As we ourselves get older we face changes that can cause more stress in our lives. Once we are over 60 it seems more health problems occur; our own children have moved out or may need financial help to be more independent; we have retired or changed our jobs to part-time; our parents, aunts and uncles are too old to care for themselves so they need our help. It is no wonder we have more stress!
What can we do to cope with all of these changes? First we ourselves need to make sure our lifestyles are good enough to support good health. What we eat, how we exercise, how we relax or play, and how we pray and manage our spiritual lives, are more important now than at any other time of our lives! We need to take care of our physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.
People are living longer now than in past generations, our senior years could add up to at least 1/3 of our total lives and we need to make sure these years are good years. So here are some things you can do: eat right, exercise each day, get enough rest, and manage your stress levels.
During our senior years we might be called upon to take care of our own aging parents. This commitment could be for a short time or in some cases for years as our parents are no longer able to care for themselves. These changes in our lives will change our roles and responsibilities and can sometimes cause difficult times for a family. But at the same time these changes can bring a family closer together as you share the new responsibilities of caring for your aging parents. Every person in a family will give in a different way even the great grandchildren are able to help.
I found that dealing with my senior parent was sometimes very much the same as dealing with my grandchild, there are many similarities between the young and the old. Getting outside help is a good idea and highly recommended; there are many different organizations available to us for help with caring for seniors, so find out what there is and use it to help with the load.
Don’t feel guilty to reach out and use all the help you can get! Remember if you do too much you will get run down and not be able to care for them or yourself.
As some of you may know I have just lost my own father, who died in his 97th year after battling stage four cancers for 18 months. It was not an easy task taking care of an aging sick father but with the help of my siblings and with the help of the Hallelujah Diet that I have been living for 15 years not only did I survive but we feel this diet made a great difference for our dad’s final months as well!
As I said earlier we need to make sure we care for our own health so here are some suggestions I have for how this worked for me once I was daily caring for my Dad:
- Eat right – once I started to care for Dad I increased my juicing to 6-8 servings of juice each day and made sure my Dad did the same. We ate mostly salads and to make it better for him I would blend his salad making it easier for him to chew. Green smoothies also became a daily food item.
- Exercise – I started walking each evening so that I could have a few minutes of quiet time to myself and get the exercise I needed. We also started a daily routine of stretching exercises for my Dad so he too would have some exercise to keep his joints flexible.
- Rest – this was my biggest challenge but we must make sure to get the rest so our body can recharge each day.
- Manage our Stress – by sharing my care giving experiences with my spouse, my son and my siblings I found it easier to cope. Also talking about what was happening gave all of us a time to support each other in the difficult decisions we had to make.
My final suggestion would be spend as much time with your aging parent as you can so you will have some wonderful memories that will help to ease the loss you feel when they are gone.
Senior’s Salad
serves 2
As we get older it is harder to chew salads so here is a great way to do some of the chewing for you and it reduces the size of the salad so aging seniors will be able to eat more without effort.
- 3-4 cups dark green leafy greens such as: romaine, spring mix, or spinach (washed and chopped)
Add at least 4-6 other veggies such as:
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes (buy vine ripe and let them sit on my window-ledge to ripen)
- ¼ cup white onion (finely chopped)
- ½ cup chopped bell peppers (red, orange & yellow)
- 1 cup corn cut fresh off the cob
- ½ cup thinly sliced celery
- ½ cup chopped cucumber
Put all the above in your food processor – it should fill it
Use the pulse button to chop the salad a few times – this will reduce the salad to ¼ its original size. Put in smaller salad bowl and add the following dressing, make enough dressing so you have extra for the next day.
Lemon Herb Dressing
makes 1 cup
Put the following ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy:
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp. of each dried herbs: basil, thyme, oregano
- 1 small clove of garlic
This dressing will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.
