Living a healthy lifestyle is essential for everyone, including the retired service folks. Some of you might be anticipating your retirement years, but once you are already retired, you will realize that you were looking forward to quite a difficult time in your life.
Getting detached from your work environment and starting a new phase of life takes time. But a healthy lifestyle can get you going and retains some feeling of your previous goal-oriented life when you make health-related goals and strive to achieve them.
Whether you have retired from healthcare, a military service, a job in the office, or are just in your old age, keeping yourself healthy and immersed in the struggle of living a healthy lifestyle will help you live through your later years happily.
Here are some tips for a healthy life for retired service folks, but they are equally beneficial for people in old age, so help yourself with them.
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Arrange regular medical checkups
Arranging regular medical checkups to ensure you age up healthily is a must. Your doctor can thwart the chances of a heart attack or stroke by looking at your blood pressure or cholesterol. Similarly, timely vaccine shots help you prevent flu attacks. Women need to undergo tests for breast and cervical cancers.
Regular medical assistance is even more essential if you have worked in any industry with a risk of exposure to harmful substances such as chemical fumes, gases, and asbestos. The risk of asbestos is higher if you have worked in the construction industry or military. Asbestos exposure can cause a severe condition in the lungs called mesothelioma. Military retired folks must know about this substance. Visit mesotheliomaveterans.org, and you will get extensive information about the diagnosis, treatment, or legal help you can get.
Even if there is no chance of asbestos exposure, regular medical checkups can help locate any issue inside your body at its earliest stage when chances of treatment and recovery are much higher.
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Develop an active routine
Retirement is not the time to sit back and relax. You have to keep yourself active physically and mentally. Physical activity boosts your immune system, making your body better prepared to fight diseases. But the physical activity you engage in does not have to be strenuous.
Thirty minutes daily for a moderate to a brisk walk in the nearby park where you will also acquaint yourself with nature are enough. Ask one of your buddies to come along or convince your spouse to tag along with you. This way, your walking session will become more fulfilling and a fun activity.
You can also combine regular walking with swimming, biking, low-impact aerobics, etc. It is recommended that you must engage in moderate-intensity exercise for twenty to thirty minutes every day to reach a total of 150 minutes per week. If any of this does work for you, find other physical endurance activities that suit your nature and liking.
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Maintain a Healthy Diet
It is no more a time to eat unhealthy food consisting of junk food, fast food, processed food products, etc. All these foods are loaded with fats, sugar, salt, and preservatives and are not suitable for your health.
After retirement, you must be geared up to enjoy your life and not fall ill now and then. But unhealthy eating won’t let you enjoy your life, so detach yourself from them. Instead, make your food plate colorful with multiple vegetables and fruits as they are low in fats and sugar but with essential vitamins and antioxidants that fight free radicals and thwart disease attacks.
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Limit Your Alcohol Consumption
Another most important change you should make in your life is to limit your alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption doesn’t just have an immediate effect on your body and mind, but it also has a long-term effect too. You often experience the long-term effects in the later stages of your life, and those stages can surely overlap with your retirement years. So, as much as possible, refrain from drinking alcohol so that you don’t exacerbate its adverse effects on health.
Another issue associated with alcohol that we conveniently forget is its effects on our relationships. When your mind is all foggy and groggy, you will misbehave with your spouse and kids. But should you be your worst self when you need the support and love of your family? Think about it and make a sage decision. Make your family your strength, don’t push them away due to bad behavior.
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Build a Support Group
Having a pet such as a dog is the best thing you can do after retirement. If you already have a pet in the house, redefine your relationship with them, and be friendlier. A dog is the most loyal companion, even more than human friends. Spending half an hour every day with your canine friend will never let you have cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart problems, or stress issues. They will keep you active, amuse you with their little activities and never let you be alone.
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Plan With Your Friends
Life before retirement is quite busy. If you had been a nurse, you were surrounded by patients, doctors, and families. Similarly, military folks live together with their other pals. But life after retirement is quite different. You are not always surrounded but like-minded people. Instead, it would be best to plan your socializing activities and meet-ups with your friends to have a healthier and happier lifestyle.
Planning a get-together with your friends helps you stay positive, happier, and live longer. An active social life also reduces your chances of issues such as dementia. So plan trips with your friends, play cards, reconnect with school friends, and have reunions. If you have a hobby such as a book reading, cooking, gardening, or hiking, join a club to meet other people like you.
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Stimulate Your Mind
Just like your body, your brain needs working too. The brain is such a fascinating organ that the more you stimulate it, the better it becomes at problem-solving and critical thinking. So do puzzles, play riddles with your friends, play musical instruments, or pick a mind-boggling activity.
Conclusion
Post-retirement is not the time to worry or fret over what will happen in your life. It is a new phase in your life so enjoy it to the fullest by keeping yourself healthy and active. Spend time with your old pals and family, take up a hobby, help your kids with your studies, or start a teaching center to help kids.
