# What I'm doing to live to 110 - how 'bout you... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876 "2005-06-04T14:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/1 "2005-06-04T14:06:51Z")
I’m 35 years old now, no shame in saying it, and have weathered some health issues that have compromised some things about my body permanently - bah, such is life. But I enjoy living (for the most part) and fear a prolonged and horrible death. To that end, I was particularly interested to read about a way of living which has shown an increase in the longevity of mice, flies and chimp lifespans. It’s extreme by our Western cultural standards of living because it involves not indulging ourselves in the manner the money-grubbing corporations would have us do on a routine basis. Called CR, it involves restricting the amount of calories your body’s forced to burn. One [website in particular](http://www.longevitymeme.org/topics/calorie_restriction.cfm) says to restrict your calories by 20-40% less than you typically take in, so we’re not talking about people living to 110 on a celery stick and some Reese’s Pieces. But this is only one piece of a bigger puzzle and I need your ideas as well. Yes, I am making sure of regular walking time and workouts most days. I read last year about a scientist whose easiest step is to not go far from home and not to ride in most conveyances to avoid accidents - sounds dull to me but maybe that’s a trade-off? I realize we all want to live and don’t want to die, typically - what are you doing? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/2 "2005-06-04T18:47:19Z")
I have neither intention nor desire to live to 110, because I’d rather work on the quality of my life than the quantity. I’d like my obituary to contain more than the dates of my birth and death. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/3 "2005-06-04T20:14:53Z")
I’ll echo **Panache45**. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/4 "2005-06-04T20:33:05Z")
Me too. I’d rather live a great life of 45 years than a bland one of 85. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/5 "2005-06-04T20:49:13Z")
You know, it’s really not an either or situation. You can do things to lengthen your life and _also_ enjoy yourself. In fact, a lot of things that help with life extension also improve the quality of life. Such as keeping yourself fit so you remain active and healthier longer instead of resigning yourself to a scooter at 60. Not becoming unhealthily overweight and avoiding complications like metabolic sundrome or Type II diabetes. Me, I work out five+ days a week and it contributes greatly to the quality of my life as well as (hopefully) extending it. I’ve done a lot of reading about CR but don’t eschew tightly to its principles. But I now realize that being hungry occasionally is not bad for you and may actually be beneficial. I eat a relatively balanced diet relying on whole foods like fruits and vegetables and avoid questionable ones like Funions. I avoid needless risk by doing things like wearing a seatbelt in the car and a helmet on my bike. I do wanna live as long (and as healthily) as possible. Why? Beyond the whole death thing, I wanna see what happens next and time travel has proved as of yet impractical. So I’m doing it the slow way. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/6 "2005-06-04T20:56:18Z")
Well, speaking for myself, as much as oblivion scares me, so does the thought of spending 90 more years on this planet. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/7 "2005-06-04T22:37:59Z")
I’ll add saving like crazy for retirement, because access to good medical care in your later years will probably be important, and also insanely expensive. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/8 "2005-06-05T08:08:20Z")
I remember after John Lennon was murdered, Yoko was quoted as saying how much he had struggled to eat right and excercise to get thin and healthy. Living to be 110? Great…and the point of doing so is? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/9 "2005-06-05T08:14:48Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Well, speaking for myself, as much as oblivion scares me, so does the thought of spending 90 more years on this planet. Even in poor health, I’d still love to see what’s going on here in 90 years. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/10 "2005-06-05T09:59:12Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I remember after John Lennon was murdered, Yoko was quoted as saying how much he had struggled to eat right and excercise to get thin and healthy. > > Living to be 110? Great…and the point of doing so is? One of Lennon’s last songs, cruelly, was “Grow Old With Me.” _Grow old along with me The best is yet to be…_ However, he also said in his mid-twenties that he didn’t see either the Beatles or himself lasting beyond 40. And he was shot at 40 years old. The point remaining…okay, so it’s tragic that he died at forty. That’s the prime of life for most people. And yet who can say that he didn’t have a seriously fabulous forty years on earth? Make 'em count. And don’t count on 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/11 "2005-06-05T21:33:14Z")
> [@Harriet the Spry](#): > > I’ll add saving like crazy for retirement, because access to good medical care in your later years will probably be important, and also insanely expensive. I hadn’t thought of that one, oddly enough, thanks for mentioning it! I know 110 is an awful lot to hope for, but I’m excited to think that I could realistically see at least 2050 and all it might hold. I’m like Dr. Brown that way…Great Scott! I think we may see people spending long periods of time on other planets, and how cool would that be? And maybe orthopedic medicine will make inroads that will cure my scoliosis and allow me my true height someday. A girl can dream… ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/12 "2005-06-05T21:38:17Z")
