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catjune7148 wrote: »

I am 2 months shy of my 59th birthday. Retired from a stressful public school teaching job 6 months ago. Moved my last child into her college dorm yesterday. Feeling lost, and a little sorry for myself.

Is there anything you wanted to do that you didn't have time for before now?

Sending you a friend request. Now is a great time to put some energy into taking more care of *you*. You'll have time for exercise and logging foods...and relaxing and having fun...! Consider volunteer work, maybe teaching English to new immigrants or working in a food bank, free medical clinic, etc... to stay busy, meet new people and keep a sense of giving to the community. This is a great time in your life, believe it or not!

Give yourself a bit of time. I remember for the first 6 months after I retired, I rested and did exactly what I wanted to do - If I wanted to sit and read I did; watched movies and surprisingly, I went to the gym every morning and found I really enjoyed it. I made some friends too by taking a few low impact exercise classes. Don't feel sorry for yourself - you should be proud that you raised your daughter to this point - and now it is time for her to learn to fly on her own - with you keeping the safety net on the phone. You will have to develop some hobbies. You can always volunteer or start a small business, but for heaven's sake, don't feel that you have to. Would you like to take on some one on one tutoring with a few kids - or even register as a substitute teacher.
As far as having more time, you can focus on you. You'll have time to make healhty low calorie foods, you'll have time to record your tracking. But most of all - you are starting a new phase of your life. Be happy and enjoy!