Home Care Walnut Creek enables seniors to live happy, healthy, and independent lives in their own homes.

Seniors might find themselves shying away from Valentine’s Day. For some, it might be because they find the holiday cheesy; and for others, it might simply be because it brings back romantic memories with a spouse who has since passed. But, Valentine’s Day can be fun for people of all ages, so if you are one of these seniors, break out of your shell and surround yourself with loved ones whether it’s about romance or friendly fun.

• Attend a community event – visit a senior’s center or community center hosting Valentine’s Day celebrations. Performances like concerts by choirs, plays and poetry readings can be fun to attend and great for the whole family

• Try doing some crafts – seniors who are already part of craft groups are likely to be beginning themed activities for Valentine’s Day, but do them at home as well. Seniors can also make cards and decorations with their family members

• Do some baking – Valentine’s Day is often associated with treats. Chocolate and goodies are usually a feature of the holiday. For seniors that can eat these items without any health repercussions, they can do some baking with family members. Otherwise healthier recipes can be tried incorporating food coloring of heart shapes to get into the spirit!

Via: Suite101

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

No matter what age you are, exercise can have many benefits. One of the most common reasons seniors begin exercising is to improve heart health. Each year, heart disease affects millions of seniors. By implementing an exercise routine, heart health is improved, lowering the chances of developing heart disease. Below is a list containing some tips for seniors as they begin a new exercise program.

Before starting any exercise program, Home Care Walnut Creek wants to remind all seniors to check with their doctor first to make sure that the exercises they’re doing are safe.

1. Make sure all exercises are paced. You do not want to go too fast or over-do it. Give your muscles time to relax between exercises.

2. Individuals who have heart failure should always exercise in a controlled climate. Do not exercise outside in the extreme heat or cold.

3. During all exercises, make sure to have water nearby. Staying hydrated is one of the most important factors of a healthy exercise regime.

4. If you become fatigued, stop the exercise. Do not exercise if you have not been feeling well or if you experience any shortness of breath.

5. Pain can be an indicator of other health problems. If you experience any pain, stop the exercise, especially if the pain is in the chest.

6. After all exercises, check your pulse 15 minutes after you have stopped. Your pulse rate should be lower than 120.

Source: webmd.com

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

At Home Care Walnut Creek, we see many elderly individuals making resolutions that have to do with their medical well-being, and starting those resolutions early can have some great benefits. Any small change that will improve health should never be put off, even if it is a resolution. There is no reason to wait until the first of the year to begin improving your life. The following list includes a few reasons why starting early can be beneficial.

1. Millions of people make resolutions each year and many of them are seniors. These goals are often centered on changes that will improve daily life, so there is no better time to start than now!

2. Resolutions do not have to be made just for the New Year. You can make a resolution at any point during the year and begin working on it as soon as you can. There is no need to wait until the first day of a new year.

3. When starting early, you will see there are benefits. You will begin improving your life sooner. Self-discipline is one of the most important factors of any resolution success, so start early and make changes for the better.

4. Keep your goal in mind, no matter when you start to work on your resolution. Create a plan that will allow you to stick to your convictions and achieve your goals. Resolutions not only improve life, they also help people grow physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Source: ehow.com

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

At Home Care Walnut Creek we’re seeing more and more seniors making use of internet resources to help them with their goals. Depending on the goal that has been made, some seniors may need extra help and support as they try to reach them. There are many websites that offer help and support. Below are a few sites that are great resources for those who are looking to achieve an important goal.

1. ResolutionsReminders.com – This is a free site that can help you stay on track and attain your resolutions. The site was established in 1997 and has been going strong ever since. It contains valuable resources and users can sign up to receive email reminders.

2. DietTV.com – This site is great for anyone who has set diet goals for the New Year. A personalized program can be created, including a customized diet plan. The site has many areas that will help with all diet and exercise needs, such as an exercise finder and support groups.

3. StopSmoking.net – Many seniors still smoke, and many members of the senior population make resolutions each year to quit smoking. This is one of the hardest goals to achieve, especially for seniors who have been smoking for many years. The site also offers tips on how to quit as well as the option of creating a personalized stop smoking plan.

Source: helium.com

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

At Walnut Creek Home Care, we know that setting and sticking to a goal can be tough, many seniors get stuck and become discouraged, but this is something that can be overcome. This year, make sure that you set goals that will change your life and follow through on them:

1. Don’t procrastinate – get started with them right away. As soon as you set your goals, get going. The longer you procrastinate, the less likely you’ll ever begin on your journey

2. Overcome the hurdles – it’s Murphy’s Law that what can go wrong will go wrong; but just because you encounter hurdles while trying to meet your New Year’s resolutions doesn’t mean that you need to give up. Overcome!

3. Don’t let a plateau discourage you – no matter what your goal is, you’ll see a lot of progress early on and then hit a plateau. This doesn’t mean you’re not meeting success, this a natural occurrence, and you simply need to keep moving forward with your goals

4. Recognize that if you feel discouraged, it’s simply an emotion – at some stage along your journey to reaching a goal, you’ll likely feel discouraged. But that doesn’t have a bearing on your success, especially once you recognize that it’s simply an emotion and you can get through it

Via: Huffington Post

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Each year, seniors choose to make resolutions. While this is a great way to start off the year, it is important to follow through. This may not always be easy. The list of tips that are provided below can help seniors achieve their goals for the New Year. These guidelines will help seniors successfully accomplish what they vowed to resolve in the year ahead.

