Nat’s surprises 4 months into retirement

More steps

Since the hobbies I spend the most time doing are sedentary I assumed my daily step count would stay about the same.

I’m walking Michel and Lucy on average twice a day. No change there!

But my step count has jumped from 9,000 to 12,000 steps a day. Wow!

It turns out I take regular breaks knitting, gardening, reading etc. way more than when I was working.

Walking with friends

I get a text about once a week to walk with my neighbour and her baby. I love it! Sometimes Lucy joins us to work on her socializing. Other times I get to push the stroller or hold that baby. I love having the time to hang out and get a bit of movement in and this has definitely help bump up my step count.

Active minutes

My workouts averaged 60 minutes a day in April. Since then my workouts have steadily crept up to 100 minutes a day. That’s significantly more. Some of that is thanks to swimming but a lot of it is utility cycling and getting my strength training in. Yay!

Resting Heart Rate

While my watch assures me that my VO2max and other cardio indicators have improved my resting heart rate is still averaging in the low 60s. No big gains there. I am surprised! I thought more frequent and regular exercise would bring that down below 60.

Mediocre Sleep

I’m surprised I am not sleeping better. My stress and nighttime restlessness is less but I still wake up a lot in the night.

I’m often “up for the day” at 5:30 am. Yuck.

I go to bed around 10:30 pm and fall promptly asleep. But I thought not having an alarm or work would feel more peaceful.

A sense of calm

Some people report anxiety and sadness from leaving paid work behind. I have experienced a greater sense of calm and a lot more joy. My anxiety, previously a constant companion, only whimpers from time to time. What a wonderful surprise!

Net benefit

For me, retirement has been a net benefit for my physical and mental wellbeing. I think that is the best surprise of all.