Making healthy nutritional choices is essential for all age groups, especially adults aged 50 and above. Studies show that a good diet and personal training can help prevent diseases and delay the common effects of ageing. In addition, over the decades, your body undergoes changes that result in an increase in body fat and a reduction in the overall water content of your body. So, it’s essential that you maintain a steady diet and moderate personal training to keep you fit during the latter stages of your life. Let’s talk about some basic tips to help senior citizens improve their lifestyles and potentially increase their lifespan.
Understanding Healthy Diet 101
Let’s begin by debunking a common misconception – healthy food is NOT consuming bland food and following impractical fitness and training plans. Additionally, you shouldn’t let any forged nutrient studies or fad diet plans make a healthy diet seem impossible to follow. In reality, a healthy diet isn’t as overwhelming as usually assumed. Instead, keeping it varied and all-inclusive stimulates the palate, making you adhere to the taste and habit of nutritious food.
With the internet overfilled with tons of daily nutrition tips, personal training and diets, figuring out the right plan could be difficult. These plans and tips are often ineffective at helping you achieve goals like healthy weight loss or gaining muscle mass. With the current US adult obesity rate of 42.4%, being overweight exposes you to health risks that could lead to distressing diseases. Therefore, healthy eating is more of an opportunity and less of a punishment, contrary to popular opinion. Establishing a general pattern and thoughtful, healthy nutrition schedule helps you set the right health goals.
“Healthy does NOT mean starving yourself EVER. Healthy means eating the right food in the right amount.”
– Karen Salmansohn
The Right Way to Diet
A diet doesn’t have to be restraining. Shifting to a plant-based diet might be the easiest way to lose weight, but it could not be easy to maintain a long-term habit. For individuals aged 50 and above, a plant-based diet might not be enough. Instead, opt for products that offer other benefits like bone strength, better mobility, and balance. The best way to lose weight is to make sure your diet remains enjoyable while being healthy. Here are some effective tips for healthy eating:
Switch to Whole Food
Work on your habit of eating processed and frozen foods. Allay your late-night hunger with fresh fruits, whole grains, and freshly-cut vegetables instead of processed ramen and frozen pizza. These healthy food items offer essential nutrients, including minerals, fibres, proteins, and healthy fats. Conversely, processed foods are packed with calories and unhealthy fats, which are the major reason for obesity. Going on a complete vegetable-based diet might make it difficult to stick to the diet plan. However, adding some veggies and fresh fruits to daily food consumption can help you maintain levels of necessary nutrients.
No More Sugary Drinks
Sugary drinks are the major reason for Type-2 diabetes and obesity. The consumption of such beverages leads to liver damage, early ageing, and mental health issues, including anxiety and stress. Replace the soda and sugary drinks bottles with packed juices and freshly brewed fruit extracts. These fresh fruit juices provide you with essential vitamins while keeping you hydrated. Unsweetened juices and fruit-based beverages also decrease the chances of diabetes and obesity. At the same time, antioxidants present in them help cleanse the body by removing toxins.
Stay Active
The only way any diet plan will work is that you stay active along with maintaining nutritional intake. You don’t have to perform rigorous exercises after you’ve turned 50. Instead, you can do moderate exercise, which keeps you active and adds years to your life. Studies report that exercise can slow down the effects of ageing and help delay countless age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular problems, osteoporosis, stroke, and diabetes. Let’s not ignore the fact that exercise keeps our minds sharp and encourages social interaction. So, it’s never too late to adopt a more active lifestyle. The easiest way to do this is by enrolling in a gym where you can begin your personal training.
Ensure Availability of Healthy Food
Hunger can get the best of you, pushing you to grab the first thing you see on the kitchen counter. Fill your kitchen counter with jars of healthy snacks so that you can easily avoid chips and other unhealthy snacks whenever you need a quick bite. Make sure fresh fruits are readily available and placed in visible places of your house—store wheat-based snacks at eye level. Prepare whole-grain snacks and store them in small batches in your fridge or cupboard. Switch to eating dry fruits, including almonds, pistachios, raisins, and dried berries, and make sure they are placed wherever you spend significant portions of your day.
Change Your Grocery Shopping Habits
When it comes to grocery shopping, the shelves packed with snacks often tempt you to give up on your healthy eating habits. You can try shopping on the outer perimeters of the grocery store to avoid this temptation as that is where most stores place fresh fruits and vegetables. Visit the nuts and seeds aisle to ensure you buy only healthy food, even when shopping for leisure snacks. Seeds and nuts are often the powerhouses of good nutrition and excellent minerals, vitamins, and magnesium sources. They can work as good options for munching once you develop the acquired taste for them.
Final Thoughts
Switching to healthy eating is not as complicated as most people portray it. Adopting simple habits and making a few changes to your grocery list could help you stick to healthy eating. Other than that, make sure to drink sufficient water. And last but not least, start exercising. Start small, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, carrying your own groceries, or taking yoga lessons. For more information, you can reach out to fitness gyms that provide personal training to people above 50, like the experts at Strong Over 50. They will provide you with a well-structured and easy-to-follow diet plan and also recommend exercises to keep yourself fit in the long run.