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Why be average? We can do so much better. 60% of Americans age 65 and over have a chronic medical condition. 80% of men age 50-54 are either overweight or obese. 73% of women aged 60 to 64 are also either overweight or obese. These horrifying stats are from a recent study in Lancet. The good news is that this is something we can do something about. Average is not mandated and some simple steps can make a huge impact. Average will in fact statistically put you in the grave very quickly.
Staying Healthy Can Increase Life Expectancy by 14 Years
Here is some good news. From David Sinclair quoting in the Harvard Health Letter: “Average life expectancy is an average. Those who adopt 5 simple habits — stay lean, eat healthy food, don’t smoke, exercise, and drink in moderation — have (at 50) a life expectancy of 87-93, a whopping 12-14 years longer those who don’t.”
Imagine what someone would pay for a drug that gave those sorts of results? It is considered a huge success to extend life a single year, but 12-14 years? That would be earth-shattering news if a drug could do that. The wonderful thing is that this miracle drug is free.
We Don’t Aspire to “Average”
We often get some rather strongly worded mail saying that we should feature more “average” looking people. Unless average comes to mean a healthy weight and healthy habits, I will continue to resist that. Why would we ask people to aspire to anything less than healthy? What we need are role models, north stars of people whom we can look up to and learn best practices from. If one wants validation for an unhealthy lifestyle, there is no shortage of places to go that will tell you just what you want to hear. This publication supports everyone’s desire to live exactly as they choose. If you want to live as we do, we are happy to share how we do it. Hint: It takes a bit of work, but it is not that hard.
We talk a lot about wellness here. But before we can get to wellness, we need to get to basic health. That means stopping the obviously bad stuff: smoking, drugs, excessive drinking, health-eroding foods. It means eating a smart, mostly plant-based diet, having a regular exercise program that works for you, getting good sleep, drinking a lot of water and reach out to help someone. These are not that difficult, and if you need suggestions and support, we are here to help.
We Only Have One Body
We only have one body, we don’t get a replacement. It needs to last. Get outside and go for a brisk walk. Easy, right? If you do exactly that a couple of times a day, you are no longer average and are now exceptional. This is what we are talking about. One does not need to be a fitness model to be exceptional. If one is exceptional in the sense that one is living a health-oriented life, then you are not only being good to your body, you are a powerful example to those around you.
Do You
We realize that we have at times veered into a sort of puritanism with all this health talk. This is a failure on our part. We want you to be happy, to be joyful and free in your life. We want you to be the best version of yourself that you can imagine. This is not the best version we can imagine, but the one you are seeing. Let’s do this together.
This statement I truly agree with. I am tired of the media presenting me with “average” as my ideal. I want to strive to be better. I want goals. I want to see people who inspire me. That is why, when I originally found AGEIST, I immediately subscribed. If you had not shown me above average people in my age category to look at, I would have disregarded the publication as uninspiring and moved on. This is what makes AGEIST special, thank you for doing it this way:
“We often get some rather strongly worded mail saying that we should feature more “average” looking people. Unless average comes to mean a healthy weight and healthy habits, I will continue to resist that. Why would we ask people to aspire to anything less than healthy? What we need are role models, north stars of people whom we can look up to and learn best practices from.”
Hi Jacqueline,
Thank you for this. I often wonder why is it ok for a 20 y/o to have aspirational models in their lives, but not for a 50 y/o? We must we “aim low”, as if that all we could possible achieve? This attitude more than anything out there is the singular cause of the health crises that are so uniquely American. It has not only become acceptable to live an unhealthy lifestyle, it is aspired to! That is very much not OK with us.
Thank you for your continued suppoprt,
David