The 100 Year Lifestyle (Part 2)

In the first article we talked about the fastest growing age group in the world: Centenarians. In this book written by Dr. Eric Plasker he outlines the necessary steps to enjoy a long and happy life. In the last article we talked about the framework and the mindset for the 100 year Lifestyle and in Part 2 we will discuss more of the specifics (and by no means is this a complete synopsis of the book).

The first "how-to" recommendation is to stop killing yourself. This is so important because many people literally have habits and make daily choices that are killing them. Of course there are the obvious things like smoking but then there are less obvious things like carrying around 15 extra pounds of belly fat that will increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and this increasing your risk of heart disease (one of the #1 killers in North America). As he explains, "...it's not the resolutions that matter it's the actions we take every day. It's those very destructive actions, or inactions, done over time, that are literally killing us slowly over time." Eating well, keeping yourself at your ideal weight, exercising regularly and keeping your blood pressure in check are all things that will help prevent things like heart disease and add years to your life.

In the section about "Don't just treat the crisis" he talks about the importance of self-care. Many people confuse self-care with selfish. What we are referring to is the ability to make it a priority to take care of one's self. This is really about dedicating some time to yourself in different facets. One of these has to be some type of movement or exercise. There's really no way around this except to pick something that works well for you that you can stay consistent with and to continually try more and more challenging things. Proper posture is so important as we age as is the normal alignment and mobility of the spine (it only takes one bad disc or spinal joint to really put a damper on your quality of life as you age). Drink clean water, breathe clean air, avoid toxic chemicals and eat organic as much as possible. Manage your stress properly by meditating or doing yoga. Consider a retreat or a spa day. You're worth every penny.

Dr. Plasker does a summary of keeping an ideal internal and external environment. The first is to have gratitude and appreciation for your current situation. The second is to begin to develop your vision for your ideal 100-year lifestyle. I think this is great because the more you talk about your vision and continue to modify and refine the plan the more likely it is to come true. He makes a wise recommendation to let go of trying to control the things that are out of your control.

Time is the one commodity that is common between everyone. He has some amazing recommendations around using your time effectively so that you can remain present and focused now, all while creating your plan for the future. He talks about prime time, prep time and play time and how to achieve the ultimate balance between all three. As you can imagine prime time is what most people would consider their most productive time (eg. dinner rush at a busy restaurant). Prep time is what he recommends you use to plan, organize and research so you are prepared for your prime time. The 3rd category is play time. Ultimately, this is your time to decompress through vacations and promoting the self-care we mentioned above. "Taking charge of how you spend your time ensures that you'll live a quality, purposeful life for the rest of your life. Finally he talked about making sure you have the financial reserves to ensure a high quality of life for as long as you live. Sounds like good advice to me!

Maybe through this advice we can approach our genetic potential to live well past 100. Here's to a long, happy and healthy life!

Dr. Jason Plotsky