A Healthy Approach to Post-Career Health Concerns

I am in the middle of another Whole30 month. As Everyday Health states, “This program, which proponents describe as a nutritional reset, doesn’t promise weight loss, but it does promote self-awareness with regards to how your body responds to food.”

While my wife and I try to eat healthy all the time, we usually find ourselves slipping into old patterns. I will admit, it is more me than her. Processed foods and increased sugar consumption creep into meals and in between meals. Therefore, we declare a Whole30 month and retune our bodies.

Each time we do the program, we get better at what we eat afterwards. We come out the other side feeling much better and energized. I am sure we will do more Whole30 months in the future, as we will likely fall back, but it is certainly not time wasted and we learn something about ourselves each instance we do the program.

Keep the Doctor Away

As we age, our health will consume more of our time. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) here is what the average number of visits to the doctor looks like for each age group.

• Infants under 1 year old: 7.36 visits
• Children aged 1-17 years: 2.13 visits
• Adults aged 18-44 years: 1.90 visits
• Adults aged 45-64 years: 3.02 visits
• Adults aged 65 years and over: 4.98 visits

In your post career years, you will be visiting the doctor three times as much as in your forties. How would you like to make those appointments, as a scheduled check-up or an unscheduled trip to the hospital?

Healthy Living Tips

The National Institute on Aging provides some familiar but well heeded advice to experience healthy post career aging.

• Exercise and physical activity. Not new or profound, if this is not a formal strategy now (pre or post career) get on something. Seek advice from your physician or medical professional on where to start.
• Make smart food choices. I can attest to this. When I pay attention to my diet, I have a lot more drive and energy. I also feel less like a “cranky old fart.”
• Learn to sleep better before retirement. I am a light sleeper and struggle sometimes to get enough of it. However, I plan for 8 hours every night and work it into my schedule.
• If you smoke, stop. I know, easy to say for the non-smoker. However, both my parents and grandparents suffered major heart attacks. My father actually died because his heart just stopped. All of them were heavy smokers.
• Be mindful of substance abuse. Almost one-third of retirees will experience some form of depression post-career. You state of mind can be a gateway to drug or alcohol addiction.
• See your doctor regularly. The goal, as I alluded to earlier, is to see the doctor on your terms and your timing because you are taking care of yourself.
• Don’t forget your mental health. We will become more isolated post-career and may lose up to 50% of our social network (social media is not included – those are mostly light acquaintances). Develop, nurture, and cultivate those relationships are important to you…now.
• Limit the stress. Post-career will not be resort living all the time. See how you stack up by completing a complimentary Post Career Lifestyle Stress Test.
• Plan the right activities. Know what you want to do that brings meaning, contentment, fulfillment and joy.

Increasing your ability to stay healthy requires planning. As you head into post-career life, develop a lifestyle plan that will work to keep your mind, body, and spirit active and engaged.

• See how you can avoid the retirement blues.
• Ensure you keep your identity, not identity left but identity lost.
• Develop a lifestyle social plan.

Post-career lifestyle planning is somewhat like Whole30. The Infinity Lifestyle Design promotes a reset to your post-career thinking. It does not promote that you will be full heathy all through retirement, but it does promote self-awareness with regards to how you will respond to the life you have planned.

 Start addressing life after career (even if you still work in retirement) by taking the Retirement Time Analysis (RTA) and getting your free summary assessment.

Get to know more about me and why I do what I do. Hi, I am Dave…