Lifestyles of the Super Healthy
So you eat right, you're getting enough exercise, you're in better shape than you were a year ago, and certainly better off than that poor slob in Marketing. But still, you know you're missing something – that healthy, confident glow that separates the healthy man from the Ultra-Healthy Man.
Here, then is a quick guide to what the Ultra-Healthy Man knows he needs to do, that you don't:
Get outside. Whether he calls it “eco therapy” or just “playing in the yard,” the Ultra-Healthy Man knows that The Great Outdoors plays a big role in keeping him that way. It protects his mental health, improves his focus, and even strengthens his immune system.
Stay Hydrated. We probably don't have to remind you about this, no people have ever been so self-hydrated as Americans, with a possible exception of those living in the lost city of Atlantis. The Institute of Medicine did the math and determined that proper daily water intake for men is roughly 3 liters (13 cups) of total beverages per day. Proper hydration has a major effect on the ultra-healthy person's mood and brain function. It also may relieve constipation and help keep the weight off.
Go offline. Just about a generation ago, Americans found themselves learning to adopt to a new wave of technology and connectedness. Personal computers, email, the worldwide web, instant messaging, and mobile phones all conspired to keep us “always on,” and our work culture convinced us this was a good thing. So when our children were born, we believed in getting the tech into their hands as soon as possible so that “they could compete,” and we were delighted that they took to it even faster than we did. Now we know that we sort of screwed up. The Ultra-Healthy Man knows that Facebook can make him miserable, email generates stress, and online gaming is not only highly addictive, it can kill. You don't have to go off the grid entirely and forever (that's crazy talk!), but whether you just avoid screens right before bedtime and first thing in the morning (as Tim Ferriss famously recommends in his The 4-Hour Workweek) or digitally detox yourself for 12 straight hours daily (as Chris Bailey suggests in The Productivity Project), you need to jack out of The Matrix for longer periods of time to be ultra-healthy.
Don't smoke. It almost goes without saying that the Ultra-Healthy Man is a non-smoker. Yet tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, with cigarettes killing more than 480,000 Americans each year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Get some sleep. You need 7 to 9 hours to perform optimally, and ideally you will go to sleep around the the same time each night. Sleep helps you think more clearly, have quicker reflexes and focus better. That's the carrot. But if you're more a stick kind of guy, lack of sleep increases your risk for obesity, heart disease and infections.