Stronger After 55: Aging Isn't Defined by Decline, It's What You m

Your weekly guide on smart advancements, small steps, and stigma debunkers to help you thrive in your journey to longevity and healthy aging. In this issue, we uncover the top concerns, innovations, and slow-down behaviours when it comes to inevitably aging. 

SECTION 1: TOP CONCERNS & REAL WORLD ISSUES 

Our bodies age continuously throughout our lifetimes on a clock of their own - the biological clock. It’s what drives the evolution of our body processes - its build and decline - throughout our lifespan, and it is primarily what can determine how long our bodies exist in their prime health. Though, the concept surrounding aging focuses on a daunting sense of decline - that too mistakenly.

From our cardiovascular health, to cholesterol levels, to declining bone density, our body’s way of telling us our increasing biological clock shows through conditions like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, weight gain, and high fall risks - all common and often tied to the daily discomfort we experience. 

But, it shouldn't. 

The word “aging” instills an unspoken fear most adults 55+ don’t talk about, yet the decline of physical health and persisting pain seem to be a rising issue as we age. Data shows that over 90-93% of adults 65+ are diagnosed with one chronic health condition, with approximately 80% having at least two or more. Apart from our physical health decline, these diagnoses have a huge impact on creating complexity and uncertainty around one’s health. Juggling multiple pharmacy prescriptions, managing medication timings, and doctor’s orders, biological age and decline are associated with immense stress that many older adults face in modern day, which makes it an urgent issue in healthcare, and an issue of our own misconceptions. 

Aging shouldn’t mean decline. Rather, it is a sign that our bodies need to be taken care of differently. Aging shouldn’t mean endless prescriptions and persisting pain, but persistence in small daily habits that can alleviate and slow down our biological clock - and increase the years of our prime healthspan. 

SECTION 2: MUST-KNOW WELLNESS ADVANCEMENTS 

How-To: Slow down that biological aging clock

SOME MOVEMENT A DAY KEEPS HEALTH DECLINE AWAY. 

One of the most important contributors in aging decline is in our sedentary time. Long periods of sitting are significantly proven to increase cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risk. According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Health, physical activity severely improves cardiorespiratory fitness, especially important as we age. From increasing lung capacity, decreasing cholesterol buildup of our arteries, and improving blood flow throughout the body, small amounts of exercise can boost our mental and physical health. 

So taking that 30 minute walk in the evening, or keeping your body standing and moving once in a while while you’re barricaded with work - these small changes in decreasing sedentary time scientifically boosts your brain power and energy levels to make you feel good as you age. 

TELEHEALTH & DIGITAL COACHING: YOUR PERSONALIZED VIRTUAL LONGEVITY ENHANCER

In a large European Clinical Study, participants who engaged with a personalized lifestyle coaching program proved to have significantly slowed down their biological clock compared to participants that engaged with lifestyle implementations of their own. 

With the rise of Telehealth, more affordable and accessible lifestyle programs are becoming one of the most innovative inventions in promoting longevity. Having a supportive coach that personalizes healthy changes that fit your lifestyle, and keep you accountable, can have huge impacts in motivation and expanding healthspan. These services are here to support you in your journey to longevity and wellness - to become the best version of yourself as you age. 

SECTION 3: BEHAVIORS TO BE STOPPED

Chasing Quick Fixes 

Achieving your lifestyle goals doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen in a few days, nor does it happen over a week. Chasing quick fixes is the largest misconception many individuals harbor today. No supplement, pill, or gadget can replace the fundamentals of movement, sleep, nutrition, and connection that your body deserves and needs. 

But change doesn’t have to be anything grand. It is in the small steps you create every single day - changes in the protein you consume, the amount of time you spend sitting cut down, or in the short brain-boosting puzzles you complete. Small steps create big changes in supporting your journey to not only push back the decline of aging, but changes that help boost your mood and overall health that help you thrive in modern longevity. Aging is not pre-determined, but it is defined by the steps you take to shape it. 

And that starts with you.