Above is my 82 year old mother on a play date with her young 2 1/2 year old great niece. Pretty durable to be literally rolling around on the ground at 82- not reaching for her lifeline monitor right?
She used to charge at me and shoulder bump me for my high school football pregame ritual. She would bounce right off and run up and do the other shoulder. It was quite the scene. The question begs to be asked- How does one stay so durable?
First is mindset. The young elderly are very independent and do not want to be passed over.
Second, whatever the age you are right now is THE YOUNGEST you will EVER be again. So the young elderly don’t age then decide to get young again. As you age, you have to stay active and relevant.
Headstands at 60
To that end, I have a patient that I often do yoga with. She is mid sixties and can do headstands! She recently found out that that she has osteoporosis and was shocked because she has been active and healthy her whole life. This is most common in post menopausal woman. Why women over men? Simply because men have more dense bones to start with.
So one of the keys to aging is to get a head start. To beat osteoporosis you don’t address it when you are 60, you start addressing when you are 25. But there is the problem… How many 25 year olds are reading this? Your interest in aging directly corresponds to your age and unfortunately, it is not like a “catch up” provision in your IRA where you can put more in after you are 50.
Nope your body doesn’t respond so quickly.
Often people are told to take calcium for their bone health. It would be analogous to me to have you eat some flour if you want a piece of cake. Get it? That is only one of the ingredients. Without all the others it actually doesn’t help you.
We support people’s bone health with or without osteoporosis with the recommendations for the Bone Health Pack and our Calcifood wafers.
So, take our advice and you will be rolling not writhing on the floor when you are 82 – just like Patti Rae!