Activities Promoting Healthy Aging

Lack of activities can prevent you from living healthy. When you do not enjoy activities, you may feel fatigue or find it difficult to sleep at night. When you awake in the morning, you may feel tired until you finally fall asleep. As we, age our body change and we have to make changes to accommodate our lives.

Having a good night sleep makes the mind think more clearly. A good night sleep also boosts your energy while controlling your weight. You can also make decisions with less stress. Sleeping well at night makes our immune system stronger to keep us healthier.  Researchers have proved that a good nights sleep is necessary for our health.  Researchers have found that lack of sleep reduces the growth hormones in our bodies, since it changes muscles to fat. Sleep overall is most important, yet it stands behind activities. To improve your health, try walking each day.

Walking will help to loosen our muscles, reduces stress and depression along with anxiety. By reliving these things, it will help us to sleep for a longer and deeper period.  So, when we wake up in the morning we feel happier and more rested.

When you exercise, you get a good night sleep, which promotes metabolism. Without the right amount of sleep, our bodies crave energy. Our body will release insulin or glucose into the bloodstream, which slows down metabolism. This action causes the body to gain weight, rather than control weight.

When a person feels exhausted, they will feel weak and repressed from enjoying activities. This leads to additional problems. Sleeping right balances out our bodies giving us, more energy leading to more activities that will satisfy our sleep needs.

What to avoid:
To rest proper and feel active you must 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 avoid if possible, yet if you must smoke try to avoid smoking after 8 p.m.

Start a walking program in the morning to help wake you up, while boosting your energy. You will feel better since the joints will feel flexible enough to move freely. In addition, walking will help you burn fat and calories. You’ll notice a big change in how you feel the rest of the day.  Start out walking at a slow steady pace for as far as your comfortable.  Each day pick up the pace a bit and walk further. Just remember when walking that you want to work up to a steady brisk walk to make you sweat but not out of breath. Take a short walk before and after meals to calm your nerves, and burn calories too, it will give you energy, relieve that stress from the long day and help you sleep.

If you start a walking program for yourself, it is a lot more fun if you have someone to go with you. Talk to that neighbor you don’t know and maybe they’ll walk with you. Just think about it; you’ll be acquainted with someone new, talk about new things will relieve stress and get in you exercise as well. This might help that neighbor too who maybe hasn’t seen or talked to anyone in a couple of days and than they can sleep better at night.

After walking that brisk walk your doing be sure to cool down. When walking at a vigorous pace your heart rate will go up and it needs to be back to normal. Just walk a bit slow and relaxing until you’ve cooled down.

If you can’t go to sleep at night instead of getting up and turning on the TV try pacing around the house. Do some stretching and shake your arms and legs. Even walking around the house can relax you especially when everyone else is in bed and you can relax more.

Jim and Jeanetta Pollard
Co-host and producers
"The Fabulous Fifties and Beyond" TV Show
Jim@JimPollard.com
http://jimpollardministry.blogspot.com/

“7 Surprisingly Quick And Easy Ways To Feel Happier”

Changing your mood can be surprisingly quick and easy when you have the right tools, strategies, and methods.

All of us have days when we're out of sorts. You just wish you were in a better mood.  You've had days like that, haven't you? Perhaps you tried to get yourself into a better state of mind but struggled to achieve it.

Sometimes we get stuck in our own emotional dumps and forget how easy it is to feel happier, so here are seven simple ways to lift your mood. Many people have found them useful. Some of them may surprise you!


1. Go for a walk.

Most people know that going for a short daily walk is one of the best forms of exercise. When you are feeling down it is even more beneficial. If you can, go into a natural environment with plants and birds. Can you think of such a setting not? What do you notice first? The different shades of greenery, the fresh  smell of country air, the sounds of birds, or the sunlight shining through the trees? Make it real by taking a short stroll.

2. Listen to quality music.

Music can shift a listener's state within moments. It's effect can be nearly magical. Dig out that CD you haven't listened to in ages or tune in your radio to something you've never listened to before.


3. Open yourself to discovering something new.

Read something (printed, not on line) different than what you would normally watch. There are a ton of different types of magazines can you get these days. Visit your local library or browse through a magazine rack.  Pick up or buy a magazine you wouldn't normally buy. You may discover something wonderful.

