If you’re currently creating your New Year’s resolutions as a senior, it’s important to not only make goals but figure out how to achieve those goals, as well. Here are some healthy eating tips for seniors who want a solid plan for taking better care of their health in the coming year.
What Are Some Healthy Eating and Exercise Tips for Aging Adults?
If you’re ready to ramp up your healthy living goals this coming year, there are many ways to get started. Here are some healthy eating and exercise tips for aging adults who are ready to make a change but need help figuring out how to begin.
- Start with short and easy exercises: If you haven’t been exercising regularly, you don’t want to overdo it when you first begin. Start with easy, short exercise sessions to see how you feel, then slowly work your way up to longer exercise sessions. Some good movements to get started include walking, marching in place, sitting in a chair and raising each leg one at a time, and climbing stairs.
- Make sure each meal contains essential nutrients: Aging bodies need nutrients to stay in good health. When you sit down to a meal, make sure it contains important nutrients (such as vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, whole grains, and protein). An excellent way to ensure you’re getting a variety of nutrients is to make sure your meals look like a rainbow with brightly-colored foods.
- Stay hydrated: Don’t forget how important it is to keep your body hydrated. To ensure you don’t get dehydrated, drink fluids consistently throughout the day. Try to stick with mainly water and tea since sugary liquids can worsen dehydration.
- Eat the recommended serving sizes: To maintain a healthy weight, it’s important to eat the recommended serving sizes of various foods. The American Heart Association offers a convenient list of serving sizes for adults.
- Exercise early in the day: For some people, exercising in the evening can interfere with the body’s natural circadian rhythm and make it harder to sleep well. To avoid this unpleasant side effect, stick to a morning or early afternoon exercises so your body can wind down and relax more easily at night.
- Read nutrition facts labels: Packaged food products have nutrition facts labels, which means you can see exactly what nutrients and ingredients are in each product you consume. Learn how to read these labels to know how many carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are in each product. You should also learn the sneaky ways manufacturers slip sugar into their products while naming it other things (such as agave nectar, cane juice, maltol, and barley malt syrup).
- Shop the perimeter of stores: The healthiest and most natural foods are generally located around the edge of stores (in the dairy, produce, and meat sections). Try to find the majority of healthy food options in these areas. Items in the middle sections of your local grocery store tend to be more highly processed, nutrient-poor, and harder for your body to digest.
Keeping these healthy eating tips in mind can help you meet your new year’s healthy eating and exercise goals.
What Meals Are Good for the Elderly?
Our bodies change as we age, which means foods we used to enjoy without issues may now be out of the question. Fortunately, there are a lot of healthy foods that are easy for aging adults to digest and don’t contain a lot of sugars or simple carbohydrates. Meals for seniors should be easy to chew and colorful to ensure proper nutrient density.
Some recommended meals for the elderly include salmon and rice with a side salad, vegetable beef stew, and scrambled eggs. Try to keep meals choke-proof (which means to keep meals soft and individual bites small).
Meals containing lean proteins that are easy to chew (such as fish or tender cuts of meat) deliver important nutrients to seniors. When it comes to eating vegetables, it’s best to cook them until they are tender enough to chew easily. Steaming is a great way to make vegetables more tender while retaining most nutrients.
What Is the Healthiest Diet for Seniors?
According to a new study, a diet rich in protein and low in calories may be helpful for adults who want to retain their muscle mass and bone density. The Mediterranean Diet also shows great promise for boosting senior health and energy levels.
What Meals Should Seniors Avoid?
Aging adults eating healthier should avoid consuming raw fish and undercooked meat and eggs. These foods can lead to food poisoning, potentially triggering sepsis in seniors. It’s also best to avoid tough cuts of meat that can pose a choking hazard.
These helpful, healthy eating tips and exercise suggestions can help you reclaim your health and energy in the new year. They can also help you know how to care for the aging seniors in your life.
