Health & Wellness

How to Enhance Your Quality of Life as a Health-Conscious Senior

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Being healthy means much more than the absence of illness. Quality of life relies on a combination of our mental, physical, emotional, and social well-being. Everything from your personal behavior to your environment can impact your quality of life, and ultimately, how much you enjoy your golden years. If you want to experience a happy and healthy retirement, it’s important to address every facet of your health and make small tweaks to your habits every single day. Here are some simple steps you can take to upgrade your health right now.

Maintain Your Independence with Modern Technology

Thanks to modern technology, an increasing number of seniors are able to keep their independence and live at home comfortably. For example, cell phones and video chat software can help seniors stay engaged with friends and family, reducing loneliness and the harmful effects that come with it. Medication reminders, heart monitors, pill dispensers, and telehealth systems can prevent illness from creeping up on you. Medical alert systems are also extremely helpful, monitoring the safety of seniors who are living alone and alerting family and medical professionals in the event of a medical emergency. Look for guidance on choosing the best medical alert system for your home. Even if you never need it, setting up this technology can give you greater confidence and peace of mind.

Control Chronic Ailments

It’s no secret that, as you age, aches and pains just become part of the routine. Some people don’t know, however, that there are ways to treat ongoing inflammation that causes it. Staying hydrated and daily exercise are a great place to start, since they help your body rid itself of contaminants and improved circulation. You should also eat a well-balanced diet and get enough rest. You can also try a natural supplement like cannabinoid oil (CBD) that reduces inflammation by helping your body naturally heal itself. More concentrated oils are often praised as the best for pain management, in particular, but any oil you choose should come from a reputable manufacturer. As always, you should consult your doctor before you add any supplement to your routine.

Treat Mental Health Problems

It’s easy for physical conditions to take priority over your mental health, but mental problems can actually worsen your health conditions. For example, even mild depression can reduce your immune system functioning and exacerbate fatigue, pain, and sleeping problems. Although it’s fine to experience periods of sadness or stress, remember that mental illness is not a normal part of getting older. Fortunately, anxiety and depression can be treated, so make sure you seek professional treatment if you’re struggling with these problems.

Get Active Every Day

Physical activity can help seniors manage their blood pressure, improve bone and joint health, preserve their cognitive functions, and enjoy more energy. Seniors who participate in daily physical activity may also fight off illness more easily and enjoy improved digestive functioning. According to the National Institute on Aging, seniors should focus on four types of exercises:

  1. Endurance exercises like walking or jogging. These are great for the heart and lungs.
  2. Strength workouts can help you perform activities such as carrying groceries.
  3. Balance exercises are important for reducing your risk of falls.
  4. Flexibility exercises help improve your range of motion so you can take care of yourself and enjoy your favorite leisure activities.

Pay Attention to Your Diet

Seniors are at a much higher risk of malnutrition than younger adults due to a loss of appetite and the body’s decreasing ability to absorb nutrients. Choose high-calorie and nutritionally dense foods so you get the most out of every bite you take. Focusing your diet on vital nutrients will help you fight a variety of age-related issues, from high blood pressure to memory loss.

Start a New Hobby

Hobbies can help you feel productive and give your life meaning after retirement. Learning something new is a great way to exercise your brain and keep your mind sharp. At the same time, having an enjoyable activity to engage in when you’re feeling stressed or anxious is a wonderful way to give yourself a happiness boost.

Try out some of the hobbies recommended for seniors by a Place for Mom.

  • Taking care of a pet
  • Crafting and making art
  • Practicing yoga and meditation
  • Gardening, fishing, golfing, or hiking
  • Playing mentally challenging games like crossword puzzles

Being a senior doesn’t mean being unhealthy and miserable. In fact, older adults tend to be happier and report higher levels of well-being than younger adults! If you’d like to join these individuals, take health-minded steps toward a higher quality of life every chance you get.

Guest Article by Jason Lewis, Caretaker & Personal Trainer specializing in senior care to learn more about Jason visit: Strongwell.org

Soups

Spicy Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup

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This Italian sausage and lentil soup is a favorite in our kitchen. It’s easy, and freezes well. The lentils means it’s not paleo, but it’s still grain, dairy, and gluten free and full of yummy veggies so I still consider it healthy eats.

This past year, my husband and I gave up ordering delivering as our new years resolution to save money. I’m very happy we have been able to achieve our goals, but it means I’ve been less creative and healthy in the kitchen and more concerned with getting dinner on the plate. This recipe was one of my favorites this past year because it’s easy, makes great leftovers that are easy to freeze, and has delicious flavor. Plus, I love hearty soups and during the colder days, they make great comfort food. Not that I mind eating soup when it’s warm. I live in LA near Sawtelle Japantown and I don’t mind eating ramen when it’s 80 or higher degrees out.

