Joan’s Boomer Blog

balance exercises

Exercises for Balance - Do These Every Day for Healthy Aging

No matter what your age, balance exercises are some of the easiest and most important exercises you can do on a daily basis. As we age, our brain “forgets” how to balance, leaving us susceptible it falls and broken hips in our senior years. It’s easy to prevent these falls by doing balance exercises daily.

Balance exercises strengthen core muscles, which in turn, hold you upright and protect you from back pain.

The easiest and least expensive balance program is simply to stand on one foot for as long as you can and then switch feet. If you have trouble at first, lightly place one hand on the counter to steady you. As time goes by, you won’t need the steadying hand anymore.

Do this balance exercise while you brush your teeth each day. Once you get really expert at this exercise, do it with your eyes closed.

Think of all your daily tasks that would allow you to do balance exercises at the same time - washing dishes, cooking, talking on the telephone.

Here are some free yoga standing poses from Yoga Journal. Any of these, done daily, will greatly improve balance.

From personal experience, I can say that yoga improves balance tremendously. Many poses involve balance and yoga strengthens core muscles. Here’s a helpful yoga DVD to get you started or find a class at your local YMCA or rec center.

The New Yoga for Healthy Aging is also a good book to get you started on using yoga for balance exercises.

Tai Chi is another great exercise for improving balance. If you don’t have a class near you, try Tai-chi Exercises for Seniors, a DVD which shows you how to practice tai chi at home.

Many people like the bosu ball for balance exercises. When I went to my chiropractor for a therapy session, however, the therapist did not recommend using the bosu ball at home as it’s been connected with many falls and injuries. If you want to try this form of balance exercise, find a certified instructor to teach you how to do it safely.

Here is a slide show of simple balance exercises from the Mayo Clinic.

Other helpful tools for balance exercises.

DVD on Senior/Elderly Balance Exercises Using a Chair

Total Body Balance Ball Kit from Gaiam.com

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Over Age 55 Discounts for Valentine’s Day or any Special Day

Those over 55 can get great Valentine’s Discounts on flowers, candy, Valentine cards and more.Check out some of these great age 55 discounts, not just for Valentine’s Day, but every day of the year.

Factory Card & Party Outlets Those over 55 enjoy discounts of 10% off most party items purchased in the store. Planning a retirement party or anniversary party for someone over age 55? Check with individual stores to find those who participate in the senior discount program.

Many Hallmark Hallmark stores offer senior discounts and you can buy all your cards here at a 10% discount. Plus Hallmark also offers lots of gift items. Check with each individual Hallmark store near you to see what sort of senior discount, if any, that they offer.

Rite Aid is a large drugstore chain with stores in almost every state. Ask about their free Living More program. As a senior, you can enroll for senior discounts such as 20% off your entire purchase on the first Tuesday of each month and 10% off Rite Aid brand products any other day.

Need a Discount on Flowers this Valentines Day? Check with local flower stores and florists and ask about senior discounts.

1800FLOWERS offers a 15% senior discount to those over age 50 by putting in the word SENIOR into the promo code spot when ordering, either online or by phone. When ordering by telephone, mention the word SENIOR to the operator.

Check with your favorite florist to see if they offer a senior discount.

Many stores offering gift baskets also offer over 55 discounts. Most Mrs. Fields Cookies stores offer 10% senior discounts to those over age . You can get gift baskets here, as well as other sweets and gifts.Check your local Mrs. Fields for age requirements.

Would you like to take your sweetie out to dinner for Valentines? Here’s a listing of restaurants offering senior discounts on About.com. One other money saving tip for eating out - sign up for the membership offer on your favorite restaurant’s website. You usually get discount email coupons for $5 off an entree, a free appetizer or a free dinner on your birthday.

You can also go to a website like RetailMeNot.com and do a search for your favorite restaurant coupons. That way, if they don’t have a senior discount, per se, you can still get a deal on dinner.

