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Boomers and older Gen Xers share 40 innovative ways they keep their brains sharp

They do so much more than crosswords.

Image via Canva

Older people share surprising and simple ways they keep their brains healthy and sharp.

One of the biggest battles of healthy aging is staying mentally sharp. Having a healthy brain is important for mental and physical longevity.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 6.7 million older adults in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia. The CDC notes that by 2060, that number will double.

However, being proactive about brain health can help keep aging brains thriving. In an online forum of Boomers and older Gen Xers, they opened up on how they keep their brains sharp and memory strong. These are 40 surprising (and simple) ways they've maintained healthy brains as they've aged.

 aging, healthy aging, mental sharpness, sharp brain, aging well Aging Old Man GIF by A&E  Giphy  

"I take on-line college courses. Pick one out that piques my interest and sign up. The advantage at my age is I can study whatever I want, I'm not really concerned with advancing my career. Ancient Mediterranean History? Sure why not? History of Beer? Why not? Psychology of Evil? Sounds interesting. All on-line, all cheap. Keeps my brain active." - mike11172

"I'm way into fitness and still work out with weights. Also walk a lot and do fun things outdoors. I make sure that I get outside at least an hour every day. I'm careful to eat good foods that meet nutritional requirements, especially since I work out. I drink plenty of fresh filtered water. Taking care of your health in these three ways really makes a difference in one's mental sharpness and attitude. I belong to a religion that encourages me to treat others kindly and to be thankful for the life I have. Participate in activities that involve helping others. That really makes anybody feel good, have a purpose, and be glad they have the means to give of themselves. My husband and I make a point to always treat each other like we're newlyweds. Keeping the stress in your home to a minimum improves your mental state. In my down time, I've gotten into paper art. It's fun and an easy way for anyone to stay creative. I make cute things and greeting cards for others." - Bebe_Bleau

 knowledge, learning, brain health, sharp brain, sharp mind Learn The More You Know GIF by @InvestInAccess  Giphy  

"I write novels and memoir essays. The novels require a lot of research about settings and history. Unexpectedly, even the memoirs require research, because I took for granted behaviors and ideas that need to be explained for modern readers since nobody takes them for granted anymore. I volunteer for a local organization that helps provide food and medicine to households who have run out of money before the next paycheck. I work with recent immigrants who speak little English and am constantly learning new things about what it's like to struggle for survival in lives of utter poverty." - Building_a_life

"Just use it. The brain works a lot like muscles in the sense that it will degrade quickly if you don't use it but can maintain its abilities for a long ass time if you do use it. I've met so many older people who basically just stop doing anything that requires a lot of thought when they get older because thinking is a lot of work. And you can definitely tell that kind of person when interacting with them. Conversations with them feel more like talking with a bunch of pre-recorded responses. Just do stuff that requires a lot of thought. Learn new skills. Read about complex, interesting ideas. Do puzzles. Play chess." - Yak-5000

"Started flying a small airplane a few years ago at 64. Mentally challenging." - slick62

 wordle, puzzles, wordle puzzle, doing puzzles, brain health New York Times Running GIF by PERFECTL00P  Giphy  

"All the many word puzzles: Wordle, Quordle, Octordle, Connections, Squaredl, Blossom, etc. Crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, hour + walks per day. Writing, reading, cooking. Day trips and quick trips of 1-3 nights. Working really got in my way!" - Conscious-Reserve-48

"Counseling. It is important to keep processing your feelings, otherwise they pile up." - arkofjoy

"I quit smoking and started juggling. I'm no performer, but it keeps the nervous system active and it's fun for the whole family. Learning new tricks that are counterintuitive is the hardest, especially with new devices. I mostly stick to 3 balls, as I prefer to get good with simple things." - Tempus_Fuggit

"I'm fixing up an old sailboat when I'm not doing house maintenance /upgrades." - darkcave-dweller

 gen z, gen z gif, gen z kids, gen z life, gen z culture Nick Kroll Fx GIF by Adults  Giphy  

