We Are What We Eat

Good nutrition starts with YOU and your food choices 

Making the right choices can be a challenge especially around any holiday. Some tips to help you succeed in making healthy choices for all your “get togethers” as well as every day include:

• Drink Water! Water will help you stay hydrated while making you feel more full. This may in turn decrease how many calories you consume. Water provides a healthier choice to empty liquid calories such as those found in sodas.
• Keep Moving! Take a walk, stand and interact, or even pump your ankles or march in place if you are sitting. This may seem silly but these little habits can increase the calories you burn and promote overall fitness.
• Prepare and Plan Your Meals to Limit Empty Calories. Include healthy choices such as vegetable trays or dishes made with lean protein such as fish. Include healthy snack options like yogurt and fruit to help avoid higher calorie snacks. Don’t skip meals! This can lead you to feel hungrier than normal and in turn increase the tendency to make poor choices.
• Leave Leftovers! It is okay to stop eating when you are no longer hungry—even if there is food left on the plate!
• Adopt Substitutions. Fat free or low fat options such as low fat milk, using egg whites instead of yolks, and substituting greek yogurt for sour cream are just some of the substitutions that can help you create a more nutritious meal.

At meal time, stick with non-processed foods when possible such as lean meats and vegetables. Avoid the “empty calories” by opting for water or unsweet tea instead of soda for example. And eat frequent small meals or choose a healthy snack between meals such as an apple so that you don’t arrive at mealtime overly hungry. Poor nutrition can impair our daily health and well-being and reduce our ability to lead an enjoyable and active life. This is especially true around the holidays with so many poor food choices available but with proper preparation and a healthy mindset, you can navigate these temptations with ease. At St. Mark Village our reputation is well founded. For over thirty years, St. Mark Village has provided an exciting blend of senior living options to meet the needs of Suncoast residents in all stages of life. Give us a call for more information 727-785-2580

How's Your Vision?

Did you know 

6.5 million Americans have severe visual impairments? In fact, the number of Americans impacted by vision loss is on the rise and is expected to double by 2030. Low vision describes disease related visual impairments that cannot be fully treated or corrected with glasses, contact lenses, medications and/or surgical operations. Low vision is measured via visual acuity ranging between 20/70 and 20/200 with corrective lenses and tends to decline as we age. Normal visual acuity measures 20/20, which means one is able to see clearly 20 feet away from an object; 20/100 would represent an individual who can see 20 feet of what someone at 100 feet with normal vision could see.
Low vision symptoms develop as a result from the four most common eye diseases affecting different areas of the eye within older Americans including cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.
Symptoms and causes of these age-related eye diseases include:
• Cloudy vision as a result from cataracts
• Blurred or partially obscured central vision from macular degeneration
• Blind spots or visual distortions from diabetic retinopathy
• Poor peripheral vision from glaucoma
• Genetics
• Demographics
• Lifestyle modifications
While we cannot change our genetic or demographic characteristics, the risk of developing eye diseases and visual impairments can be prevented through our modifiable risk factors and lifestyle modifications, such as eating a healthy diet, avoiding the use of tobacco products, maintaining a healthy weight, wearing protection to reduce injury and from UV light.
Early detection is imperative to reducing your risk of visual impairments; your risk can be reduced through checkups with your eye doctor. The American Optometric Association recommends Americans over the age of 60 to get their vision checked annually or as symptoms are noticed.
Don’t wait too late! With low vision, the ability to carry out safely become four times more difficult than someone who does not experience visual impairments or low vision. Vision loss can increase our risk of falls and our risk of depression while decreasing our ability to properly identify medications and to carry out activities of daily living, including bathing, feeding and dressing.
While the complications associated to low vision can be frustrating and the individual may feel less independent, there are techniques and treatment to help cope with visual impairments, such as:
• Lighting modifications
• Magnification of objects for reading and writing
• Audio enhancements for caller ID, watches, books
• Utilization of color contrasts for objects used for dressing, feeding and bathing
If you feel a change or symptoms related to your visual acuity or it’s time for your annual checkup, ask your doctor if they feel therapy could further assist you or if visual aids are required! It’s important to be pro-active in your overall approach to living a healthy, independent lifestyle. Read More information on our blog for healthy senior living at St. Mark Village in Palm Harbor, FL.

Aquatic Fitness for Seniors

Get Aqua Fit!

Did YOU know that at least two and a half hours per week or thirty minutes a day can decrease YOUR risk of chronic illnesses? Whether on land or in the water, exercise leads to many benefits overall; however, as we age our risk of injury increases as well as the amount of injuries we have suffered. It also takes more time to overcome the injuries. Studies have shown that individuals favor exercising in the water.

