A lot of people in the comments are talking about the "problem" of death and approaches to take, but really, the only thing you can do is philosophically make your peace. Anything else at this point is yelling into infinity.
There is a difference between dying at 40 and dying at 80. Also, I see no reason why people couldn't live for, say, 200 years or even indefinitely. I think it is an engineering problem that can be solved and I wish we as humanity allocated more attention and resources into solving this particular problem. Especially as it concerns all of us. Solving suffering and then solving mortality sounds like a good project to me.
If life's a game where you try to get the best score you can, more years gives you more chances to rack up points. Philosophically* there's nothing more important, and therefore nothing has more meaning than this.
* different people can have different philosophies on life
Realistically you can maybe get another couple year from what I can tell. Is it worth it?
I'd focus more on qulalitiy of your life. not everyone will die of something all these can help with, the obese person I used to know enjoyed eating - and we can now say in hindsight that diet changes would not have helped him live longer.
leading a healthy active lifestyle DOES improve the quality of your life.
Getting diabetes and injecting yourself daily with insulin is not a quality life.
Having trouble walking or playing with your grandkids because one is too fat and has ruined their joints is also not quality.
Having a miserable last 10-20 years of life due to a stroke is also not quality.
These things don’t mysteriously happen. :) Being able to take care of yourself into old age is the biggest gift you can give yourself. Why? It reduces your suffering as much as possible. But nothing is guaranteed of course.
Personal story time…growing up my parents barely valued their health. Mom and dad were fat for years. My dad had a stroke at 65 and he’s struggling with symptoms 10 years later. My mom got seriously ill at 60 from years of mismanaged diabetes, and was in and out of the hospital for 3 years before dying of a heart attack. She ate a lot of cookies though - quality life achieved?
In contrast my in laws walk 10k+ steps daily, eat healthy, and exercise. They’ve been doing it for years. They are almost 70, travel all the time, and keep up with their grand kids no problem! They themselves are doing better than their parents, who suffered from early onset dementia and high blood pressure.
Just my opinions as someone that’s seen 2 very different approaches to “living”. I try not to obsess over it, but i certainly make sure my BMI is low and make sure my blood sugar is excellent. I’ll do anything to avoid going through what my parents did. I plan to enjoy my 60s and 70s!
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply do nothing. I meant to caution that your best efforts may be meaningless. I have know several people doing thing right who yet got dieabietes, had strokes, or died young. good diet and exercise is important but it isn't everything
I do agree that the _causes_ for these things happen mysteriously to some people. Or sometimes it’s just part of your family history and you’re predisposed genetically.
But if i have routine labs done and find out i’m prediabetic, i have 2 choices. I could continue eating cookies every day like my mom did and not exercise, or i could make lifestyle changes and take metformin proactively.
Similarly with high blood pressure, and more. That alone addresses like 80% of modern ailments. Things get more tricky when we consider complex conditions like migraines, etc, which you have much less agency over as a person.