"I have in-depth conversations with my GenZ kids. No restrictions on topics. They are phenomenally smart, well-informed, and engaged." - CommissarCiaphisCain

"Crossword puzzles. More importantly I work with teens who teach me the latest jargon among other things. I adore them all." - Kissoflife1

"I've spent most of my life living in foreign countries and really don't know any other life. My budget in old age allows me to annually travel solo to third world countries. I'm keeping my mind active by always trying to figure things out like communicating in some foreign language, organizing my own hotel reservations, traveling arrangements etc. Things frequently get off the rails, so I have lots of practice figuring out the answer to the questions like, what the heck should I do now?" - nonsense39

 spanish, learning spanish, speaking spanish, learning language, new language spanish gif Giphy  

"I learned to play a musical instrument and I’m taking Spanish lessons. These activities really challenge the brain." - ClawhammerJo

"I consume very little mainstream news. The more mainstream news you watch, the less you understand about the world--it's not meant to inform, it's meant to divide us and manipulate our prejudices. Finally, I've adopted the idea that pessimists are pessimistic because they imagine they can predict the future. I know and accept that I can't predict the future, so I'm optimistic. The possibilities are, as they've always been, infinite. I don't dwell on the past, and I don't worry about the future." - crackeddryice

 line dance, line dancing, learning line dancing, line dance gif, line dancing hobby Country Music Old Town Road GIF by Lil Nas X  Giphy  

"Line dancing. It uses the brain and the body, and in my area I’ve found I can dance several times a week." - littleoldlady71

"I read a lot of books. I listen to a lot of music. I hike as much as I can. I meditate daily. All seem to be important for my brain." - WingZombie

"A good brain takes regular practice. Think like a young person by talking to young people…asking them about their thoughts and ideas…they aren’t interested in my opinions much. Read about technological advances, social studies, philosophy and art. Learn and practice languages. And ride a motorcycle on and off road. My wife and I go somewhere or do something new once a week. I like getting strangers to laugh. I also smile and share joy wherever possible." - gorongo

"My Amazon deliveries are made to a set of lockers onsite. I will never walk up to the lockers and THEN pull out my phone to look for the code. I will look at the message with the code and force myself to remember it before I ever enter the building so I can just walk up to the lockers, enter my code and get my stuff without anyone having to wait on me. I find that my brain will spontaneously make all sorts of associations to the numbers that help me remember them. Whether this helps in the long run, who knows? I just know it kind of makes those trips to the locker like a game for me." - chonnes

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Joy

The 17 harsh truths about aging that people were never 'prepared' for

"How your mind stays young while your body starts to slow down."

via Kindel Media/Pexels

A woman contemplating aging

Many of us feel invincible when we are young, believing we can control the aging process so that we’ll always stay forever young, as Bob Dylan once sang. But there’s a moment when everyone realizes aging is an inevitable process and that, eventually, we will have to deal with a slow decline in our physical and, quite possibly, mental capabilities.

This realization and understanding that we won’t be here forever can profoundly change one’s perspective on life. Even though aging is inevitable, studies show how we think about the process can significantly impact our longevity. People with a positive view of aging live an average of 7.5 years longer than those without.

Things happen as we age that are impossible to describe to younger people. However, a group of Redditors did an excellent job of explaining the truths about aging that they were not “prepared” for in a recent thread that made a lot of people feel seen. A user named sofiagympixie asked the AskReddit forum, “What’s a truth about aging that no one prepared you for?” and it received over 2,700 responses.

A big takeaway is that many people feel like they stop mentally aging at a certain point, usually in their late 20s. Still, the continued physical aging they experience makes them feel like they cannot relate to the person in the mirror.



Here are 17 of the most profound responses to the question: What’s a truth about aging that no one prepared you for?

