It’s no secret that the best way to keep yourself active and healthy well into your golden years is prevention. Eating right, exercising and maintaining your body’s overall health will keep you moving like a well oiled machine for years. Even though we all know what we should be doing, it never hurts to have some guidance along the way to make sure we are staying on the right track. So, here are some ways to keep your bones healthy and strong.

Watch your diet – while it is pretty common knowledge that calcium is the most important vitamin for healthy bones, there are other ways to supplement your diet. First, make sure you are eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. These are broken down by your body differently than proteins. Studies have shown that people who had 8-9 servings of fruits and veggies a day had significantly less calcium loss than those who didn’t. Don’t forget you still need a high level of calcium intake every day though. If you aren’t a fan of milk, don’t worry, there are other ways to get calcium. Foods that are dark green in color like spinach, kale and turnip greens are rich in calcium.

Exercise Right – exercise in general is healthy for you but, there are different ways to exercise depending on what you are trying to achieve. Most people tend to do cardio exercises which are great for your heart and muscles but won’t do much for keeping your bones strong. Any exercise involving weight on your legs and feet are great for healthy bones. Walking or water aerobics with weights on the ankles are a perfect example. Do flexibility exercises as well such as lunges and squats and pull out those dumbbells for an all around healthy exercise routine.