4. Find something to laugh at.

Laughter is one of the best ways to lift your spirits. Find a humorous book, or watch a comedy. Even better, try to learn a few new jokes and tell them to others.

5. Simple breathing meditation.

Breathing meditation is a great exercise that you can do anywhere.  Simply allow yourself to sit comfortably with your back straight. Now close your eyes and become aware of the flow of air into and out of your nostrils. That's all there is to it. Do this for 10-15 minutes. Notice how pleasantly surprised you can be at how you feel afterward.

6. Doodling for the fun of it.

Most people can remember when they were young and used to doodle for hours. Kids love drawing silly little pictures. Drawing is not just for kids or artists.  Whoever you are get some pens, pencils, crayons or whatever you have and just draw for the fun of it. Notice how your state of mind shifts.

7. Think of others less fortunate.

The fact that you are reading this article suggests that you are probably much better off than most people on this planet. At times this may be hard to believe, but if you can read and have access to the internet, just those two things alone means you are better off than most people in the world.  There are many human beings that barely have access to the basics of survival. There are people in lots of pain. Allow your compassion for them to grow.

These are all pretty simple. There's nothing profound or life changing, but when all you need is a quick pick me up these may be just the thing you need. Putting simple ideas, methods, tools and techniques into action will help you achieve change more quick and easily--surprisingly so at time-- than you imagine.

Jim and Jeanetta Pollard

Take It Easy and Enjoy Life

Can you remember your childhood days? During those times, nothing yet seemed complicated – all we had to think about were crayons, cookies, or Santa Claus. We didn’t care about the things we didn’t know because we were just too oblivious of the things that might bother us.

But as we grow older, we get anxious with the things that surround us – life and death, loving and parting, success and failure, to name a few. We find that almost everyday, we are obliged to be concerned about people or events.

Nevertheless, always keep this in mind: Don’t take things as if they are responsible for the way you feel. Events or situations do not trouble you. How you look at them does.

If you miss those carefree days, you just have to look back at how you used to view things then, and you will know what to do now. Here’s a guide to make sure you won’t lose your way:

Cherish the simple things: Trust in the power of a smile or laughter, a kiss or a hug. Believe in kindness, honesty, dreams, and imagination. Living positively is the first step to becoming happy.

Loosen up. Laugh at your mistakes. You might remember the time when you were delivering your speech and your mind went completely blank right in the middle of delivering it. It’s embarrassing. But most likely, your audience will forget about it in a day or two. We all mess up occasionally. The good thing is that people tend to forget such situations.

Surround yourself with what you love. Get a pet. Retain film moments as keepsakes. Keep away from those that drag you down. If that high-paying job makes you sulk at the thought of having to go to work, find a job you like first before quitting. If some people force you to comply even if you think of doing otherwise, stay away from their company.

Don’t put off. Go on that trip. Take your Master’s. You’ll never know the extent of your life. Do something, while you can.

Don’t push yourself too hard trying to please everyone. You just can’t. And it never seems to be worth it anyway. When you want to make somebody’s day, start with your loved ones.

Keep fit. Be that attractive person you always picture yourself to be. Cherish your health. It’s the best way of showing you are putting your best face forward.

Do not assume. Don’t fret about forgetting your speech before you actually do it. Don’t worry about not getting the job you want because you might mess up at the interview. It’s good to expect the worst; but don’t end up expecting only the worst. 

Alter your way of thinking. When you’re being ridiculed, criticized about your family background, or condemned for past mistakes, put on deaf ears. Don’t believe everything you hear. You know yourself better than everybody else does. Never wallow in self-pity.

Remember: Don’t get upset over things just because it’s how most people would react when faced with the same situation. When you find yourself being negative – angry, down, jealous, etc. – you also unknowingly drain your energy and enthusiasm. You just have to try keeping these negative feelings in the low, because giving in to these emotions would sometimes make you unreasonable, and you might end up making bad decisions.

Happiness is always in your grasp. You can attain it, as long as you know how.

