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.

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.

Most people look forward to the holidays, but for seniors, especially those who have experienced loss, can find themselves dreading the joy and celebration of the season. Help return the positive to the holidays for the seniors in your life with these 5 tips:

1. Allow memories and past rituals to live on – don’t discourage seniors from reliving those important memories of holidays past, thinking that it will prevent depression. Share memories of family members no longer with you, look at photos, and keep old family traditions alive

2. Make sure visiting seniors are comfortable – to help reduce the stress of seniors coming into your home over the holidays, make sure that your home is senior-friendly, with safety being the primary concern

3. Avoid impulsive holiday activities – to ensure that seniors can be involved with all holiday activities, avoid being impulsive that way seniors can be well-rested for more excitement

4. Focus on the joy – while it’s okay to reminisces, over the holidays make sure that all memories discussed focus on the positive

5. Create new traditions – while you can focus on incorporating old rituals into the holidays, create new ones as well that give the whole family, including seniors, new things to look forward to doing together. Holiday activities can’t just focus on the past

Via: ArticleBase

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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.

Getting out of the house and socializing is very important for all seniors. Unfortunately, because they live on a fixed income, this may be difficult for many people. The following list included some great ways to spend the day with friends and loved ones, and the best thing about it is that it costs nothing! Free day trips to local areas will provide seniors with a break from their routine and allow them to socialize and learn
new things.

1. A trip to your State Capitol can be a learning experience. This building is full of information that many people are unaware of. There is no admission cost and there are guided tours available.

2. When planning any day trip, bring along a lunch. There are beautiful parks and landscaped areas surrounding the State Capitol. These areas are perfect for a picnic with a group of friends or your family.

3. Get information about other buildings in the state that have tours. These buildings are open to the public and do not cost anything. This is a great way to learn new things about your state and local areas. The Archives building is a great place to start.

4. In addition to the State Capitol, guests are welcome at the Governor’s Mansion. Guided tours are offered.

Via: 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.

Educational vacations are perfect for elderly travelers. This type of vacation will allow the individual to experience new things and learn about new places and cultures. Many times, a vacation does not allow for the time needed to see and learn everything in a new location. By planning an educational vacation for a senior, they will have a planned schedule which will allow them to learn and experience a new side of life. The following tips are provided to help when planning a senior vacation with an educational aspect.

1. Use a travel agent that you trust. These agents will often have information that you would not get if you booked the vacation online. The travel agent will also be able to get the best deal and available senior discount.

2. Set some limits. Traveling somewhere new is exciting, but it is difficult to take it all in within the amount of time you are allowed. Try to narrow the scope of interest to include points of interest, historical sites or museums.

3. When on the vacation, make use of hired guides. These guides have great knowledge of the area in which you are visiting. They will be able to inform you of local history as well as other valuable information.

4. Take physical limits into consideration. If you are a senior, you know what your body can handle. If you are a caregiver who is planning the trip for another, make sure you are aware of what that person can handle physically.

Source: www.ehow.com

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

You might think that once you move into an apartment or nursing home in later life that your gardening days are over. But no matter where you are, you can still receive the benefits that gardening brings to enhance and inspire you in your senior years. Container gardening is a great way to make sure that you still get the benefits of gardening, and here are some tips on how you can get started.

1. Get the right sized container – purchase containers or consider saving things from your recycling. All you need to do is punch a few holes in the bottom of the container to make it suitable for planting. Most vegetables require larger containers, although you might be able to use a recycled container the size of a large yogurt container for herbs, leaf lettuce, spinach and radishes

2. Use a good quality soil – purchase a high-quality potting soil or top soil in order to keep your container garden free of weeds.

3. Following planting instructions – if you’re planting vegetable plants or others which are already grown, place a little bit of soil at the bottom of the pot, remove the plant from its existing container and fill in any remaining space with the potting soil. When planting seeds, fill the pot completely with soil and follow directions for spacing

4. Care for as directed – put your pots in an area that will be the right temperature and have exposure to sunlight as directed. Water according to instructions.

Via: AFB Senior Site

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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.