I recently went in for my long overdue, yearly gyno tune. This is a lovely doctor I've been seeing for close to 30 years, so we exchanged pleasantries and marveled at her daughters being out of college and my son turning 15. She asked me how life was going and I glossed over the horrible three years of worldwide lockdowns had decimated our industry. Then she got down to business and started asking me the routine questions: How was I feeling? What issues did I have? What medications was I taking? Fine. None. Nothing. There was an awkward silence. I couldn't tell if she didn't believe me or if she thought maybe I just wasn't saying what was really wrong. I felt compelled to break the silence, so I ineloquently offered up “well, I eat really clean. I hike, weight train...I feel fine." She smiled and said "Wow, you're the first person all day that hasn't had any problems!”
Leaving the office, I was admittedly gratified and somewhat amused at her reaction. I have plenty of challenges in life, but health is the one area I can control. I saw the tangible results of the thought and effort I had put in the last 25 years. Primarily, as a woman in my early 60's (aghhh, I'm still getting used to saying that) I'm not taking any prescription drugs, I don't have aches, pains or serious issues to speak of, I’m at my high school weight and I was walking down 5 flights of stairs (despite it being a very dingy, ugly stairwell) instead of taking the elevator.
Do I have some rare gene? Hardly. But I do work at my health. Every. Single. Day. Longevity isn’t just one thing but a tight puzzle of principles. Everything about our health and well-being is interconnected, a reality that is abundantly clear and increasingly important as we age. Unfortunately, our culture sells us on quick and easy fixes.
But there is good news. These ideas are simple, manageable, yet powerful choices that can be slowly implemented and will add up to life-changing differences over time. YOU can do this. ANYONE can do this, if the desire is there.
Why a moveable not a healthy weight? Our culture has duped people into thinking overweight can be healthy. It simply isn’t true. I speak from experience. My Mom was considered obese—a word I find jarring but accurate. All my life I watched her struggle with her weight and for the last 13 years of her life, her struggle became my family’s struggle as she lived with us until her passing just shy of her 97th birthday. We took care of her and I saw, firsthand, how excess weight literally pulls you down and impairs movement; which, in turn, significantly compromises your life. When we’re young, we can compensate for the strain weight puts on our bodies; but as we age, as our muscles start the inevitable wasting and our joints succumb to the constant pressure, compensation gives way to submission. It's not a pretty picture. If you can barely move, all systems decline and quality of life is greatly diminished.
When I decided to change the trajectory of my health, one aspect of my life I could control was what I ate, put on my skin, cleaned with, cooked with, ate on, etc… I literally threw out those disgusting teflon pans and plastic spatulas and spoons, replaced Tupperware with glass, started using only all naturally derived cleaning products, nothing with fragrance, all organic produce, and a host of other "clean living" changes.
The myriad of toxins we are swimming in does immeasurable damage, from disrupting our endocrine system to literally poisoning us over time. This is basically the science of epigenetics: an eye-opening-premise that external factors have a significant effect upon, and can even change, our genes. In fact, there is a growing body of evidence and number of scientists who believe the root cause of diseases is not genetic, but rather our lifestyle. This is within our power to control and a doable place to start.
My views on food have evolved as I’ve learned more about nutrition, and I’m sure I’ll be tweaking as I go. This past year I adopted a fasting style where I eat basically 2 meals and a snack in a 6-hour window, which suits me well as I don’t sleep at all well when I eat later in the day and I tend to wake up absolutely famished. However, this abbreviated eating comes with a challenge to consume food that is nutrient dense enough to get the protein I need to both build and maintain muscle.
I needed to take a hard look at everything I was eating and really evaluate whether I was getting enough “bang for the buck” out of each and every bite or sip. It brought to the forefront all the extraneous, unnatural ingredients that appear to be at the root causes of so many totally avoidable diseases…essentially anything processed and packaged is off my list. I began to look at each piece of food in terms of: what is the benefit, what is it doing for me.
Seeing food in this functional light has really shifted my mindset dramatically. Very surprisingly, I find myself not craving junky food but real, whole, fresh, nutritional food…which is the foundation for a healthy life.
I believe wholeheartedly fitness is critical to living well at any age. It is 100% non-negotiable in order to be vital in our later decades. This isn’t only my thinking, there are stacks of studies that validate how vitally important being strong, and maintaining a full range of motion and stability is to our overall mental and physical health.
For me, fitness is a whole-life approach. We use our bodies in so many different ways in our day-to-day activities, I don’t focus on one exercise but a combination of strength training, flexibility, balance, and aerobic exercise; as well as daily mindful movement that is challenging. For instance, I make a point to deeply squat instead of bending over to pick up an item. As the years go by, there is a natural tendency to stop doing things when they become difficult and that is precisely when you need to push through and keep doing those tasks. Without any doubt whatsoever, I know this to be true: the less you move, the less you’re able to move. The more you move, the more you’re able to move. Use it, or lose it.
Andrea, my husband, says I turn into a pumpkin past a certain hour…like 8:00. He’s right. I lose nearly all functionality past a certain time. Part of it is my rhythm, but sleep is a well-studied, proven cornerstone to good health. Sleep is a powerful tool in the longevity arsenal. Influencing every system in our body. It’s not just about feeling tired, it’s about the essence of our health. It affects everything from our mitochondria, our hormones, our response to insulin.…basically all of our functions. A solid night’s sleep is when our bodies repair, our brains literally reboot—it’s our chance to start fresh and renewed the next morning.
I have a snapshot memory from a trip to Italy many moons ago. My husband Andrea and I were driving through the countryside and I was looking out to this picturesque tree-filled landscape dotted with the occasional farmhouse...it was so beautiful and peaceful. It represented an idyllic life far from my own back in frenzied Los Angeles. As this picture perfect landscape was whizzing by me, I remember thinking "this is fuel for the soul." I have often reflected on that trip as refilling the gas tank that life sucks dry.
In small and successive ways, we can establish daily/weekly/monthly habits to manage life’s stresses before the tank goes to empty—tending to our spirit, our soul, our minds. For me, it’s getting out in nature; saying my daily prayers and reading meditational scripture; writing in our family gratitude journal; reading and listening to inspirational stories, staying connected with friends, being with my family, cultivating my relationship with God and setting goals for the future.
On a podcast I was listening to recently, the psychiatrist being interviewed said that when we stop learning, our brain starts shrinking. Whoaaaa. Such a powerful and sobering statement. It’s very evident with muscles—we can see a loss of muscle tone, we experience the effects of not being able to open that jar as easily. But with our brain, we can’t see inside as readily and the functional loss is much more gradual…but it happens. Big time.
Learning new subjects, trying new things and exercising our minds—even if it’s as simple as changing up our routine in the grocery store—will help keep our minds active and growing. Once again, if we don’t use it, we will lose it. But it is within our control.
In my mind, these two principles share same muscle. If we swing to the extremes, we go out of balance, and that’s not where we are meant to thrive. We are like a pendulum that lives in the middle of the extremes. While it may be able to go higher on each side, it always returns to the natural center.
When we live in our center is when we can be consistent, which—for me—is the key to achieving all goals. No matter how good something may be, if we don’t do it consistently, it won’t make a difference. Slow and steady truly wins the race.
Similar to number 8, these three are inextricably interwoven. Living mindfully and charitably is living with purpose, and not only for ourselves but for others. Hand in glove with that is cultivating a grateful spirit, something I’ve observed in my own life to be the foundation of happiness. I’ve known some very wealthy people who were among the most unhappy I have ever met because of two things: they did not live life gratefully and they focused only on themselves.
Do the hard stuff, big and small, that builds resiliency—something we badly need to weather life’s storms. While at times the hard things are thrust upon us, sometimes we purposefully take the easy way out. While I’ve learned through biblical wisdom that our trials and tribulations strengthen and help us to grow, it was listening to a podcast discussing—oddly enough—hunting that I had another “ah ha” moment.
Challenges are in our DNA. As hunters and gatherers, our ancestors had to constantly overcome the challenges of merely surviving. They cultivated a very robust resiliency muscle. It makes total sense that overcoming challenges and taking on hard things is at the root of satisfaction and true contentment. Even small tests will build that resiliency muscle. Welcome and embrace them. They will make us better.
Next Steps
I know this really long list of tenets may seem strict and overwhelming, but try to look at them as small steps that add up to big changes. Take just one step, and once you are comfortable with that step, try another step. Another will follow. Please know, while I strive daily to live by these principles and goals, I don’t always succeed. But every day is a new day to start over and try again.