Recently I had the opportunity to visit my brother John and his wife Marion at their place in Rossland B.C. on my way to a backcountry ski trip at Selkirk Wilderness Tours. Through visiting them this time as well prior visits it struck me that they and all their friends are very young at heart and in biological age. I believe that all of them were quite a bit older than me( 60’s, 70’s and 80’s) but all of them were much younger than their age in their actions, heart, and appearance. They all seemed to have found the proverbial “Fountain Of Youth”. For those that missed my first blog on the 6 Keys to The Fountain Of Youth, you can access it here:http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/6-keys-to-the-fountain-of-youth/
Here is an example of our itinerary the first day I was with them:
I flew into Trail B.C. and arrived at their place around noon. They had skied all morning in epic powder at Red Mountain and had an amazing half day of skiing. They then met me and we went out for a 2 hour snowshoe in the mountains. This was a snowshoe to a backcountry wood burning hut half way up the mountain so was an uphill climb the entire way up.
After snowshoeing we then drove to town and met some their friends for a beer at a downtown microbrewery. We then went back to their place for a great healthy meal and to bed as they rise every morning with the Sun to start their stretching routine prior to going skiing. My observation is that most people would be exhausted by their very active lifestyle however they were energized by it.
Here are the things I noticed about John and Marion and their entire group of friends.
1.Daily Activity is a Way of Life
I noticed that every single day they plan their day around what activity(or activites) they were going to do. Every time I have visited them I notice they have planned out exactly what activities they are going to do that day and they are ultra excited about those activities.
Contrary to myself and I know many others, they don’t have their daily “workout” of 30-60 minutes of intense activity. Instead they partake in activities like skiing, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, yoga, mountain biking or golf to name a few. It reminds me of the book Blue Zones that shares the characteristics of the longest living people in the world whereby they are just “active” on a daily basis. Here is a blog I did last year on Blue Zones – Secrets of the Longest Living People On Earth:http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/sardegna-secrets…le-on-the-planet/ For example they start every day by rising with the Sun and doing a 30 minute stretching and strength workout just to get their day off to the right start. The day I was leaving they were going skiing and the next day planed on going cycling down in the valley. So to summarize, Activity Is A Way Of Life.
2.They Have A Love Life Attitude
For those that have ready many of my blogs, I refer to a “LL” attitude which is a Love Life Attitude. What I noticed about their group is that they are always upbeat and truly excited about life in general. They have the same enthusiasm as a child visiting Disney World for the first time.3.They Always have something to “train” for
I noticed that this group always have something in the future that they need to get ready for or “train for” in order to enjoy the activity to the fullest.
For example, when ski season is approaching, they need to train and get their legs and cardiovascular system in shape in order to be strong when they get into ski season. Following ski season they need to then work at getting in shape for Cycling or Mountain biking season. These planned activities in the future force them to be active as they need to prepare and get in shape for the next planned activity on the horizon. As well, by planning future activities, mentally they always have something to look forward to.
4.They have an Amazing Social Network
I have always thought that Barb and I are super busy socially. After visiting John and Marion’s place I realize that it doesn’t even come close to their social schedule. They pulled out their calendar while I was there and they had something on every single day or evening with their friends. Their evening activities included hosting dinners, going to friends places for dinner, pub nights, Karaoke and theme parties. In fact while I was visiting, they had planned a “night off” and they had 2 invites for social activities that night alone.
Also many of this same social network they travel with and visit with during the other times of the year. For instance they have been on biking trips, kayaking trips and camping with many of these same groups of friends around the world.
5.They Eat Healthy Every Day
I noticed while I was visiting that they are very concerned about what they eat and what goes into their body. From what I could see, their diet consists mainly of whole, non processed, plant based and organically grown food. For example, Marion had made homemade flax bread while I was there. For breakfast we had Oatmeal with an assortment of nuts and seeds and fresh fruit. We also had organically free range grass fed poached eggs on Marion’s homemade flax bread which tasted amazing.
So to summarize the Fountain of Youth Part II
1.Daily Activity Is A Way Of Life
2.Have a Love Life Attitude
3.Always Have Something to “Train” For
4.Have a Strong Social Network
5.Eat Healthy Every Day
Wishing you a healthy and Love Life filled week.
Kev
1 comment
haha…love picture number 3!!! I loved this article. This is one that I will print off and hang on my fridge. I love that Marion (great name) and John plan around their activities!! Steve and I do a lot of fun things together, but we plan activities around other ‘things’. I am going to change that starting now!! From now on activities FIRST….things SECOND!! Thanks for this amazing article Kevin.