Spicy Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of small whole green lentils
  • 2 quarts of chicken broth
  • 2 hot Italian sausage links
  • 2 sweet Italian sausage links
  • 4 carrots, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 medium white onions, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
  • (optional) sea salt to taste
  • (optional) parsely, chopped to garnish
Instructions
  1. Remove casings from sausage and brown in olive oil on medium low heart in a large pot.
  2. Chop onions, garlic, and carrots and add to the pot.
  3. Add lentils and chicken broth to the pot.
  4. Simmer on low until lentils and carrots are cooked through.
  5. (optional) Add salt to taste. This depends on your chicken broth.
  6. (optional) Italian parsley chopped as a garnish

Breakfast

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

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I originally wanted the instant pot because I had made these hard boiled eggs with my mom’s instant pot, and was blown away with how easy they were to peel. I was so happy with them, I turned them all into deviled eggs with a homemade mayo right then and there.  If you haven’t tried my Deviled Eggs recipe you definitely should.

If you can’t tell already with my latest recipes, I’ve been kind of obsessed with my instant pot. I’ve always loved my slow cooker, but this uses the same type of recipes and it cooks everything so fast! One of our new resolutions for 2018, was eliminate delivery, so I’ve been doing a ton of meal planning, and this instant pot comes in so handy. Plus, with Easter, just around the corner, this will also help make your holiday preparations ten times easier, especially if you are cooking for a crowd.

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 11 extra large eggs
  • 1 cup of water
Instructions
  1. Put the metal steam rack with handles in the instant pot.
  2. Add a cup of water to the bottom, then in one row, line the eggs on top of the steam rack.
  3. Press the egg button on the instant pot and adjust the time to 6 minutes, if it is not already saved.
  4. When timer is finished, use an oven mitt for safety and use the quick release.
  5. Once steam is released, use tongs to move eggs into a bowl with water and ice to stop cooking.
  6. Then feel free to peel eggs whenever you are ready to cook or eat.
Notes
If using regular (not large) eggs use 5 minutes.

Sauces

Instant Pot Italian Meat Sauce

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instant pot italian meat sauce

My recipe for Italian Meat Sauce in the Instant Pot will be a game changer for meal planning. Luckily, my mom and I are both obsessed with our Instant Pot, and when I was visiting over the holidays, we made some amazing pasta sauce, in a crazy short amount of time. There are short ribs, carrots, onions, Italian sausage, and other delicious spices that made this a hit with the whole family. Pour it over spaghetti squash or zoodles to make it paleo, or freeze it for later. I definitely plan on making this regularly, since most restaurants have dairy in their Italian food, and dairy is the one thing I’m still very careful to avoid in my diet. Although I’ve relaxed my standards this past year, the new year is a great time to get back to my favorite paleo foods, and work on eating healthier, exercising more, and stepping up my meal planning game.

Instant Pot Italian Meat Sauce
 
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Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
  • 1 lb pork spare ribs
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 cans (28oz) tomato puree
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp dried basil
  • 2 tbsp or ice cube of red wine
  • 1 pkg sweet Italian sausage
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 cup of chopped carrots
  • 1 cup of chopped onions
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • a couple grinds of fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. In a large pan, sear short ribs and Italian sausage in olive oil, 2-3 minutes per side, then add to instant pot.
  2. Then, in a large pan, cook ground beef, ground pork, chopped carrots and onions, until meat is no longer pink.
  3. Add cooked ground beef, pork, carrots, and onions to the instant pot, with honey, tomato paste, tomato puree, chopped rosemary, thyme, dried basil, and red wine.
  4. Then, add to instant pot some sea salt to taste approximately 1 tsp and add a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper.
  5. Close lid of the instant pot and make sure pressured release valve is sealed. Cook on high pressure manual for 60 minutes, then let it release naturally.

Dinner

Keto Cauliflower Cottage Pie

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keto cottage pie

If you’re not familiar with Keto, then don’t worry…Today’s post is from Louise Hendon. She’s the co-founder of The Keto Summit, a site dedicated to providing you with practical advice, recipes, and tips for starting Keto. She’s also the author of The Essential Keto Cookbook and creator of the 3-2-1 Keto Meal Plans Program. So if you’re interested in getting started on Keto, please check those resources out.

Keto has gotten so popular over this past year (2017) that you’ve probably read about it somewhere…

But in case it’s new to you, let me start by explaining what Keto is.

