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In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

5 Effective Ways To Preserve Good Health In Retirement

Cassidy Bletcher

 Happy senior couple hugging in autumn park

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One thing many people worry about in their retirement years is their health and cognitive function. While your body and brain will experience changes as you get older, you have the power to support good health and brain function. This can slow down physical and mental changes, giving you the control you need to enhance your quality of life during retirement.

It doesn't matter where you are in your retirement journey—whether you're planning for early retirement, about to retire at any age, or are already enjoying the new pace of life—checking your health should be a top priority. These tips can help.

Stay Social

Loneliness is the silent killer amongst the older generation. Many people in this position confirm that a lack of social activities or conversation is way worse than anything else. Your ability to stay fit and healthy depends on a good level of social engagement. You need the companionship of others to stay mentally focused and keep your brain healthy.

Luckily, you can do this in many ways, from spending time with loved ones to joining groups of like-minded people, volunteering, joining community organizations or initiatives, or even choosing to reside in a retirement community geared towards a more social way of life. It's entirely up to you, but make it your mission to be as social as possible during retirement age, or actually any age, to help you avoid any loss in brain function.

Get Moving

Physical activity is crucial at any age, but as your body naturally undergoes changes and declines, it becomes even more vital to keep moving and active. Even if you have health conditions that limit your abilities, engaging in physical activity within your capabilities can enhance mobility and fitness levels, thereby supporting good health.

Strength training can help you retain or regain strength and muscle mass, which can decrease as you get older. The stronger and more mobile you are, the easier it will be to do day-to-day activities such as standing up from a sitting position, carrying groceries, or even climbing stairs. Pair this with mobility exercises for maximum impact to shape your muscles, move properly, and retain a full range of motion.

The trick for exercise and movement is to find something you enjoy doing on a regular basis. Ensure it gets your heart rate up, leaves you slightly out of breath, and even makes you a little bit sweaty. Do this for at least 150 minutes per week to notice the health benefits, both mentally and physically.

Do Brain Exercises

There is a lot of debate about the efficacy of brain exercises, with some people questioning their benefits while others champion them as the best defense against conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's. However, there are clear advantages to engaging in brain exercises and games. By challenging your brain and making it work, you can help support a healthy brain.

Different brain exercises to include:

•           Playing memory games that force YouTube to remember things.

•           Strategy games where you need to use your critical thinking skills to solve puzzles.

•           Playing games against the clock.

What you do needs to be fun, and again, it's entirely up to you. Games like chess, solitaire, crossword puzzles, and more are all excellent brain games that can go towards supporting improved cognitive function.

On top of that, learning something new can be massively beneficial, too. When you learn new things, the neurons in your brain form new pathways, which support memory and cognitive function. The more you do this, the healthier your brain will be, and the slower it will decline with age.

Eat Well

Your body as an entire unit needs to be provided with all the nutrients it requires to help it stay fit and healthy at all times and regress in age. The more nutritious your diet is, the better health you can expect to be in. Plus, eating more brain-boosting foods such as blueberries, leafy green veg, and oily fish can help you to keep that grey matter in shape and ticking over to ensure you are firing on all cylinders well into retirement age and beyond.

Sleep

Sleep is the magic elixir that can cure many health-related ails. It can help you reduce stress, stay more alert, improve energy levels, and simply feel better. Ask any doctor; if there is one thing they could bottle into pill form, it would be sleep. Your body and brain need around 7-8 hours of sleep per night, and chronic sleep deprivation will impact your cognitive functions and result in poor memory and recall, slower reactions, and difficulty engaging with others. This isn't what you want in retirement; you want to be in as good a shape as possible to enjoy everything retirement age has to offer. So get out of bed and get a good sleeping routine in place.

Find A Hobby

A hobby can be anything you wish to do alone or with others. It's completely your choice. But finding something to do that you enjoy can be highly beneficial for brain health, mental health, and your overall quality of life.

A hobby can be discovering a love of art and indulging in it on a frequent basis, bird-spotting, trainspotting, gardening, cooking, or dancing. If you enjoy it and have a passion for it, then make it your next hobby and see how it can enrich your life and keep that brain of yours fired up.

Being able to support your brain and your body to be in the best possible condition come retirement is the accumulation of many different healthy habits you need to have in place and, of course, a healthy dose of good genes, too. If you want to make sure you're fighting fit for as long as possible in retirement, then these tips can help you do just that. Getting out, staying fit, being social, and eating a well-balanced diet while getting some good quality sleep will play a part in helping you to have a happy, healthy retirement. 

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About the Authors

 
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.

contact Billy and Akaisha at theguide@retireearlylifestyle.com

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