Getting Older Is Inevitable. How We Age May Not Be.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been very good to my body over the years.  Admittedly, I enjoy food and have a hard time saying no to sweets and carbs.  And although I genuinely look forward to walking outdoors most days, it’s often a challenge to pull on the shoes and head out the door when my dog Sam is giving me that look that says it’s couch cuddle time.

And yet, without a doubt, my biggest challenge is getting enough sleep.  I’ve developed some bad sleep habits that I’ve worked hard to change.  And while I’ve had some success, I’m not consistent and there are too often tasks left at the end of the day that seem more important than putting my head on the pillow for the night.

So why am I sharing all of these challenges with you?  Isn’t the point of Never too Late for Great to find ways to improve health and habits to live your best life?  If the author and coach of the method struggles with making the recommended lifestyle changes, how can you be expected to have success with the approach?

Well, let’s talk about that.  Even though I’ve struggled and sometimes failed at making these changes, I’ve had successes as well.  And I’m not giving up.  I’m still working on this because it’s important.  Being able to enjoy after-work life is greatly dependent on being as healthy and as fit as you can be.  I will never be perfect – and perfection isn’t the point.  What I can do – and I hope you will do, too – is continue to improve and find ways to succeed.  Keep tweaking the process until you figure out what works for you. I will do the same and share what I learn so you can use it, too.

And here’s something else I recently read about that I found particularly encouraging:  taking action to improve your health may actually help keep you younger at a cellular level.  According to an article published in Women’s Health by Korin Miller, there is evidence that we can slow down cellular aging (biological aging) to some extent with a variety of healthy activities. The article references a study published in Nature Medicine that looked at data from about half a million people who shared their genetic, health, and lifestyle information.  Analysis of the data revealed that factors related to lifestyle and a person’s environment played a bigger role in biological aging than genetics did.

“Environmental factors explained 17 percent of the variation in risk of death, compared to less than 2 percent explained by genetic predisposition,” says Cornelia van Duijn, PhD, study co-author and professor at the University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Population Health.

Given those findings, it’s encouraging to know that some of the factors associated with health and aging are things we may be able to influence.  As Alfred F. Tallia, MD, MPH, professor and chair of family medicine and community health at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School pointed out, “The more an individual can take control in their lives and create healthy lives through adapting to stressors in a resilient way, the better.”

So, what can we do that may help slow biological aging? Research is ongoing, but there’s some data to suggest that you can influence your biological age by making these lifestyle changes:

• Aim for at least seven hours of sleep each night
• Add more plant-based foods to your meals
• Work toward maintaining a healthy weight
• Try to get about 150 minutes of physical activity each week
• Limit alcohol consumption
• If you smoke, work toward quitting
• Protect your skin from the sun
• Don’t neglect your dental and oral health
• Find healthy ways to manage stress

There really aren’t any surprises on that list – and it looks a lot like the list included in Never too Late for Great!

As we go into the next week, I challenge you to choose something from that list to work on.  Make a plan to address the item you select.  Write it down.  Don’t expect perfection or to conquer the item you choose in a week.  Just make progress.  Small changes, practiced consistently, can become habits that make a real difference over time.

I’d love to hear what you choose to work on – drop me an email at laura@nevertoolateforgreat.com and tell me what you’re planning.  And if you’d like a little inspiration – or simply a place to write down your plan and track your progress – the Never too Late for Great – Thriving Beyond the 9 to 5! Companion Planner has worksheets and planning tools that can help.

Good luck!