Individuals can exercise longer in the water without increased effort or pain on the body. Water plays an important and beneficial role in the effect of exercising. According to the CDC, some of the benefits specific to aquatic exercise includes:

• Improvements of mental health. Swimming has been proven to improve ones mood and self-efficacy to complete tasks that the they may not be able to complete on land. For example for those who suffer with fibromyalgia, exercise in the water can decrease anxiety and depression.
• Variation of resistance. The resistance in the water can range from 4 to 42 times greater than on land against the air; the amount of resistance is dependent of the speed at which the exercise is completed.
• Improvements and off-sets of chronic illnesses. For people with arthritis, aquatic exercises can improve the use of affected joints without worsening symptoms and decrease pain from osteoarthritis.
• Effect of buoyancy. The buoyancy of the water eliminates the effect of gravity applied to the body—supporting 90% of the body’s weight for reduced impact and greater flexibility.

An aquatic workout is also great for your internal organs and lymphatic system. These extra benefits help explain why participants feel so good after a class while the body is refreshed rather than exhausted.

St. Mark Village of Palm Harbor offers its residents Cardio Waves classes taking place a couple days a week onsite in our pool. Find Out Why It’s So Great at St. Mark Village!

Endurance and Senior Fitness

Endurance & the ability to “Hang in There”

Do you ever feel out of breath completing simple, routine tasks, such as getting up to turn off a light, going to the rest room, or even keeping up with a conversation? Do you ever experience confusion while performing physical activities? Is taking a few steps while maintaining proper breathing and heart rate a challenge? If so, it’s time to take charge of your endurance!

Endurance exercises are exercises that challenge your heart rate and breathing rate. Taking part in endurance exercise has several potential benefits such as keeping your heart, lungs and circulatory system healthy. These exercises can improve your overall fitness and over time may help you complete everyday tasks more easily.

Endurance exercises can be functional activities such as sweeping or dancing. They can also be more “traditional” forms of exercise like walking, jogging, or doing light exercises for an extended amount of time. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of physical activity to decrease the risk of several diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and strokes.

When building endurance, remember to progress at a rate appropriate for you. Make sure you don’t overdo it. Take YOUR time progressing at YOUR rate. Start with ten minutes of walking, or whichever activity you enjoy, and add on a minute or two every week depending on what’s best for you.

Another form of endurance exercise is known as “interval style”. For example, you may complete bicep curls without weights for a certain length of time at a suitable speed for your fitness level. The exercise may seem easy for a few seconds, but over time your body works hard to keep your blood pumping and breathing rate elevated thereby benefiting your cardiovascular system.

A consistent regimen of endurance exercises can pay dividends in the long run. By committing to incorporating these activities into your routine you may notice that what used to be an exhausting task has turned into a simple activity to complete. Challenge yourself but remember to take it easy at first.

Living a healthy lifestyle takes time to embrace and to maintain! Call or Visit St. Mark Village in Palm Harbor for a tour and more information regarding our Independent Living or Assisted Living facilities. (727) 785-2580 | St. Mark Village | 2655 Nebraska Ave | Palm Harbor, FL 34684

Healthy Snacking Choices

Snack on THIS, NOT on That!

Making healthy choices can be a challenge at times. Our taste buds become attracted to certain foods, which may not be the healthiest even though they are delicious. Throughout the day in between each of our meals, we get the urge to snack. Snacking on healthy foods throughout the day can provide a lot of benefits to our everyday lives. Some of the numerous benefits include decreasing the odds of over-eating, providing a mid-day boost of energy inaddition to providing additional nutrients that may not have been obtained at the meal table. Although snacking has multiple benefits, it is important to make smart decisions and keep the recommendations below in mind:

• Plan Ahead! When you go to the supermarket, make sure you place snack items on your list. By planning ahead, you are able to save money as well as have more of a variety to pick from. When running errands, you may get hungry and want a snack. Going to the vending machine can become costly not only to your bank account, but also your health. Vending machines typically contain Grab & Go items, such as sodas and chips, which may not be the healthiest of choices. When navigating the aisles at the supermarket and in search for healthy choices, be on the look out for fresh produce, low-fat dairy yogurts, and whole grains.
• Portion Control! When snacking make sure you are not over eating and eating so much that you spoil your meals. Snacks are meant to be a quick start, energy boost from meal to meal. Try to portion your snacks and limit them to one-serving. A good example of controlling your portions would be to take Ziploc bags and separate them or to buy snack items that have been divided into single servings.
• Snack With a Purpose! Snacks are not intended to be eaten when you are stressed or bored watching TV. Snacks are to be consumed when you are hungry. When times get tough, comfort foods may seem like an attractive option, but please refrain! We encourage you to snack when you are hungry. Take control of your snacking and take a bite into a healthy lifestyle. Making the right choices in regards to your meals and snacks can go a long way!

—Meghan Wilhelmsen, BS, Wellness Coordinator (From Our Lively Mark)