Retirement housing at Burnham Waters in Essex: we share top tips for keeping healthy in retirement

If you have been looking for retirement housing, then you may have discovered Burnham Waters in Essex. Many of our customers are keen to pursue an active lifestyle in their retirement and as a result they have been drawn to our new community, and the broad range of leisure facilities, which we will have on offer here.

Explore the wide range of lifestyle facilities available at Burnham Waters here.

If you are keen to keep healthy in retirement, the team at Burnham Waters have put together our top five tips!

1. Eat healthy

Having a balanced diet is so important for your overall health and for keeping healthy in retirement. It can not only help you to maintain your energy levels, but it can help to deter many illnesses too. A balanced diet should include lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. It should be low in saturated fat and include wholegrains as well as oily fish, and small amounts of low-fat dairy and lean meat.

You should try to eat less processed foods (such as microwave meals), as well as bread, and sweets and instead, increase your intake of more natural foods such as nuts, fruits, and vegetables.

It’s also very important to make sure you stay well-hydrated throughout the day. The NHS recommends that people should aim to drink six to eight cups or glasses of fluid a day. This doesn’t have to just be water – it can include lower-fat milk and sugar-free drinks, including tea and coffee – they all count.

Read more about how much fluid you should drink on the NHS website here.  

When keeping healthy in retirement, it is also important to limit your alcohol consumption. If you drink alcohol, it is advised that you keep at least two days per week alcohol-free to give your liver time to recover from the effects of alcohol, and don’t exceed recommended daily limits for alcohol.

Read more advice about daily limits for alcohol intake on the NHS website.

Another tip is to only eat what you need. Are you finding yourself grazing, or eating when you are not really hungry? If it is your usual lunch time, but you are not feeling hungry, don’t just eat for the sake of it! Ask yourself: are you really hungry? If not, maybe eat later, or only have a small portion.

2. Stay active

Whatever your age, staying active is a big part of maintaining your own health and as we get older, it’s so important for keeping healthy in retirement. Incorporating daily exercise into your routine can help you to stay strong and healthy, while having a positive impact on your mental health and well-being too. Regular exercise can help to lower your risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even cancer. If can also help to improve your quality of sleep, and it can actually give you more energy!

The NHS recommends that older adults should do some type of physical activity every day. Their advice recommends that you should:

- Aim to be physically active every day, even if it's just light activity

- Do activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on at least two days a week

- Do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity if you are already active, or a combination of both

- Reduce time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity

Read the NHS physical activity guidelines for older adults here.

If you are looking for retirement housing, such as the new build bungalows available at Burham Waters, you can benefit from access to a host of leisure facilities, all within our new retirement community. As well as a gym and fitness suite, with classes available, there will be a tennis court and swimming pool to enjoy, helping to support an active and healthy lifestyle, all year round.  

Read more about the leisure facilities at Burnham waters here.

3. Get a pet

One way to keep yourself active is to get yourself a dog! A dog will require daily walks- which means that you will be getting daily walks too!

In fact, in luxury retirement housing, you will have access to some great dog walks, right on your doorstep. From the five mile, Burnham Circular to the picturesque Saltmarsh Coast Trail, there are some great routes that will not only help to keep you active, but offer some stunning scenery and sociable routes, to enjoy with your four-legged friend.

If you are looking for ideas for local dog walks, why not take a look at our blog post on the five best dog walks in Burnham on Crouch.

There is also evidence to suggest that having a pet can have other benefits too. From reducing stress, to encouraging exercise, helping you to make friends and enticing over the grandchildren, there might be more advantages to owning a pet in retirement than you realise!  

Read more in our recent blog post on the benefits of owning a pet in retirement.

4. Make sure you are getting enough sleep

Some people may find it harder to get to sleep, or to stay asleep for long periods of time as we get older. This can leave you feeling tired and low in energy, and it can affect your mood too.

A long sleeping period can help our body to repair itself and if we are unwell, we need to sleep more to speed up our recovery.

Getting enough sleep can also help you to reduce your stress levels.

If you are struggling to get to sleep at night, there are  few steps you can take to try to help yourself drift off more easily. Try cutting down on any daytime naps, get yourself outside and take some exercise every day, even if it’s just a short, brisk walk. You can also try establishing a bedtime routine so that your body begins to recognize the signs that you are winding down, ready for bed.  You can also try going to bed at the same time each night and perhaps have a warm drink, such as chamomile tea or a hot milk, before you go to bed.

5. Maintain social connections

We can probably all reflect back on a time when we were feeling stressed or worried, and then once we’d chatted about it with a friend of family member, we instantly felt a bit better about a situation. Spending time with others can really help with your mental health.

Social engagements are more than just a fun activity; they can help to prevent loneliness and they can help our minds stay active and support positive aging.

Catching up with friends or interacting with others on your morning walk can help to prevent you from feeling lonely or anxious. If you find that you are no longer able to get out and about as much, then try to find new activities or hobbies that still involve seeing others.

Retirement housing, such as the over 55 bungalows available at Burnham Waters, can offer a great opportunity to make new friends and new connections.  At our luxury retirement village, our whole development is built around fostering a sense of community and providing lots of opportunities for our residents to get out, stay active and meet with others.  

If you are looking for more advice, read our recent blog post, which offers our tips for a happy retirement.  

Looking for more health tips? Read our recent post on tips for positive aging.

Retirement housing at Burnham Waters

Burnham Waters is a vibrant new luxury retirement village for the over 55s, situated in Burnham on Crouch, Essex.

It offers the perfect blend of luxurious bungalow living, combined with the comfort and serenity of a rural village community. With the added benefits of on-site amenities and facilities for residents, everything you need is easily accessible and readily available.

Choose from a selection of one, two and three-bedroom new build retirement bungalows at our luxury retirement village - with the first homes now ready to move into.

Explore the Burnham Waters website to find out more about the homes we have available.