Author: docmac

Healthy Aging in Women

Healthy aging in women is different than it is for men. As a woman you have special needs that need to be addressed. You experience many changes hormonal and as you age your risk for other conditions increases.

First, menopause is one of the most talked about changes a woman experiences as she ages. During this time your menstrual cycle stops and you have a major fluctuation in hormones. Eventually your body starts to compensate as other glands produce estrogen.

Many women choose to go through the natural process of menopause, but others choose to use hormone replacement therapy. This therapy can help you to feel more energy, have a stronger sex drive, and combat problems such as hot flashes.

When you think of heart disease, you most likely think about men. However, heart disease is also the number one killer in women. As you age, the changes in hormones actually cause your risk of heart disease to increase.

It’s important to get regular exercise and eat a heart healthy diet to help prevent heart disease. You should also get your cholesterol tested and talk with your doctor about any type of screening you need. Depending on your family history you may need to take a regular stress test.

Breast cancer also becomes a greater risk as you get older. It’s important to get regular mammogram screenings so that you can catch anything that’s going on early. Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and also one with the best prognosis if you get early treatment.

As you age, your bones can also become more brittle. This problem is more common in women than men and is called osteoporosis. As your bones lose calcium they can become weaker and they can break more easily. This is one of the reasons older women have more fractures.

In order to have strong bones, it’s important to participate in weight bearing exercises. Walking is a great exercise for your lower body, but you should also make sure to do some kind of strength training for your upper body.

As your muscles contract, they pull on your bones and this stimulates the strengthening of them. Strength training exercises and taking calcium supplements is critical for your bones as you age. You should also discuss bone density screening with your doctor.

Most women are also concerned about their skin as they age. A diet high in vitamins and minerals as well as vitamin E supplements can help slow down the aging process of skin. Products containing retinol can also stimulate your skin to build new healthy tissue.

A healthy lifestyle is the most important factor for healthy aging in women. Eating a healthy diet, getting exercise, and talking with your doctor about getting appropriate screenings can help you to get the most of this time in your life.

Exercise Equipment that Enables Families to Get Fit at Home

A lot of people recognize the need to get fit as a family, but don’t have the money to sign up for family fitness classes, lessons or personal trainers. Even sports for kids can be expensive. So, how can families get fit together? The thought of doing it from home can be intimidating too considering how expensive various types of exercise equipment are. Not to mention how it’s supposed to work if you live in a small house.

While you may think it’s impossible to get fit as a family, unless you live in a big house or have a lot of money, the truth is that nothing is impossible! Below are a few simple ways that you and your family can get fit together regardless of how big your house is or what your budget is.

 Take Advantage of the Great Outdoors

If you have a large backyard, consider spending more time in it as a family exercising. Even if you don’t have a big backyard, you probably have access to a local park, baseball field or even a parking lot where you can move around. A few simple ways to get outside and move around (which is exercising) is to play catch, Frisbee or other fun games like hide-and-seek or tag. Just as long as you’re moving, you’re exercising and having fun!

Pull Out the Jump Rope

Remember when you were little and went to P.E. class in school and they had you jump rope for 10-15 minutes at a time? That’s because jumping rope is a great form of physical exercise, and it’s inexpensive to do. Jump ropes can be found practically anywhere – even the dollar store, but you can make your own if you have excess rope lying around. To get the whole family involved, consider holding jump rope contests or using a long rope that has to be worked by two people while one, maybe even two people jump in the middle of it.

Get a Ball

There are all kinds of balls out there that can provide hours of entertainment, and exercise, for families. For instance, there are baseballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, basketballs and the list goes on. You probably have at least one of these lying around the house or garage somewhere. If not, you can usually find them for a dollar or so.

You don’t have to go out and purchase a basketball goal, soccer nets or expensive sports equipment to have fun with balls as a family. For instance, you can create your own basketball game by using a trash can or make your own goals for a friendly game of soccer. There are plenty of games to play with sports balls – just use your imagination.

Exercise Videos

There are thousands of kinds of exercise videos that will help you get moving as a family. It doesn’t matter if you like a lot of movement or prefer pilates or other forms of exercise, you can find an exercise video for it by conducting a simple internet search for it on your home computer.

And, don’t limit yourself to your living room or exercising with an exercise video. You can use your backyard, patio or even the park if you upload the video to your phone. Just think outside-the-box and you’ll be ready to go!