Importance of Maintaining Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight as you get older gets more challenging, but it is also more important. Supporting your older loved one’s healthy lifestyle choices can help them keep their independence and health. What role does bodyweight play in your life? Obesity has a direct impact on seniors’ health and well-being in a variety of ways, whether they are overweight or underweight:
Obesity is a significant contributor to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Being overweight can limit movement and make maintaining independence harder due to the impact on lower extremity joints.
In the elderly, obesity increases the risk of respiratory disease, arthritis, and skin diseases.
Obesity may be more difficult to reverse in older people due to the difficulty of decreasing weight.
People who are underweight are more prone to break a bone and have a compromised immune system.
The first step toward maintaining a healthy weight in older people is to understand the consequences of weight gain or loss.
Weight-Maintenance Tips
It becomes increasingly important to maintain track of your weight as you get older. Here are some tips for maintaining a healthy weight.
1. Healthy Meal
You will need to eat less food as you become older to maintain your weight. To help you achieve this balance, ask your doctor or nutritionist for food guidance. Because nutrient requirements change as you age, obtain specific advice for people aged 51 and higher. Limit your intake of foods that aren’t classified as part of the food groups, such as:
- Baked items include things like pies, cakes, and cookies.
- Salty snacks include chips and pretzels.
- Deep-fried French fries are a popular snack.
- Soda should be consumed.
- There aren’t many vitamins or minerals in these foods. However, they are high in calories, which may lead to weight gain.
2. Choose Healthy Diet
It’s fun to eat out, and it’s nice to get away from the kitchen. Some restaurants, on the other hand, serve enormous servings or use a lot of salt and fat in their food. Before you sit down to dine, it’s critical to be well-prepared.
3. Make the Track of Your Meal
This may assist you in determining the size of your portions and whether or not you are getting enough of each of the four food groups.
4. Do not Loose your weight
Unintentional weight loss and underweight impact more than 10% of older people, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, causing health problems. Minor changes to your eating habits, according to EatRight Ontario, can help you avoid or reverse undesirable weight loss. Eat smaller meals more regularly and with others if at all possible.
Consume high-calorie or high-protein foods, such as a milkshake, after your lunch or snack. If chewing is difficult, consume soft foods such as yogurt or eggs, or use a food processor to crush your food. You can eat less by adding tastes to your food, such as cinnamon to sweet potatoes or sage to chicken.
5. Do Exercise
Physical activity is extremely good for your health. Staying active can also help you maintain your strength, balance, and coordination.
It is recommended that you engage in at least 2 1/2 hours of cardiovascular activity per week, such as walking, swimming, or riding. Also, try some muscle- and bone-strengthening exercises. Your balance and posture will improve as a result of this. Lift weights or go for a yoga class.
Advantages of Maintaining the Health
The benefits of maintaining a healthy body weight later in life, both in terms of quality and quantity of life, are numerous. Bodyweight that is unhealthy is a physical and mental burden that can be avoided or minimized. Aside from diabetes, the emotional toll that obesity can have on an individual and their family is well documented, but there are other benefits. Here are some of the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight.
1. Discomfort Management
When a person has to carry more weight, they are less inclined to engage in physical activity. You will feel a reduction in the aches and pains that come with not being active even if you simply drop 5 to 10% of your body weight. Certain body components will perform better and sustain less damage if they have less weight on them.
2. Diabetes Risk is Reduced
Obese people are more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes, as is well recognized. In some cases, diabetes can be managed by food, as advised by your doctor, in addition to the other advantages of maintaining a healthy weight.
3. Osteoarthritis Prevention
Osteoarthritis is a disease that affects the body’s joints and is caused by increased strain on them as a result of excess body weight. By keeping healthy body weight at a later age, this terrible ailment can be averted before it begins. When combined with a good diet and exercise, the body’s joints will carry less weight and suffer less damage over time.
These are just a few of the many benefits of maintaining a healthy weight. More energy, a healthier heart, a lower risk of Type II diabetes, and a lower risk of osteoarthritis and many types of cancer are just a few of the physical advantages. Combining a healthy diet and some light exercise with medical counsel is a winning combination.
5. Cancer Prevention
Although decreasing weight will not prevent you from developing cancer, it will significantly reduce your risk of developing some types of cancer. Cancers of the uterus, gallbladder, ovary, breast, colon, and cervix are more common in obese women.
6. Bones And Muscles Benefit From A Healthy Weight
The body’s structures and functions have to work harder when a person is overweight, causing additional strain on the legs, hips, back, neck, and internal organs. Arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease are all increased by it. Back pain is the most common health complaint among Americans, however, it happens less frequently and with less intensity in persons who are within their normal weight range.
