What can we do to avoid aging badly? Here’s what one friend shared with us about what it used to be like for her, before she ran out of excuses.
Linda’s Story
Linda wakes up from six hours of restless sleep. She is stiff, sore and more tired than when she went to bed. She sits on the edge of her bed and tries to plan her day. In a few minutes she collapses on the bed and stretches her arms, legs and back. It is with herculean effort that she finally arises, makes her way to the bathroom and brushes her teeth.
This is a typical morning for Linda since she retired last year. She shuffles into her kitchen, turns on the counter top TV, prepares a breakfast consisting of coffee and a buttered bagel, and watches the local news.
After her morning shower she dresses in her lounging sweat suit, rests on her balcony and reads the morning paper. She mulls over several articles regarding senior wellness and an ad from a local health club. That’s about as close as Linda wants to come to exercise – the paper and a casual outfit.
Linda putts around the house the remainder of the morning, tidying and chatting on her mobile phone, until it’s time to meet some friends for their tri-weekly luncheon. She changes into a more fashionable and looser-fitting fleece sweat suit and drives her car the five blocks to the restaurant.
There is no parking available so Linda, aware of her fixed income, nevertheless opts for valet parking service and walks stiffly into the restaurant and embraces her three friends.
Linda thinks she is scrupulous about her diet and orders a luncheon salad, and unfortunately, buttermilk ranch dressing with 160 calories, 17 g fat and 280 mg sodium. Her beverage of choice is the house ice tea, which she adds two packets or 20g of pure sugar. Based on what Linda believes, she has just consumed a heart-healthy lunch, so she rewards herself with Brownie Sundae Cheesecake, adding another 1,368 calories, 61 grams of fat, 580 milligrams of sodium to her “sensible” lunch.
She had no intention to be unhealthy and still denies she might be aging badly. Linda returns home, stuffed, lethargic and drained from her meal. She loosens the drawstring on her sweatpants and lies flat on the bed. She awakens two-and-a-half-hours later. Her back and legs ache. She heads to the kitchen and pops four Ibuprofen tablets into her mouth. She turns on the TV, eats a bag of chips, washes them down with a diet soda and watches cooking shows and sitcoms until dinner time.
Linda had plans to cook herself a healthy dinner, but when she arrives in the kitchen she realizes that she is far too tired to keep that promise. Her feet hurt as she stands by the oven and warms her dinner of canned soup, bread and butter, and some left-over chicken.
Linda eats part of her dinner standing in the kitchen and the other half in front of the TV. She watches TV for another hour and then retreats to the kitchen to reward herself with a bowl of ice cream. She watches TV until she falls asleep or until the TV awakens her. Then she drags her weary body to bed for another night of tossing and turning.
Before she falls asleep she makes a mental note to get some exercise tomorrow and eat better. For a fleeting moment, she realizes she might be aging badly, but then focuses on her healthy intentions for tomorrow.
Epilogue:
Linda is neither stupid nor lazy. Linda is caught in a difficult spiral that many retirees and seniors experience. Linda believes that her retirement is an excuse to rest, and in her case to do as little as possible.
Intellectually Linda knows that she should eat smart and get out of the house and exercise, but she lacks all motivation to change her patterns and get started. She did not intend to live this life, but on her fixed retirement income her plans to travel, eat organic foods, join a gym and improve her mind have not materialized and she is headed toward a deep depression.
Linda finds new excuses every day that support her current unhealthy habits. Excuses that allow her to eat crap, waste her life watching television, prevent her from exercising and cause her to lose valuable sleep. With only a few minor lifestyle changes Linda could be on her way to a long health span and a happier, more fulfilled life.
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