Senior Living Blog & Events

Gaining weight means one of two things: working hard to lose the pounds or shelling out money for new clothes. But what if you could see that weight gain approaching in advance and take steps to fend it off before it collects around your midsection? Here are seven indicators that weight gain may be in your near future and some simple steps to preempt the pounds.

1. You’re on a diet

You may lose some weight in the short term, but research shows that dieters often end up heavier than their baseline weights. In a review of 29 weight-loss studies, dieters regained more than half the weight they had shed within two years. After five years, they had regained about 80 percent.

We are at the mercy of a tightly controlled system designed to keep the body at its current weight, says Caroline M. Apovian, M.D., codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “When you try to lose weight [by dieting], your body’s going to fight you,” she notes. As soon as calories drop, your body makes less leptin, the hormone that tells your brain you’re full, and more ghrelin, a hormone that signals that you’re hungry. Plus, your body tries to hold on to its fat stores by lowering your metabolic rate, burning fewer calories.

Prevent the pounds: To shed weight for good, don’t simply restrict calories. Instead, make sure the calories you eat count. Apovian advises sticking with whole grains, lean protein, low-fat dairy, fruits and vegetables, and avoiding processed foods and added sugars.

To read about 6 additional signs that you’re about to gain weight, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

There are many things you can do to help boost your health as you age, including making healthy food choices and not smoking. But did you know that participating in social and other activities you enjoy can also help support healthy aging?
As you grow older, you may find yourself spending more time at home alone. Being lonely or socially isolated is not good for your overall health. For example, it can increase feelings of depression or anxiety, which can have a negative impact on many other aspects of your health. If you find yourself spending a lot of time alone, try participating in activities you find meaningful — those that create a sense of purpose in your daily life. These can include hobbies, volunteer activities, or time with family and friends.

Melvin and Linn’s Story

Melvin has not quite felt like himself since his retirement. He misses his customers and teaching new employees the trade. Linn used to care for her grandchildren while her daughter was at work. Now that her grandchildren are in school, she has a lot of extra time on her hands. Melvin and Linn miss waking up with a feeling of purpose. They think joining a volunteer group might help — and they’re right.

Benefits of an active lifestyle

Engaging in social and productive activities you enjoy, such as taking an art class, joining a hiking club, or becoming a volunteer in your community, may help to maintain your well-being and independence as you age. An active lifestyle is more than just getting your daily steps in. It includes doing activities that are meaningful to you and benefit your mind, spirit, and body.

To learn more about the health benefits of an active lifestyle and various activities to consider, CLICK HERE:

The holiday season is supposed to be full of joy, celebration and time spent with loved ones. But with all the hustle and bustle of the season, things are bound to occasionally go awry.

You accidentally staple your finger with the staple gun when hanging Christmas decorations. A heavy box of ornaments falls off a shelf and lands on your head. Or — heaven forbid — you fall from a ladder while hanging holiday lights along your roofline.

All of those are real, holiday-related injuries from 2021 documented by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which collects annual data on emergency room visits.

Many holiday-related injuries happen when someone is putting up or taking down holiday decorations, the database shows. In addition to falling off ladders (a lot!), people tend to cut themselves when they handle or step on broken ornaments (another big one) and get poked in the eye by errant pine needles.

One poor fellow in 2021 accidentally ingested a piece of a broken ornament that had fallen into his soup.

Strains and sprains from carrying heavy objects are common, as are complaints of chest pain and other possible symptoms of a heart attack.

“Certainly, we see accidents and illnesses at all times of year, but there are some holiday-specific types of injuries that happen every year in December,” says Thomas Waters, an emergency medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic.

About a third (30 percent) of Americans who celebrate winter holidays say they have been injured while participating in holiday-related activities, according to a 2022 ValuePenguin survey.

Another problem during the holidays is that people tend to put off getting medical attention, because they don’t want to disrupt the festivities or miss out on visiting with family, says Michael D. Levine, associate professor of emergency medicine at UCLA. Unfortunately, delays often lead to worse outcomes, Levine says.

To learn about eight common holiday-related injuries and accidents, along with real-life examples from the CPSC database and smart advice on how to stay safe, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

’Tis the season to shop for holiday gifts and donate to worthy causes for a potential tax deduction — and to help those in need — before year’s end.

But when doling out dollars to charity, be careful. Crooks will take advantage of your generosity and steal your cash.

“People are in a generous spirit,” says Amy Nofziger, who oversees the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360). “Most of us are out hustling and bustling and planning parties and buying gifts, and the criminals make you feel guilty for your ability to celebrate [when many others can’t]. They’ll prey on that feeling” to get you to donate to their sham charities.

Nofziger and others familiar with holiday charity scams have tips to help ensure that your gift will benefit a good cause — not a con artist. To learn about the tips, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

Back pain can come on slowly or suddenly, but pinpointing the exact cause can be challenging. Here are some surprising culprits that may play a role in your lumbar pain.

If an aching back is starting to feel more like a regular thing — and less like something you randomly pulled at the gym — well, you’re not alone. About 6 million older adults in the U.S. live with chronic lower back pain. In a 2019 survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, almost 46 percent of adults 65 and older said they experienced back pain in the past three months. 

“As we get older, we start to lose fluid in our discs,” explains Gbolahan Okubadejo, M.D., an orthopedic spine surgeon with the Institute for Comprehensive Spine Care. As we lose fluid, the discs tend to collapse, “we get stiffer, and the risk of injury becomes greater,” he says. From there, plenty of lifestyle habits raise your risk. Some of these — hoisting your grandkid or overdoing the gardening — are obvious, but some aren’t.

To learn about 10 surprising culprits that may play a role in the pain in your back, from AARP, CLICK HERE.

Your skin changes with age. It becomes thinner, loses fat, and no longer looks as plump and smooth as it once did. Your veins and bones can be seen more easily. Scratches, cuts, or bumps can take longer to heal. Years of suntanning or being out in the sunlight for a long time may lead to wrinkles, dryness, age spots, and even cancer. But there are things you can do to protect your skin and to make it feel and look better.

Dry skin and itching

Many older people suffer from dry spots on their skin, often on their lower legs, elbows, and lower arms. Dry skin patches feel rough and scaly. There are many possible reasons for dry skin, such as:

• Not drinking enough liquids

• Spending too much time in the sun or suntanning

• Being in very dry air

• Smoking

• Feeling stress

• Losing sweat and oil glands, which is common with age

Dry skin also can be caused by health problems, such as diabetes or kidney disease. Using too much soap, antiperspirant, or perfume and taking hot baths can make dry skin worse.

Some medicines can make skin itchy. Because older people have thinner skin, scratching can cause bleeding that may lead to infection. Talk to your doctor if your skin is very dry and itchy.

To learn how to treat dry, itchy skin, and to learn about other skin conditions including bruises, wrinkles, age spots and skin tags, CLICK HERE.