Stay Active, Take Care and Refuel

The weight of the world is shifting… literally.  More and more, we are encouraged to get up off our couches, push our potato chips to the side, and start moving.  Whether it’s walking for 30 minutes or going for a swim – it’s all about getting active, somewhere, somehow. What’s fantastic is that many of us are not only listening, we are doing, and as a result, feeling better about ourselves.   

Take Isabel Van Beveren, 88, for example.  A participant in the SilverSneakers fitness program at the Cuero Wellness Center in Texas, Van Beveren works out twice a week with fellow senior citizens, reports the Victoria Advocate. 

"It keeps me more active, more limber," Van Beveren said. "It makes me feel good."

Up and moving, the aging adult benefits.  But, what about that post-workout meal so many experts say we should have?  And if body builders mix shakes, eat lean, and pop pills… what do we do?

As we age, we have different calorie and nutrition needs, writes Maureen Callahan, a registered dietician, recipe developer, and lead author of the Health.com diet book review series. To get the best benefits from a 30- to 60-minute workout, Callahan provides five easy strategies in her article The Fiftysomething Diet: Workout Foods to Fuel You Boomer Body that you can follow.

These five strategies include:

1. Bump up protein
2. Dial back the carbs
3. Push the Fluids
4. Boost Omega 3s
5. Consider Multivitamins

To read the breakdown of these five steps, you can visit Callahan’s article here.

So keep moving. Swing that golf club, throw that bocce ball, and take pride in your stride when you walk down the street!  Stay active and stay in tune.  But make sure you are putting the good stuff back into your body to refuel, after you have “kicked” the bad stuff out.

To watch a video on The Facts about Elder Nutrition, click here.