There are many elderly people who aren’t taking great care of their bodies.
They might smoke, drink alcohol, eat unhealthy foods, and avoid exercise. Does this sound like your elderly loved one? If they are doing things that aren’t good for them, you can encourage them to make small changes to their lifestyle until they can create positive habits.
Here are some of the best lifestyle habits for your elderly loved ones to incorporate into their life.
Healthy Diet
You and the senior care providers should encourage your elderly loved one to follow a healthy diet. This doesn’t mean they can’t eat things they like. It just means they should avoid foods that lead to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other health issues. They should focus on foods that are healthy such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and other healthy foods. By eating healthy, they can improve their energy levels, reduce health issues, and have a better life overall.
Exercising for Balance, Flexibility, and Strength
Your elderly loved one would benefit from doing exercises for balance, flexibility, and strength. These are the types of exercises that can help build your elderly loved one’s muscle mass, bone strength, posture, and mobility. They can help to reduce pain, irritability, muscle spasms, and tension in the body, as well. Your elderly loved one doesn’t have to jump into a huge fitness plan or program. If they can do a couple of hours of these exercises a week, that would be great.
Doing Cognitive Games and Activities
Your elderly loved one would also benefit from doing cognitive games and activities. There are so many ways that the elderly can exercise their brain. They can do puzzles, read new books, do word searches, and take part in hobbies. It is important for your elderly loved one to know that exercising their brain is just as important as exercising their body. If your elderly loved one doesn’t know which cognitive games or activities to do, you or one of their senior care providers can set up a plan for them. You can make a list of games or activities for them to choose from each day. Then, you can encourage them to pick one of these at a time.
Conclusion
These are some of the best lifestyle tips for senior citizens. If your elderly loved one doesn’t have the best lifestyle at this point, you can ease them into doing better. You can start by having them make just one change. For instance, they can start by exercising for 20 minutes once a week if they currently don’t exercise much at all. Eventually, they can build better lifestyle habits that they will stick to.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Health Care in Woodbury, NJ, please contact the caring staff at Attentive Care Inc. 1-800-493-5660
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