How does it work in practice?

This Week we’ve discussed the importance of staying active, maintaining muscle mass, eating well and increasing the protein in your diet. But there are many reasons this might be difficult in practice, not least of which is the challenge of changing habits. As Miriam said at the beginning of the Week, ‘small changes day-to-day can have a big impact on how we age’ and we believe that minor adjustments to your daily meals and routines will make all the difference.

We arranged for the older adults and carers you met in Step 1.3 to take part in two workshops to demonstrate exercises they could do at home and a few ways they might incorporate extra protein into breakfast. Watch the film to hear what they learnt. They’re realistic about the difficulties people face as they age – it’s harder to motivate yourself to cook when your sense of smell and taste diminishes, or your energy levels decline. But they have taken away some tips and suggestions they think can work in their own situations.

Next Week you’ll watch the films we made of those workshops and discover a whole host of recipes and exercises that will help you put into practice what you’ve learnt so far.

Task

Congratulations on reaching the end of Week 1! Before going on to Week 2 where you’ll discover practical ways you can help those you care for to eat better and exercise more, take a few minutes to review your Action plan.

Write down two actions you intend to take that will help the adult(s) you care for age well, one relating to nutrition and the other to exercise. Goals are most effective if they’re SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

How will you measure the effectiveness of your actions? When do you want to acheive them by? Make a note in your diary of a date 3 months from now when you can carry out a review with the person you care for, to see how effective they’ve been.