How to Live Forever in Ten Easy Steps: Step 5

Welcome to Step 5 of How to Live Forever in Ten Easy Steps:

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5) Eat less than you want.
There has been a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal over the past few years about studies on “calorie restriction” diets where people would subsist (I can’t think of a better word for it than that) on a diet of some 1200 calories or so a day:

“The link between calorie restriction and increased longevity has intrigued scientists for decades. In the 1930s, animal tests showed that cutting normal calorie intake by about a third boosted life spans by 30% to 40%. Lately, there's been evidence to suggest that calorie restriction might slow human aging, too."

Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting you go down this particular road. But what I am suggesting is that you keep a modified version of this concept front and center in your mind. Most of the time, you should simply eat less food than you want.

I’ve covered this concept to some extent in my mindless eating post (see strategy #8). In the modern world, highly-refined and energy-dense food is practically everywhere around us. Yet our paleolithic bodies are still in the mode of wolvishly satisfying our hunger pangs at all costs because back in the caveman days, there was no telling how long it might be until our next meal.

So in the modern world, we need to learn to NOT listen to our bodies in this one respect. Recognize that hunger (or better said, "fullness") is a misleading sensation. Satisfying it fully will cause you to consume more food than your body needs.

Next: Step 6: Don't Smoke