Sod 60! The Guide to Living Well

Sod 60! The Guide to Living Well

Sod 60! The Guide to Living Well

Author: Claire Parker (Clare 1972) and Muir Gray

Publisher: Bloomsbury

SOD 60 is about health, wellbeing and resilience in our 60s and beyond. Getting fitter and staying fitter is the key. But we need to overturn false assumptions about ageing- so it’s a book about activity AND attitude- how to get more physically and mentally active but also how to create a positive, socially engaged ‘can do’ attitude. And it’s about learning to be still and attentive too, when that is necessary.

SOD 60 explains an important concept- the ‘Fitness Gap’, first described by Muir Gray. This is the gap between our current and potential fitness, whatever our age. Keeping more active and adopting a healthy lifestyle reduces this gap: and improves our wellbeing now, reduces the risk of many preventable diseases and helps us manage those we may already have.

But SOD 60 isn’t just a rosy gloss. It acknowledges ageing, and that unwanted and unexpected things happen. We can’t stop or reverse ageing, and we can’t predict or control all life events. But the thrust of SOD 60 is that we can prevent, slow down and sometimes reverse age-related changes due to poor lifestyle, and build resilience to cope with life events. So it’s about taking care of our body, mind and mood: what to expect with ageing and how we can counteract or compensate for the changes. It gives red flags for problems to watch out for, and resolutions for key aspects of care.

We explore common scenarios where life is tough- when our resources get over-stretched or our lives overturned by bereavement, divorce, or caring for others. And we look at how to navigate decisions about our health, and weigh up benefits and harms of treatments and tests, to get care that is appropriate for us as individuals. Finally, we look at ‘advance plans’ we might consider putting in place for situations when it may be impossible to make decisions at the time.

So SOD 60! is about getting and staying fitter as we age, increasing our health-span (the number of healthy years ahead), independence and resilience- whether or not we have a condition or disability. It is a friendly, hands on book that doesn’t dictate but encourages and empowers: every little bit of help in the right direction counts!

Publication date: 
Thursday 14 January 2016
ISBN: 
9781472925985

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