Senior Health: Ideas to Help You Overcome Your Physical Activity Challenges

I am very excited to share with you another guest blogger, who focused on a topic many of forget about! As we get older phyiscal activity and good nutrition should remain part of our daily routine to ensure a long healthy life.

 

 

Being a senior citizen has many wonderful aspects to it. You are able to look back at
your life, feel pride in your accomplishments and watch your children and
grandchildren develop their own lives. However, you also have to deal with some
new health situations and challenges. What are some ideas you can utilize to
overcome these situations?

A Little Bit

Try to complete a small physical fitness goal every day. For example, some days you
could try to do ten sit-ups, and on other days you can go for a one mile walk
around the track. Eventually, your body will get used to these small amounts of
physical activities, and you might be able to take on more. Never push yourself
though; you do not want to get injured. Speak with a doctor about the type of
activity that you are able to take on.

Try Water Aerobics

Jumping around and dancing might just not be what your body is able to do anymore.
Instead of aggravating yourself and becoming frustrated, look into some water
aerobics classes. Generally, these types of aerobics are a bit easier to do
because you have the water to act as a cushion. In some cases, these types of
activities could actually be therapeutic, so consider all of the benefits that
you can take from it.

Eating Better

So many different components of your health are related to each other, and you need
to consider the foods that you eat as fuel for your body. Now, you do not need
to give up all of your favorite snacks and treats entirely, but you should look
to eating more healthily. First, consider any medical conditions that you have
and the foods that are required to help your body address these problems. Lean
proteins, fruits and vegetables give you the energy that you need to overcome
some of your physical challenges; consuming the correct amounts of dairy helps
to keep your aging bones nice and strong.

Conversations with Doctors

It is so important to talk to your doctor about your desire to overcome the
physical challenges that come with aging. If you just go ahead and do what you
want, you could be putting your body into a serious or even fatal situation. You
need to address your specific concerns with your doctor and find out what you
need to do to resolve them. While you are visiting with your doctor, you should
also ask what the best foods are for you to eat. The doctor might wind up
suggesting that you go to visit other specialists in the field to really tailor
a plan that addresses the specific needs of your body.

Dealing with the side effects of aging is not something that anyone really looks all
that forward to. Getting through these struggles does involve taking care of
your body, participating in activities suited to you and eating better foods.
However, it also involves having a positive mindset and knowing that you can
fight through the struggles.

Author
Pam Johnson is a CNA at a senior center. She obtained her Certified Nursing Assistant Degree Online.

Easiest Plants to Start Your Garden

I am so excited to share our new guest blogger today, her name is Bridget Sandorford. She is a freelance food and culinary writer, where recently she’s been researching international culinary schools. In her spare time, she enjoys biking, painting and working on her first cookbook.

Easiest Plants to Start Your Garden

Gardening is a great way to get a steady supply of fresh, healthy and unadulterated foods for your kitchen. However, many people are intimidated by gardening and all there is to learn when you are just getting started. What seeds do you plant? When do you plant them? What seeds have to be started indoors? What does it even mean to "start" a seed indoors?

There are a number of plants that beginners can grow that don't require a lot of fuss. If you feel like you can't grow a garden, you should consider these easy plant to start your own garden:

Carrots

Plant seeds directly in the ground about three weeks before the last frost. Plant them in loose soil, add a little compost or fertilizer, and water. There are many varieties that you can grow in all types of shades (even purple and red). You can even grow your own mini-carrots in order to replace those store-bought ones that are whittled from larger carrots.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are a great addition to summer salads, and they are a cool snack throughout the season. Simply plant the seeds in shallow soil once the last frost has passed and watch them grow. You can plant them near a wall, fence or trellis to give them room to grow up. Otherwise, the vines will curl around your garden.

Radishes

Radishes are fast growers and are among the easiest crops for beginners to grow. The seeds will grow in cold  soils and require very little tending. Just put them in the ground and keep them watered. You'll have a hardy harvest in just over a month.

Greens

All types of salad greens are easy growers for beginners. They require little tending, and they grow up quickly. Choose a wide variety of greens to create hearty and delicious salads, including green and red lettuce, mescaline, arugula, and spinach.

Basil

Homemade pesto can't be beat in the summertime, and basil is a delicious addition to a wide variety of savory dishes and salads. A fresh caprese salad is a summer treat. You can easily grow bushels of basil as a beginner. Check out different varieties for some different flavors and scents.

