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Dear Friend

My chronological age is 48. My biological age is 26/27. My psychological age is 28. As I intend to live to at least 100, I will celebrate my second rebirth in 2011.

What about you? How old are you? How old is your body in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes (your biological age)? How old do you feel (your psychological age)?

Many people accept aging as an inevitable process: “We all grow old, our body breaks down eventually due to wear and tear, and we will die.” Yet, how true is this? Thousands of years ago, a great Indian sage, Shankara declared, “People grow old and die because they see others grow old and die.” It has taken us centuries to even grasp this extraordinary insight – that the aging body is simply responding to social conditioning. We have a choice – to age well because we believe we can; or to suffer the “inevitable” maladies that accompany old age: growing feeble and weak, blood pressure rising, growing deaf, cholesterol levels rising, immune system declining, and so on.

So the first step to aging well is having the belief that you can. If you believe you do have choices that can take you into a healthy, old age – regardless of genetic family history and what society around you suggests, you will of course, then exercise those choices.

In 1973, at a major gerontology conference at Duke University, social scientist Bernice Neugarten delivered her paper describing the type of person who can expect to live to a healthy old age – between 85 and 100 years old:

The person:

  • Takes pleasure from daily activities
  • Regards his life as meaningful
  • Feels he has achieved his major goals
  • Holds a positive self-image and regards himself as worthwhile
  • Is optimistic

    Two other scientists – psychologist George Vaillant and psychiatrist Eric Pfeiffer presented similar perspectives. Vaillant believed that the longest-lived individuals are also the best adapted to their psychological life, with good mental health. In keeping with the other two, Pfeiffer meanwhile pointed out that using one’s physical and mental abilities to the fullest was the best way to age well. People who age successfully, he found, were those who “stayed in training” throughout their adult lives in three major areas: physical activity, psychological and intellectual activity, and social relationships.

    THIS WEEK'S LESSON:
    The most powerful influence we have over how we age comes simply from an awareness of our body’s basic needs and the aging process.

    Negligence in paying attention to the body’s basic needs, particularly the need for physical activity and proper nutrition, can destroy health and lead to rapid premature aging. Sickness and aging are created by nothing more than gaps in our self-knowledge. By increasing this self-knowledge, we can master simple, yet effective ways to age well, and live longer. More fulfilled lives.

    This week I will share with you one piece of advice that many scientists and gerontologists have in common: Eat frugally.

    Research has shown that restricting calorie intake is a reliable way to extend life span. Scientists have tested on mice, rats, Guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs and fruit flies, you name it, and have found that every animal tested, live longer if you feed them less. In humans, this would amount to an additional 25 years of life. Not only do calorie-restricted animals increase life span by about one-third but they also look and behave younger. There is even more evidence that overeating is age accelerating. The emerging evidence for the cellular mechanisms for caloric intake to affect aging is one more good reason to at the least avoid overeating.

    “Aging is much more of a choice than people think. One of modern medicine’s great breakthroughs is a realization that the body is not an object, but a process with no preordained limits.” ~Deepak Chopra, bestselling author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind

    THIS WEEK'S ACTION STEP

    Here are some strategies that will stop you from overeating:

  • Avoid high calorie foods
  • Avoid eating late at night
  • Enjoy your food and stop eating once you are satisfied (Don’t worry about leaving food on your plate; otherwise just develop a habit of taking less than what you normally do, and only replenishing when it’s not enough)
  • Don't eat while you are distracted (while watching TV, for instance)
  • Try short-term fasting, for at least a day at a time

    If you need help to work out a healthy diet plan and a safe detox program that is suitable for you specifically, drop us an email at coach@health-coach-international.com, giving us your name, age, race and any health conditions.

    I'll see you next week!



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