, and have healthy meals prepared each dinnertime. Something has to give! This is where a dreaded word comes into the mix: “NO.”

Read More [4 Ways to Find a Healthy Relationship with Exercise]

We have a passion for so many things and a desire to please others but we have to prioritize. You can run that marathon but you may have to give up volunteering at your church to complete some long runs on the weekends. You may have to eat leftovers for dinner a few times a week to keep up with your training schedule. It is ok to say no or push some things to the back burner for a while so you can achieve the “anything” you have set out to accomplish. If different things become a priority, you can pull them to the forefront again.

Living a healthy lifestyle can be overwhelming. There are 7 different dimensions of well-being that we are constantly trying to balance. Cut yourself some slack and remember you cannot do everything, especially not all at once. Pick one or two things and make them your top priority. See how these affect your life and decide if they are habits worth keeping. Once you find a good balance, try adding another and see how you do. You can achieve any health/fitness goal but you cannot achieve all of them at once. Write down your top health/fitness goal for the month and focus on that for 30 days. You will feel a sense of accomplishment and build a confident attitude that says that you can do ANYTHING, just not EVERYTHING.

Fitness trackers are all the buzz these days, but do you know what to look for when choosing one? With so many sizes, colors, capabilities and prices, which one should you choose? Or should you even invest in one? Let me offer some considerations when or if you do choose to purchase one.

If you’re like me, you contemplated making this purchase and for good reason! Wearable fitness tracking devices can vary in prices, from $50.00 all the way up to $1,095.00! With that hefty price tag, comes many things to consider. Do you think you’ll use it, what exactly are you trying to track or monitor, and do you need water resistant or waterproof? Let’s break down the capabilities of these devices and what you should ask yourself as you research the different options.  

[Related Post: Why Wearable Fitness Trackers Aren't Your Wellness Program]

You must first ask yourself if you think you’ll find activity-tracking beneficial. You certainly don’t want to buy it only for it to sit on the dresser collecting dust. If you do think you want to purchase one, you have five things you’ll want to consider; style, display, compatibility, battery life and water proof.

Fitness trackers range from the super simple, to featuring all the bells and whistles. If you want to know how many steps you take a day, look for an all-day tracker. However, if you want more details on those steps (e.g. speed, pace, and stride), you may want to investigate a training tracker. Training trackers can provide data that’s specifically tailored to a certain exercise (i.e. marathon runners). All day trackers measure your total steps taken, stairs you’ve climbed, duration of exercise, active minutes and sleep time. Training trackers do everything an all-day tracker does PLUS the following: heart rate, breathing patterns, miles traveled, speed, pace, and route information. Some may also be able to control music, make and receive calls, text messaging and emails. Now let’s talk more in depth about the five options I mentioned above.

Style - Many trackers can be worn on the wrist, but there are some that can be worn as pendants or clipped to your clothing. Manufacturers are also paying more attention to design details; think color, shape, and material. Make sure you choose one you’ll feel comfortable wearing all day.

Display - The advanced trackers display a slew of data on the screen. Others (i.e. pendant trackers) show limited data and display information via an LED light, or will only show up on an app. Think about how you want to see your data. Do you want to see it immediately, or are you okay with looking it up on an app when near your phone?

Compatibility - Make sure your cell phone or computer is compatible before you buy a tracker. There’s nothing worse than spending money, only to realize the device isn’t user friendly with your current phone or computer. Most devices on the market will work with Apple’s iOS and Android systems. However, few work devices work with Windows.

Battery Life - Depending on which device you choose, will depend on the length of battery life. A tracker with more bells and whistles will require more frequent charges than a simple band tracker. You also want to pay attention to rechargeable versus non-rechargeable. Some run on batteries like cameras and calculators, others come with charging devices.

Water - Trackers are either water-resistant or waterproof. Keep in mind, water resistant only means that the tracker can be splashed with water, not submerged. This means they can withstand a decent amount of sweating, but certainly not a dip in the pool.

I hope that this information will help you narrow down which type of tracker to purchase. Or, maybe I talked you out of purchasing one altogether. Either way, remember that a tracker is a lot like a gym membership - you must use it for it to work!

The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) takes place every day in everyone’s life. It’s up to you, though, to move up the ladder on that model and make a healthy lifestyle change. The TTM is based on six stages. There is another stage that doesn’t appear on the model that people talk about, but we’ll get to that later.

The stages of the TTM in order are the following.

Precontemplation

This stage is where someone doesn’t see themselves changing within the next six months. Nothing will motivate the individual to become healthy at this point. This becomes a problem because some of these people are underinformed or not informed of what risk factors they are carrying. These people are just unmotivated and very resistant about talking or doing anything else that will essentially help increase their quality of life.

Contemplation

Contemplation is where individuals are ready to start exercising and realize that they need to make a change in their habits. These people want to take charge of the situation within the next six months because they understand the benefits of healthy living and that they need to decrease their risk factors in order to increase their quality of life. With that said, people start to do some research to figure out the costs involved in becoming healthy. A fair amount of people tend to stay in this stage due to the costs involved. These people are individuals who don’t have a lot of money to spare. So people tend to get stuck and go into what is called chronic contemplation.

