Well, there are numerous people who've ignored all the medical advice, been conspicuously idle and self-indulgent, who live to a ripe old age anyway. Or of course done all the right things for decades and dropped dead at 60.
My mum didn't bother with medical advice. She never went to a gym, lived on ready meals and processed food, never took much exercise, and lived till she was 96.
Likewise my maternal grandma got little exercise, smoked and drank, never went to a gym (gyms were a rarity in those days), and lived till she was 91.
Some people say the important thing is not your lifestyle but whether you actively enjoy life and fling yourself into it. That'll keep you going when all the world-weary gym enthusiasts and teetotallers quietly fade away.
In any case, do I really want to live to 96 (or even longer)? I imagine I would be so disenchanted by then (not to mention decrepit) I would be happy to bow out.
But even if you have the healthiest lifestyle in the world, a sudden unexpected illness can come along and disable you - or even finish you off. My sister was having a good life until she developed motor neurone disease at 56 (amazingly, she's bed-ridden but still alive 17 years later). There's nothing she could have done to keep it away - what causes MND is still a mystery.
As for me, I have a fairly healthy lifestyle (minus the gym workouts) but I don't kid myself it'll keep me fighting fit. There are plenty of nasties waiting to pounce.
Genetics play such a huge role. The frustrating part for me is the constantly changing nutrition advice. I’m still trying to figure out if I can eat eggs and how many per week.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: We hardly ever eat eggs, except for cakes that have an egg ingredient.
DeleteEat what can go off and eat it before it does
DeleteKylie: Good advice. And ignore Use By dates if the food looks fine and smells fine.
DeleteIt’s because of the health economy that we get so much conflicting advice. As they said in the days of yore: a little of what you fancy does you good! That means you can have a couple of biscuits but not the whole packet.
ReplyDeleteI do my best to be sensible with the understanding that anything could potentially floor me.
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Ms Scarlet: A little of what you fancy is the principle I work on too (I've never been an addictive personality).
DeleteGenetics are huge Nick in all of this. I had a friend died last year 98 never took a walk I'd say in her life, car under her arse until she died. Walked like a soldier. Straight and tall when she did walk. BUT, she said her trick was to eat only 1/2 of whatever was on her plate.
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www: Eating only half what's on your plate is a great trick. When my weight went up a bit too much, I just ate smaller portions of everything and lost half a stone really quickly.
DeleteFor some reason Mary's comments are especially prone to getting lost on the way to my blog. She says: "Eating well and being healthy in general might have a little to do with living longer but I know for a fact it's not everything. My uncle Popeye lived to be 89 and he ate 1/2 lb of bacon each morning with 2 fried potatoes and 4 eggs. He drank and smoked and was overweight. I think genetics had a lot to do with it."
ReplyDeleteMary: Many people in Northern Ireland still love their full Ulster fries (a huge plateful of greasy food) and still live to a ripe old age. As you say, genetics must also be an important factor.
DeleteLongevity, thankfully, seems to run in my family (maternal side) my grandfather lived to the age of 92 and my mother (his daughter) died at age 93. I agree that genetics plays a factor and hope it truly runs in the family. I walk as much as possible and use the gym treadmill when the weather is nasty, thankfully it's within the mill apt complex. Diet also figures in but eating heathy foods. Growing up, home meals never consisted of processed or packaged foods and to this day I do not buy them, except for the package of tater tots that sometimes ends up in the shopping cart. How did that happen?
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: We also avoid processed or packaged foods where possible. Just reading the massive list of unknown ingredients on the packet is enough to put you off!
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