Quality of Life Versus Quantity of Life

I see lots of articles that tout healthy lifestyle as a means to live longer.

But is simply living longer such a great goal?

Sure, there’s bragging rights if you live past a certain age, but who are you going to brag to if you outlive all your friends?

I know quite a number of people who have lived or are living past the age of 80, and a few past 90. Some of them are an inspiration to try to do the same.

Some of them very much are not!

Being able-bodied and reasonably sharp-minded into one’s later years is great. But all too often, that is not how things go.

Who wants to live to some ripe old age if the last several years of it are marked by disability and pain?

So why focus on doing things with the goal of simply living longer?

I approach my own personal health maintenance program out of the desire to live well for however long I may wind up living, not because I want to live to 100.

This includes regular exercise that incorporates strength training, flexibility training (stretching), cardio, and balance training (an often-overlooked aspect of fitness that is critical to reducing one of the most common causes of disability in the elderly – falls).

Diet is, of course, important too. I don’t follow a particularly restrictive diet, but mainly eat in such a way as to avoid the biggest problems found in the typical American diet, such as too much sugar/refined carbs, excess trans fats, excess salt, etc.. The main focus of my diet is to limit my consumption of processed foods and eat a balance of high quality proteins, fresh produce, and healthy fats.

My diet could be better from a strictly nutritional standpoint, but food plays a role in our lives beyond just nutrition, as it is a major aspect of socializing and simply enjoying life. I don’t think it’s necessarily healthy to avoid social gatherings or to deny oneself any enjoyment of eating because of a fear that, for instance, eating a piece of cake (once in a while) will, “kill you.”

I’ve never been a smoker nor much of a drinker (nor user of other mind-altering substances), so those issues are not really a challenge for me. For those who do have those health-robbing habits, I encourage them to quit or at least find a way to minimize them, because they do an incredible amount of damage to the body over a long period of time and can make aging a lot harder.

Of increasing importance in today’s world is taking time for mental health. It’s far too easy to get caught up in the fear and anger that is so prevalent these days. I try to avoid spending much time on social media and I definitely don’t spend a lot of time viewing news programs that are sensationalized to emotionally “hook” viewers for the primary purpose of generating advertising dollars.

Even with my self-restricted exposure to the fear-mongering and negativity, I find it difficult to not get wrapped up in it, as I frequently find myself in discussions of current events with my patients who are upset about the latest scandal or horror story they saw on the news or on the internet.

Focus is a powerful thing, and I really try to stay focused on the positive and on solutions rather than the problems themselves. Again, it’s difficult and out of all the aspects of health, my mental health is currently my biggest struggle, whereas in years past I found it much easier to maintain a positive outlook.

Sleep is also something I could stand to improve on. I sleep pretty good for the most part, but I am a bit of a “night owl” and tend to stay up later than I should. This is somewhat tied to my mental health, as I usually get less sleep when I’m feeling emotionally stressed and stay up late trying to distract myself from the things that are bothering me.

I guess that means I need to put a bit more effort into my mental health, but I think that’s probably most people these days.

All of that said, I realize that taking good care of myself as I age is not a guarantee that I’ll live out my days healthy, happy, and feeling good. There’s a lot of things outside of my control and there’s no way to predict what might present challenges to my quality of life as I age.

What I do know is that not taking care of myself definitely increases the odds that my quality of life – right now as well as in the future – will not be as good as it could be.

Ultimately, my goal is to maintain my ability to physically take care of myself and be mentally able to manage my affairs and enjoy my life for however many years I happen to get.

Struggling to stay alive while fighting pain and disability for years after miserable year is simply not the way I want to go out!

Live to 100? I can live without that!

Until next time…

Take care,

George Best, D.C.