Month: September 2026

When Did Healthy Living Become So Complicated?

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

The advent of easy access to social media often leaves a person in a perpetual state of inadequacy. A nagging sense that we are not doing it right, or that we are not enough. A well-intentioned self-improvement journey can easily turn into an insatiable monster. I enjoy the inspiration and knowledge that the Internet provides as much as anyone, but it can easily become a deep, dark hole. It has certainly made healthy living a lot more complicated.

If we follow all of the recommendations coming at us, then we should be eating more protein, creatine, collagen, fiber, Omega-3s, leafy greens, and on and on the list goes. Not to mention that the list changes every few years. Remember when eggs were on the “no no” list? Now they are recommended for their protein and nutrients.

Supplements are another big push. We should be taking magnesium for sleep, zinc for the immune system, probiotics for gut health, Vitamin D for our bones, we should not be taking estrogen after menopause because it can cause breast cancer, but we should take it after menopause for our bone health. Argh. I am a nurse and the glut of information even overwhelms me.

How did exercise become so complicated?

When I was growing up, there were not a lot of gyms around. Our parents stayed healthy by doing manual labor. My dad spent his time off from work gardening, cutting wood and doing yard work. While he enjoyed reading, he spent most of his leisure time outdoors. He did not need to go to a gym, nor did he have time for it. He spent his time reaping the benefits of nature’s gym. It was simpler back then. And he lived to be a healthy 99 years old.

Now the “experts” suggest we should be walking, weight training, doing yoga and/or Pilates. And now I can’t just walk, I need to do it with a weighted vest to make it a worthwhile exercise. Apparently, it doesn’t really count unless I track it to make sure I get my 10,000 steps in. And if you want to look decent while you are exercising, you need to wear $125 leggings with a Lululemon logo on them. Don’t forget to take a water bottle to stay hydrated. And it needs to be stainless steel and BPA free. Honestly, it is enough to make me want to stay inside and read a good book.

It has all become too complicated for me. And when it gets complicated, I don’t want to do it. Or I don’t follow through and then feel guilty and like a failure. Of course I want to be healthy. Who doesn’t? We each have to step back and determine what healthy choices we can live with – what is easiest for us to stay committed to for the long haul.

I am much more likely to exercise if I can do it in nature’s gym, preferably near water.

What does your retirement health journey look like?

I think all of us, particularly in retirement, want to make our health a priority. I know that I do. However, everyone is different in what inspires them to stay on their health journey. I equivalent my commitment to health as a part-time job. It needs to be non-negotiable. Like a job, we set aside the time for it and we do it even when we don’t feel like it.

But how do we wade through all of the information and determine what is right for us? I think that it is a very individual choice. The most important factor is that it is something you can live with for the long haul. Something you will stick to. It helped to ask myself a few questions:

  • What motivates me to stay healthy? Maybe it is being able to play with the grandchildren or being strong enough to put my own suitcase in the overhead bin on the airplane.
  • Would I prefer to work out alone with my EarPods listening to an interesting podcast, or would I prefer to work out with a group of people around me for inspiration?
  • Do all of the latest health gadgets available inspire me and keep me accountable, or do they overwhelm me and make me want to take a nap?
  • Am I more likely to exercise if I have the latest equipment and clothes or does finding them, making sure they are clean and ready when I need them just add another step to the process of procrastination?
  • Do I enjoy taking the time to prepare and cook elaborate meals, or do I want something that is quick and easy but still healthy?
  • Would I prefer to lift weights at home in front of the T.V. or at a gym with a trainer encouraging me?
  • How much time am I willing to devote each week to my health journey?

The best health tactic for me is KISS: keep it simple, stupid. I don’t want managing my health to be so cumbersome and overwhelming that I don’t do it. My best bet is keeping it simple for both diet and exercise.

The 80/20 rule for diet

Eating a wide variety of foods as close to their natural state as possible is delicious, healthy and easy.

Have you ever noticed that, if you think you cannot have a certain food item ever again, that food is all that you can think about? You want it more than anything else. Psychological Reactance is when people respond to a restrictive force by fighting back against it. Just ask any teenager. But this is also true with particular foods. Tell me that I can NEVER have pizza again and that is all I want to eat. That is why diets that restrict particular foods usually don’t work for long. (Of course, this does not pertain to people who have significant health issues related to certain foods.)

At this point in my life, I want to enjoy every taste and experience fully. After all, I don’t know how many years I have left on this earth. I am a foodie and I feel like eating is one of the great pleasures in life. No one wants to restrict their diet so much that it is not enjoyable. I love a good salad, but eating it every single night would become tiresome and boring. Life is too short not to savor a huckleberry milkshake every once in a while. The key is moderation as I wrote about in a previous post, Two Words to Maintain Your Health.

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Michael Pollen

Counting calories is cumbersome and following restrictive diets usually does not work for the long term. The answer, for me, is the 80/20 principal. It you choose healthy options 80% of the time, you can enjoy those foods that you love, but might not be so healthy, 20% of the time. It is a general guideline that I can live with.

