The best way to age gracefully now.
Aging gracefully as in longevity.
How to have quality years throughout your life for as long as we are on this earth.
Why I mention the quality years is because to me, longevity and aging gracefully, has to do with health span way more than life span.
Life span as in the amount of years you are going to live.
Health span means the length of time that we are healthy. The quality of our lives, not just the years.
To me, life span, is completely out of our control. Anything can happen.
That is completely up to God or the divine, on how long we are going to live (the years).
On the contrary, our health span, is completely within our control.
In fact, we have the power to choose, everyday, if we are going to be healthy and age gracefully, or not.
While we take care of our health span, as a result, the life span will take care of itself. If that is in the plan.
The Best Way to Age Gracefully Now
- Sleep: Aim for 7-9 hours. It’s called beauty sleep for a reason! Take a nap if you can. It does not mean you are lazy. It is way better than reaching for a 2nd, or 3rd, or the 4th cup of coffee. Find ways to catch up. Get sunshine in the morning to sync your circadian rhythm. Dim the lights at night. Stop eating after dinner – this one is crucial. At night when your body starts producing melatonin, it means it is getting it ready for a full night sleep. We disrupt that process when we keep eating late at night.
- Regular exercise and always keep moving: Shy away from living a sedentary life. Find ways to not only exercise more days of the week than not but to always move your body. Don’t stay seated for too long. Take the stairs. Park far away to get more steps. Do jumping jacks between phone calls. Take a break in the middle of the day to walk your dog. Honestly, this will keep you feeling young and able for a very long time.
- Eat plants: Lots of them. Don’t fall into the diet traps (I am thinking specifically right now the carnivore diet). With every meal if possible.
- Get 50 grams of fiber: Have you heard of Ozempic? Well fiber is nature’s Ozempic. Costing you way less than $1,300 for a 28-day supply and with no side effects. I heard this phrase once and now I am obsessed: Eat 2 kiwis a day, keep the GI doctor away. Foods with lots of fiber to add to your grocery list now: lentils, avocados, grains, raspberries, pomegranates, chia seeds, artichokes, and broccoli.
- Read: Learn something new. Keep your brain active. Even better, read right before bed so it puts you into a deep sleep. Combining two healthy things together.
- Connect with friends and family: It lowers the rate of depression. Put your phone away and schedule a pickleball match. Which means, you are connecting and getting active at the same time.
- Take a social media break: It adds so much stress into our lives. It disrupts connection. Find a way to leave your phone at home and be present in your life.
- Water first: Aim to drink 30 oz of water as soon as you wake up. Don’t just go straight for the cup of coffee. Try it for a week and see how much better you feel.
- Find connection to a higher power: We are not alone and you shouldn’t feel that way. This will fill your life up with positivity and hope.
- Preventative care: going to our preventative appointments by being proactive instead of reactive is where the real flex is.
If we don’t choose ourselves and our health, then who will?
Start living well today!
Until next time.
Xx,
Alejandra at Living Well Co.
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Very interesting the concept of life Span , and health span. You are right, they are different
Yes! We can live a long time but have a low quality of life depending on equipment to help us live. What matters always is the quality 🙂
Very good and practical advice Alejandra. I didn’t know Kiwis have that much fiber!
Right! So many studies show the power of kiwi, reducing constipation and improving bowel habits overall. Totally underrated in my opinion 🙂