Want to Add More Years to Your Life?

What if you could add more years to your life - and more life to your years? What would be the changes you had to make to achieve this? And even more importantly, what is your reasoning behind this? Being healthy doesn't mean achieving your desired body image. Vanity will only take you so far and isn't sustainable throughout your lifetime. Health means creating an amazing internal environment so your body can express health naturally, avoiding or prolonging disease and maintaining your physical prowess.

Here are 3 keys to start making a healthy lifestyle change:

1. Physical Activity

   1. 15 minutes a day of walking can boost your cardiovascular health and mood. In fact, if a sedentary person engages in physical activity for just 90 minutes a week their all-cause mortality rate will be decreased by 14%.

   2. Strength training is key for reducing life risking injury later in life. It's so common to see an elderly individual's health go downhill rapidly after a fall injury. It's usually a result of significant muscle loss in their body. More muscle = higher resilience. Make a habit now of lifting weights that challenge your muscle capacity and thank me in your geriatric years.

2. Nutrition

   1. Eat a well-balanced diet of protein, fats and carbohydrates. Fad diets that restrict certain macros work when it comes to losing weight but there is a VERY important place for each macro in your diet.

      1. Protein helps maintain and build muscle.

      2. When your muscles break down during exercise, it depends on carbohydrates to shuttle glucose back into the muscles. Amino acids from protein bind to glucose and in turn are shuttled back into the muscles to aid in muscle growth and repair.

      3. Fats help facilitate protein synthesis and are crucial in building and repairing muscles after exercise. They also play a very crucial role in brain and cognitive health.

3. Mindset and Community (Mental Health)

   1. Find and create strong social bonds. Humans are not meant to be isolated, and we have an innate and biological need for connection. Being connected to others gives us a sense of purpose and is just as crucial to our wellbeing as nutrition and exercise.

Every small choice you make today shapes the quality of your tomorrow. Start where you are and watch the ripple effect of health and happiness unfold!