Gursimran muscle tissues and strength decreases with

Gursimran SandhuKeeping Fit Interview and EssayAgingis inescapable and everyone has to go through the aging process.

Iinterviewed my grandfather for this essay and having his interview was great. Istarted by asking him questions about changes in his appearance of face and hetold me that fine lines and wrinkles on his hands and face appeared slowlywhich began near age of 40. He feels that his skin has become drier over thelast few years. He said that he noticed his hair reduction near age of 52 andthat he already had white hair when he was in his 20’s because of hereditaryand now they have all turned grey.Muscletissues and strength decreases with age along with decreasing levels of growthhormones and that also reduces muscle mass and affects the body weightdirectly. He told that his height has remained the same since he was 30 but hisweight has been decreasing gradually but with his exercises, it seems to him asif he is gaining a little of his muscle mass again. He is mentally active andthe reason I believe is that because he works out, he is healthy so, the changein mental functioning is minimal. He stated that he had no problem with hissleeping patterns ever instead, now he feels more relaxed and even takes nap inthe afternoon.

He suffers from hyperopia and stated that he regularly spends 20minutes for eye exercise early morning. He experienced a knee replacementsurgery when he was 67 years old and after that he has been exercising more inorder to keep his joints and muscles working. He can lift pretty heavy thingsbut his strength is not as durable as it was way back. Sometimes when he doesnot work out for some days and then performs some tasks then his body aches andgets stiff very quickly. Although, by this age, bones become less dense becauseof lack of calcium along with decrease in level of vitamin D but still hisother joints of the body are flexible and he said he has had no problem ofjoints after that.Heis 72 years old and he said that he feels younger than his age. He told me thatwhen I come across people of his age, he notices that they look much older thanhim in terms of physical activity, mental alertness and the way they performthings. He has been working out throughout his life since he was a teenager, heused to go to the gym till the age of 56.

Then he started to work out at homeand doing other physical activities like cycling, jogging, treadmill, liftingdumbbells. But at this age, he goes for a walk and spends only 15 minutesbicycling which is relatively less as compared to 1 hour when he was young. Theonly disadvantage of doing more than this is that he feels he is done for restof his day and just want to lay back on his bed. Other than that, he alsoattends yoga classes in order to restore his strength, flexibility, increasebalance and stability.

According to him, he would definitely like to recommendothers about his routine of exercise so that they can remain fit, stronger,flexible, active and sharp for an extended period of life. Along with that hementioned to have good and a balanced diet. His diet includes bread, rice,pasta, eggs, cereal, boiled vegetables, fruits, nuts, yogurt, chicken and fish.He told me that he drinks plenty of water and even starts his day with a glassof lukewarm water and lemon as it helps ease his digestion and stimulates hisimmune system. He does drink occasionally but has never smoked throughout hislife. At this age the cells of immune system workslowly and vaccines are proved to be less protective in older people. He sufferedfrom pancreatic cancer so he takes care of his diet and keeps track ofnutrients that he takes in his food. His sodium level in body is high so herestricts his sodium intake every day.

He takes minimal sugar and fatty foodsas he does not want to get obese at this age. He stated that if he will eathealthy and balanced diet then his body will be more active and will have lessrisk of chronic diseases in future. By knowing his diet and exercise routine, Ipersonally believe that patterns are in compliance with the health promotionguidelines.Accordingto him, the best age in life is childhood and the first reason he gave was thatchildhood is the only time when no one judges us on anything and there are noresponsibilities at all.

Other reasons given by him were about money that inchildhood a child needs money for a new toy or candy, also we get to sleep asmuch as we want and there are no worries about getting a job, familyresponsibility or any other stress in that age period.NationalCouncil of Aging (ncoa), helps older people and their caregiver’s tools andresources that help them stay independent and to enjoy their lives as theywant. They provide programs like Fall prevention, aging mastery program thathelps old people learn how to age well, hunger and nutrition program, chronicdisease management that helps them with management of diseases and alsoprovides blogs for healthy aging. Along with that it helps them find benefitsthat pay for their food, medicine and other utilities, helps them in makingmost out of their money and avoids scams, tells them ways to maximize theirmedical benefits and also have special workshops for veterans. Anotherassociation associated with health promotion programs for old is NationalAssociation of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) which provides aging programs  in every place across the nation providingservices to more than 7 million older people every year. Some of the programsthat they deliver are Chronic disease self-management program, a matter ofbalance, programs for diabetes self-management, and also Tai Chai moving forbetter balance.

They also provide health insurance assistance to older adults. Iam glad that I interviewed my grandfather for this essay and learnt a lot ofnew things regarding aging process and how to keep body fit. I realized thatdoing exercise is not only for maintaining a good body shape but also haslifelong benefits of weight control, disease prevention and it can also delayaging process.

I now believe that if we start having a balanced, nutritive dietalong with physical activity and make it a routine then it can improve our lifeeven when we are in old age.https://www.ncoa.org/older-adults-caregivers/https://www.n4a.org/aaastitlevihttp://www.merckmanuals.com/home/older-people%E2%80%99s-health-issues/the-aging-body/changes-in-the-body-with-aginghttps://www.scribd.com/document/2001995/Health-and-Human-Services-compendium-2006