Bro. Jim Pollard

Minister, Author, Real Bearded Santa, Professional Speaker

Jim@TheFabulousFifties.net

http://www.SantaSpeaks.com

Anti-Aging Prevention and Cure

Anti-Aging For Dummies

Want to live a long and healthy life while successfully preventing the appearance of aging on your skin? Before embarking on an anti-aging regimen, treatment of products, you must first be able to properly manage your expectations.

First of all, aging is a natural process and an obsession against aging isn't healthy. However, it is quite important and beneficial to try to maintain health and promote longevity by staying generally healthy. Health maintains youthfulness and it ensures that you won't grow old or show signs of it before it is absolutely time.

Next, you must understand that anti-aging management needs to be handled through several lifestyle enhancements and aging problems can't be solved miraculously by a pill or panacea. Health and well being is achieved only through the existence of balance among three components needed in your life and these are: mental health; physical health; and emotional health.

Healthy body

The physical health aspect is achieved with constant proper nutrition and regular exercise. Keeping the body healthy and functioning healthily ensures that its processes aren't disrupted. Disruption in bodily functions caused by poor health and the predisposition to illnesses causes damage in cell tissues and this accumulated damage is what we call aging.

Healthy mind

When we age we lose irreplaceable brain cells. In fact, in old age, damages to the brain begin to manifest itself in the form of dementia. While is a natural fact of life that we will indeed lose brain cells along the way, there are certain stimuli and factors that speed up the loss of brain cells and affect our mental faculties. Aside from keeping an open mind and trying to continue to learn as we grow older, proper nutrition and physical exercise are essential to maintaining the brain's health.

Healthy feelings

Our emotions are actually a result of the chemical reactions in our body. Certain chemicals and hormones are triggered depending on the stimuli we experience, These chemicals and hormones then send signals to the brain and our cognitive functions then in turn dictate our emotions. This is why it is important to combine mental and physical health.

A good balance between the two ensures a healthy well being. If we are unable to control our emotions we may succumb to stress. which in turn has the power to alter our overall health. Stress takes a toll on our body and makes us act irrationally.

Remember to be as active as you feel you can, get out and do spmething.

"Use It or Lose It"

Anti-Aging For Dummies

Anti-Aging For Dummies

Want to live a long and healthy life while successfully preventing the appearance of aging on your skin? Before embarking on an anti-aging regimen, treatment of products, you must first be able to properly manage your expectations.

First of all, aging is a natural process and an obsession against aging isn't healthy. However, it is quite important and beneficial to try to maintain health and promote longevity by staying generally healthy. Health maintains youthfulness and it ensures that you won't grow old or show signs of it before it is absolutely time.

Next, you must understand that anti-aging management needs to be handled through several lifestyle enhancements and aging problems can't be solved miraculously by a pill or panacea. Health and well being is achieved only through the existence of balance among three components needed in your life and these are: mental health; physical health; and emotional health.

Healthy body

The physical health aspect is achieved with constant proper nutrition and regular exercise. Keeping the body healthy and functioning healthily ensures that its processes aren't disrupted. Disruption in bodily functions caused by poor health and the predisposition to illnesses causes damage in cell tissues and this accumulated damage is what we call aging.

Healthy mind

When we age we lose irreplaceable brain cells. In fact, in old age, damages to the brain begin to manifest itself in the form of dementia. While is a natural fact of life that we will indeed lose brain cells along the way, there are certain stimuli and factors that speed up the loss of brain cells and affect our mental faculties. Aside from keeping an open mind and trying to continue to learn as we grow older, proper nutrition and physical exercise are essential to maintaining the brain's health.

Healthy feelings

Our emotions are actually a result of the chemical reactions in our body. Certain chemicals and hormones are triggered depending on the stimuli we experience, These chemicals and hormones then send signals to the brain and our cognitive functions then in turn dictate our emotions. This is why it is important to combine mental and physical health.

A good balance between the two ensures a healthy well being. If we are unable to control our emotions we may succumb to stress. which in turn has the power to alter our overall health. Stress takes a toll on our body and makes us act irrationally.

It is important that we remain active. Write a book, paint a picture, make a piece of pottery, volunteer at your local hospital, do something.

"Remember Use It or Lose It"

Aging That You Can't Control

Aging That You Can't Control

Although aging skin is a natural part of life, when it will start and how it will progress will largely depend on two factors— one that you have no control of and one that will depend solely on you.

