San Jose Home Care wants all seniors to know that they should always talk to their doctor before starting a new exercise or diet program.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, candy hearts and heart shaped cards flood supermarkets and drugstores. This time of year is the perfect reminder for seniors to keep those hearts healthy. Part of maintaining healthy hearts comes with eating. A heart healthy diet follows several specific eating habits.

• Saturated Fats—To follow the Heart Healthy Diet, only 8% to 10% of a senior’s total daily calories should come from saturated fats. This percentage is based upon the percentage of calories you actually eat. In other words, the amount will vary depending on how many calories you consume.

• Fats—A senior’s total daily calories from fat should be 30% or less. Once again, this percentage is based on the percentage of calories you eat.

• Dietary Cholesterol—Seniors should keep their daily dietary cholesterol intake under 300 milligrams if they want to stick with the heart healthy diet.

• Sodium—Sodium consumption should be limited to 2400 milligrams a day.

• Eating Habits —Seniors should not deprive themselves of calories or over eat. It is important to always eat enough calories towards maintaining or achieving a healthy weight. Also, a healthy calorie intake should help reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Source: nhlbisupport.com

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

There may be nothing sweeter than finally accomplishing those New Year’s resolutions. However, here at Home Care San Jose we know that that sweet success can especially be a struggle to maintain for seniors. There are several ways to ensure resolutions stay with seniors once January passes.

• Keep Your Resolutions To A Minimum—If you have a laundry list of resolutions staring you in the face, discouragement will eventually follow when all goals are not met. Try to only make one or two resolutions for the New Year.

• Goals Should be Realistic - Weight loss or spending resolutions with large goals tend to fly out the window past January. Start small with any resolution. Losing a small amount of weight a week in comparison to setting a 20-pound goal for the month will be much easier to keep going.

• Be patient and don’t get discouraged—The saying “old habits die hard” could not be truer when it comes to New Years resolutions. Correcting old habits will take a while to change. Setbacks may present themselves, so do not get discouraged and punish yourself for falling back on an old habit.

• Give Yourself a Pat on the Back—When you accomplish a goal, reward yourself. Being proud of your accomplishments will give that additional incentive to keep up your resolutions just for how good it makes you feel.

Source:  ehow.com

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

No matter what you’ve been through over the past year, or even the past decade, as a senior couple you need to make an effort to ensure that your mutual goals are at the forefront. Home Care San Jose would like to suggest a great way to do this, work together as a couple to set and achieve your goals this year.

1. Improve your health together – you’ll be better motivated if the person that you live with and spend most of your time with has the same goals. When you go out to eat, make healthier choices together and find exercise activities you enjoy doing together

2. Eat at home – it’s easier to make healthy choices when you eat at home. Vow to dine in more often, and try to incorporate unique recipes you enjoy eating out into a healthy home diet

3. Get out and explore – many seniors have lived in their city for decades and have come to take it for granted. Each week, get out there with your spouse and explore a museum and a local park. You’ll appreciate the local culture and get moving at the same time

4. Eliminate bad habits – spouses may not have the same bad habit, though they can encourage one another to eliminate theirs. Quit smoking while your loved one cuts back on drinking

Via: Suite101

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

As a San Jose caregiver, you play such an essential role in the life of your loved one. You know that many of their daily activities rely upon you, but what you might not realize is that emotionally, you make a big difference too. In your role, you can be the best positive influence in helping a senior find success in reaching their goals.

1. Help form a support team – you don’t have to do it alone! Help your loved one form a support network that will help them reach their goals. If it’s to eat better, consider hiring a nutritionist and encourage friends and family to adopt healthier eating habits around them too. If it’s exercise, attend classes with your senior and ask others to do the same.

2. Remind him/her it’s not always going to be easy – especially for seniors who often face so many challenges later in life, it’s easy to give up on something that’s not coming easy. Often, resolutions that will drastically change their life aren’t going to be easy. Certain goals can be physically and emotionally challenging, so give them a friendly push when needed

3. A slip up doesn’t mean give up – as part of overcoming the challenges that can come with new goals, seniors need to keep on going even if they slip up along the way. In that situation, encourage them to learn from what they were doing wrong, then put it behind them and move forward. Ask them if there’s anything you can do to give them a hand with starting new!

Via: Associated Content

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

Elderly individuals do not differ from others when they make a New Year’s resolution. Along with millions of other people, they resolve to lose some weight in the upcoming year. While this is not always the easiest resolution to conquer, it is possible. The list of tips provided below will help seniors lose some weight and achieve their goals.

1. Try to be more conscious of what you eat. While sweets are hard to resist, try eating a piece of fruit instead of candy. It will satisfy your craving for sugar and is much healthier.

2. Buy a scale for the bathroom. This will help monitor your weight. You can even use a journal to keep track of any changes. A good scale will help you through your weight-loss journey.

3. Increase physical activity. Seniors do not need to join a gym. A simple short walk each day will help burn extra calories. In addition, that walk can help keep your heart healthy.  Exercise also increases your mood, so not only will it have physical benefits, but your mental health will improve as well.

