No one wants to think about getting older. We live in a culture that prizes youth. But since we can’t stop time from marching on, we’d better think about tips for healthy aging so we can maintain vitality as long as possible.

As someone who works as a healthy coach for women 40+ (and is very interested in maintaining my own vitality as long as possible), I’ve compiled my Top 5 Tips for Healthy Aging.

• Bone Health

Exercise for bone health should be at the top of your list for healthy aging. Regular stressing of the bones via weight-bearing exercise is essential for bone health. By stressing the bones, you can increase the number of osteoblasts, a key marker for bone health.

Some of the best, most accessible forms of weight-bearing exercise are walking and bodyweight calisthenics. You don’t even need a gym membership! My Balance Virtual Bootcamp and Balance Virtual Bootcamp: REBOOT are both awesome ways to work in bone health exercises at home with minimal equipment.

Bone health is critical for healthy aging. Without a strong skeleton, you lose loss of motor function and cardio capacity. In simple terms, this means that if your bones aren’t working, it’s harder to move and you can’t breathe as well.

So stop thinking about bone health as an old lady hunched over her cane, and start thinking of it as an important marker of every day quality of life!

• Heart Health

One of the primary concerns of perimenopausal women is weight gain. Specifically, women are concerned about weight gain around the abdomen. They’re right to be concerned—this type of weight gain correlates to decreased heart health.

But here’s the good news: heart health is within your control!

The key markers for heart health are smoking, diet, lack of exercise, and poor sleep. Guess what? You have the potential to make positive changes in all of those areas!

And what about that weight around the middle? That’s spurred on by cortisol production. Cortisol is a stress hormone. That means if you can control the stress in your life, you’re on the right path to eliminating belly fat weight gain and improving your heart health.

• Smart Eating

Knowing what you’re eating and WHY helps to support healthy aging. Rather than thinking about what makes you gain weight, consider what gives you stable energy. Why? Stable energy is your body’s way of telling you your blood sugar is in a healthy range. And when your blood sugar is in a healthy range, inflammation decreases, your body works optimally, and you feel happy.

So what are smart eating tips for healthy aging? Crowd out the not-so-healthy foods with better options. That means rather than saying to yourself “I will never eat sugar again!” (good luck with that!), say: “I’ll only have a sugary treat after I eat at least nine servings of fresh fruit and vegetables each day. Chances are, you’ll be too full to have that sugary treat after you’ve fed your body more nutritionally-dense foods.

Check out my tips for eating more fruits and vegetables and controlling how many calories you eat when at a restaurant. These are both smart food choices that support healthy aging.

Also, there is new research that supports that when you eat is another factor of your healthy lifestyle.

• Sleep

No list of tips for healthy aging is complete without sleep! For many people, sleep is the missing link in their wellness puzzle. If you eat right and get exercise but still don’t have as much energy as you’d like, chances are you aren’t getting enough sleep.

The worst part is that most people who complain of broken or restless sleep are sabotaging themselves. How? By having an evening glass of wine (or two) or a nightly bowl of ice cream, you’re infusing yourself with sugars that set you up for a crash shortly after bedtime.  So to eliminate your middle-of-the-night wake up, skip the evening wine down. Opting for a protein-rich snack before bed instead can help stabilize your blood sugar (and keep you asleep) all night long.

Need help with improving your sleep habits? Check out my favorite bedtime routines for adults to help you get longer, more restorative sleep tonight!

• Have a Mindful Menopause

Recent studies indicate that meditation improves your outlook, offering a new view on your changing life. So even when it feels like so much of your life is out of your control, regular meditation can help you feel more centered. Many people don’t realize that by being better educated about aging, one can decrease the stress associated with natural changes in life.

So if you’re going through perimenopause, you may as well be educated about what is happening! By increasing your understanding, you decrease worry and fear—STRESS—and that has positive mental and physical benefits.

Tips for healthy aging often address only physical function. However, maintaining a healthy brain and flexible memory should be at the top of your list for healthy aging! By consciously recalling those things for which you are grateful, you’re challenging your memory and improving your brain activity responsible for recall.

When you are considering these top 5 tips for healthy aging, recognize that many of these choices are within your control! While it’s easy to feel like genetics determines much of our health outcomes, the reality is very much the opposite.

If you liked these tips, you’ll LOVE Survive & THRIVE Perimenopause, my six-week online course to help you become an informed citizen of your own body and live the life you want!