Do You Want to Live to 100?

It's a simple question. Or is it?

Your answer might depend on:?

• What you hope to accomplish with those extra years?
• How healthy and capable might you be?
• Whether those additional years would be worth living.

Imagine this

"And now to Candy Samuels at Shady Oaks Retirement Community. Candy?"

"Thanks, Bob! We're celebrating as Mildred Appleton turns 105 years young today. When I asked her secret to longevity, she winked and mentioned her daily brandy!"

"Well, Candy, maybe I should take up that habit myself!" [Cue anchor chuckle]

Getting Old

You may have seen something like this on TV at one time or another.

And, if you're like me (and this is impolite), you're thinking to yourself, Ole Mildred doesn't seem too happy to be 105. She doesn't look all that great, either. Even though someone's gonna say, "I sure hope I look that good when I'm 100!"

She needs assistance with everything. Her days are filled with boredom, pain, and suffering. "Is this any way to live?" we think. "Would I even want to live to a hundred?"

But thinking of Mildred at 105 misses the point.

The point is to consider Mildred's life at 95 or 85. It's not hard to imagine that she was fit and sharp in her younger ages.

An "old" 85-year-old doesn't live to 105. The challenge for us is to avoid being old at 85, 75, or on our next birthday. The goal is to straighten the curve to increase our "healthspan" relative to our "lifespan."

Healthspan

In his book Outlive, Peter Attia charts healthspan versus lifespan. Healthspan is how long we live healthily. When we're functional, engaged, and live independently as much as possible. It's not just how long we live.

Our goal is to increase the area between MED 3.0 and MED 2.0 (see chart). Medicine 2.0 here means today's modern medicine, which is capable of keeping people alive longer than in previous generations.

Medicine 3.0 on the other hand is an aspirational vision of what a more holistic preventative health care system would look like.

Think about the people you know who've lived beyond 90 or so. A few seemed robust until nearly the end of their life. More often, however, "thanks" to modern medicine, many experience a long, drawn-out decline.

Four Horsemen

We've witnessed remarkable advances in medicine that have increased expectancy. This is largely due to reducing the impacts of infectious diseases and deaths due to accidents.

However, modern medicine has been less effective in addressing contemporary health issues. Issues stemming from our increasingly sedentary lifestyle and an overabundance of food.

While we've made remarkable progress in extending life, Attia identifies four major threats to our healthspan:

1. Heart disease

2. Cancer

3. Metabolic dysfunction (e.g., Diabetes 2)

4. Neurological dysfunction (e.g., dementia, et. al.)

These ailments are referred to as The Four Horsemen.

Controlling the Controllable

Your answer to my question, "Do you want to live to 100?" would reasonably be, "It depends."

It depends, of course, on whether we've managed to stay ahead of The Four Horsemen. If not, we might not have a lot of choice in the matter.

We can't control our genes. And we can't control past lifestyle choices. Looking back, many of those choices weren't really free. I think of my mom, a lifelong smoker. She started as a teenager when smoking was cool, and the cigarette advertisements featured doctors in white coats.

But blame and shame won't help anyone maximize their healthspan.

There is a lot we can control, and those things influence the path of The Four Horsemen and our overall well-being. And guess what? It mostly comes down to diet and exercise. We need to focus on brain health and emotional fitness too.

What's remarkable is how much each of the healthy habits in one area supports others. People who eat better tend to exercise more - and they tend to sleep better.

Centenarian Decathlon

Peter Attila outlines tasks we might want to shoot for when we're 100. Things like,

• hiking 1.5 miles on a hilly trail,
• lifting a 20-pound suitcase into the overhead compartment of a plane,
• picking up a young child,
• carry groceries,
• opening jars, climbing four flights of stairs, etc.

Everyone should develop their decathlon based on their values and lifestyle goals.

To succeed in the Centenarian Decathlon, we need to train in these key areas:

1. Aerobic Efficiency

2. Maximize Aerobic Output

3. Strength

4. Balance and Stability

5. Nutrition

6. Brain Health

7. Emotional Well Being

We can't just wish to live to 100. Training for any event, like the Centenarian Decathlon, takes discipline and focus.

“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.” ~ James Clear

In Atomic Habits, James Clear recommends focusing on "systems" rather than "goals." We can develop habits for daily exercise, healthy eating, and social and emotional engagement.

Memento Mori

Thinking back to Jim Fixx offers a reminder of life's uncertainties. In 1984, the man who helped spark America's running boom—author of the bestselling "Complete Book of Running"—died of a heart attack at age 52 during his daily run. I remember the snarky comments about it. But the truth was that Fixx had transformed his life through running, shedding 60 pounds, and quitting a two-pack-a-day smoking habit.

The Latin phrase "Memento Mori"—remember that you must die—isn't morbid. It reminds reminds us to live meaningfully while we can. Fixx himself wrote that running added life to his years, even if it didn't add years to his life.

Our goal isn't immortality—it's vitality. To prepare for our future selves, yes. But to flourish in the meantime as well.

The answer to the question depends on us

Picking up from last week's discussion, what's one healthy habit you could start today your future self will thank you for?