The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing is a global collaboration that brings together international agencies, governments, civil society, private sector, academia, professionals and the media to improve the lives of older people (over 60) for a life of meaning and dignity.
The decade will address four areas for action:
- Age friendly environments – better places in which to live, grow, work and play.
- Combating ageism towards people, which can negatively affect the well-being of older people.
- Integrated care – access to non-discriminatory essential health care.
- Long-term care – access to environments that can improve the situation.
I have decided to adopt my own decade of healthy ageing…
My H.I.F.E decade of healthy ageing
In 2014 I started on a 10-year life plan to lose weight and improve my finances. I am down from 312 lbs (22 stones 4lbs) to 200 lbs (14 stones 2lbs) – and looking to continue to go down. My finances have improved to the point where I now have no debt and I am investing in cryptocurrency plus saving.
My original 10-year plan included me living simply and getting rid of a lot of my possessions (I moved from a 3 bedroom house to a studio apartment then into a campervan) and this helped me improve my finances. The focus was very much on weight loss and financial improvement.
Now I am shifting my focus. I am ending that plan early and realigning with The United Nations 2021-2031 decade.
My aim is to use the next decade 2021-2030 to improve my physical and mental health by focusing on:
Health
Continuing to improve my eating habits using a Flexitarian diet, which includes more plant-based foods, juicing, soups and a continued reduction of animal products.
FLEXITARIAN : A person who has a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat or fish.
English Oxford Living Dictionaries
Continuing with skills I have used for years to support my mental health including journaling and guided mindfulness.
Income
Bringing in a consistent and regular income via investments and any (temp, bank, remote, flexible) work I choose to do. Continue my plan to be part of the passion economy and run my own business.
Fitness
Finding a way to gain the permanent habit of movement/exercise, which has eluded me so far! This start and stop attitude towards my fitness must change. Swimming and walking are the two exercises I love the most but weight lifting is something that has shown amazing results for women over 40 and I want to embrace and learn to love the art of weight lifting.
Environment
I want to spend more of the cold months in warmer climates. Right now I am investigating North Cyprus and Ghana. During Spring and Summer I want to travel around the UK in my camper and spend more time outside in natural surroundings and (fingers crossed) at outside events/festivals. I am still focused on finding a permanent base to live and buying a small property (potentially abroad).
So, that’s my decade of healthy ageing, which I hope will see me continue to improve my health and well-being as I age because by the time the decade is over I will have officially been welcomed into the bracket of “older person” 🙂
Zestizm 