A Healthy Cruise

One thing that about retirement, you have plenty of time. Time to read the books you always meant to get to, time to take up the hobby you always wanted to try, and time to improve your health.

One thing about retirement and aging, health becomes very important. Eating right, exercising and proper rest are important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle so you can enjoy retirement. Retirement is no fun if you are aching and unable to get around because of health problems.

Because your time is your own, you can schedule your day more affectively to integrate healthy habits that will make retirement so much more pleasant.

I subscribe to the Circadian Rhythm Method of managing my health. Circadian Rhythm is a natural cycle in the body of all animals that regulates It consists of three cycles, Appropriation (eating), Assimilation (extraction of nutrients), and Elimination (passing waste). These are biological processes that occur at regular intervals in a 2 hour period and are affected by light, sleep, exercise and rest.

Basically, I follow a schedule roughly like this:
6 AM-Wake and do some exercise
6:30 to 7:30 AM-Breakfast, protein and/or fruit
11:45 AM-fruit
12 Noon-Lunch-Salad
5:45 PM-Fruit
6 to 7:00 PM-Dinner, protein, green leafy vegitables, carbohydrates
10:00 PM Bed

Notice that you minimize carbohydrates and eat no carbohydrates until after noon.

In addition, I take a multi-vitamin and 400 milligrams of Fish Oil, drown everything in olive oil, and drink no soft drinks or artificial sweeteners. You want to stay away from fast foods mainly because they are nutritionally barren.

It is important to establish a routine similar to this because the body adjusts itself continuously and it wants intake of nutrients around the times listed. Do not eat anything after 8:00 PM, as the body is processing what you have eaten during the day and more food throws the cycle off. Get outside and get some sun for at least an hour during the day, say during a walk around the neighborhood. Most important, go to bed at the same time every night if at all possible, the body needs 8 hours of sleep but try not to go longer at a time, the body needs routine to function at peak efficiency.

Exercise is also important to good health. Personally, I am lazy and don't do enough. At minimum, I try to take a walk in the neighborhood for about 45 minutes every day and I lift free weights 3 times a week. You don't need a gym membership, steroids, or every piece of exercise equipment on tv. Your biggest expense is a pair of tennis shoes. Remember, this is a minimum. If you want to run, run. If you want to belong to a gym, spend your money, but make sure you do the minimum if you don't do anything else.

Finally, this is not about loosing weight, getting 6 pack abs, or running a marathon. It is about getting back to a natural rhythm of living in your body and getting enough stamina and physical ability to enjoy your retirement, not just exist till it is over. Bottom line, you cannot be a couch potato and eat Big Macs and expect to have an enjoyable retirement. Take care of yourself.