Try this great book, available on Amazon.com for more senior discount info and ideas:

Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures that You Absolutely Can’t Get Unless You’re Over 50, 2009-2010

Many department stores, like Kohls, offers senior discounts, so check with them for age requirements and the specific days for shopping. The Kohl’s in my area offers a senior discount to over age 60.

Some jewelry stores, like Zales, offer online coupons if you’re in the mood to get your Valentine some jewelry for the holiday. Check with other coupon sites as well. These aren’t strictly for over age 55 but you can still get a good deal.

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Raising Chickens in the City - Have Your Own Backyard Flock

For those of us who were raised on farm fresh eggs, the newest health trend of raising chickens in the city

Learn to raise chickens in the city.

may seem funny at first, but then it makes sense. Why not raise chickens in your backyard and have all the farm fresh eggs you can eat?

My grandfather was a chicken farmer during the depression and I grew up on my dad’s stories of living on an Iowa farm in the 1930’s. One time a flash flood came through and killed nearly every chicken. My dad said, “At the time, I never realized how devastating that must have been.” Chicken farming had it’s ups and downs, that’s for sure.

I guess raising chickens is in my blood because I’ve always loved them. When we lived on three acres in Oregon, one of my first farming efforts was to built a small coop with a sturdy fence and get a dozen chicks to raise. By the time we left there 6 years later, I had two dozen hens.

Raising chickens in your own backyard makes sense, even if you live in the city. Eggs from free ranging chickens provide higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids than conventional eggs raised on commercial chicken farms. You can also feed your backyard flock flax seed meal to increase the omega 3’s even more.

Chickens in the city need very little to be happy. Each chicken lays about one egg per day in the spring and summer. My chickens were very consistent layers, even in winter. We always had enough eggs to supply our family, plus my extended family. I also supplied other people in the community. When I got my hair cut, I “tipped” my hair stylist with two dozen eggs and she loved it!

To raise chickens you need a small coop to shut them up at night and provide them a clean, dry place to lay their eggs. Chickens are smart. Every evening at dusk, they “go to bed” and you just need to shut the door to lock out predators. Even the city has raccoons or other animals that might love to have a chicken dinner.

In your litle back yard coop, you need a couple straw filled boxes for the chickens to lay eggs and a small roost of some kind for them to sleep on. I made my own with wood and dowels going across for them to get their claws around.

You’ll probably also need a fenced area for your backyard chickens. It’s nice to think of them running free, but chickens are very hard on landscaping! They dig and scratch for bugs until your entire yard is torn up.

You can also feed your chickens veggie scraps instead of throwing them in the trash. On cold days, I even made hot oatmeal for my chickens (yes, they were spoiled). On hot days, I ran the hose for them too so they could play in the water and cool off.

You probably won’t save money raising chickens in the city. Your first expenses will be building a coop of some sort, buying a feeder and waterer and some straw for the laying boxes. You need to buy chicken feed and continue to get straw to refresh the laying area and keep it clean.

Still, aside from the money you spend raising chickens, you have the wonderful knowledge of knowing you’re raising your own food and, if you have kids or grandkids, they can see first hand where food comes from. Chickens are friendly creatures too and they will come running when they see you.

If you’d like to raise chickens in the city, I suggest finding out first is your city allows backyard flocks and if so, how many chickens you could have. Then read up on the subject of chicken raising. Here are a few books to get you started:

Raising Chickens for Dummies

Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens: Care / Feeding / Facilities

City Chicks

If you’d like to raise chickens and other animals in the city, try this book:

Barnyard in Your Backyard: A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Rabbits, Goats, Sheep, and Cows

All of these books on raising chickens in the city are available on Amazon.com and got 5 star ratings from readers.

Further reading:

Mad City Chickens - a great website with lots of chicken info.

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Are You at Risk for Heart Disease - 2 Simple Ways to Find Out

Are you at risk of getting heart disease? Many baby boomers face this serious health problem but there are two simple tests you can do at home to see if you are at risk.

