50+ Lifestyles

Fall and Winter – A Great Time to Think About Safety

By Mary Huebbe
Marketing Consultant
Ridgecrest Village

The change is coming. The leaves are turning different colors, and will eventually fall off. The air is getting cooler, changing to down right cold. Eventually there will be the white stuff (I just can’t say that four letter word yet) all over the ground, and icy conditions everywhere you go. Although it is beautiful to look at, it certainly isn’t beautiful to be out in or to be caught unprepared in.

Safety is extremely important during this time of year. The older we get, the more dangerous it becomes for our elder people to fall. Our bones don’t heal as fast and our body starts to decline in other areas because we aren’t as active. Here are a few tips to help people stay safe during this time.

Exercise regularly working on increasing leg strength and improving your balance. Make sure you don’t get stuck in the same old routine; you need to keep building your strength so the exercises need to gradually increase and become more challenging. Walking is one of the best things you can do because it helps you build the strength you need in your lower body extremities. It only takes 30 minutes a day to maintain your health. I’m sure you’re worth it!

Getting plenty of Vitamin D and calcium to prevent bone fractures is important. This way if you do fall, you have maintained your bone health, you’re not as apt to break something on the fall. Healing from a fall is slower as we age, and sometimes a fall can be fatal. So make sure to eat plenty of fish and drink plenty of milk to build your Vitamin D, as well as to eat dark leafy greens like spinach and kale and eating yogurts to help with your calcium.

Make sure when you’re going for walks or exercising away from home that you carry something with your identity, emergency contact name and phone number, and tell someone the route you planned and stick to that plan. It would be even safer if you had a friend or partner to go with you; that way if you were to fall or get sick, someone is there to get you the help you need. Lucille who lives here at Ridgecrest Village says, “Doing it with someone is a lot more fun and gives me incentive to stay motivated to get the exercise done. It’s one hour that I am able to do something for myself, I do it early in the morning, so it doesn’t interfere with the rest of my day. It is one of the most beautiful times of the day for me. It’s a special feeling you will have and being able to share that with someone, makes it even better.”

Ridgecrest also offers several exercise programs for our seniors. We have physical fitness in the morning, sit and be fit later in the morning three days a week, and yoga classes. We also have a full exercise room that was redone a couple years ago to make sure it was exactly what is needed for seniors and their safety. Our complex boasts 22 acres of grounds for you to enjoy a safe and secure area to walk, jog, ride your bike, or run around. You can be as active as you like.

If you would like to see this for yourself, please give Bob, Mary or Diana a call and set up a free lunch tour. We would love to have you see and feel for yourself the friendly community we have here at Ridgecrest Village.