A lot of younger people have no idea what aging actually looks and feels like, and the reasons behind it. That ignorance is so dangerous. If you donât want to âbe old,â you arenât talking about a number of years. I have patients in their late 80s who could still handily beat me in a raceâone couple still runs marathons together, in their late 80sâand I lost someone who was in her early 60s to COPD last year. What you want is not youth, it is health.
If you want to still be able to enjoy doing things in your 60s and 70s and 80s and even 90s, what you want to do, right now, is quit smoking, get some activity on a regular basis (a couple of walks a week is WAY better for you than nothing; increasing from 1 hour a day of cardio to 1.5 will buy you very little), and eat some plants. Thatâs it. No magic to it. No secret weird tricks. Donât poison yourself, move around so your body doesnât forget how, and eat plants.
If you have trouble moving around now because of mobility limitations, bad news: you still need to move around, not because itâs immoral not to, but because thatâs still the best advice we have. I highly recommend looking up the Sit and Be Fit series; it is freely available and has exercises that can be done in a chair, which are suitable for people with limited mobility or poor balance. POTS sufferers, Iâm looking at you.
If you have trouble eating plants because of dietary issues (they cause gas, etc.) or just because theyâre bitter (super taster with texture issues here!), bad news. You still want to find a way to get some plants into your body on a regular basis. I know. It sucks. The only way I can do it is restaurantsâthey can make salads taste like food. I can also tolerate some bagged salads. On bad weeks, the OCD with contamination focus gets so bad I just canât. However, canned beans always seem âsafe,â and they taste a bit like candy, so theyâre a good fallback.
If you smoke and you have tried quitting a million times and youâre just not ready to, bad news. You still need to quit. Your body needs you to try and keep trying. Your brain needs it, too. Damaging small blood vessels racks up cumulative damage over time that your body can start trying to reverse as soon as you quit. I know itâs insanely, absurdly addictive. You still need to.
You cannot rules lawyer your way past your bodyâs basic needs. It needs food, sleep, activity, and the absence of poison. Those are both small things and big asks. You cannot sustain a routine based on punishment, so donât punish your body. Find ways to include these things that are enjoyable and rewarding instead. Experiment. There is no reason not to experimentâyou donât have to know instantly whatâs going to work for you and what wonât, you just need to be willing to try things and make changes when things arenât working for you.
You will still age. Your body will stop making collagen and elastin. Tissues you can see and tissues you canât see will both sag. Cushioning tissues under your skin will get thinner. Youâll bruise more easily. Skin will tear more easily. Accumulated sun damage will start to show more and more. Joints will begin to show arthritis. Tendons and ligaments will get weaker and get injured more easily, as will muscles. Bones will lose mass and get easier to break. Youâll get tired more easily.
But you know what makes the difference between being dead, or as good as, in your 60s vs your 90s? Activity, plants, and quitting smoking. And donât do meth. Saw a 58-year-old guy this week who is going to have a heart attack if he doesnât quit whatever stimulant heâs on. I pretended to believe it was just the cigarettes, and maybe it is, but meth and cocaine will kill you quicker. Stop poisoning yourself.
Baby steps; take it one step at a time; you donât need to have everything figured out right now. But you do need to be working on figuring things out.
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