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| dancing in Sedona |
Health issues became a nagging
problem when my husband and I RVed full-time.
Cardiovascular problems plagued Bill while gastrointestinal and other
stress-related conditions hounded me. Mesmerized
by America’s beauty, we were always on the go, forgetting to keep fit. We should
have paid more attention to it in three areas: exercise, food intake, and
healthcare.
Regular Exercise
Before our RV cruising days, we went
to the gym regularly. However, campground fitness facilities proved
inconsistent when we started our cross-continent runs. We thought hiking would
be our main regimen, but many times hordes of mosquitoes feasted on us! And it was
either too cold or too hot. And, even if sightseeing meant plenty of walking,
it was only strolling.
Over time, we learned that we just had
to do at least two of the following or suffer the consequences. When Fitbits
became popular, we aimed to do at least 6,000 steps a day.
1. Play a sport for at least 30 minutes five
times a week. Choose from available facilities: table tennis, billiards,
mini-golf, golf, tennis, and pickleball. Or dance!
3. Exercise for at least 30 minutes, five
times a week, gym or no gym. YouTube offers many exercise videos. We like
Jennifer McClendon.
2. Walk for 30 minutes at least five times
a week after dinner.
Healthy Food Intake
During our early cruising days in our
smaller RV, we would cut up a lot of veggies and fruits and have nuts available
for snacking on, with lots of water to wash them down, while we moved from
place to place. When we settled at campgrounds longer, nesting in a bigger RV,
we began to cook more meals. Loving to try local cuisine, we succumbed to heartier
eating.
When the Blue Zones became well-known, we went into a modified Longevity Diet: more vegetables, legumes, nuts,
whole grains, and fruits, regularly adding fish and seafood, and occasionally, chicken,
pork, or beef. We had to make the following rules:
1. Eat one big meal a day, preferably
lunch, and two other small ones or just two regular meals, late breakfast and
early dinner.
2. Graze throughout the day with light
morning, afternoon, and evening snacks, such as nuts, fruits, or vegetables.
3. Eat out infrequently, preferably only
during an occasion for celebration, and compensate with smaller meals the rest
of the day when we do.
In addition, we discovered two novel
ways of skipping a meal at least once a week. One is to have a popcorn lunch
while watching a movie in the theater. The other is to lunch with free Costco food
samples when we shop for supplies.
When we started to travel the world after
our RVing phase, we stayed in our timeshare units. They always have kitchens,
enabling shopping at local groceries, where there are many goodies we don’t
find in stores back home, and cooking new and exciting local fare.
Beginning in 2019, we converted our
El Cid timeshares in Mexico to be all-inclusive. Instead of encouraging us to
eat more, we became smart and upped our resolve with buffets’ abundant seafood,
vegetable, and fruit choices.
Preventive Healthcare
At the beginning of our full-time
RVing, we forgot about preventive healthcare. Later we became snowbirds and settled
our RV in Phoenix every winter. It was the smartest decision we ever made.
There is excellent care for seniors because of the high population of retired
and visiting seniors. Arizona ranks #15 among the 50 states in terms of elderly
care. It is one of the reasons we chose to settle here permanently. We found an
excellent family doctor who keeps track of regular screens and refers us to the
best specialists needed.
We travel less now but the habits we
formed have stayed with us. With regular exercise, healthy food intake, and consistent
preventive healthcare, we look forward to some travel, even past our 70s and
80s.
PINNABLE IMAGE