The following are characteristics and habits of people living in countries that tend to enjoy good health and longer than average life spans.
- Make activity a part of your everyday routine. Yes, this seems obvious but should go beyond your daily jog or trip to the gym. Try to find a way to incorporate activity into every aspect of your daily life. At work, while shopping, in the home, etc. Take the stairs, parking at the far end of the lot, yard work, bodyweight squats at your desk, playing games with children, walking a pet, walking to a restaurant or as a social activity, etc.
- Take some quiet time away from the hectic pace of your job. This is important on a daily basis (take a lunch where you are not still working), a weekly basis (take at least one, preferably 2, and even better if you can, 3 days off per week).
- Don’t over eat. Pretty simple. Stop when you are full.
- Avoid processed foods. The three main problem ingredients usually found in these foods (often marketed as ‘diet’ or ‘low fat’) are sugar, grains, and vegetable oil (corn, canola, etc). Sugar and processed grains raise blood sugar and insulin levels, putting the body in energy (fat) storage mode and vegetable oils high in omega-6 oils are pro-inflammatory and contribute to a host of chronic diseases.
- Focus on whole foods: Eat lots of vegetables and grass fed or otherwise naturally raised animals.
- Cultivate and treasure friendships. Be loving and close to your family and friends.
- Do kind things for other people every day. Both people you know and don’t know.
- Drink alcohol only in moderation and under pleasant, preferably social circumstances.
- Get a pet or otherwise spend time around animals.