Retirement Health: You ARE What you Eat

A key component of a happy retirement life is being healthy. Obviously, anyone can be hit with an ailment at anytime. With that said, research is more conclusive that we have control over our retirement health.

There was a fascinating story on ABC Nightly News last night. A reporter and producer saw the immediate effects of consuming a five thousand calorie meal full of saturated fat. While most seniors don’t consume a vast amount of food at one sitting, the piece clearly demonstrated the toll the body takes from poor eating.

As quickly as you can hurt your body, you can equally improve it. There are Four simple Changes That Can Save Your Life. Unfortunately, many people don’t do them.

Whether you like it or not, a key to a healthy retirement life is a commitment to Lifetime Fitness.

I smoked for almost thirty years. While I can’t ever remove all the damage smoking did, a conscious attempt at eating well and get exercise is helping me live a longer and happier life. It can work for you also.

Senior Health

I did something for myself today. No, not the usual indulgence of chocolates or flowers. I actually did something important. At first, I was reluctant to discuss it, because it comes under the heading that is traditionally considered unmentionable. Life over 50 gets complicated and sometimes we need to discuss unpleasant things.

I had a colonoscopy this morning. The reason I decided to discuss it is many people don’t have the procedure. I’m lucky I have insurance and quite probably wouldn’t have had it done without it. I’m talking to the people who have insurance or can otherwise afford it, but elect not to do the procedure. It’s inconvenient. It’s a bit uncomfortable and it occurs in the part of the body most of us would like to ignore.

That’s the main reason I decided to write about it. Denial can be wonderful thing. Well, sometimes. Rarely. Nope, now that I think about it, I don’t know that denial is a good thing. We get to pretend, but that just postpones reality and when reality actually hits, the ramifications of denial are magnified.

The doctor found a small polyp in my colon. He removed it. There’s a possibility that had I not chosen to have the procedure, it could have grown and in ten years I’d have colon cancer.

As I wrote in a previous post, a friend of mine died of cancer this winter. Cancer is not fun. There is no way we can absolutely prevent all health issues in our life. I can’t be assured that I won’t get some other form of cancer in some other part of my body. There are many things we can do to ensure senior citizens health.

Today I had a procedure that will minimize the probability of getting one form of cancer. If you’re over 55, get it done. It’s as simple as that.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me anything. Boundaries are minimal.

A Time for Stairs

I’ve previously commented on what menopause does to muscle tone. The phrase “use it or lose it,” personifies certainly my body’s experience over the last ten years. I was aware of the need to take care of myself in a more concerted effort and embarked on a journey to find an exercise regime that I enjoyed. Growing up I was the kid who was always last…

After a number of gym memberships, classes at the rec center, I found a yoga instructor on t.v. that I liked and committed to thirty minutes a day. In addition, my husband and I walk two times a day for about mile each. Not strenuous, but it gets outside the heart pumps for a few minutes.

About six months ago, I did something to my shoulders. It has been diagnosed as bursitis, but so far has not improved. I can’t raise either arm above my shoulder and if I move in a certain way, there is a searing pain that runs through my shoulders. As a result, I stopped doing my yoga. While yoga didn’t build muscle, I felt like I wasn’t losing ground. Since then, it’s been a race against time to see if I’m going to heal before I turn into a mass of cellular mush.

My husband and I are currently staying at a time-share in Northern Carolina. I will share our week as we explore the area as a tourist and as a potential place to retire.

Our condominium is two stories. At first, I was hesitant about the stairs. After the red eye from LA to Atlanta yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was bounce up and down stairs. As I sat upstairs in the living room so my husband could take a nap downstairs in the bedroom, it occurred to me that stairs is exactly what I need in my life right now.

Because, there were so many exercises I couldn’t do in yoga, I stopped even though there isn’t anything wrong with my legs. The walking every day is okay, but doesn’t push muscle development.

For the next seven days, those stairs are my friend. Up and down I go. It may be a strange place to start a vacation journey, but it’s what you get on Saturday morning.

Fruits and Vegetables

It’s been tough to write during the last three weeks. You see, I started a new job. I’m a home-based consultant for Right Management, helping people who have recently been laid off with their job search. The great thing is I get to continue to work from home. In order to manage telecommuters, there are a myriad of policies, procedures and documentation. So far, there are eight separate and unique websites I have to learn. Of course, each has its own log in and password.

