Take Charge of Your Life

Think You’ll be Healthy After Retirement?

As a Baby Boomer myself, I used to say that I am healthier than my parents at my age and that I will be healthy long into retirement. This view changed when at 57 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure which required medication. Much to my surprise, I had slowly slipped out of my more active lifestyle and had become more sedentary.

I noticed that I had also allowed my weight to creep up and I have the body type which retains weight around the waist and abdomen area. This particular body type is associated with a susceptibility to high blood pressure and diabetes. I also have a genetic predisposition for both those conditions.

The blood pressure diagnosis caught me up short as I realized that my thoughts about my health not matching the reality. I suspect I am not the only one of my generation who has been faced with that disconnect between the perceptions of living a healthy lifestyle and the reality of moving closer to retirement age.

Several factors come into play here. As our children grow up, our lives do become less active in general. We also have the idea that as we get older we are supposed to slow down. As our lifestyle becomes less active, we lose both mental and physical energy as well as strength and endurance. This downward spiral can be very insidious and can catch us off guard. I know it did for me.

Since you may be working longer than you may have planned, how will you integrate physical activity and a healthy nutrition plan into your daily life? Since obesity and diabetes are prevalent in our generation, what changes will you make now to minimize the effect of these and other conditions on your quality of life as you age? These are troubling questions as we enter a new stage of life, and are you ready to answer them?

Based upon my own journey, I find I most enjoy facilitating the development of skills for others in my own age group and assist them in finding answers to these questions.

If you’re ready to start answering some of these questions and if you want to make the changes now so that you CAN be healthy in retirement, then contact me to assist you in turning your vision for your future into action steps which will carry you forward towards a healthier future.