1. There is an end

"You start to realize the older you get that the end is closer than the beginning and you still feel like you have so much more to do."

"That moment where you start to get a sense that there is an end."

2. It takes energy to keep everything afloat

"No one prepared me for how much energy and time it takes to maintain everything—like health, relationships, and just staying organized. It’s way more work than I expected!"

3. Mind/body detachment

"How your mind stays young while your body starts to slow down. You still feel like the same person you’ve always been, but suddenly you notice little things changing."

"This was such a surprise to me. I really expected to feel psychologically older as I aged. But physically, oh my body has betrayed me... Eyes... hair (gray, but at least I still have it)... back... knees... hips... prostate."



4. The past feels closer than it is

"When you get a flashback of a good memory and you realize that was over 10 years ago."

"When I told my daughter about something I did 24 years ago, I had to pause for a moment."

Time flies isn't just a saying. Psychologists agree that our minds lump time together based on novel experiences. When we are older, the days are a lot more similar than when we were young children. That's why when you're 80, time moves a lot faster than it did when you were 8.

5. Stuck in the wrong time

"I’m 61, and sometimes I feel like this world is not for me anymore. I feel almost like an imposter. For example, I can’t find clothes I like that fit correctly, TV is abhorrent, only old music sounds pleasant, shoes are uncomfortable, I don’t recognize most celebrities or famous people in the news or tabloids, and I don’t understand the need for most new and supposedly exciting products. I’m an educated person, I still work and have an active life. I’m not a recluse. But a little at a time, I feel the world is moving on without me. I finally understand why, in her final years, my mother only watched movies from the 1950s and reminisced about the past more than she talked about the present. Her world was long gone."



6. You lose friends

"If you choose not to have kids, you may end up losing your friends. I turn 40 this year, and my partner and I don't see many folks these days. Parents like to hang out with other parents. And I don't have a grudge, I totally see the value for playdates, etc. But it can be a little lonely."

"To be fair, I have 2 kids and lost a lot of friends because we simply don’t have the time/energy to connect regularly enough to maintain a healthy friendship. It instead falls into an awkward acquaintance stage where enough time passes between communication, and you’re not sure if reaching out to connect comes across weird."

7. Your parents are aging, too

"It's not just you who is getting old. Your parents are getting even older."

"I feel this. Lost my mom 2 weeks before my 21st birthday. 40 now with 2 kids. I get angry/sad at a lot of milestones like my wedding and kids' stuff ‘cause my mom was robbed of them, and I was robbed of her."

8. Time wasted caring about other people's opinions

"It’s so freeing when that old twinge of 'why don’t they like me' pops up, and then I remember that I can not be bothered by that anymore, and magically, I don’t care!"

"Just wasting time in general. No thanks. I want to do as many things as possible!"



9. Your friends die

"Your friends start to die. It's something I never thought about."

10. Time flies

"Man. I don’t even feel like the days are long anymore. I just keep blinking and the weeks go by."

"Yup, wake up, eat breakfast, do a couple things. Wait, it’s lunch already? Eat lunch, do a couple more things, time to prep dinner. Eat dinner, clean up, fix a few things, it’s 9 pm. I guess it’s almost time to get ready for bed? This times 10,000 for me."

11. The monotony sets in

"You will realize that you hate planning meals and making food every single day. It's boring, and it's too easy to fall into monotony. But you have to make lunch again and then plan for dinner again then make dinner again and what do you want to eat tomorrow so you plan for breakfast tomorrow and get up and make breakfast again and then plan for lunch again...."

12. You become invisible to much of society

"I wondered what felt off the last year. Gen Z is everywhere now, and I'm still asking myself when that happened."



13. Adults aren't real

"When you're a kid, you can't wait to 'grow up,' and then you do, and you're still you, just older. That voice inside your head doesn't change, but what you see in the mirror does. Only now you're just older and saddled with bills and stress and all of life's 'surprises.' On top of this, everyone is winging it. Absolutely everyone. Because the idea of order and a civilized society is an illusion. We're all playing by made up rules and making imaginary money and all the rest of it. A one-dollar bill costs just as much to print as a hundred-dollar bill."

