Activities Promoting Healthy Aging

Tip for Healthy Aging: Get Quality Sleep and Engage in Healthy Activities

You can't lead a healthy, happy life if you are sedentary, lack physical activities or don't enjoy the activities in which you engage. You'll find it hard to get quality sleep and you'll often feel exhausted. When you wake up each morning, you lack the energy. As you age, your body undergoes a lot of changes. If you are aware of these changes, you can take steps towards ensuring that your body becomes healthy.

Getting quality sleep is important for having clarity of mind. Getting adequate sleep can also give you the energy boost you need the next day to accomplish tasks and more. In addition, did you know that getting quality sleep can help in controlling your weight? And if you are getting enough sleep, you tend to make better decisions and experience less stress, even though stress is all around you. If you lack sleep, you won't be able to cope with stress and you'll end up making bad decisions.

According to research, getting a good night's sleep is vital for our health. Researchers have discovered that lack of sleep prevents the body from producing adequate amounts of growth hormones. As a result, muscles are transformed into fat. Overall, sleep is important; however, it's also equally important that you engage in worthwhile, healthy activities.

One of the best activities that promotes healthy aging (and even help you sleep better) is walking. Walking helps loosen muscles and provides a great workout for the heart. Walking also helps to reduce stress, anxiety and depression. When you feel angry, stressed out, anxious or sad, try taking a 30-minute brisk walk outside. While the thing that caused you to feel angry, stressed, anxious or sad may not disappear, your mood will considerably improve after a brisk walk and you'll find yourself able to think more clearly and put things into proper perspective. When you are able to cope better with these negative things, you can sleep better -- longer and deeper. When you wake up the next day, you feel refreshed, energized and in a much happier frame of mind.

Exercising can directly affect your sleep. It's  best to exercise in the morning and in the afternoon; avoid exercising close to bed time as your body needs to relax and get ready for sleep. When you exercise properly and regularly, your metabolism will improve. How does this relate to sleep? Well, when you sleep, your body craves for energy. As you sleep, your body releases insulin or glucose into your bloodstream. This slows down your metabolism. If you don't exercise regularly, your body ends up gaining weight.

If you often feel exhausted, you don't have the energy to do the things you would otherwise enjoy doing. Your exhaustion and lack of energy can be caused by your lack of sleep or the quality of sleep that you are getting on a daily basis. This can lead to other problems.

In order to sleep better at night and have the energy to engage in activities during the day, cut back on your consumption of nicotine, caffeine, alcohol and other harmful chemicals such as over-the-counter medications that can keep you awake at night. Avoid drinking coffee or alcohol or anything that has caffeine in it after 8PM. If you smoke, avoid smoking close to bed time too.

Start the habit of walking in the morning. Brisk walking in the morning can help your body wake up as well as get your body revved up and energized. Walking also encourages healthy joints and muscles, not to mention burn calories. Try walking every morning and you will notice that you feel much better the rest of the day.

Begin walking at a slow, steady pace. A 30-minute walk is actually adequate. Pick up the pace after a few days and add a few minutes to your walk. When you walk, you want to sweat but not be out of breath. You want to give your heart a really good workout. You can also take brisk walks before and after you eat.

Make walking a fun activity; ask someone to walk with you -- a family member, friend, neighbor. Walking with someone or a group of people is also a great way to socialize and it also helps relieve you of stress. You're able to interact with others while being able to exercise at the same time.

As for sleeping at night, avoid switching on the TV if you can't sleep. Try walking around the house instead. Do some stretches. Have a relaxing, warm bath. Don't eat three to four hours before your bed time, and avoid snacking, especially when it is your bed time.