Looking after your physical health during your Midlife
April 26, 2024Posted by:
Why is looking after your health during your Midlife important?
Middle age is a critical time for you to focus on your physical and mental health. Preventative health care by keeping physically fit has many benefits including:
- Reducing stress and anxiety.
- Preventing dementia.
- Keeping weight to healthy levels.
- Stronger muscles and bones – helping to prevent things such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
- Less risk of heart disease, strokes and diabetes.
- Positive effects on your mental health.
- Increased metabolism.
Other benefits include:
- It can increase your social life.
- It sets a good example for children and young adults in your life.
- It can help improve your quality of sleep and increase your general daily energy levels.
Good health has a direct impact on quality of life, by staying healthy we are more likely to maintain our independence, continue to do the things that we like to do, and to allow us to enjoy our later years to the fullest.
What can you do?
Much like our pension, health is an investment and what we do now will either positively or negatively impact our future lives.
Things to consider are; what exercise do you currently do, do you have a healthy diet and do you have any habits that may affect your health.
No matter how active you currently are or aren’t, there are various things you can do to improve your physical health. Some examples of this are:
Diet
- An ideal diet should be low in saturated fat, lots of fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, oily fish, small amounts of low fat dairy and lean meat.
- If you drink alcohol, it is recommended to consume no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across 3 days or more. That's around 6 medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or 6 pints of 4% beer.*
- Decrease your daily sugar intake, small changes like swapping full sugar drinks for sugar free drinks, having less sugars in hot drinks or swapping chocolate for fruits or nuts.
- Increase water intake – it is recommended that an adult drinks 6-8 glasses of water.
Exercise
- NHS guidelines recommend that adults do 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week, as well as strengthening exercises twice a week.* You can find out more about this by visiting the NHS website.
- This may seem like a lot especially if exercise is not something you currently have as part of your daily routine, but you can start off slower by doing lighter exercise such as walking. You should track your daily steps. Did you know it is recommended adults walk between 6000 – 10,000 steps a day for good health.
Health
- Good oral hygiene – preventative action will mean less risk of problems such as gum disease in later years.
- Get enough sleep. An article featured in the Guardian commented on a study that showed middle-aged people not getting enough sleep are less likely to see the benefits of exercise when it comes to protecting against a decline in skills such as memory and thinking. The recommended sleep for adults is 7-9 hours each night.
How can the Midlife MOT help me improve my physical health?
The health pillar of the Midlife MOT has been designed specifically to address health challenges faced by those between the ages of 45-55, we can provide you with a fully funded health check at your workplace to help you assess your health, sessions on healthier life style choices such as physical exercise, and healthier eating, as well as access to a wellbeing app to support you to make small changes and set goals.
What our participants are saying:
“Since my health check, I have made an appointment with my GP to get my blood pressure checked and I have started doing more exercise.” - Craig at AAF
“The health bus has opened my eyes to my own health and has helped me make changes to my diet and nutrition.” - Linda at Sugarfayre
If you would like to know more about the FREE Midlife MOT programme please email [email protected]
The Midlife MOT programme is fully funded by the Department for Work and Pensions. It is available to people in Northeast England aged between 45-55, who are employed or self-employed.
*NHS.co.uk
April 26, 2024Posted by:
