OK, so I like good food, good beer, and good whisky. I have a routine now where I don't drink when I have to go into the office the next day, and I very rarely go out to eat on a weeknight because we have a high school aged child in the house. But once we're empty nesters, especially when we're retired, I'm concerned that I'll be going to happy hour every day, and even if I'm still tracking my calorie intake, I might slack off a lot. I exercise more when I am home, as we have an elliptical machine in the basement facing a TV, but if I don't have a routine I'm not sure I'll keep with it.
For those of you who have retired, what's your experience with your diet and vices after you retired? Have things changed, for better or worse?
My wife and I drink a LOT more after retirement. I had read stories of retirees becoming problem drinkers, and I thought, "Not me."
Funny, but we hardly drank at all before retirement. I knew that it reduced my good night sleep, and made me less focused at work. I knew I needed to be 100% committed to keep up with peers and survive layoffs. Despite stress levels, alcohol wasn't necessary to reduce stress. I preferred a good meal, some family quality time, and some TV. And on the social end, we didn't hang around with party folks, or go to bars. Life was mostly around family.
Then after we retired, seems like we were running with a different crowd, and socializing more. No stress, but why not have a drink or two? Sunday, no problems, we don't work. Who cares if you are a little hung over for that Monday tee time?
My wife got interested in bourbon, so now the shelves are stocked. Not unusual to have a couple. And the bottle of rum from our honeymoon lasted over 25 years! So yeah, things have changed.
We both recognize the problem. We have added a little discipline to our routine. We actually have to avoid a couple people who think nothing of drinking all day long.
On the eating end, it sure is easier to go out, and order a bunch of fattening stuff. Again, we are trying to enforce some discipline in our routines. Trying to eat a lunch we prepare, then a salad for dinner.
On the plus side, we are more active. So maybe the net affect is neutral.
I think there are three types of drinkers. One, drink when they are stressed out. Two, drink when they celebrate and socialize. Three, drink all of the time. When we retired, we jumped into category two, and it's a slippery slope towards category three. You are wise to be concerned and cautious. It's helpful if you have someone by your side that can keep you in line as well.