Prioritizing your wellness is important at any age, and may become even more so as you grow older. However, considering the busy schedule many people find themselves with, this can often be difficult. Fortunately retirement can give you the time and space to focus on aspects of your wellness that you may previously have had trouble keeping up with. Let’s take a look at some of these things now, and see how you can benefit from maintaining both your physical and mental well-being in retirement.
As you most likely know, maintaining a proper diet is essential to your health. What you may be less certain of is just what such a diet might look like. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the ideal meal should consist of an even balance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and dairy. While it’s helpful to know these general guidelines, it’s also important to know how your own body responds to certain foods. Retirement will give you a chance to learn such things, and will allow you the time to figure out what kind of diet works best for you.
To get the most out of your diet you also need to exercise. The health benefits of exercise are substantial. They include: weight loss, improved mood, increased energy, better sleep, and a reduced risk of a great many diseases and health complications such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Staying active can be one of the biggest challenges that comes with aging. But, like most challenging things, the more you do it the easier it gets. And there are many different ways of getting the exercise you need, so hopefully you will be able to find ways of staying active that work for you, and that you also enjoy doing.
One way of enjoying your exercise is finding some activity that will take you outdoors. There are many health benefits linked with spending time outside regularly, such as improved sleep, and a reduced risk of depression and other mental health concerns. Spending time in spaces with an abundance of plants and good air circulation can also reduce your risk of developing respiratory issues. So, next time you’re thinking of jogging on your treadmill, consider stepping outside instead.
Although we all enjoy spending time with the people closest to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to make time for them. However, scientists have recently come to realize that maintaining strong relationships is just as important for physical and psychological well-being as is diet and exercise. Staying connected with others is thought to reduce stress levels, along with all of the negative effects health that come from living with high levels of stress. Without regular social engagement you are also at an increased risk of depression, later-life cognitive decline and various other health complications that could result in premature mortality. In fact, one study cited by Harvard Health Publishing found that the increased likelihood of premature mortality that results from a lack of sustained social connection is about the same as that which would result from smoking up to fifteen cigarettes a day.
So, all things considered, it’s certainly a good idea to maintain strong healthy relationships for as long as you can. Luckily, retirement gives you ample time in which to cultivate such relationships, and to develop new ones.