Keto is a diet/lifestyle that integrates low carb with whole foods and healthy fats. It’s a diet that’s been around for almost a century. It was originally designed as a treatment for epilepsy (and it’s still used today for that purpose).

However, in modern times, people found that Keto also worked amazingly well for helping people stabilize their blood sugar levels, lose weight, gain energy, clear mental fog, and more. There’s even research being done into using Keto as an adjuvant cancer therapy.

And it’s those amazing benefits that has people so excited about this diet.

What do you eat on Keto?
The first thing most people want to know when they hear about a new diet is…what do you eat?

On Keto, you eat a lot of whole foods…things like:

• Fatty meats
• Fish and other seafood
• Leafy green vegetables
• Some berries, nuts, seeds
• Healthy fats

Because most fast food joints and restaurants don’t cater to people on Keto yet, right now most people starting Keto have to do a fair amount of cooking. Of course, cooking from scratch helps to make this diet even healthier for you!

How to start Keto?
It’s actually pretty easy to get started on a Keto diet.

For most people, it just sounds confusing at first because there’s a lot of different viewpoints on Keto out there – for example, some people add dairy to Keto recipes whereas other people (like us over at The Keto Summit) suggest you try to avoid all dairy except for ghee.

So, if you’re interested in getting started, then just try to focus on these 3 steps at first:

1. Cut down your net carb intake per day to under 25 g.
2. Eat lots of green leafy vegetables.
3. Add in more healthy fats like coconut oil, ghee, and olive oil.

And if you want to know more about Keto then, you can check out our post on getting started here.

Keto Recipes
Lauren already has a ton of Keto recipes on her site…recipes like Instant Pot Pulled Pork and Baked Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties.

But if you’re looking for more Keto recipes, then please check out The Essential Keto Cookbook the 3-2-1 Keto Meal Plans Program.

And to give you a taste of the types of recipes that would be considered Keto, here’s a delicious no-potato Keto cottage pie recipe.

Keto Cauliflower Cottage Pie
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1.5 head of cauliflower (600 g), broken into florets
  • 3 Tablespoons of ghee (45 ml), melted
  • ¼ cup of coconut oil (60 ml), to cook the ground beef with
  • 1 medium onion (110 g), finely chopped
  • 1.5 lbs of ground beef (675 g)
  • 2 carrots (100 g), finely chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 4 Tablespoons of fresh parsley (4 g), finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • ¼ cup crushed nuts and seeds, for topping
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C).
  2. Boil the cauliflower florets until they’re soft. Drain well.
  3. Place the florets along with the ghee into a food processor or blender to make the mash (make sure it’s creamy and not watery). Add salt to taste.
  4. Cook the ground beef in a large skillet in the coconut oil. Add in the onions, carrots, celery, parsley, and minced garlic. Cook until the beef is browned. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  5. Pour the cooked beef mixture into a large baking dish (9-inch x 9-inch (23cm x 23cm) or a large oval dish).
  6. Scoop the cauliflower mash on top and smooth it out.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 491 Fat: 40 g Carbohydrates: 12 g Sugar: 5 g Fiber: 4 g Protein: 22 g

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Soups

Instant Pot Split Pea and Ham Soup

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split pea and ham soup

This instant pot split pea and ham soup makes meal planning a breeze. It’s dairy free and gluten free. Although split peas are technically legumes, they are just a dried version of fresh peas, which I love and have used in recipes before. Check out my Vegan Pea Pesto. I’ve stopped being strict about rules, and just try to stick to what feels good. For me, that is dairy free and low carb. I’ll occasionally have carbs and beans, but meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables, are still what I prefer to have the majority of the time.

I’ve been using the Instant Pot a ton to help with meal planning. I’ve always loved using it for hard boiled eggs, but I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with bone both, meat, stews, and rice. So far, my husband and I love it. At first, releasing the pressure was a little scary, but I wear an oven mitt, when I do to be extra careful, and I haven’t had any issues. I used to love my slow cooker, and it’s been collecting dust in my kitchen since I got this in the mail. So here is another recipe for all my instant pot fanatics (I include myself in that category).

Instant Pot Split Pea and Ham Soup
 
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Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 1 lbs green split peas
  • 1 medium white onion chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 bay leafs
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups of chopped ham
  • fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Chop white onion, mince garlic, and cube chopped ham.
  2. Add onions, garlic, and ham to instant pot with green split peas, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken stock.
  3. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.
  4. Then use the quick release to vent steam.
  5. Fish out sprigs of thyme and bay leaves.
  6. Before serving add some fresh ground pepper to taste.

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