Retired GoaDies
myallforjcbill
Posts: 6,090 Member
I begin my retirement Thursday and will spend most of my time at home taking care of the house, meal planning and cooking, & projects as my back allows. I am wondering what advice you might have to avoid some of the pitfalls of being home all day without the distraction of work to keep me from eating myself to new heights of scaledom. The last few months of being forced to work at home haven't gone well. Some of it is the emotions of battling back issues and realizing it is time to shut things down for all the wrong reasons. But I could use some practical advice or testimonies.
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1. do not turn on the TV!!!!
2. Set a specific hour aside for sitting at the computer screen ( not all day )
3. Get out of the house
4. Establish a schedule for all of the things you want to do either every day or one time
5. Remember that you are retired, and if one thing you try to fill the time doesn't work out, no big deal try something else.
6. Make the kitchen your friend not your enemy, spend lots of time researching planning and preparing healthy meals.
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If you don't mind my asking, what's up with your back? My jobs in retirement are fitness and recreation. About 6 weeks and I'll be full time in Key West where I have a full plate of recreation.
In KW we bought a tiny condo that won't require much care taking. So my caretaking goes into keeping my body going. I think I've got my own back under control. Currently working on my feet.
I like the above list. But I'd start with anything you might do to help your back. Back trouble sucks. It can keep you from being active and confined to the house.
To rattle on a bit, my confined to the house strategy is the dirty job. It's easy to get up from the computer and head to the kitchen. Fixing the upstairs toilet, not so much.0 -
I'm not retired but did take a few years off after I sold my business. Similar to the previous poster, I built a daily routine and focused on enjoying the things I rarely had time to do or had to rush through due to work.
My routine was...
Wake up early (5am - 6am range)
Sit with husband and drink coffee, watch news, read a magazine or log on to websites of interest. Then prep hubs breakfast and lunch that he took with him.
I did that for about 1-1.5 hours
Next was shower and dress.
Make breakfast for myself & eat
Clean kitchen
By 10am I left the house typically to:
Run errands or grocery shop etc. I would make these little pleasant adventures by stopping by places I always wanted to check out, or getting a coffee etc. and just enjoying the no time pressure.
Workouts M W F
Socialize with family or friends when anyone was available, pre scheduled.
This lasted at least 2-4 hours with each day a little different
Typically home by 3pm to start dinner prep and cooking at a relaxed pace.
During the dinner prep, watched a little TV (since it was in the adjacent room)
After dinner prep and setting the table etc. I would sit down and read until my husband came home and then we would have dinner.
After dinner we would walk the neighborhood or a park near by.
Then between 7:30 and 8am we watched a little TV and then went to sleep...we are early to bed early to rise people.
If I did not leave the house I spent most of my time taking care of things that fell behind while working, little house projects, organizing documents and PC etc.
The time off was a highlight in my life...and I look forward to retirement!0 -
Re my back. Degenerative disks that started up about 18 months ago. In 2 years I have gone from being a marathoner to being inactive primarily due originally due to a bad knee and then daily nerve pain in the hip, lower leg and ankle and a tight back. I have changed medical teams and am now pain free due to mega doses of gabapentin while receiving Facet joint injections and trigger point treatments. This leaves me pretty drowsy at times. The expectation is that we will cauterize the nerve endings based on how I respond. Starting day 1 of retirement I start a 6 week course on posture and back management following the Gokhale methodology. I am just cleared to start slowly ramping up walking. The issues of emotional eating are calming down now.1
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I retired 2010 and did "nothing" for two years...that got old.
Now I go to water aerobics 4X week, I got a group of friends at dog park that meet and discuss news, sports and talk about the past. I meet others who retired from the USAF base where we all worked in HR. We have a lunch once a month.
It's important to get out and be with people. Wife and I volunteer at SCPA on Saturday, and I enjoy volunteering at LPGA golf tournament.
Keep busy and enjoy it.0 -
I'm bookmarking this thread in case I win the MegaMillions lottery tonight.0
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Thank you for your help. I will reread this a few times over the next few days. This is a surprisingly emotional time.0
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Bill, over the six years since I retired I have maintained my weight under goal, with some minor fluctuations. The key has been staying active and busy. There hasn't been a single path to doing that. For a while I was into the gym. I worked out four days a week for a couple years. I really got into hiking after that, hitting mountain trails two or three days a week. The whole time I have enjoyed woodworking and puttering around in my shop. I also volunteered in a local museum for a couple years. The point of this is to just follow your interests. Find something you are passionate about and pursue it. You have time, now, with no interference from a job. I have to think that you will work through the back issues, as rotten as it has been, and get back to being more physically active, but mental activity is even more important.1
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I want to add, I hope your back issues are diminished and that you can enjoy your retirement. After working for years and the level of activity you used to enjoy it must be very difficult, hoping the docs can get you to a good place. Keep us posted on progress & be good to yourself.0
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I feel really badly about your back and hope that something helps ya out in that regard. Just sux in my book. I have 4 fused thoracic vertebrae in the middle of my book below the shoulder blades but am grateful that it hasn't bothered me much once I recovered.
I have been at goal weight since 2008 using the tools I learned on WW. Activity helps but I have done OK recovering from injuries and zippo activity too.
In my case recovering from a pelvic/pubic crush fracture (closer to hip than in the middle I did walking for rehab and now walk about 3 miles in the morning before serious coffee and then bike (much easier on me) for an hour more or less daily most days too.
I am taking a yoga class and try to make it at least once a week.
I did do the volunteer Master Gardener thing when I first retired too. We also travel to far flung places at times too. I also took up flamenco guitar (I had studied a little classical guitar years ago) and enjoyed playing for student dancers in local performances too. My lady from Spain moved backed to Cadiz so not doing that now. I probably need to add some more stuff now but don't want to get overbooked either.
Oh and I have done the "Team in Training" bike ride and fundraiser for the Lake Tahoe ("America's Best Bike Ride") to raise money for Leukemia Lymphoma Society three times in the last four years.0 -
Bill - I'm hoping you do find some more permanent relief for your back. Sounds like you have a good treatment team.0
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Been retired 3 years and have maintained my weight over that time by staying active by walking, gym 2-3 days per week and hiking. 9 months ago became a puppy raiser for the Guide Dog Foundation and this wonderful dog has given my retired life new purpose.0
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@myallforjcbill , that sounds really tough! I hope you have good success with your current team, treatments and rehab. I can see where it might be hard to keep your chin up some days but maybe retirement will actually help your progress so you can focus when you have to, rest when needed and enjoy some of your time when you can. Hopefully that and your mobility will increase as your pain decreases. Hang in there, buddy!0
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