So let’s take a look at How to Keep Fit After Forty. The first step is simple, although you won’t believe it. The first step is to cut yourself some slack; you’re not twenty. You’re not Superman anymore, no matter how tough you were as a kid.
Age forty is when the risk of many health conditions increases. This makes it the perfect time to take stock of your health. Whether you have demanding jobs, aging parents, growing children, or all of the above, it’s easy to put health aside.
Forty is also the time to evaluate your well-being, plan for the long run and, it is an excellent opportunity to do a little introspection. Keeping Fit After 40 means you’re in this for the long run.
Eight things that everyone can do to keep fit and stay healthier after turning forty:
Vision problems
At age forty, vision can start to worsen. So have your eyes checked. If you can’t read the fine print on medicine labels or many different types of tags, you might need reading glasses, and if you can’t read the fine print, you might miss some vital information.
Too much exposure to the sun can increase cataracts, so sunglasses are a good idea. Be sure they have UV-A and UV-B protection.
A diet high in fruits and vegetables may slow vision loss. This is because they are full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. It affects 9.1 million Americans over age forty. It tends to be genetic, but nutrition and a diet rich in lycopene may slow down that vision loss.
Know your numbers
Age forty is an excellent time to check blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar, and body weight. You need to know your cholesterol level, and if you haven’t tested before age forty, you should.
When you visit a pharmacy, have your blood pressure checked. Go to your doctor to get a simple blood sugar test. These tests will help you and your doctor identify potentially hidden disease risk factors.
For example, people with higher blood pressure are at increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.
Explore your family history
After forty, it’s time to look at your family tree carefully. This will tell you if your genetics increases your risk of cancer or heart disease. That’s right; it’s time to think about cancer and heart disease. Understanding your family history will help you and your doctor watch out for possible health risks.
Those with a family history of colon cancer should get a colonoscopy at age fifty and every five years after that. Please talk with your doctor; he may want you to test every three years.
The same goes for heart disease: a calcium test can help determine whether your arteries are starting to harden and if you need significant lifestyle changes or medications.
Muscle-up
At age forty, we lose about 1 percent of muscle mass per year. So most people can benefit from incorporating weight-bearing exercises and cardiovascular exercise into a weekly physical activity plan. You don’t have to go to a gym; it just needs to be some resistance training.
We become less flexible as we get older. Adding yoga or Pilates can help improve flexibility, core strength, balance, and range of motion. If we maintain our muscle mass and strength, we can continue to do the things we enjoy doing as we get older.
Fiber is your friend.
The days of gorging without gaining weight are over. Your metabolism slows around age forty, so eating fewer calories can boost your health. You should also make sure to get adequate fiber and fluids.
We want to make sure the calories we are decreasing come from sweets, keep those high-fiber foods in the diet, and meet our fluid needs. So make sure you get plenty of nutrient-dense food, like lean protein, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat dairy, and whole grains.
The big picture of your lifestyle
Doing regular physical exercise, reducing your stress levels, maintaining a healthy weight, and eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and polyunsaturated fats will help keep your blood vessels healthy. That keeps your heart healthy, and that keeps your brain healthy. An investment in a healthy lifestyle will pay off through every subsequent decade.
Butt out
Age forty should be a reality check for smokers. Quitting is not easy, but it will decrease the occurrence of every lousy health condition that you can think of, from heart attacks, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, as well as lung cancer, and lung disease.
Thyroid Tests
People who feel tired all the time, gaining weight, and whose hair and skin have lost their luster may consider getting their thyroids tested. This gland helps control energy levels and regulates hormones, and forty is when thyroid disease can show its face.
A simple test can determine if your thyroid is functioning as it should. An underactive thyroid primarily results from genetic conditions, but you can offset its complications with prescription medications. As always, consult with your doctor.
How to Keep Fit After Forty Summary
Life doesn’t have to be all downhill after forty. With the proper diet and physical activity, this could be the best time of your life.
I hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you have anything you’d like to share or any opinions about my website, please speak up. I look forward to your comments, questions, and the sharing of ideas.
Disclaimer: I am not a personal trainer or a healthcare professional. The above suggestions I make are general guidelines and not a substitute for medical or professional advice. I always recommend consulting a doctor or health professional before making changes to your diet and fitness routine.
Keeping fit after the forty marks is undoubtedly the next challenge for many of us once we hit this milestone marker of life.
This is the time we all increase our risks and chances of suffering health issues in this decade of life. I like the format of your article, starting with looking at your vision but also looking at the top eight things to do to overall evaluate your health. Simple tips like wearing sunglasses are handy. It’s the simple things like knowing your numbers for things such as blood pressure, your body weight and blood sugar levels, etc. Of course, we are not doctors and maybe unsure about doing this ourselves. So regular contact with your doctor can keep you up to date and on track with general well being.
There are some great images used throughout this page, which delivers a great message about health-related topics and issues for the over forty categories. By talking about serious issues in a way that is not giving you a telling off, it makes the reader seem like they are being informed to a higher level to empower them to make the best choices for themselves. Options such as diet and exercise offer a fantastic starting point for any person looking to make a change for the better to their lifestyle. The benefit of change helps to ensure a longer, happier life though nothing is guaranteed. By using the hyperlinks at the bottom of the page, you can get all the help and support required to get going. But best of all, there is a real choice from Amazon as well, so you have no excuses not to get started.
A great read, so thanks for sharing this information with the plus 40 clubs.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
All the Best:-)
Many people believe that the age forty is a time of decline, but I’m afraid I have to disagree with that, and I think that it shouldn’t be that way because one can still be well over forty years and even live a life of bliss which I believe is a good thing. All the same, it is terrific to read this and learn how to keep fit even after being forty. I think eating right is one of the biggest tips to adhere to.