The Basic Building Blocks of a Healthy Life

The 'secret' to staying healthy from a 75-year-old

Almost everyone agrees that health is one of the prerequisites for a happy life. Regardless of how much you make or what you have, if you’re not healthy (at least to some extent), you may not enjoy it all. Ironically, despite this universally accepted truth, we (almost) all default to destructive health habits in the first 20 to 40 years of our lives, and then ‘wake up’ when we hit that downward spiral and it’s no longer easy to stop.

There is a lot of information out there regarding the best way to take care of your health - protein-only diets, cold plunges, optimum sleep time and the classic cardio vs weightlifting for exercise. I am not going to debunk all of those for so many reasons, but mostly because I believe these things are shaped by personal dynamics that it is difficult to give blanket recommendations. However, I am a huge fan of learning from others and taking what resonates with me. This is what this week’s issue is about.

I recently came across a short video within my social network titled “The secret to staying healthy at 75” where an old, cheerful man shares his ‘formula’. I looked for the origins of the video and ended up at a TikTok account belonging to Mr Ng Kok Song (@ngkoksong). Apparently, he is from Singapore and is a former presidential candidate (source). Here is the link to the TikTok video;

So, Mr Song’s formula is abbreviated “SHIELD”. This is what it means, what he says, and my two cents on it…

S - Sleep; seven hours. I have read a fair bit about optimum amounts of sleep for different people, but most people should be okay with six to eight hours. Your pick. I firmly believe sleep is one of the key fundamentals to a healthy lifestyle, and I have an entire post dedicated to talking just about sleep. Check it out here.

H - Handling Stress - meditate. I am personally not one to meditate, and I’d be lying if I said I have a system in place for handling stress; I really don’t. I usually just wing it, and usually what works for me when I'm stressed is to start by asking myself if I can do anything about whatever is stressing me. If I can, good, I make a plan and get right to it. That process of planning and executing my plan usually takes me on the path to ‘recovery’. If there’s nothing I can do, then I accept that and I let it go. Either way, I always tell myself that I am in control of how I respond, and this usually helps. It’s clearly not a system, but hey, it works for me. How do you handle stress?

I - Interaction; discussing, engaging in conversation, and having relationships. Absolutely agree! Relationships are the stuff that life is made up of, and I believe they are what make it all ‘worth it’. You decide who you want to have relationships with, but don’t deprive yourself of the wonderful joy of sharing your life with friends, family or loved ones. We are social creatures, and human interaction feeds our souls - don’t starve yourself. And yes, that includes you too introverts.

E - Exercise. Mr Song says every day, he plays tennis, golf, swims and does some gardening. This is his way of exercising. As mentioned earlier, there’s a lot of information on what to do and what to avoid these days. My recommendation though is to find something that you enjoy and that fits your schedule. I certainly do not have the time to do those four in a day, so if I can find 30 minutes for a walk after work, it’s something. Find your own spot and remember the point is to exercise, get the body moving.

L - Learn something! This, I feel, is probably most of us in this modern day and age are losing it! Most people only learn when they have to - in front of a lecturer at school. And when they graduate, that’s it - the learning stops! We are so oblivious to how dangerous this is, it’s disheartening. No learning means no growth, and that means you will probably stay at the same level for quite a while. Make it a point to learn something every day - a hobby, a sport, a skill, an online course - anything to keep your mind active and stimulate growth. Do not let yourself die with a ‘25 year old brain’! Learn!

D - Diet, Mr Song recommends moderate carbs, low sugar and plenty of fruits and vegetables. As someone who has gone through a number of diets in the past ten or so years, I can attest to how difficult it is to nail down one certain type of diet. What I usually use as a rule of thumb though, is to listen to your body. certain foods make you feel a certain way, and if you listen closely, your body will tell you how it’s responding to what you’re eating. I for one, have a small list of don’ts, and then I am flexible with everything else. So I am trying to quit fizzy drinks and fried junk food, and then I just make sure most of my meals are home-cooked. This is what’s convenient for now, so I roll with that.

I really like this SHIELD formula. I think it’s a pretty cool way to capture the basic building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. What do you think? What are some of your biggest health tips you have heard or that you implement in your own life? I’d love to hear from you.

Have yourself a wonderful week.

Cheers!