[Sunscreen](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7090143/) would be an excellent idea. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/13 "2005-06-05T21:39:54Z")
The only group that wants us to live longer, I would think, is the IRS. Who wants to pay taxes that long? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/14 "2005-06-05T22:29:37Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > The only group that wants us to live longer, I would think, is the IRS. > > Who wants to pay taxes that long? Well, obviously at some point one would need to live abroad, wouldn’t one?! That’s one of the great benefits of living longer, seeing everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/15 "2005-06-06T00:09:05Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Even in poor health, I’d still love to see what’s going on here in 90 years. Who’s talking about health? Even in _good_ health, nine more decades of life seems more than I’d like to bear. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/16 "2005-06-06T01:18:01Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Who’s talking about health? Even in _good_ health, nine more decades of life seems more than I’d like to bear. Man, that’s sad to hear. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/17 "2005-06-06T02:02:12Z")
> [@Portia](#): > > Man, that’s sad to hear. Wouldn’t it be great if we could donate years of our life to other people? That way, I could give a Pollyanna like you thirty years, and I wouldn’t have to suffer through them. Win-win all around. News flash: some people don’t enjoy life very much. You do, and that’s great. But some of us have good, legitimate reasons for not wanting to extend our lives to an unreasonable degree. For a majority of the world, life is not fun. And think about it: if everyone lived to 110, we’d all have twenty more working years to “look forward to,” three or four more Presidential administrations to anger and confuse us, and even more death and loss to face, since we’d have to watch our great-great grandparents die. It is good that longevity is granted to only a “lucky” few, because if we all lived that long, it would mean more suffering all around. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/18 "2005-06-06T02:35:13Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > News flash: some people don’t enjoy life very much. You do, and that’s great. But some of us have good, legitimate reasons for not wanting to extend our lives to an unreasonable degree. For a majority of the world, life is not fun. And think about it: if everyone lived to 110, we’d all have twenty more working years to “look forward to,” three or four more Presidential administrations to anger and confuse us, and even more death and loss to face, since we’d have to watch our great-great grandparents die. It is good that longevity is granted to only a “lucky” few, because if we all lived that long, it would mean more suffering all around. Man, what’s with the hostility? **Portia** asked a basic question and it seems like some people are actually getting _offended_ because someone expresses a desire to live a long life and might want to modify their actions to try and achieve that goal. :dubious: I’m not getting it at all. I think it _is_ sad that **Rancloth** (and others) don’t enjoy life enough to want to see it continue but it’s also pretty much irrelevant to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bangiadore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Bangiadore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bangiadore)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/19 "2005-06-06T02:41:06Z")
Sorry, but I’m with the **Ranchoth** and **continuity eror** contingent here. As far as I can tell, everything humanity invents either fails its potential as a panacea for the woes of this world, or is alternately immediately put to use in adverse ways. I don’t think that humans spending time on other planets would be “cool” at all – at least not until we’ve attained the wisdom to maintain life on _this_ planet peacefully and healthfully. It’s like buying a new house because you don’t want to take care of the one you’ve already got so it’s falling apart. But that’s where we’re going to put the effort, so between that and having to deal with an increasing level of political turbulence on a _global_ level, the thought of another sixty tyears leaves me, well, cold. You go on with your bad self, tho’, and I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Everybody’s worldview is different! (Which, of course, is part of the problem, but…) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876/20 "2005-06-06T02:43:41Z")
How can you extend a life when there’s no way to know how long it will be by default? Live longer? Longer than what? Just live. And when it’s over, that’s that. Any attempt to “extend your life” is effectively foolish. That’s not to say you shouldn’t eat healthily or exercise or whatever - for your own enjoyment, peace of mind, or well-being - but don’t do it because you might live longer, because you could very easily die tomorrow of “Red bus disease” _splat_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-im-doing-to-live-to-110-how-bout-you/306876.md?page=2)