4. Discuss weight loss plans with a doctor. You want to make sure your diet is providing you with the intake you need to stay healthy yet at the same time will help you lose weight.

Source: aarp.org

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

As you age, your brain function can change. Try to take control over this in 2010 with 25 simple changes you can make in your life:

1. Choose fruit – instead of chocolate bars, try blueberries and almonds

2. Dance – ballroom dancing can help prevent Alzheimer’s

3. Choose healthy crunch – in salads, instead of croutons try walnuts for texture

4. Walk daily – reduce blood sugar with a 20 minute walk daily

5. Try Chinese vitamins – use Chinese moss

6. Become a tour guide – at a hospital, museum or historical place guide tours to help you remember facts

7. Use video games – use brain teaser games and practice hand-eye coordination

8. Try new things – don’t stick to the same old logic puzzles you’re used to

9. Deal with stress – seeking support helps reduce the effects of shrinking to your brain’s memory center

10. Look around – take in your surroundings closely

11. Notice details – really look so you could recount your surroundings

12. Try special tea – gotu koala tea protects brain cells

13. Use other herbal teas – teas with ginseng and holy basic can protect from cortisol

14. Choose a calming word – focus on a word that calms you as a form of meditation

15. Stay focused on time – keep calendars in every room

16. Take a course – take a class at a college

17. Wear a helmet – if you ride your bike, protect your head

18. Drink red wine – drink 2 or 3 glasses of red wine per week

19. Have thyroid testing – thyroid problems can hamper the brain, receive testing and get it under control

20. Choose lean foods – skip the burger and fries

21. Choose healthy sweets – fruits can satisfy a sweet tooth like candy

22. Try oats and cinnamon for breakfast – oats prevent plaque in brain arteries and cinnamon improves blood sugar

23. Listen to music – turn off the TV, turn on the music

24. Try Indian food – ingredients in curry have great antioxidants for brain health

25. Eat regularly – break for food throughout the day

Via: AARP

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

It’s a controversial topic, whether or not older adults should be allowed to get behind the wheel of the car. Many families fear for the safety of their elderly relatives when they drive, but according to new research, today’s seniors are safer than they’ve ever been and spend more time behind the wheel.

• As baby boomers age, there are more older drivers on the road

• Older drivers today seem to keep their licenses longer and are more comfortable traveling longer distances

• The number of fatal crashes involving older adults have declined, which has been a focus since seniors with health conditions, and that are physically more fragile can mean an accident has much more severe effects

• Older adults rarely pose a risk to other drivers on the road; when crashes do occur, often the only risk they pose is to themselves

• Today’s older adults are better recognizing their impairments, such as limited mobility and how that might impact their ability to drive. They adjust their driving habits accordingly

Via: ScienceDaily

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

Older adults often worry about injuring themselves by engaging in a more vigorous exercise routine, but according to a recent study, if they’re smart about it, then there can be extensive benefits, particularly with regards to bone health and density. To take advantage seniors, make sure that you put safety first by following these steps:

1. Start slow – particularly for those seniors who don’t exercise regularly, it’s important to build up strength, balance and endurance. Jumping right into high-impact activity could cause too much strain. Starting with light weights, aerobics and other activities will help to prepare seniors

2. Talk to your doctor – before beginning any exercise program as a senior, it’s essential you get clearance from your doctor. The study shows that your bone health could benefit, but of course, specifics depend upon your background and health. Seniors don’t want to do harm while trying to find benefit

3. Find exercises that work for you – high-impact exercises include anything that get your feet off the ground. Running, jumping rope, jumping jacks, and step aerobics can all have their benefits

4. Listen to your body – with any activity, particularly as you age, listen to what your body is telling you. Stop if it hurts or seems to cause strain; push yourself, but not too hard

Via: Xomba

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.

According to a study, a large percentage of older adults suffer from some sort of chronic pain. Often it goes under treated because seniors fail to recognize that it’s not just a normal part of aging. Allowing chronic pain to affect their activities can have a much greater impact on seniors, since it increases their risk of falling by as much as 50%. Here are some strategies that seniors and their caregivers can use to cope with the pain they experience, and ensure that they get appropriate attention from a medical professional.

1. Keep a pain journal – using a calendar or day planner to rate the level of pain felt each day creates a document of the consistency and frequency of the pain and can help identify other factors that might contribute to it. Seniors can rate their pain on a scale from 1 to 10 in their journal

2. Be persistent – doctors don’t always take a senior’s complaint of pain seriously. Some may feel that the older adult is simply complaining, others may not think it’s as serious because some seniors downplay their experiences. Seniors suffering from chronic pain need to be honest, and persistent to make their doctor understand

3. Understand triggers – if specific activities make the pain worse or physical temperatures outdoors, seniors should record this and adjust their activities to reduce the instances

4. Get on with life – chronic pain can cause seniors to withdraw and avoid all activity. They should continue with activities that they enjoy and maintain a physical routine

Via: Chronic Pain Support

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Home Instead Senior Care serving elders and seniors in San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Saratoga home care - 408-370-6360.