I was very curious when approaching retirement to see what kind of retiree I would be. Some people say that in early retirement they’re in the best shape of their lives and others seem to lean more into an “every day is a vacation” mindset aka “what’s a vegetable?” ๐ . So I was simply curious. And like most things in my life, the answer seems to be: it’s complicated ๐ . Let’s get into it.
A Working Woman
When I was working, my diet (aka food intake) and exercise regimens (or lack thereof) mostly fell by the wayside. There were a few exceptions, such as if I had one overarching goal for the year in those categories, such as when I got really into lifting in Year 2 of my careerย or when I went keto and lost 50 lbs in a year.
With those two exceptions, the rest of my almost decade long career was marked with me intending to do right by my body and give it great fuel and awesome physical challenges, only for me to very often be too tired or lazy to do so ๐ .
Retirement Year 1: Pandemic Version
Then I retired. And I didn’t have huge plans on how my diet or fitness would change at first because I was retiring in October 2020, 6 months into isolation and eating all the cheez-its I wanted without doing much moving at all ๐ .
At the time, I was not very optimistic about my chances of surviving this pandemic given my pre-existing conditions, and so I said “fuck it” and ate whatever I felt like and whatever gave me some comfort, which I’m sad to say was not green beans ๐ .
With the real possibility that I and the people I love wouldn’t be alive tomorrow, eating all the cheez-its I want seemed like a good idea. No need to try and be healthy for a long life if that long life is less likely to happen ๐ ….ahh so morbid.
So when we got vaccinated and the world started opening up a little, I was once again curious how this would shift my mindset and it went in a direction I hadn’t predicted. Since we were finally leaving the house to see the world, I felt like I was finally OFF THE LEASH!!!
Understandably, I wanted to eat everything in sight after just having my own cooking and less awesome delivery for over a year. I ate everything in sight and enjoyed it ๐ .
At the same time though we were finally outside the house and I started using my favorite type of transport: Walking, a lot more as well.
Retirement Year 2: Getting Fit & Finding Balance
Then another shift happened. It took a bit to move past my “FINALLY I can go outside!” mindset, but once I realized we were officially moving away from that locked down world and the danger became less ever present – I started being able to look at the future again and in doing so, found a balance to staying healthy and experiencing new places through food.
At the same time I started working out more than I ever have in my life and unlike in the past when I did it in spurts of max 3 months, tired myself out and then stopped, this was a long-lasting change. I’ve been exercising regularly for over a year and a half now.
So what changed? I found a balance for my food by deciding to get off keto and eat whatever I want when we’re in a new location, but after that initial exploration, getting back to keto and learning how to eat that way in a new area (which was surprisingly easy in Mรฉxico for example).
I thought it might be difficult eating keto while in Mexico๐ฒ๐ฝ, but it turns out: It's super simple. For example, I just ordered a pound of cooked carne asada and side vegetables that was delivered to my house for $10. Delicioso๐คค pic.twitter.com/XBf1fGzMIt
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) April 7, 2022
For exercise, after two years of loving bothering from my partner, I finally started trying jogging. It took the urging of my ultra-marathon runner friend from Seattle, that I can start a Run/Walk/Run, which intersperses something I at the time loathed (running) with one of my loves (walking) to finally get started. I talk about that whole journey below if you’re interested, but in summary: It worked ๐ . I loved running and still do to this day.
In addition to running, I also wanted to add other physical challenges this year to my roster. I often did these by month with my Mom and they included:
February: 30 Day Squat Challenge, Running
March: Squats, Running
April: Squats, Plank Challenge (35->60 seconds), Running
May: Squats, Bicycle Crunch Challenge (20->62/day), Running
June: Push Ups, Squats, Running
July-Nov: Running
So that’s been my life for a year – balancing when I’m eating best for my body (aka keto) and when I let the carbs back in to experience new cultures while still working my tail off in a fun way and making new personal bests often.
How's retirement going๐ค?
๐ง My mental health is the best it's ever been
๐๐พโโ๏ธI'm in the best shape I've been in since age 22
๐I've read more non-fiction books this year than the last 5 years combined
๐ฅฐI've spent more time with my loved ones than ever beforeAKA it's going well๐
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) October 11, 2021
So after some adjustment, I’m happy to report that I have never been as physically or mentally healthy as I am right now. And this claim was actually backed by blood analysis numbers on the physical front. My cholesterol numbers were “great” and I was healthy in every aspect. My blood pressure was also normal for the first time I can remember.
Conclusion
So that’s how my diet and fitness has changed in retirement. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but I think that’s not unexpected given how ridiculous the world I retired into turned out to be ๐ .
Going forward, I’m excited to continue this pattern of eating healthy often while also exploring the world through food and improving my physical health. I feel very fortunate that it didn’t take me a very long amount of time to find a balance that works for me. Who knows – maybe soon I’ll finally give in to peer pressure and run a marathon ๐ …probably not though.
How do you manage your food and exercise?
Ugh. This hits home so much for me. Thank you for giving me hope! Now to just add in a bit more walking (Iโm pre pandemic Purple with no running) while Iโm working. How exciting to think I might just have time to eat well and exercise all in the same day! A few more years. Congratulations on the great health! Keep it up.
Yeah it is pretty magical to just think about your meal plan and exercise schedule throughout the week ๐ . You’ve got this! And thank you ๐ .
