By Dr. Stacie Stephenson
If spring is a time of birth, summer a time of flourishing, fall a time of slowing down and winter a time of stasis, wouldn’t it be nice if you could spend most of your life in endless summer?
That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. All around us, life is peaking: flowers in full bloom, trees leafed out and at their brightest green, young critters scampering through the woods and the bluest skies, the whitest clouds, the warmest sun. Summer is bountiful, rich with energy, beauty and vibrant life. And that’s what I want to be, too.
How about you?
This brings me to my favorite subject, and there’s no better time than summer to talk about it: longevity.
When I say longevity, I don’t just mean living for many years. I mean flourishing for many years, feeling young at heart, moving freely, thinking clearly, with the energy and motivation to keep doing, creating, connecting and giving back. I don’t want to live the last half of my long life in pain, unable to do my favorite things with my favorite people. This is why anti-aging medicine has become one of my specialties.
I’ve studied it extensively, looking at everything a person can do to optimize health and maximize the chances of living a long, full life without decline and disease. There’s no guarantee for any of us, but I would put my money on a vibrant lifestyle as the best gamble for getting to 100 with all my faculties intact. There are plenty of fancy, expensive, sometimes illegal anti-aging hacks out there, but most have little to no science behind them. What I know from my studies is what actually works to prolong both health and life.
This is the subject of my forthcoming book, Aging Younger, to be released early next year, and it’s also the inspiration for today’s gift to you: my Endless Summer Longevity Protocol (let’s call it ESLP for short).
Key to the ESLP is consistency. Living longer isn’t just the result of making healthful choices today, or this week, or even this year. It’s the result of what you do day in, day out, week after week, year after year. Regularity matters far more than good intentions or the occasional effort, when you happen to think about it.
Think of your home. If you only cleaned it when guests were coming, it would be dingy and worn most of the time, and it would break down faster than a well-tended house. You wouldn’t wait for the roof to cave in or the walls to mold over; you’d do the maintenance before things reached disaster level. The same goes for your body. Regular, consistent self-care is the surest way to get the most good years out of it.
So, let’s talk about what you can start doing this summer and keep doing, not just for a season, but for life. These are small, easy changes, but if you do them every day (or almost every day), I promise you’ll see big returns by next summer, and for many summers to come:
Habit No. 1: Include one serving of fruit with every breakfast, and two servings of vegetables with every lunch and dinner. Think berries on your yogurt or oatmeal, a ripe pear with lunch, or a dish of pineapple with Greek yogurt and a drizzle of raw honey after dinner. So much better for you than ice cream—and honestly, just as satisfying. For lunch, how about a big salad with lots of leafy greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots and peppers? Dinner could include a side of steamed greens, broccoli or asparagus, then mushrooms and onions on your favorite protein. Do this every day, and you’ll infuse your body with the fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals it needs to age gracefully. Filling up on plant foods also helps ward off menopausal weight gain, which is a real gift to your heart and metabolic health.
Habit No. 2: Move for 30 to 60 continuous minutes every day. Morning, after lunch, early evening: It doesn’t matter when, and it doesn’t have to be hard. A walk after a meal counts. So does a bike ride, a swim, a jog, a playground romp with the kids or a sweaty yoga session. Walk the dog, do situps and pushups while watching your show—just keep moving for at least 30 minutes, and over time you’ll preserve both your mobility and your cardiovascular function.
Habit No. 3: Do something social every weekend. As much as you may want to stay home and decompress, make a plan and follow through. Real, face-to-face time with friends, or a date night, or a family outing, does remarkable things for brain chemistry, warding off depression, anxiety and providing a deep sense of being supported and loved. This matters more for healthy aging than most people realize. People need people.
Habit No. 4: Go outside for the sunrise or the sunset. Whatever the weather, wherever you are, step outside for just five minutes (or more) and sync up with the sun. This resets your circadian rhythm, improving both sleep quality and daytime energy. Nature therapy is real, and the mental health benefits compound over time, especially when you are helping your brain distinguish clearly between day and night.
Habit No. 5: Get better at breathing. We all live with stress, but when it never lets up, we damage our nervous systems and, research confirms, compromise our healing, increase our risk of mental health issues, and shorten our lives. Just two minutes of slow, deep breaths, with a longer exhale than inhale, twice a day, sends your brain the message that you’re safe. It also stops the stress cycle cold. I recommend first thing in the morning to set the tone, and last thing at night to ease into sleep.
That’s it. Five small things, minutes a day, with outsize returns. Let this summer be the one where you commit to living longer and better. Plant foods, movement, connection, a moment with the sun, a few deep breaths. None of it is hard, and all of it adds up. Start today. Why waste one more minute to begin aging younger? drstaciestephenson.com