8 Simple Strategies To Slow The Aging Process In Your 60s That You Can Start Any Time

Reported by Women's Health Magazine.

Aging isn't linear — and science can now prove it. Research has identified two distinct biological acceleration points: around age 44 and again near 60, when the body undergoes measurable shifts including muscle loss and declining bone density. The 60 milestone, in particular, tends to stack multiple age-related changes at once, making it feel less like a birthday and more like a reckoning. But according to Women's Health Magazine, your chronological age and your biological age don't have to match — and the gap between them is largely a lifestyle decision.

"It's never too late to start," says Barbara Bawer, MD, a family medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The strategies that actually move the needle aren't complicated, but they do require intention. Geriatrician Scott Kaiser, MD, director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center, frames food as your first intervention — specifically, a plant-forward diet rich in whole grains, legumes, leafy greens, and quality protein. A 2024 JAMA study following more than 25,000 women over 25 years found that those who followed a Mediterranean-style diet had a 23 percent lower risk of dying from any cause, alongside significantly better metabolic and cardiovascular markers. Protein, however, is non-negotiable — Kaiser notes that active women need 1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight to protect lean muscle mass.

The Physical Foundation You Can't Skip

Trainer Patricia Greaves, CPT, founder of StrongHer Personal Training, is direct: strength training three to four times per week is not optional for women in their 60s. Women begin losing muscle mass in their 30s, shedding 3 to 5 percent per decade — a trajectory that resistance training can meaningfully interrupt. "Strength training is a nonnegotiable for preventing muscle and bone loss and supporting independence in later years," Greaves says. Bones respond to load by growing denser, which matters increasingly as the risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis climbs with age. Pair lifting with mobility work — Pilates, yoga, dynamic stretching — to protect joint function and keep movement feeling easy.

The rest of the framework is unglamorous but high-impact: seven-plus hours of quality sleep (Kaiser links poor sleep directly to elevated dementia risk), consistent hydration — the National Academies recommend roughly 11.5 cups of fluids daily for women — and real stress management. Scheduled mindfulness check-ins, even just a two-minute breathing reset built into your phone's calendar, have been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, and cortisol-driven inflammation. On alcohol, Bawer is blunt: emerging research connects even moderate drinking to elevated blood pressure, increased cancer risk, and disrupted sleep. Her position? "Less is better, but nothing is best."

The point isn't perfection — it's momentum: every habit you build today is actively negotiating with your future biology.

Read the original at Women's Health Magazine.