For many of us, retirement can’t come fast enough.Yet when it comes, there’s no question that it slows us down from the hustle and bustle of the working world.
How that affects our health has been the subject of numerous studies. Research from the University of Michigan’s Retirement Research Center found that around 85 percent of early retirees at age 62 are in good health.After that, the studies conflict.A 10-year U.S. study of more than 5,400 men and women age 50 and older uncovered a greater risk of heart attacks and stroke among those who had retired compared with those who had continued working. On the other hand, a 2010 British study of more than 7,500 men and women found the the importance of building good habits prior to retirement that will help you stay healthy once retired.We talked to two health and aging experts for their top tips for developing those good habits.
Edward Thompson Jr., co-author of “A Man’s Guide to Healthy Aging” (Johns Hopkins University Press, October, 2013), says staying active can help you stay fit, maintain your weight and keeps your mind healthy.
“At the workplace, take a two-minute break, go up a flight of stairs and say ‘Hi’ to somebody and come back down,” Thompson says.“After work, take a walk with a buddy.After retirement, just get out and do something.At end of day, you’ve accumulated about an hour of body movement pre- and post-retirement. By staying physically active, we tend to eat less. By staying active, your mind stays more active, too.”
2. PLAN AND RESPOND TO POTENTIAL CHANGES
As we age, many changes occur that will impact our quality of life, from muscle and strength loss to shifts in mobility, cognition and independence. Addressing these changes ahead of time will go a long way to aging well, says Colin Milner, CEO of the International Council on Active Aging in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Let’s use as an example strength loss,” Milner says.“Between the ages of 35 and 70, the average inactive person will lose close to 50 percent of their strength.The result: 46 percent of the population cannot lift 10 pounds by the age of 80.This has a significant impact on our capabilities and quality of life, yet it is does not have to be so. If we simply do strength exercises two to three times a week we can hold this loss at bay for many years. Recommendation: Seek out a life coach to help you identify potential life changes, and then set out to create a preventive strategy. Investing now will have a major pay off now, and in the future.”
3. BE ENGAGED WITH LIFE
“Become an active and engaged participant in your community, neighborhood and family, as this is where your social network will come from.And social support is crucial as we age,” Milner says.“In a recent survey, social isolation was shown to have twice the health risk of obesity. It can also lead to depression, or vice a versa, and depression is expected to become the second cause of premature death and disability by 2020, according to the World Health Organization.
Recommendation: Make friends and keep friends for as long as possible. It’s good for your health.”
4. EAT MORE LIVE FOODS
“I like to explain it like your body is a juicer,” says Wakefield, Mass.-based Dr. Peter Martone, who wrote the health chapter for the book “The Six Secrets to a Happy Retirement” (ATA Press, 2013).“If you put bread in a juicer, it clogs up the juicer. If you put an apple in it, you get juice. You get live food.We get our energy from the sun.When you have a diet that has a good percentage of live foods — like vegetable and fruits — the least amount of ingredients in the food, the better it is for us. Like coconuts are high in fat but they are better for you because it’s natural. But Pringles potato chips, there’s no life in it, so it’s not as good for you because it’s processed. In that aspect, as you get older, really think about getting on a high-quality probiotic, also.This allows you to digest your food.”
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