Hold up your hand if you want to live a longer, healthier life. I held up my hand and I’m sure most of you did too. Well good news, there appears to be several things we can do and they all make sense. Woohoo!
Harvard researchers say that by practicing five low-risk lifestyle factors women can live 14 years longer than normal and men can live 12 years longer. Say what? I can potentially increase my life by 12 years? Tell me more, eh.
Important to remember is that researchers came to this conclusion after watching over 100,000 people who practiced all five of the “low-risk lifestyle factors”. So, that means I have to do all five things to live 12 years longer. Hmm. Okay.
The five factors
The first thing to do is to not smoke. And it’s obviously best if you never start.
Second, keep to a healthy weight. They say a body mass index (BMI) from 18.5 to 24.9 is a quick measure. BMI is a ratio of weight to height and this method is not perfect because many of us have heavy bones and muscle weighs more than fat.
So, this means that a muscular person can have a bad BMI while not being fat. So be sure to take this into consideration when looking at this factor.
Third, exercise regularly, doing moderate or vigorous-intensity exercise for 30 or more minutes a day. Does that mean I have to do more than lie on the couch, click the TV’s remote control and walk to the fridge once in a while. Well ya!
Fourth, drink moderately. Women should only drink one-half to one drink a day and men should only drink one-half to two drinks a day. Well, I know back in the day I drank a lot more than that. Eschia (take it easy, eh)!
And finally, eat an overall healthy diet with lots of vegetables, fruit, nuts, whole grains, polyunsaturated fatty acids and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Don’t be shy if you have to look up what any of this means.
Oh ya, as my dad would’ve said, “take ‘er cool” on sugar-sweetened drinks and foods, trans fats, sodium (salt) and red and processed meats. This is a tough one on us meat lovers. Enough said.
How do I get started?
You say you’re not doing all five of these things? Here are steps you can take.
The first thing is to assess how you’re doing in all five areas. Note where you’re doing well and where you’re not. For example, I don’t smoke or drink, but I’m not exercising regularly and my diet is not as healthy as it should be, so my BMI is a bit high.
Caution, I’ve stopped implementing change several times in the past when I was trying to change too many things at once and it became overwhelming. Not cool.
I now know it’s easier to succeed if I set small, clear goals and achieve them one by one. So, in this case, I will choose one thing I want to change in one area I want to focus on first.
Now here are some suggestions on how to start, but remember to only start in one area.
If you want to drink less booze, you may want to quit drinking at home. Or if you’re a social butterfly, you could commit to drinking a certain amount of drinks a week. Seems doable, right?
If you want to start by quitting smoking, you could look into programs that help you quit, called smoking-cessation programs. If you decide to tackle diet first, you could start by adding a vegetable and a fruit to your daily diet.
If you think exercise is the best place to start, you can add one 30-minute workout a week. If you decide to lose weight first, try eating 250 to 500 calories less a day. Not so hard if you only have to do one at a time, eh.
Slowly add more items to what you are doing and pat yourself on the back for steadily adding to the five habits.
Be sure to review how you’re doing once a week. And if you find you’re slipping into old habits, remind yourself that you’re creating new habits to live a longer, healthier life. Yay.
I’m starting in the exercise area. How about you?