Make the Most of Retirement Living in Ottawa with Good Physical and Mental Health
When planning for retirement, most people focus on financial matters. But how you spend your retirement, including how you take care of yourself, is just as important.
The transition to retirement life can be hard. Your days may lack structure and you’ll need to get accustomed to this new lifestyle.
But one of the best ways to overcome the uneasiness of not working is to create a new daily schedule that focuses on staying physically and mentally healthy.
You can try new activities and enjoy old favourites you never had the time for while you were working. You can also set aside time for yourself and make time for social interactions so you can still reap the benefits of having a strong social support network.
Building relationships in retirement, along with making the most of your existing relationships is as important as exercise for your physical and mental health.
During your retirement, plan activities that will help you stay healthy for longer. You can enjoy your retirement to the fullest, be able to spend time with your grandkids, and remain independent with good physical and mental health.
Why Too Much Sedentary Time Is Dangerous
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Sitting is the new smoking.” This refers to how a sedentary lifestyle leads to health problems. If you sit too much each day and don’t get enough physical exercise, you can develop a list of health problems, such as:
- Weight gain,
- Heart disease,
- High blood pressure, and
- Diabetes.
Now that you have more free time in retirement, it’s important to devote some of that time to staying physically and mentally fit. Sure, you can still read, watch movies, surf the Web, and relax, but you should also make a point of getting up and moving to stay healthy.
It can be difficult adjusting to a new habit of exercising, especially if you are used to a sedentary lifestyle from working at a desk all those years. But once you find physical activities that interest you, you can break the unhealthy habit of sitting and form a new habit of moving.
Physical Activity – Finding Something That Interests You
If you’re not a fitness fanatic, don’t worry. You can start with the minimum amount of exercise needed to stay healthy. This is either 30 minutes or more of mild to moderate exercise five days a week, or 20 minutes or more of vigorous exercise two to three days a week.
For example, you could start with walking for 30 minutes a day, five days a week—and build up your exercises from there. Instead of taking your car to run errands nearby, consider walking or biking.
Include strength-training exercises and aerobic exercises. Brisk walking, swimming, and using light weights can help increase your bone density and muscle mass, while also helping to avoid serious health issues related to sedentary lifestyles.
Look for activities that interest you, whether team sports, golfing, cycling clubs, aquatic exercise, and other classes and activities at your local recreation centre. Doing activities you enjoy will lead to a more fulfilling retirement.
A Common Mistake Retirees Make
You can seriously hurt yourself if you dive into exercising too much too soon. So instead, ease into your new exercise routine with exercise that is suitable to your level of fitness.
Start small with low-impact exercises and build your way up with more demanding exercises as you start feeling stronger.
Keeping Up with The Housework
Whether you love it or hate it, housework is unavoidable. But it does help you move and burn calories, unlike sitting on the couch and watching TV. So embrace the chores you have and treat them as a way of staying fit in retirement. Whether you’re sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning windows, doing laundry, or doing the dishes, you’ll be doing something to keep you up and moving.
Develop A Green Thumb
Gardening is a relaxing and fulfilling past time that also gets you up and moving. You can enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while creating a beautiful garden masterpiece. And if you plant vegetables and herbs in your garden, you can enjoy fresh, local, and organic produce from your own home.
Refining Your Eating Habits
Diet plays a major role in physical health. If you don’t eat a healthy, balanced diet, your body will lack the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and function optimally. Also, some foods are terrible for your health, such as refined sugars.
Pay attention to your diet and only eat foods that are actually good for you. A healthy diet will help make the most of your physical activity and will also improve your mental health.
Along with eating right, also make sure to get enough sleep and reduce your stress levels.
Prioritize Family Time
Participation in social activities helps both our physical and mental health. So along with doing social activities with friends during retirement, try to spend time with your family as well.
Family is often our number one support network. And if you have grandchildren or young children in your family, you can enjoy time with them to get out, be active, and be social. Take them to the park and enjoy other outdoor activities with the kids. Keeping up with small children is a fun type of exercise.
Not only will this help you get moving, but it will help you stay social.
Tips For Staying Mentally Sharp
Beyond taking care of your physical health, it’s important to stay mentally fit in retirement. You can maintain your mental health and sharpness with daily memory exercises, such as games and tasks that rely on your memory. Even video games that utilize mental processing skills can help your mind stay sharp.
Take a course to learn a new skill, or go back to college to study a subject you’re always been interested in. And remember that your mental health also benefits from regular exercise since exercise releases feel-good endorphins, so you can stay fit and stay sharp.
For an improved quality of life in retirement, take care of yourself and combine both physical and mental exercises into your new retirement routine. This way you can enjoy a long, healthy, and fulfilling retirement while feeling great.