14. Priorities change

"Things that seemed so important when you were younger, really are not important."

15. Younger people's reverence

"I'm middle-aged, and a funny thing is how younger people get self-conscious or apologize when there is no need. For example, they will apologize for swearing around me or mentioning something like (gasp) drinking, or drugs, or sleeping around. I think it's funny. Why would being on earth longer make me easier to scandalize? I've seen and done things that would shock them, lol, but to them I'm a very proper-looking classy older lady."

16. Ageism

"Doors start closing once you reach a certain age."

"Ageism is real. I just turned 50 and am in a young person's career (software development). I feel how hiring managers look at me when asked to turn my camera on, during an interview that was going very well and suddenly it's 'we'll get back to you.'"

17. It all catches up

"Things like drinking, eating unhealthily, smoking, spending ... they will catch up. When you're young you think you're different, or you think that when it does catch up you'll be old so who cares, I won't care when I'm old anyway. You will care, though. You'll still be you. Those things won't seem like an issue right up to the moment they are. And then it's too late to take them back."

This article originally appeared last year.
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Health

A simple balance test can show your real biological age

Is your body older or younger than your chronological age?

via Canva

A couple doing balance practice.

Your chronological age is the number of years you’ve lived, but that isn’t the greatest predictor of your health. Doctors often consider your biological age to determine your overall health or longevity.

There is no universal formula for determining someone’s biological age. Doctors usually consider one’s family health history, diseases, conditions, sleep, diet, and exercise habits. They can also determine someone’s biological age by checking their balance, grip strength and endurance.

A new study by the Mayo Clinic found that your ability to balance on one foot is an indicator of bone, nerve, and muscle strength and can help determine your biological age.

"Balancing on one leg requires multiple components of physiological function that each typically declines with age, including strength in the leg and postural stabilizing muscles, neuromuscular coordination, and intact sensory information and reflexes," Prof David Proctor, aging and exercise expert at Pennsylvania State University, told BBC Science Focus.

"Attempts to prevent or slow the loss of muscle strength and balance in older age could mean the difference between remaining functionally independent and early admission to a nursing home!" he continued.

The researchers asked people between the ages of 50 and 80 to balance for 30 seconds on each leg with their eyes open and closed. The team found that for every additional 10 years of age, swaying increased by 6.3% if their eyes were open and 10.5% if their eyes were closed.

So, if you are over 50 and can stand on one leg for 30 seconds without significant wavering, you’re probably doing well for your age. But if you experience considerable wavering, then you should work on training your neuromuscular system.

The study comes two years after researchers in Brazil found that older adults who cannot stand on one foot for 10 seconds or more are nearly twice as likely to die in the next 10 years. The inability to stand on one foot shows that the body has lost neuromuscular strength, but it also makes one vulnerable to falling.

“Remember that we regularly need to stay in a one-legged posture, to move out of a car, to climb or descend a step or stair and so on," the study’s author, Dr. Claudio Gil Soares de Araújo, a sports and exercise physician and director of research and education at the Exercise Medicine Clinic-CLINIMEX in Rio de Janeiro, said according to NBC News. “Aged people falling are at very high risk of major fractures and other related complications," Araújo wrote. "This may play a role in the higher risk of mortality.”

The same researchers found a similar test that predicted one’s risk of death. Araújo and his colleagues released a study in 2016 that found that one’ ability to sit on the floor and then stand up without using their knees or handles for support was a good indicator of longevity.

You begin the test with a score of 10 and subtract points on your way up and down for doing the following:

Hand used for support: -1 point

Knee used for support: -1 point

Forearm used for support: -1 point

One hand on knee or thigh: -1 point

Side of leg used for support: -1 point

Those who score in the lowest range, 0 to 3, had up to a 6 times greater chance of dying than those in the highest scores (8 to 10). About 40% of those in the 0 to 3 range died within 11 years of the study.

