One Percent

I recently read an article in Parade Magazine which I thought very motivating and inspirational.
The article basically says that what we consider "normal" aging is not normal at all - our bodies are designed to age slowly and remarkably well. Most of what we see and fear is decay - and decay is a choice. Most aging is just dry rot we program into our cells by sedentary living, junk food and stress. We can live out our life in a powerful, healthy body if we are willing to put in the work

Most cells in our body regenerate every 1 to 90 days. About 1% of our cells are replaced each day and every 100 days we essentially have a new body. Based upon how we live today, the cells that are regenerated will either be programmed for decay (conservation of energy) or growth (activity). We choose whether those new cells come in stronger or weaker. We choose whether they grow or decay each day from then on. Our cells do not care which choice we make - they just follow the direction we send.

Cells are programmed to become strong in Spring, when food abounds and there are calories to fuel hungry muscles. In Winter, when calories disappear, surviving starvation is the key, so the cells are programmed to decay. But food is not the controlling signal - movement is.

The other signal - equal and in some respects more important is emotion. Emotions change our cells through the same molecular pathway as exercise.

Deep in our cells, down at the level of molecular genetics, we are wired to exercise and to care.
Anyway - I thought the article was great and am looking forward to my "new body". I also think this is why it takes about 3 months to develop the habit of exercise. So far it is a chore I drag myself up to do each day, so I am hoping after my 100 days, my new cells are more "pumped" for exercise.

Here is the link for the entire article:
http://parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_03-18-2007/Make_Body_Younger