It may have seemed like good news when federal officials announced last month that U.S. life expectancy had jumped four months and, for the first time, surpassed 78 years.

But forget about 78. What if someone said that you–not some future generation–should be able to live into your 90s in relatively good health?  How do you think your QUALITY of life will be during your golden years?  Think about that for a moment while I share this with you….

While serving in the Best Air Force in the world – The United States Air Force, I had the privilege of being stationed in Tokyo, Japan. During my tour of duty in Japan I also visited several other places in the Asian Pacific region to include Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa is similar to Hawaii but smaller in size. It’s a beautiful island. But I’m not writing this post to discuss the beautiful landscapes of Japan; I’ll leave that to the travel channel.

I want to share something very interesting with you.

If you know anything about the Asian Pacific Islanders, they have a tendency to live very long.  Is there a secret?  I don’t know, let’s find out.

One thing I really enjoyed was exploring Japan and interacting with the locals. In order to get around comfortably, I studied Japanese Language/Culture for a couple of semesters while stationed in Japan. The Japanese showed more respect towards Americans that spoke or in my case, “tried to speak” their language. In Okinawa, there was this older woman that appeared to be in her 70s or 80s that whispered “hara hachi bu” before she eats, a reminder to consume only 80% of what’s on her plate. And get this; I noticed their plates were a lot smaller than ours. So, I would even go out on a limb and say this, “The bigger your plate, the more you’re going to try and put on it.”  So, reach for a smaller plate to stay within portions of a meal or entrée.

I would also argue that there are other factors that contribute to longer life expectancies such as eating more plant-based foods (organic), being active, and alleviating stress.  Stress can kill you!  Yes, you read it right.  Your body can only take so much. Outside of exercising I would recommend regular participation in a spiritual community.  Now before you dismiss me, just hear me out for a second. It not only connects you with a supportive social network but forces you to set aside time each day and week for relaxation. There’s even research that supports this. In 1999, researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Texas at Austin and Florida State University found that people who go to church once or more each week may live seven years longer than those who never attend.  Hopefully, you won’t go to church just for relief of stress but for a higher cause.  You didn’t know you were going to get preached to huh?  

Trust me, I understand adopting healthy habits isn’t as easy as it may sound, especially given our fast-food culture, super-sized portions and the fact that most of us spend our days chained to a desk rather than working like cave men.  I don’t expect you to whisper “hara hachi bu” before you eat but keep in mind what you’re eating and how much. Please understand that what you’re doing to your body TODAY is affecting the outcome of your body in the FUTURE.

Let me know if you got a laugh out of the twenty-four year old.

Live a Quality Life,

CC Matthews

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Fat Loss Strategies, Fitness Advice, Mind/Motivation, Nutrition Tips & Strategies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted by admin | in Fat Loss Strategies, Fitness Advice, Mind/Motivation, Nutrition Tips & Strategies | 3 Comments