Life Fit Chat with Laura Lewis: Stay young with these lifestyle choices

Life Fit Chat with That's Fit Life Fit Expert Laura Lewis brings conversation provoking tidbits to your table, served up with a touch of spice! Byte-sized information that pack some punch, brought to you every Wednesday and Thursday!

Healthy living actually involves more than multi-grains and multi-repetition in the weight room. If you want to stay youthful, both physically and mentally, you have to adopt a lifestyle that supports that desire. And, the good news is, a healthy lifestyle includes things that are a lot more fun than eating your veggies and getting plenty of exercise--although you will still have to do those too!

7 Lifestyle Choices To Keep You Young

1. Friendships. Developing and maintaining genuine friendships is as important as your relationship with your aerobics teacher. Numerous studies link social support to improved immune function, longevity, lower risk of heart disease and quicker recovery after injury or illness.
   
2. Man's Best Friend. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that sharing your life with a pet can lower your blood pressure, decrease harmful cholesterol and prevent loneliness.
   
3. Vacation. Take your vacation days! Too many Americans either do not use their vacation days or work through their vacation. A study published in the Wisconsin Medical Journal found that women who only vacationed once in two years were at a higher risk for depression and stress than those who took at least two vacations per year, and were also more likely to report dissatisfaction in their marriages.
   
4. Give Back to the Community. A study conducted in 2004 at the Center for Aging and Health at The John Hopkins University in Baltimore found that elderly adults reported feeling healthier, stronger and had a significant drop in the need to for assistance while walking.
   
5. Laugh Loudly and Frequently. Laugher reduces stress, depression, pain and boosts the functions of the immune system.
   
6. Communicate with the Divine. Whether you call it prayer, meditation or a moment of silence, communication with the Divine has been shown to improve healing post-surgery, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and synchronizes breathing with cardiovascular rhythms.
   
7. Get Married & Stay Married. Married couples live longer and healthier lives. A Harvard study found that married women have a reduced mortality rate of 20% from causes such as heart disease, suicide and cirrhosis.
   

So there you have it ... while eating well and exercising regularly is important, they are not the only factors involved in living a long and healthy life.