Once you have reached your golden years, retirement is inevitable. Retirement evokes different feelings in different people. Some feel excited and relieved, while others feel anxious and lethargic.
However, it is during retirement that many retirees, unfortunately, develop health problems such as heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Irrespective of that, not all retirees develop the said health problems.
It is highly recommended that you strive to keep your mind and body active to give you the best chance of maintaining good health!
Keeping your mind & body healthy:
1. Balanced Diet
We all know the importance of having a balanced diet, however, keeping your diet balanced can be hard due to loss of appetite or lack of motivation to spend hours cooking healthy meals! Watch out for high-calorie intake, saturated and trans fats, sodium, sugar, and cholesterol.
Your diet should include whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and proteins, while carbohydrates should be eaten in small portions. An easy way to keep on top of your food intake is to track what you eat, there are many apps out there you can simply download to your phone; then you simply scan the barcode and it’ll break down all of the nutritional information from the food!
Do you struggle to keep your diet balanced?
If so, then you can always consider supplements and shakes. Nutritional shakes will contain healthy substances that you might not always get in your diet. For example, if you don’t like meat you might not always get protein or certain types of minerals, however, these drinks will include what you are lacking. There is a wide range of drinks with different ingredients depending on your needs. Visit: https://caregiverconnection.org/nutrition-drinks-and-shakes-for-seniors for more information; these guys have put together all the information you’d ever need such as when to consider taking shakes, how to take them, where to get them from, etc! They’ve got you covered.
2. Keeping tabs on your alcohol intake
We all like a little tipple from time to time, however reducing your alcohol intake as you grow older will preserve your health. Regular consumption of alcohol affects all areas of your body, such as weakening the immune system, heart, brain and of course, the liver. That is why drinking in moderation is advised.
Caution also ought to be taken if you are taking medicine for particular conditions as alcohol interacts differently with different medicines.
3. Exercising and taking part in sporting activities
Retirement is the perfect time to take up sports again. If sports are your forte, you could join a local sports group or perhaps you can try something out for the first time you’ve never had a chance to.
When exercising or considering a new sport is it recommended that you should engage in low-impact activities such as swimming, golf, and hiking which are not too hard on the joints. Lots of exercise is good for the heart not only will exercise help lower your heart rate and cholesterol but it will also release endorphins, which will help your mindset and help you to feel happier.
We nearly forgot those people that hate sport! Don’t worry, it’s not for everyone. If you dislike Sport then you can always take up Dance or maybe you can increase your daily walking, skip that bus you get!
4. Stay connected
After retiring most retirees tend to fall into social isolation due to no longer going into a workplace or venturing outside the house as much. Sometimes this can lead to depression and make you very unhappy. However, you can easily combat this by staying connected with other people whether, this means you’ll go to church more often, join a local social club or invite family members over to regularly visit you! You can even take up a new hobby such as bowls where they’ll be a lot of people!
5. Getting enough sleep
Getting enough sleep goes a long way in enhancing your cognitive function and promoting mental, physical, and emotional well-being. It is recommended that seniors get 7 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night; we all know the odd grandparent who has no problem sleeping and falls asleep in their chair in the afternoon!
6. Gardening and housework
Gardening is a fun way to burn calories as half the time you don’t even notice! Maybe you want to grow your own vegetables or make your front garden the envy of all of your neighbors! You should consider giving yourself a summer project such as planting new flowers or if you are feeling adventurous making a greenhouse to grow your vegetables in!
Doing housework may not be fun, but it’ll help you to burn calories and it’ll keep you active, also it’ll mean your house is always ready for unexpected family visits.
This post was last modified on November 17, 2022 3:15 am