Like everything else in the world, aging is a function of the genes and the natural flow of life. It is basically biological in nature and though there are some factors that can hasten or slow down the process, there is little that you can do to stop it.

There are hereditary factors that are already pre-determined. And though these aren't necessarily signs of growing old but rather hereditary characteristics that are naturally part of yourself, these may still make you appear much older. There are aspects in your skin that are already there, waiting for triggers in the environment and the time that passes. This is because we basically inherit from our parents the method or way by which we grow old. There are some people who age well while there are others who don't and appear far older than their chronological ages.

Often, these hereditary manifestations of age can be seen in the tiny lines at the edge of the eyes or the wrinkles surrounding it. This is the reason why there are some people who have these so-called laugh lines even when they are younger.

Deep creases along the sides of the nose and the mouth are other hereditary lines that people develop when they grow old. Another worthy of mentioning are the number of lines that we get on the forehead or the furrows along the browline.

Drooping eyelids are also very common even in people who are young. There are just some people who have downward slants to their eyes. And though this isn't necessarily a sign of aging, it is something that will make the face appear older than its actual age.

Some people also have loose skin along their jaw line. And though this isn't actually sagging skin, having this excess skin can appear like the whole face is melting down and sagging.

In addition to this, there are also "old signs" in areas like the legs that we can inherit from our parents such as the development of cellulite and varicose veins, which can make people look older. The same can be said of baldness especially for men and the development of white hair early in life.

All in all, just take what you have and enjoy life to its fullest.

"Remember use it or lose it."

Anti-Aging: Good Nutrition And A Healthy Brain

Anti-Aging: Good Nutrition And A Healthy Brain

The industry for anti-aging products, services and treatments continue to grow as more and more people continue to depend and demand them with the desire for the elusive fountain of youth. Instead of looking outward though, people should realize the importance of looking within to be able to successfully win the anti-aging battle.

The idea of "looking within" is more than just a philosophical argument. Going beyond cosmetic treatments as a sound anti-aging strategy is quite reliable and grounded on science. It is true that beauty is skin deep because it is our skin or our outward appearance that announces the fact that we are no longer youthful. Beneath the skin tissues are processes and bodily functions that need to be maintained in order to preserve youthfulness. The body is maintained and kept functioning with efficiency and effectiveness through the proper uninterrupted body systems and functions.

The key to keeping the body healthy in order to continue to be able to power these important body functions is proper nutrition.

We simply can't expect to fill our bodies with junk and expect it to run at optimum levels. If you have difficulty understanding this concept, you might want to use the analogy of a car. A car runs on gasoline. If you put other types of fuel in it like diesel and kerosene, the car won't work and the engine may be damaged. Now there are different types of gasoline that you can use for your car. To get the most out of your car's performance you have to understand the octane rating of your engine and use the appropriate type of gasoline.

Just like a car, the body needs the proper types of food as fuel, which can be achieved by maintaining a proper and healthy diet. Combined with just the right amounts of exercise, our bodies can metabolize our diet properly and our bodies are supplied with the proper fuel that it needs.

Aside from keeping us physically fit, exercise is also an excellent way to keep our brains healthy. Exercise promotes a healthy supply of oxygen to the brain. You see, beyond cosmetics, proper nutrition and a healthy brain are keys to truly winning the anti-aging battle.

More and more people experience dementia and other forms of brain degradation as they get older and keeping the brain healthy through proper nutrition and exercise helps stave off this phenomenon.

Aging In Your Own Terms

Aging In Your Own Terms

Everybody will grow old. The years will pile up in our lives and from 20s, we will reach our 30s, then our 40s and then our 50s. It is a natural process as inevitable as life and death. Though it is something that will eventually happen this doesn't mean that it will happen anytime soon. Although we can’t stop it from happening, we can certainly determine how we age and when we age.

This is the reason why there are people who in their 80s are still in their prime, able to work incessantly and still have sharp minds, sometimes even sharper than those who are in their 50s or 60s. However, there are also those in their 80s that are very forgetful and inactive. They find it hard to move let alone play sports or work.

