YOU KNOW THE DRILL: DO SOME PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, and you can lower your risk of chronic diseases and early mortality. But today, I want to also focus on my four top tips for staying fit with age.

Let’s get right to my four tips for staying fit with age: First, get sufficient sleep. Second, keep mentally active. Third, be social. And fourth, move.

“I wonder why I don’t go to bed and go to sleep. But then it would be tomorrow, so I decide that no matter how tired, no matter how incoherent I am, I can skip on hour more of sleep and live.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

To me, aging is not the loss of my youth but a series of chapters unfolding, often offering new growth opportunities.

The downside? I don’t especially enjoy awakening with a pain I cannot explain. Or not hearing as well in very noisy spaces.

1. Staying Fit With Age: I Get Sufficient Sleep.

I put sleep first, as it is an oft-forgotten tool for pushing back against aging. As I entered my 60s, I wondered if we need less sleep as we age.

Well, that’s a myth. We older adults still need seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

Get too little sleep, and we may suffer from chronic health conditions such as heart disease, depression, and diabetes. We may also increase our dementia risk.

Get too much sleep, and we open the door to health issues.

Physical Side Effects of Oversleepingwww.webmd.com

Unfortunately, I am discovering that it becomes more challenging to sleep with age. Many of my older patients seem to go to bed later and awaken earlier.

I avoid caffeine consumption outside of the morning. Caffeine effects peak within 30 to 60 minutes. You may feel jittery during that time. The caffeine can affect me for more than five hours.

I also know that I will need to get up more to urinate during the night, given the liquid volume and caffeine’s mild urination-inducing (diuretic) effect.

I stay in a routine; I aim to fall asleep at 10:30 each night, and I arise at 5:35 in the morning. While it can be challenging, I also keep this schedule during the weekends.

2. Staying Fit With Age: I Strive for Mental Fitness.

I am a voracious reader. I read four books for nine days in Madrid and Sevilla (Spain) last month. The best? Cloud Cuckoo Land.

But I also enjoyed the autobiography of my favorite pianist; Music Comes Out of Silence: A Memoir [by Andras Schiff].

Have you read Greenlight to Freedom: A North Korean Daughter’s Search for Her Mother and Herself? The story made me ask whether it is meaningful to live a life. What can I do to help people such as Soomin Kim?

Do you do crossword puzzles? Enjoy reading? Or do you engage in daydreaming? Did you know that daydreaming can improve your mental health?

I now focus on stress management, an important component of mental fitness. My approach is to meditate for 10 minutes daily. Mindfulness can improve my cognitive agility and mood.

Finally, I avoid electronics before bedtime. Reading for 15 or 30 minutes facilitates getting to (and staying) asleep.

3. Staying Fit With Age: I Try To Be Social.

Let me start with this disturbing observation:

Loneliness is a health crisis comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

Social connection can reduce your risk of suffering from premature death.

This year, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory warning of the nation’s loneliness epidemic, which negatively impacts health.

Asynchronous aging is when one partner has a decline (with dementia, for example). Such watershed moments can impact emotional and social well-being.

Having a circle of friends can provide a ballast against going too astray when stressors (such as a loved one’s decline) hit. Not surprisingly, social connectedness is one tenet of the Blue Zones® Power 9.®

Volunteering can provide connections to others while adding purpose. While we tend to prune people away from us with age, keeping a core group around us is important.

4. Staying Fit With Age: I move.

I begin with this observation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control:

Regular physical activity is vital for healthy aging because it helps delay, prevent, or manage many costly, chronic diseases. Physical activity can also reduce the risk of premature death.

Physical activity is one of the most important things you and I can do to promote our health.

Move, and you may prevent (or delay) many health problems associated with aging. Moreover, you can promote muscle and bone strength, making it more likely you will remain independent.

While there is no limit to physical activity and health promotion, adults 65 and older should consider the following:

• At least 150 minutes a week (for example, 30 minutes a day, five days a week) of moderate-intensity activity such as brisk walking. Or they need 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity such as hiking, jogging, or running.
• At least two days a week of activities that strengthen muscles.
• Plus, activities to improve balance, such as standing on one foot.

If chronic conditions affect your ability to meet these recommendations, be as physically active as your abilities and conditions allow.

Comedian George Carlin on Aging

I will end with a bit of the late George Carlin, my favorite comedian.

When asked how old you are?

If you are under ten years old, you are so excited about aging you think in fractions. I am four and a half going on five.

You are never thirty-six and a half!

In your teens, you jump to the next number or even a few ahead. I am going to be 16! You could be 13, but hey, you’re going to be 16!

And the greatest day of your life…..you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. You become 21. Yes!

But then you turn 30. Ooh! What happened here?

You become 21, turn 30, then you are pushing 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes!

Before you know it, you reach 50!

But wait!! You make it to 60. You weren’t sure you would!

So, you become 21. Turn 30. Push 40. Reach 50 and make it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you hit 70! After that, it is a day-by-day thing.

You get into your 80’s, and every day is a complete cycle; you hit lunch, turn 4:30, and reach bedtime!

And it doesn’t end there. Into your 90’s, you start going backward. I was just 92!

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. I’m 100 and a half.

May all of us make it to 100!!

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The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.

Thank you for reading “Staying Fit With Age.”