Although it seems like we’re stating the obvious, while health problems affect both the sexes, it’s important to know women tend to have slightly different concerns to men especially as they get older. The complexities of women’s health are something that should never be underestimated whether it’s regular cervical screenings, undergoing mammograms, ensuring you exercise regularly and keeping track of your menstrual cycle. To look, and feel amazing whether you’re in your twenties, thirties, fifties or sixties you need to make sure you’re leading a healthy lifestyle, limiting any treats and focusing on doing what’s right for you.
Unhealthy Eating
We know that McDonald’s fries taste incredible, that you’ve been looking forward to that slice of chocolate cake all day and the only reason you’re awake in the morning meeting is thanks to that frothy cappuccino but are any of these foods doing you any good? We’re not saying that you can never have a Starbucks ever again, but it’s vital that you adopt the ‘everything in moderation’ approach. Once women reach a certain age we tend to fill out a little more; a little muffin top can become a large cake and getting into a pair of jeans is no longer the seamless transition it used to be. This means that you need to take a closer look at your diet, checking you’re eating a range of healthy, balanced foods that contain as many naturally occurring ingredients as possible.
Think fresh fruit and veggies, lean meats, oily fish and turkey instead of chicken. Look to see how much milk, cheese, and butter your consuming and make the switch to low-fat options. Depending on how old you are nutritionists recommend women consume between 800 and 1,500 mg of calcium per day as this helps to ward off osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease a condition many older women suffer from.
Know you can’t get through the work day without a snack or two? Swap your crisps for low-fat crackers or pack a raw veg selection to dip in hummus or tzatziki.
Party People
We know that having a few friends over for dinner is lovely and so’s going to a wine bar every so often but if you’ve noticed your drinking has increased take a break. Believe it or not, it’s often women who drink more than men as it’s harder to keep track of the number of units in endless glasses of white wine. However, it’s also women who physically have a lower tolerance level for alcohol and studies have shown that even just one glass of wine will impede our reaction time, decision-making processes and physical responses more than a pint of beer would for a man.
Smoking doesn’t just make your clothes smell, it can cause your teeth and nails to turn yellow, and while popular e cigarette brands claim they’re healthier, it’s far too early to say what hidden health hazards they may contain. It takes only a few days to pick up a bad habit but a lifetime to quit so avoid drinking too much alcohol, don’t just have ‘the odd cigarette’ and make sure you’re not taking any illegal drugs. Not only will abusing any of these things have a dramatic effect on your appearance, but they’ll drain your bank balance like there’s no tomorrow, set you up for future health problems and could eventually cause you to lose your job, home and even family.
Couch Potato
Yes, 13 Reasons Why is unbelievably good but do you know what’s better? Going for a lovely run, or walk in the sunshine or signing up for a weekly dance class. Lack of exercise not only makes you more prone to depression but it can increase your chances of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Currently, heart disease is the number one cause of death in American women so and it’s vital that you do some form of aerobic exercise every day. Keeping fit and healthy won’t just benefit you it’ll benefit your family as well.
You’ll be able to run around after your kids without getting out of breath and weekly bike rides and tennis matches will become a regular thing. Plus you’ll have more energy to get the housework done, go over that presentation for work and still feel fantastic come dinner time. Remember, kids also tend to watch their parents for cues on how to behave so if the delivery guy knows you all by name children will mistakenly assume that cooking is either boring, or a waste of time when you can just order food.
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