Ways to Stay Fit in Retirement
With a lower cost of living and no state income tax in Texas, for many people, living in a Houston area 55+ community is a lifelong dream. The stunning scenery, the wonderful year-round weather for outdoor activities, and the resort-style community offered at Serenity at Meridiana allow for so many things to do! To fully enjoy your retirement, staying healthy and fit is a necessity.
Healthy Habits to Stay Mentally and Nutritionally Fit
Healthy people tend to live longer lives, but being healthy isn’t limited to physical fitness. Below are some ways to help improve your nutritional health, as well as your mental health.
- Adopt healthy habits early. Adopting fitness habits is great for your health and adopting a healthy lifestyle is equally important. Eating a well-balanced diet high that is in legumes and vegetables as well as low in saturated fats and sugar is just as important as your physical health.
- Find a friend to help with your nutrition and fitness goals. Whether it’s your spouse, friend, or neighbor, finding a fitness buddy can help make eating right and exercising significantly more enjoyable. When you enlist your partner to help you plan and shop for healthier meals and find an exercise you can enjoy together, you’ll have more motivation and accountability to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
- Stay socially connected. It’s easy to lose the habits and social scene from your pre-retirement life. Now is the perfect time to stay connected to relatives and friends that do not live in your state or planning social activities with local friends and neighbors to keep strong relationships.
- Work your mind. Cognitive abilities are just as important as physical abilities. Studies have shown that keeping your mind active with games such as puzzles, card games, and crosswords helps reduce the risk of dementia.
Healthy Habits to Stay Physically Fit
Physical fitness is good for your body and soul. Staying fit is a way to help you keep doing all of the things you love to do. Below, you’ll discover how you can include physical activity in your everyday life.
- Exercise Daily. Making sure that you create a plan to get daily exercise is important. You don’t have to include extreme exercise to stay active, but you should include workouts with weights to help build muscle.
- Vary your physical activities. When you change up your activity, the variety in activity will help relieve boredom and keep your body challenged. You can choose from various gentle aerobic exercises, including walking, swimming, biking, jogging, dancing, or water aerobics.
- Work on your balance and flexibility. Weight training and cardiovascular exercise are incredibly important, but you should also add activities to improve your flexibility and balance. Popular balancing and flexibility activities include Pilates, yoga, and tai chi. Try balance-enhancing exercises such as repeatedly sitting down and getting up from a chair and standing on one foot as you reach your sixties and seventies.
- Bounce back from setbacks. Everyone gets sick, experiences an injury, or has some other setback. When it does happen, be sure to consult with your doctor and follow his advice. Setbacks do not mean that you have to give up on your healthy habits. For example, if you were to injure your ankle, you should be able to do some upper-body exercises to help maintain muscle tone. You should ease back into your usual fitness routine as soon as your doctor says you can safely.
Keep at it to Stay Fit in Retirement
Modifying your routine as needed will help you continue your healthy lifestyle well into your 80’s and 90’s. At any age, it is still possible to improve your health and fitness! Visit the vibrant, socially active community at Serenity with their resident-only amenities as well as access to all that Meridiana has to offer to stay fit during retirement.
