I tend to ponder things when I am driving in the car starting with one subject and ending on another. Like looking at how to knit videos on YouTube and somehow end up watching funny cat videos. Regardless of my thought patterns, I became quite concerned about retirement and not only retirement, but my physical state when I get there. I am assuming "middle-aged" is when adults tend to start their planning, but where is all this money going to go to? Living expenses? Of course we do not want to have to work till our grave and need security of our future. Health care? I know I certainly do not want my hard earned money used up on medical bills. When I am of retirement age I plan on being active and mobile. Which reminds me of a quote: "We spend the first half of our lives wasting our health to gain wealth. And the second half of our lives spending our wealth to regain our health."
The longevity and condition of your body needs to be thought of as a retirement plan. What kind of condition will you be in 10, 15, 20 years from now? Some factors you can not control, but what you do have control over is how you take care of yourself. Prevention is the key here, feeding your body with what it needs, staying active, and maintaining a healthy weight.
I'm always inspired by folks from the older population. I see them at the gym on the treadmills and I see them out riding the same trails I do. Two particularly, the first is an older gentleman who trains at a gym I went t. I believe he is in his 70's. He definitely has a following and loves what he does. Second is a woman in her 60's riding on the mountain bike trail. I asked her how she stays so fit. Her answer was she just always took care of herself and stayed active. Sounds simple enough? To a lot of us it isn't. It's a struggle and everyday planning, but any effort made has benefits then no effort at all.
Sedentary Lifestyle Vs Active Lifestyle
Sedentary lifestyle is a medical term used to denote a type of lifestyle with no or irregular physical activity. There are many common health risk factors that can contribute to this kind of lifestyle such as:
Anxiety
Cardiovascular disease
Mortality in elderly men by 30% and double the risk in elderly women
Deep vein thrombosis
Depression
Diabetes
Colon cancer
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Obesity
Osteoporosis
Lipid disorders
Kidney stones
An active lifestyle can reduce these factors! What donates as being active? Moderate aerobic exercise 3 to 5 days a week for 20 to 60mins at a time. This includes walking, jogging, biking, skating, cardio classes, elliptical, basically anything that gets your heart rate up. A study published in JAMA showed that it is never too late to reap the benefits of physical activity. Sedentary women 65 years and older who began walking a mile a day cut their rates of death from all causes by 50%!
In conclusion, you only receive one vessel to live your life in. Prepare for it's future and yours.