For the most part, I like the work. After one day, we started working with clients and I now have ten. They are from all over the country, from different industries and professions. I find them to be enthusiastic, positive and accepting of my help. That’s saying a lot in this economic climate.

I’m going to let you in on a secret that I covered up well in my interview. I was crazy busy before I took the job, and now I’m barely hanging on by thread. Once I get through the thirty-two hours of training, it should be more manageable.

We have this interesting shift that has occurred in our family. I’ve always been busy, but my husband was also busy. I’m working seven days a week. He’s retired. Therefore, he’s having to take more household responsibility. Bless him, he’s doing that. He’s cooking, doing dishes, and laundry.

I sent him to the store to buy the week’s groceries, with my ATM card, no less. Deep breath. I told him he couldn’t spend more than $150 (this will last two weeks). He did good, and stayed below his budget. I was helping putting away the groceries and commented, “I see you didn’t spend much time in the fruits and vegetables.”

Quite innocently, he responded, “Yes, I did. I bought canned corn, beans, peas and tomatoes.” The men who read this might not see the humor, but most women will read this and chuckle.

Here’s the dilemma. I can do it all myself. I can criticize what he’s done, so he becomes angry and resentful at trying to help out. Or, I can keep my mouth shut. This is what happens when you enter retirement. Whether I’m working or not, I want him to participate in the chores around the house. At some level, I have to back off and not dictate how I want it done.

I'd love to hear other stories of how men help out around the house after retirement.

Adult Seniors Seek Retirement Income Security

In last Sunday’s paper, I read a nationally syndicated columnist address the issue of part time income in retirement. He confirmed organizations that offer to set you up in business for a small fee are usually scams and should be avoided. The columnist then suggested the solution was to find a part time job doing retail. This solution to part time income was both limited and inane. First of all, retail has been hit hard in the recent economic down turn, so it’s just not a viable option for quick short term money.

Retirees make up a broad group of people with a wide range of skills and talents. As they have watched their savings plummet over the last few months, many retiring baby boomers and persons older are looking for retirement work. Some need to augment their retirement income security. Many active adult seniors are looking for ways to turn activities, hobbies and other interests into ways to increase retirement pay.

Over the next few days, I am going to compile resources so the new senior can generate income through either part time jobs (working for someone else) or starting a part time business. There are amazing activities, seniors have engaged to create new retirement careers. Some have found interesting ways to be of service to others, turn adult homemade crafts into salable products, or shift a passion into a way of making money.

Please share websites, books, experts and examples of how retired people work to increase their income. I’m looking for creative examples; turning hobbies into income, earning money while contributing, income while traveling, project based or part time work. I’m looking for examples of what people can do, not how to get a job or start a business.

Retirement Work for the Over 55 Community

I’m delighted to report that I am quoted in a recent ABC News article about job search over 50.

Over the last few years, I shifted my focus away from career counseling and job search towards retirement life planning. There is an overlap between them, but it is different. Because of all the lay-offs and change in the economy, I’ve decided to incorporate more job search information in my blog and other writing.

I was reading the comments to the article and one woman lamented she’d been without a job for six years, had applied at ‘every site on the Internet,’ but had only had a handful of interviews.

I know what it’s like to be unemployed, to feel like you’re doing everything you know how to do and keep coming up short. It becomes so easy to feel like a victim under those circumstances. At some point in time, you have to also to evaluate yourself and the situation and say, “Something’s got to change.”

I don’t know this woman’s specific situation, but my first advice would be to focus her job search energy away from the Internet for awhile. She obviously is not conveying what she wants to communicate on her resume. Take it to friends, former colleagues and have them honestly review it. Call or email friends who are employed. Tell them you’re looking for XYZ type of work and to keep their eyes and ears open for suggestions. Be willing to do things differently.

As people get closer to retirement, jobs become harder to find. There are many activities seniors can do to improve their job search. Retired jobs a now very much in demand as retired seniors watch their retirement income security disappear.

We’re going to spend more time exploring what the over 55 community can do to create and find retirement work.

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