I’m just over a year away from turning 65, so staying healthy and aging well is top of mind.

When I lost my health due to chronic Shingles in my 20’s, I worked on improving my immune system by taking supplements, eating nutritiously, getting the amount of sleep I needed, managing my stress and mental health, and exercising moderately. (I also used to get chronic migraines, and after taking an allergy med when I didn’t have ibuprophen, my doctor had said, “Oh yes, some allergy sufferers exhibit migraine as a primary symptom.” That was a life-changing realization that by taking daily allergy meds I could avoid most of my migraines!)

Those are things I strive to maintain even now, for I’ve seen I rarely get sick anymore, and if I do, it’s fairly short-lived. I feel well and am not fatigued all the time.

When I read “New research may have found the secret to delaying chronic illness in old age“, I realized my habits I had incorporated into my life to help my immune system were also helping keep me healthy as I age. I knew I needed to share this with all of you so you could start to incorporate these habits into your lives too.

For a long while I’ve been observing people in my age group and have seen them develop many of the often preventable illnesses that tend to creep into our lives as we age. No, I don’t preach to them what they could be doing, I think that information is in abundance all over, so I see it as more as personal choices they are making.

My daughter has been likewise observing people and comparing their health and outward appearances of aging with mine. She has seen how I eat and the supplements I take, and she sees there is indeed something to it, so she has been incorporating these practices into her own life.

It’s never too late!

It’s never too late to start living healthier! Even if we’ve lived our entire lives eating processed foods, drinking and smoking, not exercising, being very stressed and living in those juices, etc. we can at any time decide to make healthier choices for ourselves.

Should we throw away everything in our fridge and pantry? Should we get a gym membership and go for an hour each day? Should we stop our smoking and drinking cold turkey? No, I don’t recommend taking a drastic or extreme approach.

Anything done to excess or to the extreme won’t be good for us, and that includes a major, drastic change. People will do this however with good intentions, and then get very overwhelmed because they’re in completely unfamiliar territory, have no real idea how to sustain it or what to replace it with, so then the feeling of failure comes crashing in. Thoughts of “I failed to take care of myself, what’s the use?” come flooding in, feelings of overwhelm can spiral into a depression, where the person then feels “It’s not use, I just can’t do those things.”

• Though you may hold your sword in a shaky hand, I see the demons you are slaying.
• I don’t think people realize how much strength it takes to pull yourself out of a dark place mentally. So if you’ve done that today, I’m proud of you.
• No matter how hard the past is, you can always begin again.
• Your mind is a garden, Your thoughts are the seeds.

This is where going slower is far more beneficial. Start with one thing.

It can be a small thing like keeping a pair of sports shoes in the car and going for a walk after work; cutting down on the processed meats and meat in general and replacing them for chicken, turkey, fish or other tasty proteins; cutting down on processed grains and instead having some healthier alternatives; cutting way down on deep fried foods, choosing smaller portion sizes of sweets; choosing smaller portion sizes in general.

Start with something small, get used to living with that new behavior, and then add another one. In the beginning it takes a lot of mental effort to remind ourselves, but with time it becomes more second-nature.

We used to eat 2ns and 3rds of meals until we were stuffed to the point of popping? We now enjoy feeling full and satisfied but no longer need to pop antacids to deal with our stomachs working over-time each meal. We used to zone out after work? Now we drop by the gym for a light work-out and feel refreshed because we have some good endorphins going through our body!

By slowly adding to our successes we give ourselves more chances to succeed and that builds confidence. In the beginning we need that confidence that we can do it, and that helps build momentum to make other changes.

Some changes may require getting some additional help, such as quitting drinking or doing drugs. For some, going to a local support group is very helpful, while others need more structured help like a rehab center. One thing I’ve seen is that help given in these places is usually judgment-free.

Honestly, there’s no better place to start than in this moment. Even reading more articles to get your head and heart ready for making change is a good place to start.

There’s no magic answer nor is there a “best way” to do things. Choose something that feels do-able to you, then choose the next do-able thing. Don’t let anyone bully you or criticize your efforts; even starting with the easy stuff is still a start!

Once you start, just slowly add to what you’re changing to suit the pace that feels comfortable to you.

I believe in you!

• Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.
• Brain Rewiring
• Habit Power: We are what we repeat
• It’s easy to be a critic, but being a doer requires effort, risk and change.
• You have the power to heal your life, and you need to know that.
• Changing our thoughts and habits Part 1: how does it physically work in the brain?
• Changing our thoughts and habits Part 2: how does it physically work in our body?
• Baby steps serve a purpose to allow us to keep moving forward!
• Baby steps start the whole change happening!
• Make yourself strong!
• It’s never too late to teach ourselves!
• Don’t speak negatively about yourself!!
• Stop hating yourself for everything you aren’t. Start loving yourself for everything you are.
• Breathe, Darling. This is just a chapter. It’s not your whole story.
• Our inner head space… doing the inner shadow work
• Reach out and talk about it! Don’t suffer in silence!
• Just do your best with what you have, at this time!

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Blessings!
Thank you for liking, sharing this post and for following me!
Tamara

I hope you’ll poke around my Archived Posts Main page divided up into 3 sub-pages: Mental Health and Rewiring the Brain || Healing and Developing Ourselves || Positive thoughts and Affirmations to find a wonderful trove of supportive and encouraging posts!
https://tamarakulish.com/

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