Admit it. You have been living on the edge for years. You are not alone, but you must have known that sooner or later you would have to “pay the piper.”
You say you are fine just the way you are, but are you? Would you be willing to make some changes if it meant tomorrow could be better than today?
Deep questions. You may have been lucky in the past, but what happens when “luck” runs out? Good genes can only take you so far. You will soon notice, if you haven’t already, that your aging body is not as forgiving as it used to be.
You did a lot of things over the years that weren’t particularly good for you. You knew it at the time, but everyone needs a few vices, right? You smoked, drank, ate way too much fast food, avoided exercising, and you burned the candle at both ends. It was a recipe for disaster, but worrying about the future was a long way off.
Well, the future is here. Seniors, that’s you, generally fall into one of three categories. Folks in the first group have felt “poorly” for so long that they have forgotten what it is like to feel good. Those in the second group were just healthy enough that they didn’t have to worry about it, and those in the third group tried hard to do everything right. Regardless of which group you are in, old age happens.
It’s not too late to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Don’t pretend that you don’t know what this means. You would have been living in a vacuum if you hadn’t read or at least noticed all of the research done on the subject.
What can a healthy lifestyle do for you? The big items, of course, focus on reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. These are big guns, but they are not everything. Your body will soon alert you to a bunch of lesser-known conditions that can make your life truly miserable. You may already be experiencing joint pain, muscle soreness, fatigue, balance issues, breathlessness, and even memory loss. Whoa. Slow down.
Researchers assure us that if we are willing to do the work, we can stave off, or at least learn to compensate for many of these issues. Adopting a healthier lifestyle is the commonsense approach to independent living.
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