FEEL ALWAYS YOUNGER

The main reason you feel old age descending on you is not the passing of the years but the fact that you have been neglecting your body. It’s likely that you’ve been so busy living life that you completely forgot to look after yourself. And now, suddenly, you realize old age seems alarmingly close.

Amazingly, it is possible to wind the clock back a few years.

You are not alone. According to work done by Dr. H.A. deVries, past director of the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California, at least 40% of people over the age of 50 do little or no exercise and very few do enough to prevent their bodies deteriorating due to lack of use. With women now living on average to 81 and men to around 75 (and catching up), you have a good many years ahead of you. Do you really want to be old before your time?

Only one fifth of woman aged 55 to 65 do the recommended amount of exercise each week to keep their bodies functioning efficiently. Over 65 the numbers drop even more. Why is this? Is it that it just doesn’t seem dignified to be out doing things when your hair turns gray? Unsurprisingly, the figures for men are similar.

Walking, whether a slow evening stroll or a brisk canter through the park is good easy to do exercise that suits most people. It’s hard to think of any health problem, including mental health, that is not improved by exercise.

Exercise – and a change to a diet that includes plenty of fruit, vegetables as well as reduced amounts of fat and sugar. It’ll be hard to stop yourself feeling frisky if you make those two changes to your life.