This is a testament that people themselves determine how they age. And though the genes have something to do with it, it doesn't necessarily determine the whole forecast. In a study conducted by the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation, it seems that the genes only make up a small part of a person’s aging process. The rest is dependent on the person.

Below are some of the things that you can do in order to age well.

1. Be active

One common mistake people make is that they often associate old age with rusty bones and inactivity. This shouldn't be the case. The more active a person is, the better he will age because activity and exercise will build muscles and strengthen the bones. Remember the theory of use and disuse. The more we don’t use a part of the body, the more it will disintegrate into nothing.

2. Practice your mind

One trick to avoid having Alzheimer’s disease or being forgetful in general is to engage in mental activities. Answer a crossword puzzle. Read the newspaper everyday. Keep yourself up to date with the latest news in the country. Debate with your children or even with your grandchildren. Use your mind.

3. Have a purpose

Another secret to aging well is to have a purpose in life even when you are old. Find something to do with your time whether it is a hobby that you have done in the past or a new hobby that you have been wanting to try for years.

Five Simple Ways To Prevent Aging

Five Simple Ways To Prevent Aging

People don’t always have to apply creams, go to the gym or undergo surgery to look young. This is because everything we need is right in front of us and all we have to do is make the most of it. Here are a few simple ways to prevent aging.

1. Studies show that exercise allows you to stay fit and strong. But did you know that sweating allows the body to exfoliate bacteria hidden in the pores? This is the reason you should bring a towel to the gym or while jogging so it can be wiped off.

2. The human body just like the planet earth is composed mainly of water. Every time we exert energy, this element is used and has to be replaced. This is the reason that doctors advise us to drink at least 8 glasses a day. Of course, there is nothing wrong with drinking more than the required volume especially after an exercise.

3. Exercise isn't enough to control anti-aging if nothing is done to improve the diet. When kids grow up, most of the food should be high in carbohydrates. Adults should substitute that with those that are high in proteins. You can do research on the web or read books about this to know which ones should be part of the lifestyle change.

4. We have always heard health experts say that people should get at least 8 hours of sleep but despite this advice, there are those who rest for only 4 to 6 everyday. One way to increase this is by reducing the time watching late night television or partying till the early morning so the body will be ready for the challenges of the following day.

5. Stress contributes to aging and the best way to control it is by being organized. You can jot things down on note pads instead of remembering important details in the head. Studies have shown that doing this aids in memory retention and lets the subconscious work on ideas that will just pop up in the morning.

Early Retirement: What You Should Know

For many reasons, more and more people are opting to retire at an early age. The growing trend for the retirement is based on the fact that people are enticed to retire early than continue working and wait until they reach their retirement age of 65.

In fact, most of the surveys conducted in the United States asserted that 60% of the respondents would love to retire at an early age.

In reality, there are many benefits that people can derive when they retire early. However, there are also many consequences that result from early retirement. What they do not know is that early retirement has the potential of bringing more problems than reaping in benefits and advantages.

Here is a list of some of the reasons why retiring early can be a pretty risky activity.

1. Not in accordance with the regulations of Social Security

When people will retire at an early age, there is a great possibility that they cannot immediately obtain their Social Security benefits. This is because according to the rules and regulations of Social Security, anyone who is born after 1938 will have to wait longer than their retirement age of 65 before they can get their benefits.

Hence, early retirement may only contribute to a negative upshot if the older people’s finances where not managed properly and the only thing they expect to help them are the Social Security benefits they can get.

2. If people who took early retirement get sick, they cannot acquire some Medicare benefits.

This is because the age when people can get their Medicare benefits is when they already turn 65. Hence, if they are hospitalized and they have already filed for their early retirement, they have to obtain the necessary amount of money in order to cover the expenses in the hospital without Medicare.

3. Penalty charges apply to those who retired early and had withdrawn their IRAs early.

For people who would like to retire at an early age and wish to obtain their IRAs, they have to face a hefty 10% penalty charge.

Moreover, experts contend that the nest egg of people who wish to retire early is only 80% of what they should be getting when they retire at the age of 65.

The bottom line is that early retirement is, indeed, a personal choice and preference of an individual but one must consider the factors that may affect their life in the end.

Jim Pollard
http://www.thefabulousfifties.net