4 Things My Mom Taught Me About Living Well Longer
For each of us, living well longer might look a little different depending upon our goals, interests and motivations. But one element which is critical to this idea of not just living to a ripe old age, but to strive for a life filled with quality, purpose, and health, we must be able to move our bodies. As we have seen through the studies of Blue Zones and other longevity research, staying active in our daily lives is critical to maintaining a high level of functioning in our later years.
My mom passed away in 2020, just before Covid was announced as a global pandemic. She was 85 and the most high-functioning person I’d ever known, so close to death. Just a few months before she passed, we climbed to the top of View Ridge to catch a glimpse of Lake Washington and glorious Mount Rainier. It wasn’t easy for her but looking back now, this was a true testament to her physical & mental strength. With low oxygenated blood, most people would not have left their chair, let alone their house. It’s only recently that I came to realize how unique her level of functioning was and when I look back at her life, it provides a roadmap for living well longer.
Do the monkey bars - We lose functioning as we age because we stop doing the natural movements that challenge our strength, balance, agility and coordination. While my mom never engaged in a formal exercise program, she didn’t need to because she never shied away from climbing the stairs, maintaining her yard, playing soccer with my son and yes, even doing the monkey bars. If it has been a while since you have challenged your body, I recommend starting slow in a safe environment. Take the stairs, instead of the elevator, follow your kids or grandkids onto the play structure, pull out that dusty bike in your garage or enroll in that dance class you have always wanted to do. In order to maintain full functioning as we age, we have to have the range of motion, balance, strength and agility to do basic tasks and, if we desire continued recreation free from pain and injury, these become even more important.
When you have the choice, walk! - Not everyone is going to walk a mile to the store and carry their groceries home but think about all the times you could walk instead of drive. My mom always chose to keep the car in the garage and walked to her local neighborhood stores, schlepping those groceries home on her back or in each hand. When she did drive, she chose the furthest parking spot to avoid door dings and to keep her body moving. She would often pick locations that seemed like a stretch for her to achieve like routes with hills or places that she would normally drive like the doctor, cemetery or shopping area. She was not only gaining tremendous physical benefit from the movement but mental therapy as well.
Say yes to challenges - While it feels more comfortable and safer to never set goals, we miss out on opportunities to challenge ourselves and grow from those experiences. At the age of 80, my mom set a challenge to walk from her home in NE Seattle to Greenlake, circle the 3-mile lake, and make the uphill trek home. This route was approximately 7 miles and while the distance was impressive, the benefit she gained from this far exceeded the physical challenge. I witnessed the tremendous boost to her thoughts about aging and the possibilities it opened up for her. Not too long after this challenge we decided to do a 5K benefit walk together. Little did I know she was out to win that race! Half walking/half-running, she placed first in her age division. The undeniable pride and joy emanated from her for days. Resist the urge to say “no” and, instead embrace the possibility that comes with a “yes”.
Reject negative aging stereotypes -We are only as old as we think we are. Research has shown that how we think about aging has a great deal to do with how we age. My mom was a strong believer in exposing herself to younger generations. She loved working alongside those 20, 30 even 40 years her junior and they loved her. She remained young at heart by exposing herself to different ways of thinking, keeping up physically and embracing the idea that aging doesn’t mean diminishing. Her energy, vibrance and vitality was an inspiration to the younger generations, and, in turn, she grew strength in knowing that. If you would like to develop a more positive approach to aging, some recommendations include maintaining a sense of purpose, rejecting negative stereotypes, staying socially active and trying something new.
While we can’t control all of the changes in our body as we age, we can take some measurable steps toward a vital future by engaging in functional movement. And, as we take the steps today to secure our future well-being, our perspective on aging might just become a little more optimistic. I owe much of my positive outlook to my mom who taught me, through her lifestyle, what living well longer looks like.
If you are interested in moving the way you want, building the strength you need and just feeling good in your body, so that you can enjoy the life you deserve, please reach out.
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Getting older doesn’t have to mean settling for less.
It’s never too late.
In August of 2023, I left my consulting role at Microsoft after spending over 20 years of my life driving marketing efforts in various parts of the company, with 8 years of those being a full-time employee. As many of my peers have experienced, getting rehired can be challenging after taking time to do consulting and raising children. After spending 2 years focused on finding the perfect marketing role that would fuel my passion, the brick wall I was coming up against suddenly provided the awakening I needed, and it hit me square in the face. The world I knew for over 20 years was no longer where I needed to be. What I realized is that I had pigeonholed myself into a construct based on the path I was on for all those years. I had a choice. I could either retire from the workforce and move on to greener pastures or I could make a hard pivot and reinvest myself in virtually unknown territory. But I was 54 years old and starting something new seemed daunting and honestly, not common place at my age. I struggled with the thoughts in my head telling me I’d reached my peak and was on the downhill slope. Then, something triggered in me that lit a fire in my being. I have always been passionate about fitness and recreation and decided to work with a personal trainer. As a former elite athlete, I was confident in my physical capabilities and excited to regain the strength and exceptional functioning that I once had. The string of events that followed could have taken the wind out of my sails, but instead propelled me onto the path I am currently pursuing. While the head trainer I initially met with asked me what I wanted to achieve, those goals never reached my assigned personal trainer. I recommunicated those goals in our crammed 25-minute session but those were dismissed, and I was given a workout for the “washed up female”. When I confronted the trainer, I was told that this is the workout he gives to all women. While this does not represent all trainers or all fitness facilities mode of operating, the needs of women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond are different and deserve individualized attention and an inspiring and motivating approach. The mature clients, as we are so gracefully referred to in the fitness industry, are no longer focused on appearance as the number one goal. We want to feel good in our bodies, move freely without pain and feel confident that we can do the things we want to do now and into the future. Along with my background in Exercise & Sport Science and years of fitness training, I am now an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, an ISSA Functional Aging Specialist, an entrepreneur, and living a dream of working with women to achieve their fitness and recreational goals. Getting older doesn’t have to mean settling for less.