Seniors And Our Habits, Have You Changed Any Lately? (long-term, state, friends)
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We're all creatures of habit, and the government loves us for that, the predictability of its populace!
One philosopher stated: If you want to end a habit, best to kick it down the stairs, one step at a time. Another Philosopher stated: Ending a habit has the stench of death!
I've started up a new habit, at 65, 2 weeks now, I'm doing stretches and some yoga before getting out of bed. Even standing on my head. After I get up I can never seem to carve out the time to do it. So this is perfect! I can even touch my toes now!
I've cut down my smoking to a half-pack a day, sometimes I just take 2 puffs, extinguish it. And, the last week I'm even going outside to smoke in my courtyard, and now I'm realizing what a benefit that can be, the house smells so much better. The big challenge comes when I get overexcited on the Internet and I don't want to break away for 5 minutes! But I'm working on it!
My 45 year-long smoking habit? "Kicking the habit down the stairs, a step at a time," I've gone from 2 packs a day, 2 years ago, to a half-pack, but I haven't decided yet to end that habit totally! Perhaps, leave it as is!
Let's see, what else is on the agenda? I bought a bicycle last week, and I'm due to test ride that tonite!
How about you? Been breaking any long-term habits lately, and surprised, at your age, you can even accomplish such an endeavor? Or started up any new healthier habits to carry you through your retirement years? And are there some habits you have which seem impossible to end?
Ah, how I envy you. I cannot walk without either a cane or walker. I also struggle with smoking. I'm down to 3-6 a day & just try to be busy. Good for you that you are exercising so much.
My habits, good or bad, we're established years ago. I'm 65, I walk 10,000 steps (5 miles) every day, never smoked or drugged, I'm not enjoying that occasional martini anymore so giving it up. I'd like to cut down on my internet-ing and read more. My diet is good, low or no carbs. I could work on meditation more. Maybe it will even me out and make me a better sleeper.
My habits, good or bad, we're established years ago. I'm 65, I walk 10,000 steps (5 miles) every day, never smoked or drugged, I'm not enjoying that occasional martini anymore so giving it up. I'd like to cut down on my internet-ing and read more. My diet is good, low or no carbs. I could work on meditation more. Maybe it will even me out and make me a better sleeper.
I would love to go low/no carb but I don't eat meat in any form so I wonder how to kick the lifelong addiction to carbs. Any ideas for this habit appreciated. Like you I do no drugs or smoke, but the coffee/caffeine habit is there.
I would love to go low/no carb but I don't eat meat in any form so I wonder how to kick the lifelong addiction to carbs. Any ideas for this habit appreciated.
I loved to bake and was quite addicted to carbs. I had to drastically cut back on carbs when I was diagnosed with early stage of diabetic less than 2 years ago.
My current diet is a modified version of the 'choose my plate' food guideline. This guideline calls for 1/2 plate of vegetables & fruits, 1/4 plate of grains or carbs and 1/4 plate of protein. My version is to reduce grains/carbs even more down to 1/8 of the plate and up my protein to 3/8 of the plate.
The combination of reducing carbs in my diet and increasing exercise level brought my A1C level down to normal for the last 1.5 years. My doctor said that if I keep it up, there would be no chance of me becoming diabetic.
If you don't eat meat, you can get your protein from eggs, cheese, yogurts, nuts, beans, lentils, soybean (tofu is an excellent source of protein).
If you can eat seafood, it is another source of excellent protein and very healthy especially the dark color fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines). btw, I found 'freshly frozen' sardines from a local grocery store and have enjoyed making 'pasta con le sarde' with fennels, olive oil, tomato sauce and raisins. I am not Italian but have learned to cook a lot of dishes from my Italian friends.
I have made it a habit to snack only unsalted nuts (almonds, pistachios, peanuts, cashews etc).
Yes, it's hard to curb your love of carbs. I still eat crusty bread, bagels and pastas but only whole wheat or multigrains versions (mostly homemade) and in small quantities. When you pair them with high quality extra virgin olive oil or specialty cheeses, you can savor the flavor slowly and just consuming smaller but delectable portions.
my wife and I (we are in our mid 60's) recently changed diet to mostly vegetarian/gluten free. I say mostly because we still occasionally have a little Salmon or Shrimp but no pork or beef and almost no dairy (I still have to have an occasional bit of mozzarella with my summer tomatoes). This is a big change for us as we grew up in Oklahoma and Texas where meals were meat and vegetables were garnish
I smoked for many, many years. I cut back often....sometimes to just a few cigarettes a day. That did not work. A long drive, some stress or just random events seemed to undo my efforts. If you are willing to chew nicotine gum or lozenges you can quit today. I broke up lozenges into small pieces and always seemed to have one in my mouth. Eventually I quit those also. It has been 6 years and the demon is long since gone.
At one time I smoked cigs and, after stopping that, started using "chew/dip", as in Copenhagen and Skoal Long Cut. Was involved in rodeo when I got into "chew/dip". Didn't do much smoking or "dip", so wasn't that hard to completely stop. Didn't bother my wife that I "dipped", but was glad when I stopped.
We get our exercise in using our power boat and going to a Target Range (shooting).
Also, a couple of years ago, we bought the Wii Game and have a blast playing that.
We also hit our apt. complex pool at times.
We are both Diabetic II, so sometimes really watch what we eat and drink. But, I did write "sometimes".
So, we do "ok" in the Exercise, Eating/Drinking Dept's!
I loved to bake and was quite addicted to carbs. I had to drastically cut back on carbs when I was diagnosed with early stage of diabetic less than 2 years ago.
My current diet is a modified version of the 'choose my plate' food guideline. This guideline calls for 1/2 plate of vegetables & fruits, 1/4 plate of grains or carbs and 1/4 plate of protein. My version is to reduce grains/carbs even more down to 1/8 of the plate and up my protein to 3/8 of the plate.
The combination of reducing carbs in my diet and increasing exercise level brought my A1C level down to normal for the last 1.5 years. My doctor said that if I keep it up, there would be no chance of me becoming diabetic.
If you don't eat meat, you can get your protein from eggs, cheese, yogurts, nuts, beans, lentils, soybean (tofu is an excellent source of protein).
If you can eat seafood, it is another source of excellent protein and very healthy especially the dark color fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines). btw, I found 'freshly frozen' sardines from a local grocery store and have enjoyed making 'pasta con le sarde' with fennels, olive oil, tomato sauce and raisins. I am not Italian but have learned to cook a lot of dishes from my Italian friends.
I have made it a habit to snack only unsalted nuts (almonds, pistachios, peanuts, cashews etc).
Yes, it's hard to curb your love of carbs. I still eat crusty bread, bagels and pastas but only whole wheat or multigrains versions (mostly homemade) and in small quantities. When you pair them with high quality extra virgin olive oil or specialty cheeses, you can savor the flavor slowly and just consuming smaller but delectable portions.
Thanks for this. I'm trying to make similar changes, but have found that I must eliminate grains & flour entirely, as well as yogurt. It is working!!
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