It’s never too late to try something new

From NEWS CANADA, with inputs from IRCC

Getting older is a bonus for a life  well-lived. Being active socially, mentally and physically in your golden years is the return on ongoing investments you make all life long. It benefits you, your family and your community. 

Here are a few tips for maintaining a healthy and energetic lifestyle in your later years:

Extend your social network. Form a brunch club that meets one Sunday a month to try a new restaurant. Or a book and movie club that meets for new movies once a month in the fall and a new book once a month in the spring. 

Practise saying yes. Try this even if you’re not sure you’ll like what’s being offered. Saying yes introduces you to new experiences and challenges, and keeps your curiosity flowing. 

Take up new activities. Always wanted to try cross-country skiing or tai chi? Now is the time. Maybe yoga appeals to you, or you’ve always wanted to learn Spanish. It’s never too late to try something new. These kinds of activities keep the mind and body humming, as well as introduce you to people with similar interests.

Make a difference. Consider becoming a refugee sponsor along with friends, neighbours and those in your community. A committed team of five people is all it takes to provide emotional, practical and financial support for the refugee family during their first year in Canada. A larger group can help raise funds to support the family’s first year of settlement and provide ongoing friendship. Along the way, you’ll make friends for life and learn about a new culture and part of the world. 

The Refugee Sponsorship Training Program can match your group with a refugee or refugee family overseas. Also, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has a program that matches UN-referred refugees with private sponsors in Canada and helps share the costs. The Blended Visa Office-Referred Program matches refugees identified for resettlement by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) with private sponsors in Canada to make it easier for sponsors to help the most vulnerable refugees. The federal government provides up to six months of income support through the Resettlement Assistance Program, while private sponsors provide another six months of financial support and up to a year of social and emotional support.

Sponsors can look through an online list of individuals and their families who have been screened and interviewed, and are often ready to travel to Canada.

More information at rstp.ca.

How to follow through on your resolutions

From NEWS CANADA

Many of us make resolutions to improve our health only to realize that the goals we set for ourselves were well-nigh impossible to achieve.

The way to get abandoned health resolutions back on track is to remember that the key to a happier, healthier body and mind is making small, but smart lifestyle changes that you can maintain long term, instead of jumping on the latest trend.

Learn more about some common myths and fads before trying them out.

Keto, paleo or gluten-free? While some popular diets have more merit than others, research shows that restrictive diets are hard to maintain, and people may even gain more weight than they initially lost once they fall off the wagon. Instead, try eating a variety of foods from the four major food groups to feel good and maintain your health. Use nutrition tables and daily values to make better choices. Eating well, along with being active, can also lower your risk of disease and help you reach and maintain a healthy weight.

“Natural” doesn’t mean safe, or safer. Although cannabis may be used by some for medical purposes such as for treating pain, it still has the potential to cause short- and long-term negative effects. If you think cannabis could help relieve symptoms you are experiencing, talk to your doctor about cannabis for medical purposes. Find more information on the health effects of cannabis at canada.ca/cannabis.

Don’t fixate on eight glasses of water. We’ve all heard that eight is the magic number, but it actually varies depending on the weather, your activity levels and other individual factors. Getting enough water to stay hydrated throughout the day is important for your well-being and the best way to quench your thirst. Work it into your routine by taking a bottle with you on the go, choosing it as your go-to drink when eating out, and snacking on water-rich fruits and veggies like watermelon and celery.