ANTI-AGING TIPS
ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE HEALTHTY AGING

Activities to Promote Healthy Aging
By Donovan Baldwin

It has been proven by many studies by respected research institutions that lack of regular physical activity can prevent you from living a long and healthy life.

When you do not have the opportunity to participate in activities you enjoy, you may actually feel fatigue, experience depression, or find it difficult to sleep at night. When you are in this situation, you wake up in the morning, you feel tired all day, and then, you finally get to fall asleep again.

It's bad enough when we are younger, but, as we age our body changes and we, in turn, have to make changes to accommodate our lives. There are both mental and physical aspects which can be the result of physical activity (exercise), and other parts of an anti-aging strategy.

Physically, all the systems and functions of the body respond well to regular, moderate exercise. The functioning of the sensory system, including the brain, is enhanced through exercise, and depression is diminished and mood elevated by it. However, physical activity implies a need for rest, so let's talk about that first.

The Value of Sleep as Part of the Aging Process

Sleep and health go hand in hand, and, getting a good night's sleep helps to allow the mind to think more clearly. A good night's sleep will also increase your energy levels while helping control your weight. Studies have shown that people who regularly get eight hours of good sleep a night, or more, are likely to weigh less, on average, than those who do not. Although this information has been around for a long time, recent studies have reconfirmed these observations. It has also been confirmed that you can make decisions with less stress with a good night's sleep.

Sleeping well at night helps makes for a stronger, healthier immune system. Researchers have also proven that a good night's sleep is necessary for our health. Research has also shown that a lack of sleep reduces the activation of human growth hormones (HGH) in our bodies, helping change muscles to fat.

Overall, when it comes to health, and aging, good sleep is very important, yet, as important as it is, it comes after nutrition and exercise. Even a good walk can be restful and relaxing while providing exercise.

The Value of Walking

One simple way to improve your health, is to try walking each day.

First of all, walking will help to loosen up our muscles, while relieving anxiety and reducing stress and depression. By easing these negative things in our lives, it will also help us sleep for longer and deeper periods each night. Then, when we wake up in the morning we feel happier and more rested.

It's a well known fact that, when you exercise moderately, you tend to get a better night's sleep, which promotes a higher metabolism. Without the right amount of sleep, our bodies crave energy. To get this energy, our bodies will release insulin or glucose into the bloodstream, which will slow down metabolism. This, in turn, causes the body to gain weight, rather than control weight.

It should be fairly obvious that when a person feels exhausted, they will feel weak and have difficulty enjoying activities which can have definite health benefits. This commonly leads to additional problems. Getting good sleep balances out all the functions of our bodies, giving us more energy, which, in turn, leads to more activities that will help satisfy our sleep requirements.

What to Avoid

In order to get the proper rest and feel active you should reduce your intake of caffeine, nicotine, harmful chemicals, such as over-the-counter meds that keep you awake, alcohol and so on. The chemicals and substances will keep you awake. Try to avoid drinking anything after 8 p.m. in the evening. Nicotine should be avoided if you can possibly do so. However, if you must smoke try to avoid smoking after 8 p.m. Many people have found that, if they cannot stop smoking, they can substitute an electronic cigarette, such as NicoCure, and get the nicotine kick they crave without inhaling the over 4,000 chemicals contained in cigarette smoke.

What to Do

Get started on a morning walking program to help wake you up, while boosting your energy. You will feel better as your joints will feel flexible enough to move more freely. In addition, regular walking will help you burn fat and calories. You'll soon begin to notice a big change in how you feel the rest of the day. Remember to start out walking at a slow steady pace for only as far as you are comfortable. Each day, you will then pick up the pace a bit and walk further.

Just remember that when walking that you want to work your way up to a steady brisk walk to make you sweat but not out of breath. A rule of thumb for ordinary people just wanting to be healthy, not Olympic athletes, is to walk hard enough to raise your heart rate and breathing but still leave you enough oxygen to carry on a conversation or sing. You can take a short walk before and after meals to calm your nerves, and burn calories too. This will also help give you energy, relieve the stress from your long day at work, and help you sleep.

If you find you just cannot do a long walk every day, even a few short walks scattered at various times will still do you a world of good.

Share the Fun

If you start a walking program for yourself, you might find it a lot more fun if you have someone to walk along with you. Talk to that neighbor you don't know and maybe they will walk with you. Just think about it; maybe you will be acquainted with someone new, talk about new things, which will relieve stress, and get in your exercise as well.

Who knows? Your quest for better health and a good anti-aging strategy might help that neighbor too! Maybe they haven't seen or talked to anyone in a couple of days and maybe they can sleep better at night.

Walking with a companion is also a great way to get the right amount of exercise without overdoing it. If you cannot carry on a conversation, you are working too hard.

On the other hand, maybe you simply prefer to walk alone. That's fine too! Many find that walking is just as good as meditation, and having the opportunity to think your own thoughts at your own pace (no pun intended) can be invaluable to physical and mental health.

Stay Cool, Man...or Woman

After walking that brisk walk, be sure to cool down. When taking a walk at a vigorous pace your heart rate will go up and it needs to get back down to normal, but it should go back down at a controlled rate. Just walk a bit slower and in a relaxing way until you've cooled down... physically and mentally.

If you can't go to sleep at night, instead of getting up and turning on the TV, or getting back on the computer, try pacing (calmly) around the house a bit. Most people think of "pacing" as being a negative reaction to stress, but if done calmly at a stressful time, it can actually help reduce the effects of the stress and produce a feeling of relaxation. Perhaps do some mild stretching and loosen arms and legs, back and neck. Even walking around the house can relax you especially when everyone else is in bed, and you can relax, let yourself go, a little more.

However, make sure you don't try to do a heavy exercise routine too late in the evening as that can actually interfere with falling asleep.

By the way, if you have a TV in the bedroom or piddle around on the computer until bedtime, you might want to change your habits. Studies have shown that these activities too close to bedtime can also interfere with falling asleep. Read a book instead.

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Want more anti-aging tips? Read this article on How to Reverse the Aging Process.