We can take this longevity stuff as far as we want, time and money are the limiting factors as knowledge is ever increasing at the moment, but I want to give you a baseline set of rules for living well that will stabilise you on a platform from which to build your knowledge and optimise your health, a longevity 101 if you will. If you want different outcomes you need to do different things because you are the sum of all of your habits and choices. This article is for you if you are confused about what constitutes potential harm to your life and the internet has got you thinking you need to be doing ‘just this one thing’ which is nothing more than clickbait to generate advertising revenue for wannabe ‘influencers’.
With that said, here is a starting point that anyone can implement if they have the desire to become more than they currently are. I call it the grandparents lifestyle. If they didn’t do it in the 1950s you shouldn’t be doing it now. Note however that this will come at a price. Nothing worth having is easily gained because everything of value has a cost, and change means change. As a fundamental primary exercise, we are trying to build a lifestyle which is supportive of the health of your body rather than damaging.
The first step in moving forward is making sure you’re not going backwards and the importance of these basics cannot be underestimated. Spend a couple of months dialling them in as baseline habits for the rest of your life before you complicate things and take on complex routines from influencers that end up failing and compromising your self esteem further than it already is. Everyone that comes to me for help has issues with more than one of these 6 pillars of transformation.
Eating
Eat foods that have real natural ingredients, not lists of chemicals and industrial products. Meat, fish, dairy, vegetables, fruit and nothing else. The act of cutting out anything manufactured in a facility will take you a long way all by itself. Modern processed food is designed to serve the distributor and vendor, not you! Drink enough water; 2-3 litres a day will flush out toxins and keep your cells hydrated, helping your liver and kidneys to function better. I cannot recommend plant based diets to anyone who doesn’t understand the risks of malnutrition and isn’t taking numerous supplements to compensate. If you don’t know where to start optimising your health, don’t assume that the exclusion of animal foods is a health move because it is far more complicated than that despite what the internet wants you to believe, and I speak from experience here.
Sleeping
Get a cheap fitness tracker that measures sleep. This could be a used Garmin watch, an older Apple watch if you use that ecosystem, or a Fitbit/Amazfit/Samsung device. It will give you a sleep score and you need to be consistently seeing numbers of 80 or more. You can achieve this by going to bed at the same time each night, and spending an hour winding down without too much stimulation beforehand. Reading a book in bed is a great way to do this. Watching the TV or surfing the web is not.
Breathing
Dedicate 10 minutes a day to breathing slowly and see how hard that is. Sit or lie with one hand on your belly and breathe so that your hand rises and falls. Most people are breathing wrong, which activates the brain and the nervous system in a way that is not healthy – so you need to become aware of your habits here. Simply becoming aware of the breath regulates it, and you will soon retrain your body to be able to relax. If you need something to anchor you and stop the mind wandering, download a free breathing timer app, set it to 5.5 breaths a minute and follow the sounds. To multiply the effects, take a cold shower for 2-5 minutes per day and breathe slowly during that too. The cold will start to condition a more healthy nervous system response and you’ll be surprised how quickly you adapt!
Moving
You need to be moving for an average of 30 minutes a day as a minimum. It doesn’t have to be intense movement, but it does need to be time that you dedicate to being active somehow. A brisk walk around your neighbourhood each day, or a couple of jogs a week with a longer walk on the weekend. This will lower your resting heart rate, increase brain function and deliver nutrients and oxygen to the cells in your body. In addition, spend 5-10 minutes each morning moving your body randomly to get blood flowing and bring awareness to all parts of you. This is not a strength exercise, its more about getting your energy circulating and is a really good start to the day!
Relating
Spend time with yourself and others. Do not let your attention be completely drawn into the endless opportunities for consumption of media. Explore your feelings, be honest with yourself either by writing them down so they become conscious or by engaging in conversation. It doesn’t have to be about solving a problem, its just an exercise in self awareness. Develop the habit of communicating with yourself and others. Again, self regulation occurs when we bring things into our consciousness. If you want a real boost, do things for others where there is no immediate reward. Service to others is service to self as we are all one, and relating to others by understanding their needs is a great way to start going beyond your internal world and narrative. We are social beings and we thrive on conscious connection.
Creating
With these other factors in play you will have a little more energy and headspace to do something every day that gives you satisfaction. This could be cleaning the house, or any other goal that results in a sense of achievement. Pick things that you can do to keep your life moving forward and don’t set impossible challenges, you’re looking for healthy dopamine boosts gained from your own positive actions. Play a musical instrument, learn something new, engage in a hobby, anything really. Since you’re reading this site, a good one would be to spend half an hour a day learning about health and about what you could become. Engage your brain in something that serves your future somehow because over time it will add up. Start creating the version of yourself that you would be proud of.
Supplements
These are all the rage nowadays and it is a huge rabbit hole in itself. Here is a very basic long term stack that you can start now and keep up for life. These items are cheap and support your body in its attempt to minimise damage and decay. They will synergise with the basic actions mentioned above to improve your health outcomes with very little outlay and effort. You will find them in abundance at sports supplements stores or websites, and they can be taken with water before bed.
| Taurine | Take 3 grams per day as this has been correlated with extended lifespan |
| Glycine | Take 10 grams per day as this has been shown to increase cellular function and renewal |
| N-Acetyl Cysteine | Take 2 grams per day as this helps your liver to keep the body clean |
| Omega 3 (EPA/DHA) | Take 3 gel capsules per day as this helps your brain, cardiovascular system and reduces inflammation |
| Creatine | Take 5 grams per day to retain muscle mass and improve brain function |
By implementing these habits on a consistent, long-term basis you will feel an awful lot better. Your energy will improve, brain fog will reduce and you will have the ability to start honing in on specific areas of your life that need more work. It will bring a welcome change to anxiously trying things in a hit and miss approach that ultimately fail, leaving you even more despondent. I’m not exaggerating when I say that 75% of your problems will resolve themselves effortlessly when you start living a deliberate, conscious lifestyle!