I recently received a dramatic lesson about stress, lifestyle and long-term health.
I went for my routine annual physical a couple of months after losing my husband. My blood test had always been reassuringly normal, but this time around, my B12 levels had plummeted through the basement. Some of my blood cell counts were out of whack, too. Apparently, stress can cause your body to shed B12. Stress can explain the other changes, too.
Stress Does What To My Health?
It was eye-opening —and alarming— to see how much a few weeks of heavy stress could change my physiology. It helped me to appreciate the extent to which long-term stress also impacts our bodies and our well-being.
Life events are not the only source of stress. Sitting too much, not sleeping enough, eating and drinking the wrong things, extreme diets, among other things, all put extra stress on our bodies.
The choices we make and how we react to the events of our lives really do add or subtract years to and from our lives. And they determine how active and engaged we’ll be able to be in the years to come.
Eating & Moving For Longevity
We GenXers are at the perfect life stage to seriously think about how we want to age (presumably as well and for as long as possible).
We still have time for any lifestyle changes we make to have a real impact. Meanwhile, as parenting and other responsibilities ease off, we have breathing room for the first time in decades. We can let go of some stressors, get more active (pickleball, anyone?) and eat better.
Still need more motivation? Being healthy is financially savvy. The more healthy and fit we are, the less time we spend in doctors’ waiting rooms and the less money we spend on doctors, medications, procedures and therapies. As we age, those items can really start to add up.
When my teen is off at college, my dinner plate has a lot more salad and vegetables and lean protein. Potatoes, pasta and breaded cutlets have largely disappeared. Hopefully some B12 supplements, yoga and pickleball will get my blood-test results back to normal.
You’re probably ready to assess your own stressors and not-so-healthy habits. And you most likely want to make some tweaks — or even bigger changes — to your diet, activities and stress triggers in the name of longevity.
So download and print my free Healthy Life Quiz and Roadmap. It will help you get started. And that first step is always the most important.