Decide what works and make it sticky

There are so many health issues that are beyond our control. Numerous diseases and cancers blindside all of us. And good genes will only take us so far. Then it is up to us. So, it is highly important to determine what works for you at this stage in life. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or complicated. Persistence and perseverance are the keys to exercise. Eating things as close to nature as possible and in moderation are the keys to diet.

I have years of unhealthy choices under my belt, both figuratively and literally. But it is never too late to improve that. And now that I am retired, I have more time to dedicate to my health. No one is going to come in and save us from our own unhealthy choices. Only we can do that. And for me, that starts with making it less complicated so it is something I will stick to.

Cheers to healthy retirement years!

Retirement Metamorphosis

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

It is kind of a big word, metamorphosis, but it describes what often happens if we are doing retirement right – if we are growing and changing and becoming. There are too many stagnant retirees sitting around. You know the ones. All they want to talk about is their life before they retired. They find a way to mention what they did for a living, how big their company was or how many direct reports they had. I hate to break it to them, but no one cares anymore. We are career “has beens.” It is time for a metamorphosis.

What is retirement metamorphosis?

Metamorphosis is the biological change that happens as something grows. Once you go through metamorphosis you are no longer the same and there is no going back. Every retirement should experience a metamorphosis. We should not be the same person we were when we were working 40+ hours per week. We finally have time to do those things that are deep within us. Things that stir our soul. Things that don’t pay the bills, but make our hearts sing.

I know several retirees that are using this time to evolve. They are building an interesting retirement lifestyle. Let me give you a few real-life examples:

  • A retired physician has become an artist and sells his work at the Pacific Artists’ Co-op Art Gallery on the Oregon Coast.
  • A retired marketing rep. expanded her interest in gardening to become a master gardener and now runs a small nursery, and on-line store called The Coeur d’Alene Coop – Raising Chickens and Urban Gardening.
  • A retired nurse thrifts quality clothing and recreates it into beautiful, one-of-a-kind bags to sell on her Etsy shop.
  • A retired radiology technician took some pottery making classes and now teaches it at the local college.
  • A retired schoolteacher upcycles furniture and decorative items that he and his wife sell in their vendor booth at a local vintage market.

None of these retirees need the money they bring in from their hobbies. Each started out doing it because they wanted to create. They wanted to express themselves and grow and become. None of them wanted to spend their retirement years sitting around watching T.V. or doomscrolling. They used these bonus years to metamorphosize into a new version of themselves in retirement.

You can sit around and rust out in retirement. Or… you can take the time and effort to metamorphosize your retirement into something worth living for.

Am I really a writer?

When I retired, I decided I wanted to devote time to creative writing, so I started this blog. But I don’t consider myself a writer. I don’t get paid to do it. I haven’t written a book, and I don’t have any advertising or affiliate marketing on my blog. Matter of fact, it costs money to maintain this blog. (Hum… it would be nice if it would pay for itself.) I write because it is something that I love to do, and I enjoy the interaction with readers and other bloggers. However, I don’t consider myself “a writer.” Or I didn’t. But now I am having second thoughts.

I recently had the pleasure of being asked to provide a guest post on one of my favorite retirement blogs, The Retirement Manifesto. If you do not already read this blog, I would highly recommend it. It is a popular, well written retirement blog that I have read for years. I consider it the gold standard of retirement blogs, so I was honored when Fritz reached out to ask if I would provide a guest post.

Maybe I have metamorphosized into a writer in retirement after all.

“Working” from home on my blog in the early morning hours.

Metamorphosizing and money

Still, the question lingers in the back of my mind, do you have to be paid to consider yourself an artist, writer, or gardener? Do you have to paid for your creations to consider it a metamorphosis? Perhaps that line of thinking is a holdover from our careers, or our society in general. We assign value to something if others are willing to use their hard-earned cash to get it. It is the universal stamp of approval.

But just ask any of the creative retirees that I mentioned above, and they will tell you they started their hobby long before they got money for it. It erupted from an inner desire to create. To grow and challenge themselves and to add something of beauty to the world.

One retiree’s metamorphosis led to building an entire little town behind his house. Not because he felt he should, or needed to for any particular reason, but because he was drawn to do it. His creativity was seeking a way to be released. It did not make him any money. Matter of fact, he and his lovely wife spent a lot of money building it and filling it with authentic details. And boy did he ever create an amazing little town. You can read about Bobville here.

In conclusion

In retirement, we don’t need to get paid or sponsored by a company. While the extra money is always nice, we don’t typically need it to buy groceries. We do not need to be paid to consider it a metamorphosis. Anyone can do it.

Your retirement metamorphosis can be starting a new health journey at 65, or committing to a hike out in nature every week, or perfecting the art of making sour dough bread. Maybe your metamorphosis is taking up journaling while you enjoy the quiet moments of reflection that you did not have time for when you were working. It doesn’t matter what it is, and you don’t need to get paid to do it. What matters is that you continue to grow and create and change… even in retirement. Maybe especially then.

I have been trying my hand at watercolor. I am definitely not an artist, but I am enjoying the relaxing process of it. There are plenty of tutorials available, as well as face-to-face classes to learn the technique. I like that there is minimal investment to get started and it is portable. I have made a few watercolor cards for family and friends, but I will never be great at it. The important thing is that I am enjoying it and that it stretches me to learn and grow.

