CONSEQUENCES OF LOCKDOWNS ON AGING BABY BOOMERS' PHYSICAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

CONSEQUENCES OF LOCKDOWNS ON AGING BABY BOOMERS' PHYSICAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

After a year focused primarily on Covid, aging Baby Boomers are starting to assess our current physical wellness status.

Were you one of the many boomers who avoided (neglected) all non-Covid-related medical and health needs?

For example:

Did you cancel regularly scheduled doctor and dental appointments?

Did you suspend in-process treatments for medical conditions?

Did you delay diagnostic screenings and tests?

A lot of boomers also discontinued our usual physical activity.

A year later, comparing pre-pandemic levels with current ones, quite a few of us notice decreased agility, muscle tone, strength, flexibility, et al. Groan!

Another unwelcome result: Over-indulging in delicious comfort food combined with lack of physical activity equals ... you guessed it ... weight gain. Sigh!

On a shallow note: We may as well blame Covid and lockdown-related stress for sags that have gotten saggier, bags that have gotten baggier, wrinkles that have gotten wrinklier, and on and on. Sob!

COMMENTARY

As lockdowns ease, vaccines continue to be administered, and effective therapeutics become more widely available, life will hopefully return to normal.

By the way, who gets to define normal?

We do!

Baby Boomers get to define (and redefine, whenever we choose) what is normal - for us.

Regaining optimal health and wellbeing is an essential step in the journey to our version of normal life.

NOTE: 'Optimal' is based on your customary wellness status.

That means resuming treatments for ongoing medical conditions, scheduling diagnostic screenings for suspected ailments, and attending to general health care issues - when you are ready, but as soon as possible.

Optimistically, in the foreseeable future boomers will feel safe participating in in-door group activities. When that time arrives, consider joining a gym. Or enroll in classes. Try yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, or ... 

Until then, use the warm weather as motivation to go outside and enjoy the sunshine (protected by sunscreen). Start with short walks and build up from there.

Just get active!