It’s not that difficult. Think in terms of making many small, everyday choices, decisions that determine how the cells inside of your body are affected.  Also, just the way you think about aging and what you expect as the years pass influence how well you will age. However, merely thinking about it will not get the job done; you must act!    Remember this when reading the tip that follows on how to become a healthy, look good, feel good centenarian.  Time flies by so fast—faster it seems the older we become—that the time to take action is NOW!  I remember as if it were yesterday being a healthy, happy 30-year-old, and today here I am, a healthy, happy septuagenarian, with three grandchildren, on the road to becoming a healthy, happy centenarian.  I love it! Bonus:  Life, while making the journey, is better and more fulfilling.

Scientists and statistics point to the fact that the number of us living 100 years or longer has been rising; and with recent medical advances and imminent breakthroughs, if we take care of ourselves, the chance of doing so is increasing dramatically.

In a couple of years it’s expected that there will be 125,000 centenarians in the U.S.; by 2050, there will be 1 million and, before the end of the twenty-first century, 2.5 million. YOU CAN VERY LIKELY BE ONE OF THEM IF YOU THINK AHEAD…PLAN AHEAD…IT WILL NOT JUST HAPPEN WHILE SITTING ON THE COUCH EATING JUNK FOOD! (Sorry, but I just had to say that.)

At the beginning of the twentieth century, average life expectancy in this country was forty-six years for men and forty-nine years for women, although some, few compared to today, who survived the diseases of that era did make it to age sixty-five or older.

Brother Harry      Oleda

As I have pointed out in the past, scientific studies prove that our genes account for only 30%of the aging process. 70% is due to lifestyle and environment, choices we have control over, decisions we make every day.

Want more proof? Here’s a picture of me with my brother, Harry. (He is a sport for allowing me to publish it.) With the same mother and father, we have many common genes.  Harry is three years my junior and, as you can see, has a serious weight problem that he admits is due to his eating habits and lifestyle choices, which he’s working on now to change. He has undergone heart surgery and a knee replacement.

Are Your Health Problems A Result of Your Genes Or Your Lifestyle?
Consider this scenario:
A woman says she’s seriously overweight because she inherited her mother’s metabolism, and her mother claims that she “caught” her obesity from her mother’s genes.  So, the woman goes through life, dangerously overweight, thinking she can’t do anything about it because it’s in her genes. And her daughter sees her grandmother and thinks the same, and so on.

Well, suppose their problem has nothing to do with their inherited metabolism.  Suppose the grandmother just loved to cook and eat and was physically inactive, and it was that attitude and life style that was passed on, not “fat genes.”

In this scene, overweight has nothing to do with the woman’s genes, and I believe many other physical problems fall into this category, too, like lung cancer and smoking, heart disease and sedateness. Much is caused by the choices we make. Changing any damaging habit at any age helps tremendously toward a longer, healthier lifespan.Researchers say it’s never too late to start changing our ways for a better life.

The Reality Of Aging Has Changed, Ask The Baby Boomers! They intend to live “forever.”

In the early 1900’s, a 50-year old person WAS old.  Don’t tell that to today’s Baby Boomers, who are now reaching their 60’s. They don’t think they’re old, not even close, and, I’m happy to say, they’re fighting aging all the way. My job is to help, to show by example that one can be much younger than we ever thought. We can be healthy, feel good, be agile and, yes, even good looking, in our oldest years.  (And, if you’re in your 20’s or 30’s, you need to pay attention, starting now.)

The last thing I want for you and me, is to have a long, long life feeling old and decrepit, and looking shriveled and feeble.  No!  I think today’s Baby Boomers are recognizing they don’t have to become oldas they age; they are searching for ways to add healthy, beautiful years to the second half of their lives.
 
So, How Do We Do This?
Every decision, or road you take, leads to how every cell in your body is affected and how healthy and long you will live. The big bonus is that you’ll have a better, more fulfilling life during the whole journey.

1.  I get frequent medical check ups.  If I sense something changing in my body, I want to know why, so I go see my doctor and have it checked out.  The medical profession might have lots of answers today, but they can’t give you answers, if they don’t know the questions.  This is the primary and most important aspect of my personal health care program.  It’s called, prevention.

     Prevention also includes daily maintenance.  For example, I clean my teeth thoroughly twice a day. If you have a poor diet, or do not floss or use a water jet interdental cleaner, your gums will recede, bleed, food will wedge under them and, eventually, your teeth will loosen, you won’t be able to chew your food well and even more problems will arise. It’s unbelievable how many people in their 40’s have lost too many of their teeth…ask your dentist…he’ll tell you. Heredity? No, very likely it’s caused by the same bad habits their parents had.  I talk about this at length in the Oleda Tip, “Keep Your Teeth For Life” in our Web site.

I have gotten a Flu shot every year for the last 25 years.  Why?  Flu can weaken you, keep you sick three weeks or more, which affects all the cells in the body even longer, I believe.  I also think it might affect our overall health for a very long time. Talk to your doctor and see what he/she says.

