If you’re like most people in their 60s and 70s, you’re managing a few health conditions—some merely inconvenient, others that might be more serious and take more of your time to manage. These conditions are a reminder that you aren’t 50 anymore and need to dedicate some time to managing and maintaining your health.
Think of your body as a vintage car that needs more care compared to when it was newer, but still looks good and gets you where you want to go.
Studies have shown that healthy lifestyle choices can help reduce the odds of incurring both serious and not-so-serious medical conditions. If you do incur such a condition, being in good health can help you recover faster.
And the added benefit of being in good health is that you’ll enjoy life more and maybe even save money by not having to spend it on medical bills. For example, a recent survey by Nationwide Retirement Institute reports that a significant majority (92%) of survey respondents believe that staying healthy is essential to building wealth or savings.
One goal many retirees have is to live well as long as they can. Let’s look at the foundations of health in retirement that can also add years of healthy living. You might have heard some of these ideas before, but we’ll also address a few that might help you succeed in making these healthy lifestyle changes.
Exercise Is Critical
Ideally, you’ll do a variety of exercise that helps with strength, cardio, flexibility and balance. Many forms of exercise might help with two or three of these features, but it’s uncommon to find one type of exercise that hits all four. It’s also normal for many people to perform two or three forms of exercise but overlook one or two others.
Consider what you’re currently doing for exercise, then add in a few different types of exercise into your weekly routine. For example, I recently incorporated a few trips to the gym each week to lift weights for muscle strength and bone density, which can help prevent old age frailty (aka sarcopenia, a common ailment for the elderly that can be very debilitating).
What’s the best form of exercise for you? Studies show it’s the exercises that you enjoy and can keep doing indefinitely, as you’re more likely to keep them up. A win-win benefit is if you exercise with family, friends or a group, which helps provide social engagement and the motivation to stick with your program.
Healthy Nutrition Is Also Critical
A program of healthy nutrition has two goals. First, most common diets suggest that you minimize or eliminate unhealthy foods, such as sugar, sodium, simple carbs and unhealthy fats. This move can provide half or more of the benefits of most diets you read about. Second, consume a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and protein. Also, eat the right amount of food to maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight can strain your entire body but especially your heart, knees, hips and feet.
As with exercise, you’ll want to develop an eating regimen that you enjoy. If you consider nutrition as medicine you must take, you most likely won’t be able to stick with it for a long time. Instead, try experimenting to find the foods that you enjoy and work best for you, considering your budget and the amount of time it takes to shop for food and prepare your meals. By testing things out, you’re likely to find recipes or a diet that’s healthy, that you enjoy and that’s convenient for you to prepare. And don’t stress over occasional indulgences, as long as you don’t overdo it.
Not sure where to start? You can find a lot of good information online about healthy nutrition habits that’s backed by research.
Get Sufficient Sleep
You may have heard you need to get seven to nine hours of sleep each night—which is appropriate for most people. Studies have shown that good sleep habits can help stave off dementia and also give your body the rest it needs to recover and regenerate. Hopefully when you’re retired, you won’t need to wake up to an alarm each day to go to work, so you can develop sleep habits that are more natural for your body. If you have trouble falling asleep, you’ll find plenty of helpful advice online.
Protect Yourself With Vaccines
As you age into your 70s and beyond, acute conditions such as COVID, the flu, shingles and pneumonia can be very debilitating, sometimes even fatal. Talk with your doctor about the vaccines that make the most sense for you.
Moderate Or Eliminate Bad Habits
If possible, you’ll want to eliminate excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, illegal drug use and risky activities or habits. Most likely you’ve heard this advice before, so if it applies to you, find some way to motivate yourself to take healthy steps.
This post provides just a brief foundation of physical and mental health steps you can take in retirement. Of course, there are many details involved with each of these ideas, which you can incorporate little by little. And don’t stop with just these strategies: There are several more strategies that can help improve your health and longevity, such as social engagement, and your mental, dental and hearing health.
Spend the time it takes to learn about your options and make healthy changes in your lifestyle. It’s worth the effort when you consider the potential for adding healthy years to your life while saving money in the process. And if you’re retired, hopefully you now have more time to take steps that feel right for you.
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