Get Ready To Live Past 100

I initially read that as "will I still be continent". I guess I back myself to be able to dribble crap from my mouth well into old age, but it's the other end that concerns me.

While I hope to live past 100 ("live forever or die trying"), a key part of my happiness philosophy is "Plan to live forever. Be prepared to die today". In other words, don't plan a life that will be happy in the distant future if you're not happy with it right now. The future may not arrive for you, or worse still you will create a habit of always living in the future and never enjoying your present.

So far I've quit cigarettes, recreational drugs, drinking, coffee, pork, beef, and other mammals.

I did this in waves - I have a two-fold plan. I quit or seriously cut back on something bad, and/or look to add something equivalent but better to my consumption. So you can't just quit all the foods/drinks you consume without getting used to having new stuff. For instance, I'm working on cutting caffeine, so I axed coffee (and I loved coffee, by the way) and am working to moving to lower caffeinated drinks - green tea, white tea, and herbal teas ideally. Will I quit entirely and go herbal teas, or continue to drink green tea? Not sure, but I'm looking in that direction.

I'm working on quitting fructose and sucrose except when they come with a significant amount of fiber and nutrients (so, fruit) - and maybe a possible exception for right after exercise. This means eating more fruit and adding decent snacks and fiber to my diet instead of just quitting and then wondering what the hell to do. Also, I spent all of 2009 trying all kinds of sugar and dessert - I wanted to have those experiences before quitting, and I know I'd need time to prepare for this one since it's such a big thing.

I'm working on stretching and fitness programs to my connective tissue, bones, and joints in good shape - especially important for me since I have bad joints. My fitness is light weights focusing on core and large muscle groups, less worried about the "beach muscles" and more about core strength, flexibility, and mobility. Also, cardio for the heart.

Then taking care of my teeth and skin and constantly looking into how to improve my lymph system, immune system, digestion, and other vital systems in the body.

Now, sometimes if I mention this to somebody, they say, "Man, why bother living if you're having no fun?!" And I don't really know what to tell them - my happiness/meal I reckon is right around anyone who isn't a serious gastronomical foodie type. I eat fresh fruits, yogurt, nice teas, rice, noodles, chicken, fish, vegetables with nice spices and sauces. Sandwiches and stews and other nice things - do I miss steak or Monte Cristo cigars and Chimay Blue beer sometimes? Yeah, occasionally. But I reckon my happiness/pleasure/consumption of things stacks up nicely with anyone else's.

And I plan on having a healthy sex life in my 50's and 60's, and maybe afterwards, I plan on being able to really run around and play some sports with my kids and grandkids, and I plan on being healthy and active for my great-grandkids.

I talk to older people and ask them what they'd wished they done when they were younger - they all have regrets, "I should have taken care of my back... should have taken care of my teeth... should've quit smoking... should've quit drinking... it wasn't worth it..." And it's like, hey, that's going to be me! I'm going to be that old person with those regrets unless I take action now.

Who knows, I do some dangerous stuff, I snowboard, I travel to dangerous parts of the world, maybe I'll catch a bad break and that'll be the end of me. But I tell you, just knowing that I'm planning on living to 110, with good mobility and health and cheer for most of those years, that is worth it for it's own sake even if I don't last that long. I'm planning on living a long, healthy, productive life. That it's own reward - being able to have sex 20 years longer than most people my age will be a bonus, being able to play a decent game of football with my pre-teen grandson will be a bonus, getting 30 to 50 more years to read books, and watch world events unfold, and play with all the cool and amazing new technology that comes out - it's a bonus. The lifestyle is worth it on its own.