“Your good health is not a gift or a matter of fate, but rather a habit that is cultivated day by day.
…Your life is a trajectory—it is possible to see where you are headed years and even decades before you arrive there by looking closely at what you are doing today.”
James O’Keefe, MD and Joan O’Keefe, RD
One of life’s most impactful “Vital Behaviors” is to cultivate habits—meaningful positive habits. Routine dictates most of our day. It determines our energy level, health and ultimately even our longevity.
Bad habits will defeat you. Good habits will enable you to soar. Life accepts no excuses, it responds only to action.
A vibrant life, one that is spent in high performance, results from productive habits and personal rituals. Habits and rituals that open gateways to your potential and pave pathways to your dreams.
The vibrant life is built on habits that protect and enrich your mental and physical health while building strong social, community and spiritual sinew.
In their book, The Forever Young Diet & Lifestyle, James O’Keefe, MD, clinical cardiologist and Joan O’Keefe, registered dietician and nutrition counselor list fourteen meaningful positive habits that they have determined lead toward longevity with energy, health and vigor:
1. Smile. Think positive. Be optimistic and enthusiastic. You will discover that if you love life, life will love you back.
2. Eat until you are only 80 percent full, and then stop. This is a tradition of the people of Okinawa, the society with the best longevity in the world.
3. Know your numbers. Keep the following levels in the optimal ranges: your blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, and sugar. Find a doctor you can relate to and trust and see him or her once a year.
4. Try to sleep six to eight and a half hours nightly.
5. Practice good oral hygiene: brush twice and floss once daily.
6. Exercise thirty to sixty minutes every day—if possible.
7. Limit television to not more than two hours daily. Choose shows that make you laugh, make you happy or enrich your life. Watch TV only after you have gotten your exercise for the day.
8. Get at least fifteen to thirty minutes of fresh air daily.
9. Try to spend at least a few minutes every day in quiet reflection, whether in the form of prayer, meditation, yoga, or relaxation breathing, etc.
10. It’s not all about you. Connect with your community and your world. Feel the energy flow into your existence when you make a positive difference in the network of life around you. The universal law of life is that you will only get what you give. If you want a long vigorous life full of health, love and happiness, it helps to have a generous and caring attitude.
11. Eat fresh natural foods and take time for breakfast each morning. Avoid processed foods, especially anything with hydrogenated polyunsaturated fats (trans fats) or high fructose syrup.
12. Include lean protein in your diet three times per day. Consider adding whey protein, one scoop in water or skim milk, for your morning protein source.
13. Each day take three omega-3 (fish oil) capsules and a multivitamin.
14. Give up tobacco permanently.