My friends Linda Middlesworth (left, in her seventies), and Chef AJ (fifties) are proof that Plant-Based Baby Boomers are a thriving breed. With yours truly (sixties) at this year’s Healthy Taste of Sacramento.

I love it when you share your ideas.  You have so many good ones!

Based on number of  reads and your replies in comments, Five Health Tips for Plant-Based Baby Boomers has emerged here as one of the most popular articles of 2014.

I invited you to share your tips to add to the list – and your responses simply demand being drawn to our attention.

Five More Healthy Tips for Plant-Based Baby Boomers

Just  in case you didn’t get to see all the inspiring input from readers, I’ve drawn them from the comments to organize for you here, so you don’t miss a thing.

You can click here to read the first five.  Here are the tips you added- you might just find your name on the tips  list below.

6.  Walk

An extension of tip #1 to Sit Less, taking a daily walk is simply being a good animal.  Sandra says it even better in her addition to the Five Tips list.

Lani,

THANK you so much for sharing about this. Sometimes I think that all the plant-based presence on media (facebook for example) has left those of us beyond our forties and fifties behind. It is actually a giant relief for me to read about your experiences because it makes me feel encouraged and like I have company in the process of, as I have heard you say, ‘moving through time’.

To respond with my own suggestions, I have also found that taking time every day to go on a walk has been huge in my physical and mental well-being. I know this fits in the sit less category, but I just have to jump in and vote for walking!

Great article – Sandra

And Janice says:

Lani – I am thrilled that you posted this – it is very timely for me. With the change in season and temperature- it would be very easy to lounge more. In fact, for one – I have not used my standing desk in a couple of months. I am finding that I get stiff from too much chair time…it will be in use again beginning tomorrow – thanks for the reminder. Also for me, I have changed up my exercise a little so that my body does not get used to the same routine. All of the suggestions above are very useful!  Thanks for this post!

I admit to being addicted to daily walking, here with Greg on a stroll along the Potomac River

7.  Get Enough Sleep

But of course!  How could this not be on the list?  Big thanks to Sharon for bringing it to the surface.

All great tips, Lani! I would add that sleep is crucial to health…eating well, exercising, and stress management are all so important, but so is balance, and sleep helps to repair the brain and helps us maintain our energy throughout the day. 

Sharon

I think the jury’s still out about how much sleep constitutes ‘optimal’.  I seem to do just fine on five to six hours a night, less than I used to.  And I don’t get sleepy or nap during the day.  What’s your average number of sleep hours?

8.  Get Social Support

Sharon continues….

Also, good relationships….making sure that you have a great social support structure built in….it’s so important to find like-minded people because when you are plant-based, a lot of “tricky” social situations can present themselves and it can be a real challenge. If your family is not on board, join or create a plant-based meetup group in your area. We have done this and now have a wonderful new “extended family!”

Thanks for the great tips and all that you do! Sharon

To which Steve adds:

Choose to spend your time with people who support your healthy lifestyle goals; avoid those who seek to undermine them.

9.  A Little Romance

Wendy has taken the ‘sit less’ tip seriously with an action plan, which she describes, and then adds a new tip to the list:  romance!

Thank you for this article. I think to add with No. 5, Stress protection, for me anyway, I would add romance. I have a great partner who adds to my stress less strategies. He is a good sounding board and has come a long ways in joining me in plant based eating!!

Wendy also added some specifics for the ‘sit less’ portion of the program:

I have recently added a 15 minute reminder in my outlook program so I get up from my desk job and at least stretch or walk around a bit. I use the Outlook program that comes with Word office suite. I set a task to stand up in the morning, along with the reminder so that the alarm will pop up. When the alarm goes off, I move around and then set snooze for 15 minutes and press the snooze button. That goes on all day and really gets more steps in and helps minimize any stress I might be experiencing from a work project. 

Wendy

10.  Drink Water

Lani, I didn’t see anything about drinking more water. You know, that I have always struggled with drinking water. I can go an entire day without it. I think sometimes we jump to foods when we are really thirsty. I have heard that as we age we don’t respond as well as we used to to the ” thirst signals” our bodies send us. All of your points are well taken. I am finding yoga helps with strength conditioning and mental calmness.

Sybil

The good news is that when you are eating a lot of high water content foods (as plants are) such as  fruits, vegetables, and starchy vegetables – as well as whole grains cooked with a lot of water –  such as rice and oatmeal – there is a good supply of water contained in those foods, putting you at a distinct advantage when it comes to staying hydrated.

Validation

It can’t go without being noted – several readers commented on how weight seems to be a new kind of challenge as we ‘move through life’.

Lani, as others noted, this is so timely. Thanks for validating the observations and feelings that in the 60s, it is getting harder to “maintain” my body than in the past. I appreciate the strategies you mention.

Karen

Karen, you are not alone. In addition to the comments on the healthy tips for baby boomers article, I received a boatload of emails, many of them quite detailed, about this very thing.  Not just the weight challenge itself, but the desire to have this conversation.   I appreciate you speaking up, it makes each one of us feel more supported and less isolated in our challenges when we simply talk about it.  Thank you!

Anything else to add?  Please do! Here’s your chance to contribute to the list in replies below.