I had an interesting conversation with yesterday with various people, who had made changes to their lifestyle e.g. what that ate, how they exercised etc. Most often due to some kind of health ‘wake up call’ e.g. after a heart attack etc.
In the last couple of years, I had a few health issues too that forced me to take a closer look at my lifestyle.
One very obvious thing was my diet. I wasn’t paying any attention at all to what I was eating and when I did the very basic thing of looking at nuitritional information, I was shocked by how much sugar was contained in certain foods and how bad for my health it was.
What things did you learn and what tips would you share or were things that you wish you knew earlier?
Don’t forget balance exercises. You should try standing on one leg with eyes closed for as long as you can. A fall in later life is many times the end.
It’s not something I’ve ever really thought about tbh. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer (19 years ago this week) the doctors told me they would never really be able to tell me why I got it so I’ve never dwelled on it. It was related to a human growth hormone that normally switches off at age 27 but in some people keeps going until it starts going out of control.
In January we’re going to Spain to see a friend who had a heart bypass at the end of 2023, he’s 64 and is now being tested for possible early onset dementia. To be frank, he’s one of those people who’s never bothered about his health, was a heavy cannabis user until his late 30s (we also suspect other substances) and he’s also been a very heavy smoker and drinker. However, that’s his choice and it’s not for us to judge. He was at university with my OH and he feels he needs to see him now as he might not be around for too much longer which is sad.
Whatever you do for exercise, you’ll need to do it for more than a month or two so choose some exercise that you actually enjoy and doesn’t bore you.
You can always change it for another one if you get bored, or the first one starts causing you pain or discomfort.
Exercise doesn’t mean you need to go to a gym, buy expensive equipment, go to classes or anything else that may put you off.
You don’t even need to leave the house.
Yoga, pilates, calesthenics etc can all be done at home and there’s plenty of good Youtube videos to show you how to start.
Good habits
If there’s something you neglect to do, turn it into a habit which you do without thinking, like cleaning your teeth.
I never used to drink enough water so when I went to bed, I filled up a large glass of water and left it by the bed.
After a couple of weeks it was second nature to wake up and immediately drink the whole glass before doing anything else.
I haven’t missed doing it for a couple of years now.
Stand on one leg when cleaning your teeth. One leg for the first minute, and the other for the second minute. As Bossybaby wrote, balance is really important when you get older so turn it into a habit.
Mainly for men: don’t be afraid to go to the doctor! You have health insurance - so use it.
I had an itchy scalp with some annoying scabs forming. My hairdresser sold me some expensive lotion, which did nothing. So I went to the doctor who referred me immediately to the dermatologist, who diagnosed “Weiss Krebs”, which sounds awful - “actinic keratosis” in English. If left untreated it leads to skin cancer including melanoma. The dermatologist said I came in good time and teated my scalp over a few months…
If you are female, talk about menopause with your mother. With your friends, with your sister…Most women will go through it more or less at the same age, and with similar symptoms than their mothers. It will save you soooo much time, fears, problems and pain!
Unfortunately my mother died when I was 19. I went through the entire menopause over the course of a weekend brought on by chemotherapy. I was in absolute agony with joint pains and thought I was going to die of a cardiac arrest if I’m being honest, I had to be sedated with Tramadol. Afterwards I spent 3 months sleeping for up to 18 hours a day, only going out for more chemo treatment. I eventually ended up in hospital isolation.
I would rather have had the hassle of the hot flushes tbh, chemically induced menopause is the worst form.
I wish I knew not to do heavy lifting when I was a child. I was strong, but my spine bones weren’t, so got deformed. Unfortunately my parents didn’t know that either, rather were proud of having such healthy strong son.
Regarding sugars and diet, I don’t have much to regret, except it caught me by surprise that since a few years I’m eating too much. Old body doesn’t need so much fuel My blood pressure moved into hypertension area, but doctor convinced me to change my lifestyle. I started applying suggestions, monitoring my glucose levels and it pays off. I love the modern technology. Last weekend I ate whole pizza, just a treat once in a while, but it turned out I wasn’t feeling good at all consuming so much! Half is enough for me. My body was overloaded dealing with the excess.
Like others in the forum I wish I knew more about nutrition and regular exercise (especially physiotherapy).
But the main one would be to try to avoid high stress, up or out, 996/997 overaggressive work environments. It’s very difficult to avoid stress eating or skipping gym/exercise.
To be fair, has anyone actually written that they wish they knew more about nutrition?
What is good and healthy to eat has been pretty clear for years. I’m still eating basically what I ate when I was a child.
What has changed is both the aggressive advertising for unhealthy foods and new ways of consuming it and misinformation on social media and newspapers before that.
I never had a TV for most of my adult life (only have one now for films and Netflix) and I have never felt the need to “snack” - I put this down to having never been subjugated to the idea of snacks and snacking by aggressive TV advertising over the years.
Same goes for exercise really - people know it’s a good idea to take some (and probably more than they think!)
I think the only major new discoveries which are a bit of a revelation are:
That exercise won’t burn calories consumed on a one-in, one-out basis and hunter-gatherers basically consume the same number of calories through exercise as someone with an office desk job. Weight-loss can only be achieved through a calorie deficit - through will-power, drugs, illness or surgery.
Older people should exercise too, especially weight-bearing exercises, if they want to give themselves the best chance of remaining fit and healthy in older age.
We had food technology as a module of Home Economics in high school which covered “a healthy diet”. But perhaps our school was a bit hippy dippy. It wasn’t even a GCSE, just a mandatory lesson for half the year then wood/metal work for the other half year.
So now I can eat healthily and build the pan to cook it in…
My blood pressure moved into hypertension area, but doctor convinced me to change my lifestyle. I started applying suggestions, monitoring my glucose levels and it pays off. I love the modern technology. Last weekend I ate whole pizza, just a treat once in a while, but it turned out I wasn’t feeling good at all consuming so much! Half is enough for me. My body was overloaded dealing with the excess.