Test Number One:

If you are over 40 years of age, have you kept your body limber? Adults over that age who have kept their flexibility also 30% less stiffness in their arteries, than those adults who are less flexible.

Remedy: Stretch just 10 to 15 minutes a day to keep your body’s flexibility and help prevent heart disease and hardening of the arteries.  Just these few minutes of stretching daily may help keep your arteries more elastic, as well as the muscles and tissues surrounding them.

Measure Your Waist to see if you are at Risk of Heart Disease

What is your waist to height ratio? The size of the fat cells in your stomach may be one of the best indicators as to whether or not you are at risk for type II diabetes, which in turn increases your risk for stroke and heart disease by two to four times.

How tall are you in inches? Take that measurement and cut it in half. For instance, I am 66 inches tall. So the number I am looking for is 33 inches.

Next measure the size of your waistline. Your waist measurement should be equal to or less than, half your height. If your waistline measures more than half your height, consider losing some weight and reducing dangerous belly fat.

Here are some useful tips for reducing belly fat

More Great Weightloss Tools and Tips

Need help finding an exersise program for seniors? Try these:

Fabulous Forever - Easy Aerobics Video: Beginners Exercise for Baby Boomers, Reduce Risk For Heart Disease, Build Stamina, Burn Calories and Become Cardio Fit by Mirabai Holland, MFA [VHS]

Yoga for Seniors to Improve Flexibility:

Lilias! AM & PM Yoga Workouts for Seniors

Baby boomer’s health and wellenss is in their own hands. Proper diet, exercise and losing a little weight can help with health aging and help you avoid the degenerative diseases common to seniors and older people.

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Why We Need a High Fiber Diet

As we get older, eating a high fiber diet can solve many of our health issues and baby boomers want to stay in good health as they age. Gaining weight as you get older? Eating 40 grams of fiber a day can help you lose weight, especially that stubborn belly fat. Having troubles with your bowels - either constipation or irregularity? A high fiber diet, along with drinking plenty of water, can help your digestive system work properly and help reduce the risk of heart disease, colon cancer, high cholesterol and more.

High fiber foods not only keep your digestive system functioning in a healthy way, it also keeps you filled up so you don’t overeat or get hungry.

Women should get 21 to 25 gms of fiber daily and men should get 30 to 38 grams of fiber daily. How do you know if you’re getting enough fiber? Read labels. Grams of fiber are listed on every label.

There are two type of fiber, soluable and insoluable fiber. Water soluable fibers are found in fruits and veggies and insoluable fiber is found in whole grains, like oats, wheat and flaxseed. Avoid “fiber added” food products because today you can even find fiber in ice cream. These are usually isolated fiber products which are synthetic and don’t really have the same health benefits as eating whole grain cereal, like All Bran, or eating veggies and fruit.

Fiber Content in Common Foods

• A bowl of whole grain cereal should have about 5 to 7 grams of fiber. Check the label to be sure.
• whole wheat cooked spagetti has about 6.2 grams of fiber per cup.
• One apple has about 4.4 grams of fiber.
• Cooked black beans has a whopping 15 grams of fiber per cup. Beans are a terrific source of fiber and also contain muscle building protein if you’re trying to lose weight too.
• Cooked peas have 8.8 grams of fiber per cup.

You can see just from this listing of high fiber foods, that it shouldn’t be hard to get your recommended daily fiber intake.

Here are some high fiber snacks to keep you filled:

• Popcorn has 3.5 grams of fiber for 3 cups
• Raisins have 1 gram of fiber for 2 TBS
• One banana has 3.3 grams of fiber
• Sunflower seed kernels have 3.3 grams of fiber for 1/4 cup and
• Almonds have 3.5 grams of fiber for about 23 nuts.

Use your daily snacks to increase your fiber intake and over time, the weight will come off and your colon will be much healthier!

Read more about the health benefits of a high fiber diet.

Check out this list of high fiber foods from the Mayo Clinic.

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