Whenever I feel my favorite jeans getting a bit tight, I reduce my intake of calories.  At age 74 I’m still 122 Lbs. (5’ 8”). Overweight and obesity are primary reasons so many people get major illnesses, especially heart disease, liver and kidney problems, joint pain and even cancer.  The medical profession warns us about this constantly.  Overweight and obesity are very difficult to deal with for many people, but they’re preventable.  What is more difficult is to contract a dreaded disease and have to deal with that!! Don’t fall into a trap and rationalize by saying it’s hereditary (it’s probably not).  If you’re overweight, don’t blame anyone else, otherwise you won’t have the power and strength you need to “undo” the problem. (Imagine people suing fast food companies because of what they did to themselves; it’s unbelievable!)

My diet is rich in fruits and vegetables—less red meat—and I always eat small portions.  Yes, I snack during the day at times but, again, the amount is very small and it’s usually healthy for me.

Some restaurants are notorious for serving huge meals.  Maybe they do that to make people think they’re getting a lot for their money. I often rebel by ordering one or two appetizers, no entrée.  If I do order a main course, I skip the appetizer. By the way, I love desserts.  Often, I’ll ask for the dessert menu first, and, if there’s a mouthwatering morsel on it, I might have one healthy appetizer and a dessert for dinner.  It’s amazing to me to see huge dishes piled with food and people who feel they must eat it ALL. As a habit, this is a door opener to serious illness.

I attribute my general good health, flexibility, energy, bone density at my age to my nutritional diet, vitamin supplements, and the hormone replacement therapy I’ve been doing for years (prescribed and monitored by my trusted gynecologist).  The human body is a wondrous thing.  It responds.  So, it’s never too late to start.  You can help repair every cell in your body through proper nutrition.  Bone cells take about a year, but all other cells will respond in much less time…some cells in just a few weeks.   We have the power to undo damage and repair many of our cells, if we keep in mind that they can be only as healthy as the nutrition we feed them.  Do you remember the cliché, “You are what you eat?”  It’s so true!

2. If exercise was as much fun as eating, we would all be in very good shape!  It may not be fun, but it certainly is important for a long, healthy life span. If you don’t want to do anything else - just a fast walk for 20 minutes 3 or 4 times a week will help.  Start at your normal speed, and then build up to as fast as is comfortable—well, maybe just a little uncomfortable. Do not run or jog as your bones will pay for it later in life.

3.  It is so important to get your proper sleep.  Seven or 8 hours produces the best results.  I suggest, when you’re in our Web site,www.oleda.com, you read “Get ‘Beauty Sleep’.”  You’ll find it under “More Oleda Tips.”

4. Keep your mind sharp and agile.  The only way to do this is to use it, keep it “exercised.” Try new things, and have fun doing it.  Seven years ago, I started to learn something about computers. Today, I know how much I don’t know, but it sure helps keep my brain stimulated.

5. Happy people live longer. If you are unhappy and can figure out why, maybe you can do something about it.  There’s often no quick fix to something like this.  If you feel you’re in some kind of a rut, once you recognize it, you have a chance to change, find something new.  It’s important to feel good about yourself, to have a sense of purpose in work, even volunteer work, or a hobby. Not only am I working in my company but I just started oil painting again and have an exhibition coming up at a museum in Florida in 2009. I’m also working on a new anti-aging book.

6. Looking good helps us to feel good and extend life. There is so much we can do to retain youthful skin.  The sun, poor diet and cigarette smoking are the skin’s worst enemies.  Maintain a personal daily skin routine by providing as much moisture to it as possible, both day and night. One of the best treatments available for skin rejuvenation is an Alpha-Hydroxy Acid cream or lotion that you can apply yourself at home.

We have the power to have young, healthy looking hair all our lives.  Nutrition, scalp massage and a good conditioner that brings shine and life to our hair can help. If you have dry hair, use a shampoo especially for dry hair…I do.  See my tip on this subject, called, “Thicker, Stronger Hair," in our Web site. My hair, even though I’m well into my seventies now, is as thick and strong as it was when I was young, and, perhaps you’ve noticed in some of the pictures on the Web site, I still have mostly dark roots.

I don’t want to sound commercial, but I would be doing you a disfavor if I did not emphasize how important nutritional supplements are. Because I have provided my body with the supplements it needed (and the need changes every few years as we age), I have never had to take a prescription drug for the heart, arthritis (I still don’t have any signs of arthritis), diabetes, cholesterol or any other disease. This is not magic…it’s giving the body (the cells) the nutrition it needs to compensate for its shortcomings. I will show you below the supplements I believe have helped me so much and, would not want to be without.  

Living a healthy, beautiful life in senior years, as we approach 100, could be the subject of a book….in fact I’m writing one now, Beauty and Health After 50.   My purpose is to start you thinking about it, no matter what your age, to try to demonstrate that prevention, especially through proper medical care, nutritional diet and supplements, exercise of body and mind and attention to our physical appearance are all intertwined to achieve the goal of becoming a happy centenarian. It’s never too early to start.
My mission is to demonstrate that, if I can look and feel 20 years younger than my age, I can help you in your attempt to do so, too.  I urge you to start now, no matter how old you are.

You must keep your flexibility…but start slow!

1. Super VEGGIES & FRUIT - Powder OR Capsule

2. Aloe Vera Concentrate Capsule OR Aloe Vera Health Drink Concentrate

3. Super AGE ENHANCER Vitamin

4. B-Complex Vitamin

Wishing you a longer, healthier, happier life than you ever dreamed you could have.

Love, Oleda