For those of us who have passed the big 40 being healthy suddenly becomes more important. We start to worry about our alcohol consumption, what we eat and how much exercise we are getting. But many of us are also plagued with various mental health issues that never seemed to be an issues 20 years ago and al other worries. We look to the internet or friends for help but we can often be hit with a wall of fad diets, supplements and things we “should” be doing. The problem is, a lot of these things are simply not sustainable. Most of them seem to last for about 12 months and then no one talks about them anymore. The real key to being healthy is choosing simple, sustainable options that become the normal rather than battling with a new trend you dislike anyway.
So…here are a few simple things to consider for those fab 40s and future 50s folk!
Back and Muscle Health
One sure fire way to keep healthy is to look after your body in a literal physical way. So for now ignore diet, skin, booze etc. Here we are talking about muscles and specifically your back. If you start to suffer with back issues it can have lots of knock on affects; you may not be able to exercise, it can affect mental health and more. Back and muscle pain is normal as we get older. Often post kids our backs are never quite the same and a lot of us spend a great deal of time sittingand working. The key is to address the niggles before they become serious. In short, if your back hurts or you have muscle pain for more than a few days go and see a local chiropractor. They will give you exercises that will help and you can carry on with your life. Obviously as we get older we may not be able to all the things we used to but we should be able to do most of them. Speaking to a chiropractor or an osteopath means you are taking control and its something really positive to take forward.
Diet – not in a diet kind of a way
Intense dieting can be bad for you. Everyone has tried it at least one but its always temporary and rarely has a long lasting effect. So be kinder to yourself and look at longer term results. Instead of choosing something extreme why not try and make some simply lifestyle changes. For some people its as simple as eating less meat, a few days a week meat free can be very positive for a number of reasons. Try switching to a more Mediterranean diet for example. This is more about the quality of the food than the quantity and that means it can be really enjoyable and still healthy. Go out a seek recipe books that bring in more veg and less processed stuff, maybe cook from scratch more. These are all healthy long term changes that can really help us be more healthy without intense faddy dieting.
Mental health
This is thankfully something we all talk about a lot more these days but while that helps it doesn’t make the issues go away. As we get older many of us start to notice issues getting worse or even arriving out of the blue. Having a family can put a huge amount of pressure on people and that can lead to issues. Work, money, relationships and more can all become very intense in our 40s and things can snap! They key, just like backpain, is to seek help. Therapy can be life changing and it is something that should be embraced. You do not have to be in crisis to seek help, therapy can be helpful in building confidence, career changes, keeping relationships healthy and more.
Find Something Active You Actually Like
This is a really big one. Everyone has tried taking up some form of exercise that they didn’t really enjoy but forced themselves to do in order to loose weight and stay fit. The problem, just likeIf you enjoy my blog, please consider following me on Bloglovin'