In sickness and in health
Do you have wonderful plans in place for when you stop working?
I hope so! I’m sure you’ve been nurturing your pension pot for some time…
I also hope you’re nurturing your health, your nutrition, your eating and lifestyle habits too.
Because if you’re not – that hard earned pension pot won’t be used for what it was intended.
Time to wake up and smell the coffee!
Did you know that most of the leading causes of premature death…
- Heart disease
- Cancers
- Strokes
- Dementia
- Diabetes
- Septicaemia
…can all be avoided by eating a well-balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle?
Isn’t it tragic when you hear of someone, newly retired, struck down by ill health?
As we are told by financial advisors – taking a long hard look at our financial reality may feel scary and something you want to avoid, but if we don’t do it we won’t know what steps to take first to make it better.
I’d like to take that line and apply it to our eating and lifestyle habits too.
It’s time to make yourself a priority.
And I do get how difficult that can be when we are juggling a busy work and family life. And just like our finances, it’s all too easy to ignore the details of these all-important areas.
When I speak to people about changing their eating and lifestyle habits, most say they know ‘what it is’, they know ‘what to do’, but they just don’t get around to doing it.
Human nature always has us putting off changes until Monday, next month, the New Year!
But none of us are getting any younger!
A simple way forward
Many perceive losing weight, improving fitness and health as ‘hard work’, ‘no fun’, ‘it’s gonna hurt!’.
You may think that you’re going to have to change everything!
So how about we DON’T call them ‘changes’?
We DON’T put ourselves on some crazy ‘diet’?
We don’t try to be someone/thing we’re not?
How about we simply endeavour to…
- Eat our 5 a day?
- Cut down on sugar?
- Drink slightly more water, a little less beer/wine at the weekend?
- Get out for a short walk more regularly…
Making small adjustments that are simple to implement and enjoyable will become permanent habits, and these bring big rewards!
Let’s take that mid-afternoon coffee and biscuits for example and swap them for a large glass of water and a banana.
So simple yet the benefits are far reaching – you’ll rehydrate, there’ll be no spike in your blood sugar levels, your body will get a much-needed kick of fibre and potassium AND you’ll get a boost to your energy levels – far more than you’d get from the coffee and biscuits!
Research shows that success comes when you break down changes into bite sized chunks (pun intended!)
Why not keep a food diary
One of the simplest things you can do to make a start is to keep an honest food diary for a week, WITHOUT changing anything – not very easy when you’re writing everything down. We all underestimate what we eat (by 20%!) – this exercise will highlight areas that you can tackle quickly and simply.
Here’s a copy of my free food diary if you want to give it a go. And I’d be very happy to take a look at it…if you’re brave enough to share it with me! 😉
‘A healthy man wants a thousand things; a sick man only wants one.’ Confucius
That is definitely one of my favourite quotes. We can drift though life, not realising our actions today are going to seriously impact our tomorrow. We just don’t appreciate our health until it’s gone.
By looking after your eating and lifestyle habits, you’re investing in your future. NOW is always a great time to start making improvements.
Most of my clients speak of the overall relief, simply from taking that initial positive action to make some changes.
A great way to focus the mind (aside from having a chat with me!) is to book a free NHS Health Check.
Now I know the mere thought strikes fear in many – if that’s you…why? Probably the very reason you need to make yourself a priority and make a few changes!
Many of those leading causes of premature death I mentioned at the start are silent killers, it really is worth facing the music now and getting yourself checked out.
And if you start making changes before the appointment – you will be able to tell the doctor you’ve made a start on improving things so they won’t tell you off 🙂
The question remains, what is more important: your pension pot or your health?
Or do they go hand in hand?
You’re working hard building a pot of money to enjoy in your later years but if you don’t look after yourself you might not have those later years to enjoy.
It doesn’t have to be scary.
It doesn’t have to be hard.
But you know it has to be done.
I for one am planning on spending my pension pot on travel, cruises and the like – not on carers and nursing aids.
What about you?
If you’re ready to make your health as important as your pension pot and would like to talk to someone impartial, let’s have a chat – book here for a virtual cuppa. I’ll put the kettle on!
