Tuesday Tip: You'll Be Old Longer than You're Young

Dar Williams - Teenagers, Kick Our Butts 

Taco at Green New American Vegetarian
Thank Jeebus they aren't down the street from me

A corollary to Losing's advice to recognize you will never be younger than you are now:

You will be "old" for far longer than you are young. (If you want to get depressed, start googling how the body starts degrading in your mid-20s.)

(Side note re: old people always complaining about "kids these days" - Why every generation thinks people were nicer in the past.)

So while I think it is important to take advantage of youth while you can, I also think it is even more important to spend time investing in who you'll be when you're old. 

The main part of this, IMHO, is physical fitness. We spend just so much time sitting, hunched over looking at screens. 

Once I went vegan and started running an animal-advocacy nonprofit, I spent loads of time sitting at my desk every single day. (Last year was the first time in literally decades that I took a vacation and didn't work at least some part of each day.)

Really, if it wasn't for EK's running career from seventh grade through the end of undergraduate, I would certainly be in much worse shape than I am now. It was only after 2021's accident (and subsequent firing) that I really became dedicated to "increasing" [sic] strength and improving posture. (It is a significant challenge, given my degenerative osteoarthritis; each workout leaves me in significant pain, especially in the area around my fractured neck vertebrae.)

Diet is another challenge. Although most meat-eaters think that plant-based food isn't tasty, I find it a real challenge not to consume too many calories. When my jaw was wired shut following facial reconstruction, the doctor warned Anne that I would lose weight. But I didn't! Anne is the Queen of High-Cal Smoothies.

Potato chips, tater tots, chocolate, all sorts of baked goods, Violife cheeses, the higher-fat plant-based meats, the Ben-and-Jerry's (and others) iced creams ... the list goes on and on. I just don't buy them. (Oh, and I drink less beer, too - maybe one or two a week. 😨 )

No no no - do not eat!

From Losing:

We make decisions every day that involve trade-offs. We cause ourselves pain through exercise in exchange for feeling healthier and hopefully living longer. We restrain ourselves from eating the entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s Colin Kaepernick’s Change the Whirled in order to not look pudgy for our foxy Frau. (And to hopefully live longer with said Frau.) (And because pretty much everything is easier when you are thinner and more attractive.) We don’t smoke because … well, smoking is fucking disgusting.