BONUS EDITION! September is Healthy Aging Month!
A curated newsletter with a bunch of good reads on healthy aging
Photo by Gabin Vallet on Unsplash
Welcome to Healthy Aging Month! Nobody that reads this newsletter is old per se. But we are ALL aging. (I know this because, from the time we are born, we are aging.) September is National Healthy Aging Month. In celebration, I have curated a few reads for you. Won’t the Third Act be SWEET when we are healthy and vibrant throughout? Oh, yes! It will!
Best Book: Younger Next Year is the Bible for Baby Boomers who are living the healthful, good life. This is by far my favorite healthy aging read. I absolutely devour it every January and it keeps me moving in a healthy direction for months after. It is the most motivational book I know of to get you out there and creating a healthy life for yourself. You’ll meet Chris and Harry, and you’ll feel like you’ve been friends with them your whole life. Harry is an internist and brilliant. He will give you the deets on the why’s and wherefores of healthy living in very relatable terms. And Chris will make it all so much fun you won’t be able to resist doing everything they talk about! There is a book for guys and one for women. A note on the women’s edition: This book was written over a decade ago and Chris is an old school, somewhat elite, gentleman from the East Coast. I find his banter to be quirky and charming… but some may find some of it sexist. Fair warning. If that’s off-putting to you, read the men’s version instead. It’s 75%+ the same material and 100% worth the read.
Best Recipes: I tell everyone that, if it takes more than 20 minutes, I’m not likely to make it. The good news is that you can make almost anything in less than 20 minutes. The trick is to combine homemade with store bought. You can do that and still be enormously healthy! Here are five healthy recipes that you can make in less than 20 minutes.
It’s tomato season in Sacramento and I’ve been absolutely HOOKED on shakshuka. It’s tart, and sweet, and slightly picante and unctuous! And so good for you! (I add Huy Fong garlic chili sauce to give it some kick.)
Caprese anything is the bomb, but this Caprese chicken is especially good because of the balsamic reduction on top. I use fresh mozzarella instead of the goat cheese and I get my balsamic reduction from Trader Joe’s (it’s AMAZING!).
This recipe for sweet and sour mango salad says it takes 30 minutes, but that’s a big fat lie. If you use store bought lime juice and buy sliced mangoes from your produce department, all you have to do is dice up a shallot and mix together a few ingredients for the dressing. You can do that in less than 20 minutes, easy! I use half the fish sauce, regular granulated sugar and I add a teaspoon or two of my favorite Huy Fong chili garlic sauce. SOOO fresh and yummy!
I don’t really have a recipe for this one, because you don’t really need one. I make yummy fish tacos by marinating white fish (like tilapia or mahi mahi) in mojito lime seasoning. I cook it in a frying pan for a couple to a few minutes on each side, depending on the type and thickness of the fish. (I don’t add oil to the pan, only non-stick spray, because there’s oil in the marinade.) Then, I cut up some red onion and some fresh avocado and serve it all in street taco shells with store bought salsa or pico de gallo. Easy. Yummy. Good for you!
This recipe for turkey chili is bit of a cheater, because you have to simmer it for 15 minutes, which brings the total time to over 20 minutes, but if you want to “sneak” veggies into any dish, chili is the one! This recipe says to dice the zucchini and carrots, but if you have (or are) a picky eater, grate them! They “melt” right into the sauce and nobody has to know they are there. Throw in a couple of handfuls of “pearl” cauliflower, too. (You can get it where they sell the bagged salad.) The texture is the same as the turkey and the cauliflower just picks up the flavor of the broth. If you’re really looking for efficiency, you can buy a packet of chili seasoning and it will all come together very quickly. (Not to be too redundant, but I actually add Huy Fong chili garlic sauce to my turkey chili sometimes, too.)
Best Tips: I found these tips on healthy aging from a random Google search and I LOVE them! Every single one of them puts you in the driver’s seat to be positive and think of yourself as vibrant and healthy. Man, that’s half the battle! I challenge you to pick a day in September and try these 10 tips!
Best Exercise: My “go to” exercise is walking. None of this mamby pamby wandering, mind you. I walk like I mean it! If you like walking, but don’t like wandering the streets alone, here is a website with walking clubs all over the nation. Maybe you can find one near you. Or, here’s an article with some other suggestions to find your peeps on the streets (or walking paths).
Best Challenge: One of the things I like to do every year is walk a half marathon. It takes me about 3 hours, but I feel like Wonder Woman for 3 days after I’m done. I do have to train for it, though. This is the schedule I use every year to train. If a half marathon seems like too much of an undertaking, try a 5K! I’m sure you can find tons of them near you. Most of them allow walkers and you’ll often get a finisher’s medal and/or a beverage and some swag just for getting across the finish line! (By the way, the last two articles are from a website called Verywell.com. I love them. They have articles about absolutely everything related to health and fitness, including a whole section on healthy aging. The articles are always quick reads, very relevant and very easy to digest.)
Best Vacation: Those of you who are long term readers of this newsletter already know this, but another way I like to take my walking to the next level is with inn-to-inn hiking. Here’s my newsletter on that topic. And a great read on those hikes is Walkabout Northern California: Hiking Inn to Inn. You’ll discover lots of hikes that take you from one relaxing, beautiful inn to the next with a meal and a soft bed awaiting you after a long day’s walk.
Best Use of Your Time: Have you seen all of the doctors you need to this year? Check out this list. And if you haven’t pick up the phone and do it now! You still have 4 months before you have to start all over again.
Best Way to Relax: If all of this wellness seems overwhelming to you, Zen out! Meditation may seem like what the hippies did in the ‘70’s for some of us, but there are real, science backed reasons to take a little time for your mind to wind down. And, once you get good at it, I challenge you to try Yoga Nidra (or yogic sleep). You will be taken on a guided journey, usually for an hour, where someone else does the thinking for you. Sometimes even outsourcing thinking can be healthy. Or, if all of that is a bridge too far, how about fishing?
Best Time of Your Life! Be well, my friends! And ROCK your Third Act!!