Growing a garden doesn't have to be hard or intimidating. You just have to start small and find your way. You can start with these easy-to-grow crops, and as you find your confidence and build on your skills, you can explore other, harder selections to fill your table.

What were some of the first crops you decided to grow in your garden? Tell us about it in the comments!

 

Post Holiday Detox Cleanse

Feeling sluggish, stressed out, overweight or overwhelmed by cravings?

 

Join me for a 10 Day Post Holiday Detox Cleanse!
January 14th- 23rd

 

 

What is this cleanse all about? 

• This is a FOOD cleanse so you will be enjoying breakfast, lunch and dinner each day :)
• We will be eliminating all processed foods, animal products, sugar, soy, dairy, gluten, caffeine and alcohol. Not bad right?
• You will eat many of the foods you enjoy now on a daily basis such as rice, lentils, quinoa, beans, fruits, vegetables, hummus, nut butters and steel cut oatmeal. These foods are perfect to warm up our bodies in the winter months. They are also anti-inflammatory so they reduce the chances of age related disease and enhance overall quality of health.
•  I will be supporting you the entire time! I will be here for motivation and coaching throughout the cleanse- starting with a kick off call 4 days before the cleanse starts and post cleanse. I will have open office hours for 1 on 1 calls, and email support daily.
• I also believe group support is the greatest gift! I will be setting up a private Facebook page so we can each support one another to achieve our goals. This tool will provide support, new food ideas, and tips to be successful. Since we are in this together we can share best practices.

What you may experience

• Weight loss 5-10 pounds
• Increase of energy (no afternoon slump!)
• Enhancement of skin appearance
• Decrease of bloating
• Improved mental clarity - able to focus better on daily tasks
• Reduction or elimination of sugar cravings
• Headaches, minor pains may disappear
• Sleeping straight through the night

What the 10 days will look like

• Days 1-3
•  At least once you will ask yourself "Why did I choose to participate in this cleanse again?" The answer is only days away - your body will THANK you at the end of it all!
•  You will get out of this cleanse what you put into it. The closer you stick to the guidelines, the better the results will be, but seriously, you get props for even getting this far, and I want your experience to be as enjoyable as possible!
• These days will be the toughest, especially if you drink lots of caffeine and consume a lot of sugar. It varies for each person but headaches, crankiness and tiredness may occur. This is totally normal and if it happens it means the detox is working! Before we start the cleanse we will discuss how to minimize these symptoms by gradually reducing our consumption of these foods before the cleanse.
• Days 4-7
• You will start to feel positive changes!
• You may experience more energy, weight loss, an elevated mood or less bloat.
• Days 8-10
• You will feel like a NEW YOU!
• Days 11-12 (Post cleanse)
• It is very likely that whatever indulgences you enjoyed only 10 days ago no longer appeal to you. 
• You may even have a new attitude or "swagger" towards the foods that you put into your body. This is wonderful news!!!
• We will also work together to slowly re-introduce our "old" foods back in our diets.

What's included?

• Kick off conference call where we will go over the details of the cleanse, how to prepare and all questions will be answered.
• Program packet- includes over 25 recipes, snack list and daily checklist
• Private Facebook page for community support
• 1 on 1 personal support during and post cleanse.
• Plus! Unlimited email support from myself throughout the program.

I am sure you are all wondering HOW DO I SIGN UP? Click the Paypal link below to get started!

Buy before December 23rd and only pay $75
After December 23rd the cost will be $97






Consult with a physician before starting this cleanse if you have any health/medical concerns. Do not stop taking any medication without approval from your doctor.  If you are pregnant or nursing always check with your doctor before stating this cleanse or any other detox.

Healthy Addiction makes no guarantees regarding the results to be achieved from this 10 day cleanse and results are likely to vary from person to person.

Crunchy Salty Snack!

I am a big pretzel fan, theres something about a crunchy, salty snack that always filled me up! When I was at the store I noticed this new brand Essential Eating Sprouted Whole Grain Pretzel Puffs. I turned over the package to check out the ingredients and was very impressed: sprouted whole grain wheat flour, water, organic extra virgin olive oil, salt, yeast and soda.

I love clean eating snacks where all the ingredients are understandable, limited to around 5 total, and have no additives or preservatives.

When I started to research this brand I found out the sprouted whole grain wheat flour actually digests like a vegetable, so its very easy on our bodies!

This brand also offers a range of pastas too that I can't wait to try.

New treat that is epic!

 

In our household we try to avoid all processed and packaged foods and eat a clean diet. However, I travel a lot for work so making healthy decisions on the road is extremely important.

 

I am sure many of you have heard of the LARABAR "granola like" bar on the market. Each bar "is a delicious blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices. Made from whole food, each flavor contains no more than nine ingredients. Pure and simple, just as nature intended". They are not cooked or baked and are perfect to grab as a quick snack to hold you over until your next meal.

 

I recently went to the store and saw a display for UBER LaraBars. I had never heard of this product line but I love anything and everything banana so I thought I would give the Bananas Foster a try.

 

THIS BAR WAS EPIC! Sweet and Salty (prefect for those of us who don't have a sweet tooth but love salty foods) and so dessert like I actually felt guilty after eating this bar. It will seriously take the place of any decadent dessert. It comes in 4 flavors- banana fosters, apple turnover, cherry cobbler and roasted nut roll.

 

 



 

Bananas Foster's Ingredients: almonds, walnuts, brown rice syrup, dates, dried bananas , sea salt, honey, pecans and cinnamon.

This product does not contain refined sugars but still needs to be eaten in moderation as an occasional treat.

Let me know if you love this bar as much as I do!

Homemade ice cream cones!

At the end of dinner do you ever crave a big bowl of ice cream? Here is a simple way to make homemade banana ice cream (which just happens to be my favorite flavor since I was little).

Cut bananas in half and flash freeze on a cookie sheet. Once frozen place in a large zip lock bag for storage. Freezing them first on a cookie sheet prevents them from sticking together in a bag.

 



Remove desired number of bananas and place in a food processor- blend until smooth (feel free to add a little water or almond milk if needed), then pour "soft serve" banana ice cream into a freezable container and refreeze.

 

You can enjoy soft serve ice cream at this point too! Mix agave nectar and cocoa powder together for a simple chocolate syrup topping.

 



Once the banana mix is refrozen scoop with an ice cream scoop and enjoy! 

(Add chopped walnuts or cacoa nibs in place of sprinkles)

 

Copenhagen- Denmark

Do you ever have those moments that you pinch yourself to see if its real? That's what happened to  me this summer when I got a phone call from my husband asking me if I wanted to go to Denmark. His company was sending him abroad for a meeting so I got to tag along for a long weekend.

The only things I knew about Denmark before I left were:

• They are the happiest country in the world.
• They are the most organic country
• They have very low obesity rates

It was almost like Denmark was made for me! I was so excited to absorb their culture and see how everyday people live and eat a healthy life.

The food in Denmark was amazing!!! Each morning I usually had Greek yogurt with a Rhubarb compote and muesli. Fruit was rare but I had to share a photo of the big breakfast we got on the last day, it was amazing.

The cost of food in Denmark is extremely extremely high. From a health perspective this makes me realize that the population makes an investment in their food choices. Where in America we tend to gravitate towards cheap meals and low cost purchases. Its noted that Europeans actually spend 25% of their incomes on food, that's a lot! So the take away here is to make the investment in our food choices!

The people of Denmark ride bikes EVERYWHERE!!! Copenhagen had separate bike lanes and even separate bike traffic lights. They also have walking trails all over the place. Jason and I must have walked 10+ miles a day taking in all the sites, it was exhausting but that is a way of life here. So my take away is find tiny ways to live a more active life- take the stairs, park farther away, take a walk during a conference call etc.

Processed food in Denmark was extremely hard to come by. Even the 7-11 sold fresh croissants and danishes which is a favorite here for breakfast along with a coffee. Unlike here in the US where we eat a big breakfast of pancakes or bacon and eggs. Take away here is to lighten up  our breakfast and eat until your 80% full.

And the last big difference I noticed is that lunch was the big meal of the day and they ate slowly. This was such a new experience for my husband and I. We know we should eat slow but being in a culture that practices this, is truly life changing. So slow down you meal- use chopsticks or hold the fork in your opposite hand, and make lunch your biggest meal of the day.

Overall we had an amazing trip and the best recipe trick we learned was with Edamame. In Denmark they serve it with fresh lemon squeezed over top, instead of soy sauce. We were hesitant at first but were obsessed, its so refreshing and easy! We have made it twice already.