I don’t think working vs being retired prevents most people from being able to stay fit. 45minutes of exercise a day is more than enough to stay lean and strong. And most everyone wastes more time than that on social media or watching cat videos. There isn’t a lot of difference in my miles walked, tennis matches played and hours of pickleball each week now versus when I had a job. Fitness and diet are either priorities for people or they aren’t, but lack of time shouldn’t be the core problem in most cases. Most of the time, people just don’t want it bad enough to pay the price or haven’t figured themselves out well enough to find a way to inspire new healthier habits. It sounds like that’s what you did and that is inspirational to those of us who love your content. I have zero will power but am very competitive. So I used my desire to win at tennis to motivate me to run and keep my weight where it should be. I have a hard time changing my nature but I have learned how to trick myself into behaving better!
That’s interesting. I’m glad that I might have provided inspiration for others and that’s cool that you’ve learned how to trick yourself into better behavior.
This is a nice reflection on differences in diet, exercise and energy between full-time work and full-time freedom. It’s hopeful and inspiring that you’re feeling better and healthier than ever. Do you feel able to try new things? And to do more things than you thought you were capable of?
My exercise and diet habits: tldr is meh. okay. could be tons better.
I’ve managed to keep some sort of consistent workout routine since I was 16. Running until I damaged my knee, then gym, swimming, and stretching. However, I don’t love the gym, and I rarely have the energy to try new things and find something that suits me better. Plus in my city, sessions for things like yoga, pilates, spinning, dancing, boxing, etc are crazy expensive per hour. Trying stuff is a serious money and time commitment, and I’m not quite there yet. Anything that requires lots of organisation is also a no. Laziness is winning more and more the older I get; though I tell myself the bare minimum is enough for now and better than nothing.
That being said, I’m also the heaviest I’ve ever been, which is a result of emotional eating, moving around less during the pandemic, and trying to address my relationship with food. So while exercise is still happening, it’s the diet that really needs work. The job doesn’t help with mindful eating – if I’m going to be in meetings all day, like today, then I have to eat when I have the time, not the inclination, and that’s really annoying. I find meal prepping very helpful and keeping a variety of foods on hand, as well as not impulse buying stuff that’s less conducive to health than, say, fruits and vegetables ๐
Thanks! As for trying new things – yes, all the activities I listed above besides walking were new for me. Meal prepping is definitely helpful as is resisting impulse buying ๐ . You’ve got this!
In my retirement, the money piece played a significant role. As someone who struggled with an eating disorder and overeating in my adolescence and adulthood (which I’ve talked about once or twice publicly), now faced with the understanding that money is not being renewed every paycheck, I still ate what I wanted but stopped when I was satisfied, and I will usually take whatever’s left for leftovers to save myself the cost of a new meal. I mean, if I’m not hungry anymore, that meal has done its job… why not enjoy it later instead of waste it now? Now, I’m in the healthiest and best shape of my life, even while eating croissants, ice cream, heavy foods, and drinking beer and wine. I’m also walking a TON, about 6 miles a day. Food is now to be thoroughly enjoyed, and I have no restrictions! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing! That’s also a very interesting post-retirement approach to “food as fuel.” I find myself doing a bit of the opposite at times unfortunately. If we’re moving on that day and haven’t found a helpful way to dispose of a certain food I just make myself eat all of it so it doesn’t go to waste. How do you deal with this?
Otherwise I do stop myself when I’m full now and take my leftovers, but that was not necessarily the case during the height of the pandemic for me – food was very comforting when I didn’t have other outlets ๐ .
Walking 6 miles a day is sensational!! I’m with you on food being something to be enjoyed ๐ .
Once we move, Iโm really looking forward to getting really into fitness, as well as learning a new language. Gonna be fit & fluent, just like you!! ๐ช๐
Haha – you’ve got this!!!
I definitely had to figure out a new routine with the pandemic — running outside which I HATED. I still don’t love it but I refuse to go into a gym without a mask, and I can’t do cardio with a mask…. and after the first year, I did go ahead and buy the good summer and winter weight jacket, running gloves, wool buffs to cover my ears (my ears are very tender!), leggings with pockets, and actual long sleeve workout tops. That definitely helps, but I think for me establishing the routine around fitness has been the key. Instead of my commute I started doing yoga in the mornings which also helped with keeping myself from throwing my back out….
Excellent for your fitness and health journey! Not sure I could do keto but it sounds like you have found your own routine/motivation/etc.! Awesome on the blood pressure ๐
All fair ๐ . I’m glad you figured out a system that works for you!
it is so encouraging this article.
Now I am in the aggressive accumulation phase so I work and save and learn. Still keep a great health because discipline on nutrition is similar with discipline on finance, BMI is 21, never cold for so more than 10 years but I never find enough time for enough for me sport (I force myself to have 70k steps per week and daily back exercises but many days I cannot handle because….no more energy. I am tired.
I’m so glad! And that’s great you’re so disciplined. It’s sounds like you’re already doing a lot. You should be proud of that ๐ .
I found, as a WOC, that even the “best” workplaces are so abusive and microaggressed that it’s hard. to envision any kind of self-care, particularly the kind that takes effort/motivation. I found I could sign up for massages, get therapy, but I had no ability to exercise. Once I liberated myself, I was able to hike more, do more yoga, lift weights etc.
So true – I felt similarly. And that’s so awesome you’re able to more of those things now ๐ !
Keep up the great work, I feel the same as you, I love walking and not a huge fan of running, but I just started running again and I forgot how good it makes you feel when you finish. I’m hoping to stick with it, that is, if my knees hold up. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Will do. That’s awesome you’re back to running. I hope your knees back you up ๐ .