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One way or another, I made it through the first month of 2024, and while it wasn’t pretty, it is February and we are a tiny bit closer to spring so I’m going to call that a win. I’m sitting down with Deborah, Coco and you for a little catch-up session over a nice warm beverage. I’m going with some Starbucks Green Apron Blend and, because I am hyper aware of my cholesterol lately, I’m using a plant-based creamer from nutpods to avoid the saturated fat in my usual half & half. What’s in your cup?
Life Span vs. Health Span
Over coffee I’d give you an update on my mom. She’s home and has a host of visiting nurses, physical therapists and of course doctor appointments. Lots of doctor appointments. The bright spot at an otherwise challenging time, is she’s rolling with it all for the most part, is mentally acute, and in good spirits. It takes a village though.
Over coffee I’d tell you my mom’s recent health crisis along with my own health scare have me thinking a lot about life span vs health span. The average life expectancy here in the US is 77.8 years. It’s a little higher in the UK and lower in Mexico. Of those 77.8 years though, how many of them are spent HEALTHY? First one would need to define specifically what healthy actually means. For me there are physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects to consider:
Absence of Illness
Physical fitness: Strength-Balance-Mobility-Stamina
Mental Acuity
Community and Social connection
Through my lifetime I’ve had role models who did a great job of living a long health span, and others who did not. While I cannot change the past, or my family history of heart disease (I have four aunts who died from heart disease before they turned 60), I can move forward in a proactive way.
Although my triglycerides were never an issue and are actually quite low, I’ve also cleaned up my diet, keeping inflammatory processed foods and sweets to a bare minimum. Every little bit helps, right?
My Lumen Metabolism Tracker seems to approve as recently I’ve been waking up in “fat burn” mode very consistently. To be fair I’ve also been closely following the macro recommendations my Lumen gives me and it’s definitely working. That did not happen before. Try Lumen for yourself and take advantage of their New Year sale. Use code MARCIA for additional savings.
Lastly I’d ask you how you did with any goals you set for January. I challenged myself to not spend money on non-essentials (NoSpenduary) and I’m proud to say this year was a resounding success. It definitely got easier as I got further into the month and now I’m feeling like I don’t really “need” anything.
What would you tell me over coffee? What does the word HEALTHY mean to you?
I’m also linking up with Darlene, Michelle, Renee, Jenn and Zenaida, for Fit Five Friday. Join us!
Like you, I am now acutely aware of all things cholesterol and healthy. I am also tracking my macros especially the sugar consumption. It’s a lot for sure. There are so many things that are genetic and out of our control and accepting that is not always easy for me. I should go back and reset my Lumen to more accurate macros. Thanks for the reminder. I am still struggling with what healthy means to me now. We should chat about it sometime!
I’m glad to hear your mom is home and in good spirits.
I’m feeling better about my cholesterol as everything else is good. I am going to do the cardiac calcium CT, just to rule out any blockages. I need to stay on top of things as my mom’s dementia is worsening. She fell yesterday and got a black eye. Today I was out there fixing their passwords on the computer and she asked me what happened to her face. Sigh.
This is such a great topic, and it seems one a lot of us have been thinking about. Right now I am so frustrated with my hamstring it’s hard to think about anything else, but being well and able to move my body in plenty of other ways is something I am not taking for granted.
I’m glad you are feeling better and that your Mom is getting care.
All great points about health! With my sugar-cutback, I’m now hyper aware of other mindless snacking. Granted, I’m not overweight and all my blood work (mid-December) came back looking great, there is a lot of l fluff stuff I really don’t need. I find myself asking if I’m really hungry or just bored, and it’s been a great test of my willpower. A bonus is that I’m making healthier food choices. I hope things continue to go well for you! Also, I’m glad to hear your mom is doing better 🙂
Congrats on the No-Spenduary! It’s amazing how habits becomes easier over time.
Great points about what determines a healthy life. I think Dan Buettner mentioned similar ones in his book on the Blue Zones.
Looking at my parents (82 and 85), I am surprised at the impact a good social life. They live the most unhealthy lifestyle, but their active social life keeps them mentally and physically fit. I sometimes think that this factor might be one of the most underrated ones.
I’m happy to hear that you and your mom are doing better! Will you be back to running soon?
I have a good friend who is suffering from dementia. So sad. How can you prevent it? Much worse than any physical illness.
To healthy is being able to do what makes you happy. It could be knitting or it could be an ultra.
Right now I can work, run, socialize. I feel great. Never even get sick. Knock on wood.
Congratulations on your successful NoSpenduary! And I’m glad to hear things are under control with your mom. I think you’ve hit on the main components of a healthy life. Keeping active is so, so important! But you can’t out-run a bad diet. I’ve also been working at getting rid of processed foods- it’s so easy to let them creep in there.
I guess my goal as I get older is to be able to do the things I love, especially running. I want to prevent (as much as possible) any health issues that could hold me back. I also want to be around to see (and enjoy) my grandchildren! That’s good motivation for me to stay healthy. I hope February is a great month for you.
Yes to all your measures of “healthy”! I’ve been sloppy about my diet since the holidays and have been working on reeling it in. I’m back to counting macros as I know that always helps. Maybe I should consider firing up my Lumen again – it’s great that it’s worked so well for you.
Great to hear that your mom is doing better and in good spirits.
Congrats on the NoSpenduary!
I’m glad that your mom is in good spirits. I’ve been thinking a lot about health as well when it comes to my family history and just the little things, the older that I get. I think quality of life is my biggest metric when it comes to health.
I’m really glad your mom is home and in good spirits!
Those are all things I factor into the “blanket” of health too — definitely better to work on prevention wherever possible! I’ve been working on staying active daily + slowly getting back into tracking my macros again.
Interesting re: life span vs. health span. I don’t think I really chose health until I was much older and I feel like somehow I’m being punished for that (don’t mind my anxiety and depression riddled menopause way of thinking). My family is in no way the picture of health, though I would say my mother has always been trying to lose weight for as long as I can remember and my grandmother was extremely active, even going on to becoming an aerobics instructor at the age of 60, but was not a healthy eater… that’s about all I got in my life as far as health examples go. And sometimes I wonder (not to be a dark cloud) do I really even WANT to live to that average age? Will all that I do now make it so that my quality of life is still good? Well, I’ll have to just keep going to find out 🙂
Glad your mom is rolling with everything, I’m sure that helps a lot!
I am glad to hear that your mom is doing better. I agree with your view of healthy. I want to retire in 10 or so years and want to enjoy it. For the most part, I am in good health but have gained some weight and I am not happy about it.
This is such a sobering post and introduces so many things to consider.
We are also dealing with a health crisis in our family and it’s hard to navigate in so many ways. That being said, I think it’s important to know the data, but also important to live as best and fully as we can in spite of it all. But it’s hard.