A Healthy Body, Healthy Thoughts

There are countless tools for success. But the most important of them is our own body! And the older we get, the more a well-running body turns into a competitive advantage. Everyone knows how, during illness or a bad spell, money and the other joys of life lose their meaning, and the only thing that still matters is getting your health back.

I’m forty-one, but I often hear that I look twenty-six to thirty-two — depending on the length of my hair, whether I’ve got stubble, and how the previous night’s sleep is showing on my face. Almost always, new acquaintances start wondering whether I drink the blood of virgins and keep their bodies in the freezer.

I suppose I should be grateful to genetics, but there’s still a whole range of active things I do. I’ll be glad if you find something useful for yourself among them.

— I’ve taken two general genetic tests and several specialized ones for individual genes, to understand my predispositions, intolerances, and even character traits.

— I do a regular full check-up: blood work and medical procedures at least once a year.

— I work out steadily twice a week — functional training and, when I can, one game of tennis.

— Sleep is my priority: consistent bed and wake times, keeping an eye on sleep quality. I need about eight hours. I use a sleep tracker and my own methods to improve how rested I wake up.

— I lean toward preventive, integrative, and Eastern medicine, but I don’t dismiss evidence-based medicine when an illness couldn’t be headed off. I take antibiotics only in the face of an existential threat.

— I keep my diet as varied as possible — simple dishes from quality ingredients, with added sugar cut out entirely wherever I can.

— I take supplements and vitamins on a nutritionist’s say-so, not on a hunch. To the supplement skeptics who say, “my grandfather ate whatever he wanted, never took a single supplement, and lived to a hundred,” I’d point out that over our generation the nutritional value of the food we city-dwellers eat has dropped several times over. A harvest gathered several times a year simply doesn’t have the time to fill up with vitamins and minerals the way it would if those crops grew in the wild.

— My facial skin needs moisture, so I use the wonderful skincare from Dr. Kondrasheva twice a day: in the morning and before bed.

— I give a fair amount of time to “beautiful idleness” — hedonism, basically. For instance, I’ll drop into a restaurant for lunch, take a sunlit terrace full of flowers, and spend two hours alone with a glass of wine. Spending time like this genuinely reboots the brain and lets me see things more strategically.

— Laughter is the best medicine for everything. Whoever I’m meeting with — what could be better than laughing together? Every day I find time to scroll a feed of fresh memes, to charge up on a smile and a good mood.

— I deeply value good social connections. Sadly, most people in my circle, like me, aren’t available often. But maybe that’s exactly what makes every meeting especially precious. Rare, but with all our hearts!

— I have gratitude rituals — both to the universe, for giving me the skills and the chance to live the way I do, and to almost every person I crossed paths with over the day. Try mentally thanking the one who caused you the most trouble, because in ninety percent of cases they had no intention of doing you harm. Practices like this help fight pride.

— Daily reading helps keep the mind clear and the horizons wide.

Our health and our biochemistry directly shape the quality of our thoughts and the decisions we make. The brain doesn’t run separately from the body. If we suddenly feel that we want nothing, that the ambition and the drive are gone, that the old joy has faded — it’s worth checking your hormone levels, and soon.

I’m convinced that adequate daily self-care, without the fanaticism, is a kind of “tax” on quality longevity.

Here’s to ambition for all of us — and the health to act on it! 😎