“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”
- World Health Organization
Concord, MA – December12th, 2011- In this fourth part of our series on Life over 50 - Neglect we look at the issues dealing with General Health.
N - utrition
E - xercise
G – ENERAL HEALTH
L - ongevity
E - nergy
C - onfidence
T – ime
So, until now we’ve been talking about the ‘nitty gritty’ of staying healthy...exercise and nutrition. As mentioned previously these are perhaps the two most important areas we should be focusing on as we move into our 50’s and beyond. We’ve got to get our bodies moving in a consistent, structured and methodical way. We often hear people say, ‘I’m controlling what I can and trying not to worry about the rest’, and in truth I’ve said that to myself and to my clients.
But is that the right perspective? Health researchers often refer to our middle years as, ‘the age of silent change’. In other words we are reaching that stage of our lives where underlying issues, whether through lifestyle choices made over many years or just genetic misfortune, can begin to manifest them selves. It is no coincidence that women are advised to get mammograms after the age of 40 and men and women to get colonoscopies after 50. So, do we need to worry about, ‘what we can’t control?’ Well, yes. And to some extent we can control it by being proactive and getting ourselves checked out regularly. While we may not be able to make amends for what we have or haven’t done for the last 30 – 50 years we can take stock of where we are and move forward from there. Annual medical check-ups are a must and for a complete list of the things you should be checking on you can visit; http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/women50.htm for women, and http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymen.htm for men.
Of course, no one doubts that exercise and good nutrition are the ’cornerstones’ of staying well and that we should monitor our health regularly. But in truth they are components of a larger model of health we often refer to as Wellness and at our stage of life perhaps one we should be more cognizant of. In 1976 Dr. Bill Hettler introduced the 6 dimensions of Wellness Model. This model incorporates the idea that wellness depends on Emotional, Occupational, Physical, Spiritual, Intellectual and Social health and that they are all interdependent. While we intuitively know what makes us ‘well’ it is an interesting exercise to review the model to see where we might ‘optimize’ the way we are living. Reviewing ‘the plan’ once in a while is never a bad thing! More info about this model can be found at http://www.nationalwellness.org. The idea that the physical dimension is just one aspect of this overall idea of Wellness helps to give us some perspective on what, particularly at this age, we need to be aware of. And that is living a healthy life in every respect.
- World Health Organization
Concord, MA – December12th, 2011- In this fourth part of our series on Life over 50 - Neglect we look at the issues dealing with General Health.
N - utrition
E - xercise
G – ENERAL HEALTH
L - ongevity
E - nergy
C - onfidence
T – ime
So, until now we’ve been talking about the ‘nitty gritty’ of staying healthy...exercise and nutrition. As mentioned previously these are perhaps the two most important areas we should be focusing on as we move into our 50’s and beyond. We’ve got to get our bodies moving in a consistent, structured and methodical way. We often hear people say, ‘I’m controlling what I can and trying not to worry about the rest’, and in truth I’ve said that to myself and to my clients.
But is that the right perspective? Health researchers often refer to our middle years as, ‘the age of silent change’. In other words we are reaching that stage of our lives where underlying issues, whether through lifestyle choices made over many years or just genetic misfortune, can begin to manifest them selves. It is no coincidence that women are advised to get mammograms after the age of 40 and men and women to get colonoscopies after 50. So, do we need to worry about, ‘what we can’t control?’ Well, yes. And to some extent we can control it by being proactive and getting ourselves checked out regularly. While we may not be able to make amends for what we have or haven’t done for the last 30 – 50 years we can take stock of where we are and move forward from there. Annual medical check-ups are a must and for a complete list of the things you should be checking on you can visit; http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/women50.htm for women, and http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymen.htm for men.
Of course, no one doubts that exercise and good nutrition are the ’cornerstones’ of staying well and that we should monitor our health regularly. But in truth they are components of a larger model of health we often refer to as Wellness and at our stage of life perhaps one we should be more cognizant of. In 1976 Dr. Bill Hettler introduced the 6 dimensions of Wellness Model. This model incorporates the idea that wellness depends on Emotional, Occupational, Physical, Spiritual, Intellectual and Social health and that they are all interdependent. While we intuitively know what makes us ‘well’ it is an interesting exercise to review the model to see where we might ‘optimize’ the way we are living. Reviewing ‘the plan’ once in a while is never a bad thing! More info about this model can be found at http://www.nationalwellness.org. The idea that the physical dimension is just one aspect of this overall idea of Wellness helps to give us some perspective on what, particularly at this age, we need to be aware of. And that is living a healthy life in every respect.
Perhaps this takes us all a little too far away from just an occasional series of articles based on taking caring of ourselves after the age of 50, but the value in considering this more holistic approach to our wellbeing I think fits well into where we are at this point in our lives. Many of us are well established in our careers and perhaps thinking of that ‘second’ career. Some of us coming to terms with kids leaving or having left the nest and having maybe more time to ‘give back’ to our community or pursue some other deferred goals. We also are perhaps dealing with aging parents and the stress that that brings. It is a time of life with many changes and challenges. Our ‘wellness’ will determine how we deal with those challenges. We owe it to ourselves to be as prepared as possible.
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