You are Going to Age. You Should Plan to Age Well.
Plan to age like these guys: Ronald Gross (R) and Gary Hollinger were 1st & 2nd in the M 75-79 division at the Fab 40s 5K. (SRN photo)
A recent nationwide study of seniors showed a striking disconnect between people’s expectations of health and what they are doing about it.
When asked: “How confident are you in your ability to maintain a high quality of life throughout your senior years?” Eighty-six percent of seniors (60+) nationally and 90% of seniors in Los Angeles replied “somewhat or very confident.”
At the same time, most of these same people (51%) “Have not set one or more specific goals to manage health in the past 12 months.”
Do you see the disconnect?
Additionally, and even more disturbingly, 65% of these seniors are managing two or more chronic health conditions.
In a Los Angeles Times article about the survey results, a National Council on Aging official says:
Such goals could be as simple as eating less fried food or taking more walks. For seniors fending off more than one chronic condition, planning around such goals should be the norm.
I think training for a 5k would be another good goal. There are an endless stream of studies showing how exercise benefits us as we age, and all evidence points toward more exercise being better than less.
When I’m in doubt, and thinking about slacking off, I just look at this picture. (Look!)
You can look at the survey results here (PDF).