Keeping yourself healthy and active

Remaining physically active also reduces your risk of falling by giving you more flexible joints, stronger bones and muscles, better heart and lung function, more energy, less fatigue, better sleep and less anxiety and depression. Being active includes everyday activities, such as walking, climbing stairs, gardening and shopping, as well as exercise classes and recreational activities like swimming, golfing and Tai Chi. Whatever your current physical condition, you can engage in some form of physical activity with the help of your doctor.

There’s no time like the present. Even when physical activity starts in later life, it can lead to significant improvements in your health and quality of life. Choose activities that will build your endurance, increase your flexibility and improve your strength and balance. Remember to check with your doctor first and to start slowly.

Eleanor’s Story

In Eleanor Mills’ opinion, “it’s absolutely never too late” to start exercising. When she was 68 years old, Eleanor was almost bedridden and “barely able to teeter across a room.” When she was 81 years old, however, she was leading five-kilometre walks in cities across the country.

Eleanor had advanced osteoporosis, a disease in which the bones become so thin and brittle that they break easily. In time, several of her vertebrae collapsed, and three years later she suffered further fractures. “With the pain and agony and the lack of activity—because I could hardly do anything at all—i went down to 46% bone density. I really began to feel like a china cup walking around because it really is about half the strength you should have.”

Eleanor knew that one of the best ways to improve her condition was to be active. She started challenging herself to walk a little bit each day. “I was in terribly bad shape,” she says. “I only kept going because I knew that if you keep still, you lose more bone than ever. It goes much faster.” Through exercise, good nutrition and medical treatment, Eleanor eventually increased her bone density by 20%.

A turning point came when Eleanor first tried a walker. “I simply flew along, and I said to myself, ‘Gee, I could walk to Vancouver with this?’” It was Eleanor’s idea to form what was called the “Boney Express,” a series of walks to raise money for, and awareness of, osteoporosis.

Eleanor admits that when she first used the walker, she felt a little strange and wondered what people would think. “There are many people who have resisted getting a walker because it sort of labelled them as unable. And I did feel a little odd pushing around what seemed like an empty chair because my walker has a seat. But that is so much offset by the value of the walker that I very soon got over it. I think we should welcome all the aids we can find, and we must be proud that we can do so much more when we use them.”

One of Eleanor’s goals is to try walking for the whole day. As she puts it, “I just want to see how far I can go.”