What does your retirement metamorphosis look like? Are you still evolving into the lifestyle you want to be living in these bonus years? Is there something lingering in the back of your brain that you really want to do or try? Not because you should, or because you will get paid for it, but just because it intrigues you. The beauty of it is that we get to decide.

Cheers to the retirement years!

Retirement Drift

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

I was at a community picnic a few weeks ago and was chatting with an acquaintance. She has been retired for several years while her husband, a physician, still works a couple days a week. Initially, her retirement was full of travel and involvement in politics. She was still relatively healthy, so I asked her what she was up to now. She paused, and sadly responded, “well… I watch a lot of T.V. ” My heart dropped. This is a person who has clearly fallen into retirement drift.

What is retirement drift?

We spent years saving and planning for retirement. It is thrilling to walk out the door that last day of work with total freedom and rest waiting for you. After all, we worked our whole lives and deserve some time to relax during business hours, right? Absolutely. However, too many weeks, months and then years, of unstructured, unchallenged days that lack direction can lead to lethargy, a lack of purpose and depression. Like any bad habit, retirement drift happens insidiously… one too many T.V. shows at a time.

When you are in retirement drift, your days blur into each other. Your life loses purpose and meaning. You lack motivation and energy. And you start to think, retirement is not what I expected.

Retirement drift is not a failure; it is a signal. It is the siren that warns you that you are entering a danger zone and you need to recalibrate. You need to change your direction. Too much freedom without some structure and intention can easily fall into retirement drift. It is said that you don’t want to retire away from something, but rather, you want to retire to something. Most of us our a little burned out when we finally decide to retire, but you still need to have some active hobbies and interests that draw you towards retirement. Things you have been looking forward to spending more time doing.

Here is the problem with retirement drift. It happens very slowly. Kind of like the story of the frog that sits in the pot of warm water that is slowly turned up to a boil, and he never jumps out because it occurs so gradually. I don’t think most people plan to fall into retirement drift, it just happens over time if you are not on your guard and take action to prevent it.

The problem with retirement drift is that you can eventually end up stuck on shore, not experiencing life fully.

How to avoid retirement drift.

I don’t think anyone wants to fall into retirement drift. My acquaintance was clearly not happy with her life. So how do we avoid it? The best way to prevent retirement drift is to be an active participant in your own life. Don’t get too comfortable sitting on the bleachers watching everyone else playing the game. Yes, it takes effort to jump in, but the fun and joy outweigh the effort every time. Here a few ways to avoid sliding into retirement drift.

  • Commit to a loose schedule. Commit to a few things that get you out of the house and engaging with other people every week. I typically meet up with my sister once a week, a friend on Fridays and watch my grandson on Mondays. I know retirees that volunteer, play Mahjong, or pickleball every week. It doesn’t matter what it is, it just matters that you do it. It adds structure and purpose to your retirement and helps prevent retirement drift.
  • Be engaged and engaging. My acquaintance’s comment about watching T.V. all the time, was a real conversation stopper. How do you respond to that? And quite honestly, I thought… this is not someone I want to be or become good friends with. If you want to have an engaged retirement, you have to start by being engaging.
  • Commit to one activity that gives you energy. Start with just one. Maybe it is dusting off an old hobby that got left on a shelf during the busy years. Or maybe it is something you have always been curious about. Read up on it. Buy the supplies. Take a class and ask questions of others that are already doing it. Many retirees are joining Meetup groups of people that have similar interests.
  • Stay active. Move your body. Get out and walk, ride bike, kayak, garden, swim, or whatever moves you… literally. Aside from all of the health benefits of physical activity, it boosts our confidence and morale. We are literally taking action, not just drifting along. Bonus that it gives you something interesting to talk about.
  • Be interested and interesting. I am going to share a little pet peeve of mine. I enjoy meeting new retirees and learning how they are managing this new phase in life. But, more often than not, instead of a two-way conversation, it becomes a complete history of their lives and all I have contributed are a few questions and several “uh hum’s.” While I enjoy hearing about their lives, I would like it to be more than a one-sided conversation. If you want to have an interesting retirement, you have to be interested and interesting.

Quit drifting and make a few waves

Make a few waves in these bonus years to prevent retirement drift.

We are in the process of planning a trip to Europe. Due to family commitments, we have not traveled overseas for several years. We seem to have lost a little bit of confidence and energy in that gap. We find that we have less of a carefree attitude when trying to figure out the logistics. Planning and decision-making feel more stressful. We are jumping in anyway. If we don’t push past our comfort zones, we can easily become stagnant and start to drift.

Retirement drift happens by slowly disengaging with life, people and interests. Usually, it is the path of least resistance. But if you have your health, retirement should not be a slow decline of life. It is not an ending. It is a new phase, and it should be some of our most interesting and engaging years. Never before have we had the time, money and freedom to explore what we are curious about. Just because we don’t have a job to go to, doesn’t mean we quit living. Quite the opposite. It is the perfect time to become more ourselves than ever before.

Cheers to the retirement years!