Sunday, February 15, 2009

I Refuse to Age Gracefully

I was reading the USA Weekend magazine that comes in my Sunday paper today. There was an article by the president of AARP on ways to feel great and live longer. Now, my kids may be practically grown up, but I'm several years away from AARP membership. It doesn't hurt to apply a few of these tips now in the effort to delay the aging process, though.

I think I'm doing pretty well as far as exercise goes, since I've been walking 5 days a week since Cory was a baby. If physical exercise is supposed to slow the aging process, then I should have gained a few years by now, right?

Another tip mentioned in this article is that mental workouts can be just as important as those physical ones. In a University of Illinois study people in their 60s and 70s were introduced to and began playing video games, and it helped their brains to remain more agile, as well as improving memory and reasoning ability. So, it's never too late to start exercising your brain - and it's never too early! Jeffrey has been telling me I should brush my teeth with my right hand (I'm left-handed) to exercise my brain, but I haven't done it yet. I did visit AARP's game website that was mentioned in the article and exercised my brain with some of their puzzles. I tried the "Split Words" one they said was most popular. It was fun, and challenging, and I keep trying again because I'm not getting them all! It shows what brain functions are being trained, what brain areas, and even how you stack up against other people.

Walk two miles a day, do a few of these brain puzzles, and it'll be years and years before the kids will have to get the moving pods so they can pack up all my stuff and ship me off to the nursing home!

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3 comments:

  1. I'm doing all I can! Someone told me that they took their Ginko but forgot the Biloba! Sounds about right.
    Thanks for visiting my "Sky Watch..."
    You sure got some terrific moon shots.
    ~~~Blessings~~~

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  2. Hi, I'm Debbie. I'm over from Tammy's blog. You have a great blog here. Stop by and say hello soon!

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  3. Hello Anna! Was just introduced to you by Tammy.
    I'm with you on aging gracefully, but it doesn't hurt to try to stay in the best of possible health, does it? Interesting you should bring up AARP, since, in general, we're living longer there is an increased chance, but not 100%, of getting dementia. The exercises you mentioned have been encouraged to children whose parents have dementia. My father does. All the
    more to do whatever I can to stay physically and mentally well.
    An interesting post, Anna. It was very nice meeting you. Have a wonderful day! Petra :))

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