Preparation

Preparation is the stage in which people will be ready to start making a change within a month. These people are individuals who have purchased workout equipment, joined a gym, talked to or made an appointment with their physician, and have bought other necessary essentials to get off to a great start. These individuals are very serious about change and take the right steps to be well prepared for it.

Action

The action stage is where people have made several changes to their lifestyle within the last six months that have significantly reduced the risks of disease. This stage is one of the most important stages because six months can determine whether an individual wants to achieve more, or it can be that breaking point in which that person decides to quit altogether. This is known as relapse.

Relapse

Relapse is a stage that anyone could hit. People will stop what they’re trying to achieve because their mindset is that they’re missing what they used to have, and what they’re doing is taking up too much time or is becoming difficult. In this case, exercising got too hard to complete. This usually happens within the first three months.

I myself have seen this occur when something unfortunate happens in someone’s life. These unfortunate events include loss of a job, loss of a loved one, not enough time in the day, exercise is not motivating anymore, and so on. Of course those things make you unmotivated to do anything. I get it, but when quitting anything, there are consequences. When losing a job, you’re out of a job and have no income. With no motivation, you tend to eat more and exercise less. Relapse can also happen after the maintenance stage. Someone might just want to take a break after getting into great shape, and then they’ll slowly go back to where they started.

Maintenance

Maintenance is where people have made a lot of changes in their lifestyle and are working even harder to maintain what they’ve been doing so that they don’t end up relapsing. People in the action stage are far more likely to relapse than someone in maintenance. The maintenance phase can last an estimated six months to five years. What people tend to do within that time is build up more confidence in order to make sure they are consistent with exercise and keeping away from poor habits. So although the action stage is the more likely time for someone to relapse, it’s still important for people to realize that a single craving and action to cater to that craving is more likely to happen at 12 months rather than five years.

Termination

This stage is a good stage in which to be. Termination is where someone is 100 percent into what they are doing and they don’t want to change because of the benefits of what they’re getting out of their choices in life. They are driven and confident individuals who don’t want to go back to what they once had where nothing motivated them (the Precontemplation stage).

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It’s up to you what you want to do with your life, but remember that one decision can change everything. Make your weaknesses strengths, get involved in your community, exercise with a friend or spouse to help you stay motivated, and talk to your doctor, a counselor and a personal trainer to help get you on the right track to a better life. 

Start the New Year right and set some goals and get started!

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Active Aging Week is an annual event that approaches the concept of healthy aging. This year’s theme was “Explore the Possibilities.” The active aging community and brand have set out to engage all ages in providing healthy opportunities for our senior community. The week includes numerous activities, from active aging expos, senior group fitness classes, free checkups, to hearing aid calibrations, as well as healthy food demos for our seniors. All ages are welcome to participate in the celebration of life and healthy living for our seniors.

Explore the Possibilities

When dealing with the idea of aging, we often limit ourselves to things that are deemed “safe.” We should always keep safety as the main focus, but being adventurous has no age limit. Many different activities and events have levels built in for all ages, including older adults. Hiking, biking, walks/runs, creative arts for a cause, and many more activities are okay for seniors to do at a moderate and acceptable level (consult a physician before engaging in activity).

Emily Kimball, also known as the The Aging Adventurer, does not let anything limit or get in the way of adventure. She is an outdoor enthusiast who has taken all her adventures and used them as lessons to help in everyday life. Whether it’s biking across the United States, or hiking from coast to coast in England, or hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, she believes that “aging is beautiful, so accept it and enjoy it.” Her inspiration has influenced many seniors; she is a living testament to not limiting oneself, but instead believing and loving ourselves.

How Can You Age Successfully?

Three essential steps can help you age successfully, or age the way you want to. These are the keys to active aging:

• Make healthy lifestyle choices. When making healthy lifestyle choices, exercising, eating well, and avoiding smoking are all good ways to live a longer and healthy life. Doing physical activity you enjoy for 20 to 30 minutes, 5 to 6 days a week, can increase energy and make the immune system stronger. (Ask a physician before engaging in exercise.) Eating a well-balanced diet is important for everyday activity to ensure energy and focus throughout the day. Make sure you have the proper amount of fruits, whole grains, protein, and vegetables. Avoid smoking at all costs. Because of the damaging and sometimes irreversible effects of smoking, it can be very detrimental to one’s health.
• Participate in preventive care. Staying up-to-date on immunizations and cancer screenings is very important. Make sure you are regularly taking flu shots, annual exams, and immunizations. Finding health issues early is a benefit of preventive care. Programs for health monitoring and education your health care are great ways to practice preventive measures to ensure healthy aging.
• Plan in advance. Determining how you want to age is essential. Knowing what you want to do in life and preparing for your adventures is an important process, but it can be hard to put in order. Having all business aspects organized will make your adventures a lot more enjoyable. We all want to live long lives, but plan to enjoy each age range and live life the best you can. Exploring all possibilities can be the key aspect to having a healthy, happy, and joyful life.

For more on the importance on aging well, download our quick read below!