There is a lot of conjecture around what makes a good life and how can we increase our longevity of life? One study says one thing and another one says something else, and quite often they are not conclusive.
Everyone has different goals in life and different ways of achieving those goals. However some things in life we can control and some we can’t. We will all die at some time in our life, but wouldn’t you want it to be on your terms and making sure that the rest of your life is pain free and not miserable?
There are 3 key principles which are the foundations to assist us in taking control. Remember we only need to take small steps along the way which lead to greater gains and steers your life in the right direction.
Eat Healthy
The average lifespan today in western society is around 84 for females and 80 for males. To live beyond this age, we need to restrict our intake of junk food, high sugar foods, deep fried food and alcohol.
Another small change we can make is to stay hydrated and drink plenty of water. Our body is made up of over 80% of water and this needs to be replenished to assist our body to filter and cleanse the impurities in our body and also to carry the nutrients.
The 2018 Australian Health Report found that 99% of Australian Children and 96% of adults don’t eat the recommended intake of five serves of vegetables a day. This is also the case with the amount of lean meat and fish, with the report recommending at least 2 to 3 serves of each per week. We are also encouraged to eat our food as natural as possible (organic preferable) with little or no preservatives.
Move More
One of the biggest killers in our society now is lack of movement! We live in modern convenient world controlled by computers, switches and gadgets that make things easier and faster than ever before. This results in more time to be lazy and less movement. We sit for way too long and in positions that compromise our bodies postural position. This creates pain and incorrect movement patterns. Teaching our bodies to move more efficiently more often leads to less pain and injury prevention.
Until recently it was thought that our movement/exercise had to be done in blocks of 30 minutes to get the full benefits. This is not the case with new research showing that we can achieve the minimal amount of exercise by doing things in ten minute blocks. These blocks of exercise now also include ‘Incidental Exercise’ which are exercises that are a consequence of tasks for everyday life. This could include common household chores, and gentle recreational activities.
We also now know that to keep the brain stimulated and young, we need to challenge it. Our brain slips into a cruise mode where it will only give us what we need. So for the brain to grow we need to stimulate it with challenge and play and variety. Find ten minutes of your day to do something a little different fun and challenging and your brain will love you for it.
Reduce Stress
Life today is becoming more and more stressful! Pressure is forever on us to perform to get the job done on time, create a results based outcome and quite often this leads to poor choices and sacrifices in other areas such as time and family. We do need stress in our lives but having too much of it can override many things in our body, leading to us slowing down and breaking down.
Stress comes in the form of a chemical called Cortisol and this regulates other hormones in the body and brain and creates the flight or flight response to heighten awareness and prepare the body for that attack. Things affected include, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, sleep and muscle tightness to name just a few. We can change these things and manage stress by living a healthy life, eating better and exercising more.
A study was done on the majority of centenarians in the world today to try and find out why they lived beyond their predicted average age and how they lived beyond 100 years old.
No two people were the same and the study group included vegetarians, some very active active and fit people as well as some who did no exercise at all. There were very few common denominators but after digging deeper, it was found that there were several factors that these people had in common.
The first and most important one was they had no fear about dying. They approached each new day as a brand new start with no regrets. If they wanted to do something that they had never done, they just went out and did it. The only regret they would have would be if they died and had not tried it.
Secondly, they were all happy and enjoyed every moment of their life moving forward. The past is gone and they wanted to create experiences and memories for their new future. The study also found:
- They chill – they don’t worry about what might happen.
- They share a passion for life and appreciate it immensely
- They never think about their age
- They have a great sense of humour
- They deal with loss and move on.
- They are not afraid to take risks and quite often live life on the edge.
Questions were also raised about the role genetics played in their lives and how this would disposition them later on in life with our ability to remain healthy and live longer. Was this predisposed or was it just sheer luck? Scientists found that this relationship to old age was 25% genetics and what you were given in your genes. The remaining 75% all came down to lifestyle and attitude issues with the way we lived our lives.
“How you live your life will determine how your genes slow with age!”
The last thing that they all had in common was they just approached life having fun. They had no regrets and whatever happens tomorrow will happen.
So, forget about your Past, look at your Present, but most of all plan for your Future! You can control where your life is going.
“One LIfe – Your LIfe”