1. Keep the list of goals as simple as possible. Make sure that each goal can be attained. Goals should provide a sense of satisfaction when they are achieved.

2. Goals should be realistic. Seniors cannot set the same goals as younger people because those same goals are not always realistic.

3. Have a plan. Each goal should have a specific plan to go along with it. This makes achieving goals much easier. It may be helpful to make a list of things that can be done to meet a goal and cross it off when it is attained.

4. Set a timeline. You should have a deadline for yourself. This will help motivate you to meet your goal.

5. Write a list. When making resolutions, be sure to write them down. People who make lists of their goals are much more successful at achieving them.

6. Keep tabs on your progress. You may want to use a journal to take notes. This will help you see what kind of progress has been made already and what is left to do.

Source: associatedcontent.com

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Caring for your seniors should not end with visiting them on the weekends. Families should always be aware of just how healthy that aging Uncle or Grandma may be. Part of a long life for senior citizens comes by staying fit. Families can easily commit themselves to exercise and diet routines with their senior, ensuring that both parties keep up the goal of losing weight.

• Change Old Eating Habits—Two may be better than one in this instance. Try and eat with your senior, switching out high calorie foods for healthier dinner staples such as salads with vegetables and lean proteins.

• Record What You Eat—Sometimes writing it all down will give seniors or their caregivers some perspective on their eating habits. By recording what you eat, a senior can easily reduce calories just by visualizing those foods causing the most damage to a slim trim.

• Exercise Together—While reducing calories can help lose weight, seniors must go one step farther and exercise to see results. Take long walks daily with your senior, working together to reach fitness goals. If a senior goes it alone, they may be less likely to stick to that daily walk.

• Meditate—As strange as it may seem, negative thoughts about your body and weight can ruin any fitness efforts. Find a quiet place in your home for 5 minutes a day, and just focus on breathing. This simple act will help clear the mind from critical thoughts about your body, allowing for a greater appreciation of the physical self.

Source: aarp.org

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

Setting New Year’s resolutions seems like the thing to do to ring in the New Year, but too often they are abandoned because they are too unrealistic, or simply unenjoyable. The secrets to successfully achieving new Year’s resolutions at any stage in life start with the tips outlined below:

1. Focus on fun – particularly when it comes to losing weight or starting an exercise program, the resolution can become a burden rather than something you desire to achieve. Find exercise activities you enjoy, and if your resolutions have nothing to do with weight loss or exercise; ensure you go about attaining your goals in a way that’s focused on fun!

2. Think about your future today – if you have goals for the future, there’s no better time than now to start working towards achieving them. You might have excuses, whether it’s related to your age, your health, the logistics of getting around or something else; but those are aspects unlikely to change so take the bull by the horns and work towards the goals you set

3. Talk to others – if you tell others about your goals, you’ll be more likely to stick to them. It almost creates a challenge, since you’ll be encouraged to tell your friends and family that you’re successful rather than failing at your New Year’s resolutions. This also gives you a support network for encouragement

Via: AARP

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

After the loss of a spouse, friend or family member, seniors in particular may have a problem bouncing back to enjoy the holiday season, even many years later, because holidays might not be as they remember. This year, help someone in your life have positive holiday experiences again with these tips:

1. Allow memories and past rituals to live on – don’t discourage seniors from reliving those important memories of holidays past, thinking that it will prevent depression. Share memories of family members no longer with you, look at photos, and keep old family traditions alive

2. Make sure visiting seniors are comfortable – to help reduce the stress of seniors coming into your home over the holidays, make sure that your home is senior-friendly, with safety being the primary concern

3. Avoid impulsive holiday activities – to ensure that seniors can be involved with all holiday activities, avoid being impulsive that way seniors can be well-rested for more excitement

4. Focus on the joy – while it’s okay to reminisces, over the holidays make sure that all memories discussed focus on the positive

5. Create new traditions – while you can focus on incorporating old rituals into the holidays, create new ones as well that give the whole family, including seniors, new things to look forward to doing together. Holiday activities can’t just focus on the past

Via: ArticleBase

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.

If you are a senior, or are a caregiver, you will understand how important it is to remain active. Seniors often live on a fixed income which limits them when planning trips. There is some great news! The list below will offer a few suggestions for day trips that do not cost a thing! These types of trips are a great way to get seniors out of the house, while providing some exercise and socialization.

1. When was the last time you visited the State Capitol? Probably many years ago, if ever. The State Capitol is open to the public and offers guided tours. This is a wonderful way to learn new things about the state you live in as well as a great way to spend the day without having to worry about what it will cost.

2. When going on a day trip to the State Capitol, or anywhere else, pack your own lunch. The buildings are usually situated on landscaped grounds that make for the perfect picnic location.

3. Do not forget to inquire about other public buildings. These buildings are paid for by your tax dollars, so feel free to enjoy them. The same goes for state parks and forests.

4. If you are still searching for a unique day trip, try a guided tour of the Governor’s Mansion!

Via: ehow.com

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Home Care Walnut Creek, CA delivering home care and elderly services to seniors in the Contra Costa area including Concord. Call us 925-280-9688.