Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Depending on the weather, Howard Adriance may be skiing or hiking. Maybe he's mountain biking.
The one thing he's almost certainly not doing right now is sitting at home. How, he wonders, is that enjoyable
'Cooped up, I really get crotchety,'' the Kingston resident explains.
And so it's go, go, go.
It has been that way ever since he left the lab at IBM-Poughkeepsie 27 years ago.
He never looked back, he says. But why look back when so much lies ahead? That seems as true today as it was then, even though Adriance is now 82.
.....
Referring to neighbors of his vintage, who seem content plodding along at home, he says, ''I can't imagine living like that. I don't know how they stand it. I'd go bananas.''
No surprise there. For Howard Adriance, after all, its all about looking and moving forward.''
I am about to turn 68; wife is 65, her brother (who lives separately on our property) is 70, and my own brother, staying with us all summer, is 65. The 4 of us span 65 to 70, inclusive.
None of us is sickly. My BIL had bypass surgery at age 63, and I had both knees replaced at 65. We both feel that these procedures were the best thing we could have done, and allowed us to go back to an active lifestyle ASAP. You would not know by looking at us, that we'd had this work done.
Life here in northern Maine is the best it's ever been. We're all retired, all active and busy on this land, all have hearty appetites, and we all enjoy this time that we have together. I noticed that I only sleep 6-7 hours per night, vs the precious 8-9 hrs, but my doc says that is OK and actually common. I take no meds; of the 4 of us, only my BIL takes 2 meds, after his heart surgery.
The human mind is in control of the human body, to a great extent. If you fear being ill, if you expect to be ill, you set yourself up to actually being ill. Too many of us forget how many illnesses we had in our youth and middle age, and imagine ourselves to be more fragile and sickly than we are.
Break out a good bottle of wine and drink up! You come from a very good year!
My next door neighbor in the town I grew up in emigrated from Hungary.
He was a fencing instructor for the University of Penn years ago and also coached a USA Olympic team.
He was still teaching fencing and also water skiing into his early 80's.
He passed quite some time ago.
I was proud to have known the "maestro" Lajos S. Csiszar.
He was in the United States fencing hall of fame and died at the age of 93.
I retired with full benefits at 56. I have arthritis in my knees, but it is improving since I started yoga and working out with weight machines at the neighborhood gym. Water aerobics helps too. My knees hurt when I first stand up, but two steps later they are fine. No other complaints.
I love being retired. I read a lot, mess around on the computer a lot, and watch a lot of PBS and Nat Geo on TV. The beach is 4 miles away. Life is good.
Retired at 58. Now I'm 63 and feel great. I'm relaxed, sleep well and have no worries. No aches and pains. I hike 5 miles or more a day from 7,000 to 10,000 feet elevation. Sometimes my back is a bit sore but nothing an aspirin can't handle.
As a medical professional, I am curious about all of the knee problems in relatively young people. Knees are certainly vulnerable as we age so I am very sympathetic, too. Were these stress-related, in some way?
I can relate to the OP. I retired due to a serious work accident, but I had always planned to work out at the Y (which I have done for years while working) on a daily basis and to do some volunteer work when I did retire.
I work out about 5 or 6 time a week and I can honestly say that I am not energized from it. I am exhausted most of the time, but I do think some of that is that my thyroid meds need to be upped. I do find that I am so tired when I go to bed that I sleep through the night without any problem. Even my volunteer work, which is only 2 hours a week, leaves me exhausted.
My work injury leaves me in pain 24/7, but if you stop moving, you will just grow older much faster, imo. I make myself as active as possible, cook nutritious meals, and stay mentally informed. I do worry what will happen in 5 or 10 years if I feel like this now, but I have no plans to stop any of this. We have to do our best, try to improve, and work with what we have.
OP, I'll chime in what many others have said with some examples for it's critical.....your health and how you feel is largely in your control. While we retired in our mid-40's and haven't reached the age range you mentioned(though we still feel great), I can tell you my dad even in his 70's felt great and was able to pursue all of his hobbies throughout his retirement without feeling like he was going to fall apart. Sure he had an ache hear and there but it was minor and didn't hamper what he wanted to do in life. And he was on zero meds is entire life. He stayed active, exercised, and ate well. We know another couple in their early 70's who were on the "typical" meds(high cholesterol, blood pressure, etc), overweight, etc who decided to change their lifestyle and took up eating a whole plant food diet and have been doing so for years now. As a result, they dropped all their meds as a result of cleaning up their diet and got back to their early adult life weight and have bundles of energy and feel much better than they did in their early life when they didn't take care of themselves. They are active traveling and doing whatever they want in life. They live in FL and he drives for 12+ hours a day on road trips, takes long walks everyday, play long rounds of golf, etc. They have more energy and look better than many people I know in their 30's and 40's because they took control of their health and their habits.
So sure, if one retires and is overweight, eats a less than ideal diet especially over many decades, it will indeed catch up to the vast majority of us. It's ironic to me that many people who are very good at planning their finances for retirement don't plan/keep up on the most critical thing in my view to having a happy and fulfilling retirement....their own health.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
And no doubt look it.
), I can tell you my dad even in his 70's felt great and was able to pursue all of his hobbies throughout his retirement without feeling like he was going to fall apart. Sure he had an ache hear and there but it was minor and didn't hamper what he wanted to do in life. And he was on zero meds is entire life. He stayed active, exercised, and ate well. We know another couple in their early 70's who were on the "typical" meds(high cholesterol, blood pressure, etc), overweight, etc who decided to change their lifestyle and took up eating a whole plant food diet and have been doing so for years now. As a result, they dropped all their meds as a result of cleaning up their diet and got back to their early adult life weight and have bundles of energy and feel much better than they did in their early life when they didn't take care of themselves. They are active traveling and doing whatever they want in life. They live in FL and he drives for 12+ hours a day on road trips, takes long walks everyday, play long rounds of golf, etc. They have more energy and look better than many people I know in their 30's and 40's because they took control of their health and their habits.