If you are having trouble with any of these exercises, you can improve by training your neuromuscular system through swimming, running, or cycling. Training programs are also available to help increase neuromuscular fitness. As with any exercise program, please consult a physician before attempting rigorous exercise.

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A woman requested inspiring middle-age success stories, and the internet delivered—big time

There's nothing magical about "making it" in your younger years.

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash, @JillHannaA/Twitter, @KateGrand/Twitter

It all can happen at just the right time.

Media outlets love to compile lists of impressive people under a certain age. They laud the accomplishments of fresh-faced entrepreneurs, innovators, influencers, etc., making the rest of us ooh and ahh wonder how they got so far so young.

While it's great to give credit where it's due, such early-life success lists can make folks over a certain age unnecessarily question where we went wrong in our youth—as if dreams can't come true and successes can't be had past age 30.

Weary of lists celebrating youngsters, television writer and producer Melissa Hunter sent out a tweet requesting a new kind of list for 2020. "Instead of 30 Under 3 or NextGen lists," she wrote, "please profile middle-aged people who just got their big breaks. I want to read about a mother of 2 who published her first novel, a director who released their first studio feature at 47, THAT'S THE LIST WE WANT."

The Twitterverse responded with a resounding "YAAASSS." Story after story of folks finding success in their 40s, 50s, and beyond began pouring in. If you worry that you're not far enough along in your 20s or 30s, or think it's too late for you to follow your passion in the autumn of your life, take a look at these examples of people crushing it in their mid-to-late adulthood.

Take this mother of four teens who released her first full-length book at 45 and started law school this year at age 47.

 

Or the woman who published two books in her late 50s and is revising book #3 at age 60. Oh, she also started running at age 45.

 

Another person shared how they got out of prison for drugs at age 49, stayed clean and started their own business, and broke the $1 million sales mark last year at 56.

"Lauching my clothing line now—at 48," wrote a mom of two. "Next venture feels amazing."

Another user chimed in with "Yes! Plus the 40 under 40, 30 under 30 can be quite contrived (sometimes). I want to see people juggling school, career, and family.”

Yet another mother of two teens finished her PhD at 41 and got a tenure-track position at age 47. She's also working on a book on Indigenous Early Childhood.

 

How about this woman who hadn't taken a math class for 40 years? She aced her statistics classes and will graduate with a perfect GPA after she turns 60. "Lots of life to live!" she says.

 

Another mom (are we seeing a theme here?) discovered a passion for interior design and won a national TV design challenge in her late 40s. Now, at 60, she has a successful design career and contributes to radio and magazines.

 

Of course, we also know there are fabulously successful folks who got a "late" start in Hollywood, including the incomparable Ava DuVernay, "who left her job at age 40 to focus on filmmaking and then became the first black woman to make over $100 million at the box office.”

As one man pointed out, "The idea that you've got five years between 20 and 30 to do everything you're ever going to do is ridiculous." Hunter agreed, writing, "The advice is always that it's a marathon, not a race, and I wanna read about the people who finished that marathon!!"
 

So many stories of people publishing their first books, landing their ideal jobs, or discovering a passion later in life just kept coming, and person after person shared how inspiring and motivating they were.

Of course, not everyone has lofty career goals. If these stories aren't quite hitting the mark for you, check out this woman's contribution to the conversation. She's "just a regular human," she says, but she went to Zimbabwe and volunteered at a wildlife refuge at age 47. "Life doesn't just peter out after 30," she wrote. "My friend Elsa is 96 and went on an archaeological dig at 75. I want to be like her."

Don't we all.

 

Age really is just a number, and there's nothing magical about "making it" in your younger years. Let's be sure to celebrate people living their best lives and making dreams come true at any and every age.


This article originally appeared on 01.10.20

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