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Age Defiance!

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A website dedicated to all the things that can be done to defy AGE and AGING!

OK, Dave Anderson here, who was 80 years old on 05 June, 2023, and a guy who is on his wey to his life’s goal – to reach 100 years old! This website will illustrate what I have done and am doing to reach this goal. At this point in my life, I feel this goal – another 20+ years on this planet - is quite achievable. The steps taken so far and those to be taken to get there I will document here in some detail so family members will be cognizant of my age defiance attempt. But this website might also serve as a guide to others nearing or at my advanced age to give them ideas on how they too can live a vibrant, rewarding, stimulating life and also approach or even achieve their Century milestone!

 

I have no particular background that would prepare me for this feat. Average middle-class childhood, and no real physicality, genetic or health advantages that put me forward as an excellent candidate for this achievement. But I have pursued some steps and continue to take those that I feel make 100 years possible. And this is discounting any breakthroughs in medical longevity advancements.

 

So here is a list of the activities and the thinking I’ve done and am doing to give me the best chance at this goal. Broken down into categories. And where applicable, I’ll provide some illustrations or examples. Hopefully, this will serve as a blueprint for this goal in life (recently set) to reach 100 and to also retain almost all of my mental and physical faculties and my lifestyle over the next 20+ years.

 

All this should be Present and Future Tense events, things to work on and accomplish. Move any past accomplishments to the Google Doc

Attitude/Mindset

Attempting to maintain a mindset of a person three or so decades younger than I. Open to new things, exploring new ideas and experiences, attempting to act and behave like a guy in my 30s or 40s vice that of a guy now 80 years of age. Attempting to pursue a lifestyle that will keep me healthy and vibrant for two or more decades. Working hard not to tail off on physical or mental activities to keep body and brain as “young” as possible. Dress accordingly – in mostly workout clothes vice in old man’s clothes, and move (walk, bike) at a younger man’s pace. 

Marriage Partnership Strategy for Thriving as We Age

This is a real partnership where my wife and I do darn near everything together. Quite different from the average marriage. There’s a “team effort” in much of what we do; lots of sharing of responsibilities and individual tasks. My wife, Judy, is almost 14 years younger than I and I strive hard to keep up with her elevated level of physical activities and mostly succeed. 

Physicality/Exercise/Physical Fitness

Sports. I Played lots of sports since a young boy. Played with my pals from age 10-14 a pick-up game called Over-the-Line. Played many years of organized baseball - Little League, Pony League and Colt League and four years in high school (where I was selected as Team Captain my Senior year and earned Varsity letters as a Junior and a Senior. I also played baseball my first summer at the Naval Academy. Made All-Stars at age 12 in Little League and All-Conference Senior Year in high school. I wrestled in high school for four years, earring Varsity letters my Junior and Senior year. In my Senior year, I lost only one wrestling match. I played football for my high school team for four years as a guard and line-backer. Earned Varsity letters both Junior and Senior years and was selected as Team Captain my Senior year. Also selected for the All -Confernce team Senior year.I took a few lessons and then got quite serious about tennis while at graduate school in Monterey. Played there about 4-5 times a week, and started entering local tournaments at the C Level. Kept doing better and better in the tournaments, winning a couple before leaving Monterey. And I've continued with this sport, taken up at age 27 and have pursued it with gusto every year since then. These days I play at least twice a week for about 1.5 hours, either with a hitting partner or against the backboard. Over the years, I competed in over 200 tennis tournaments, winning or runner-up in 50, many of those in doubles. I have a dresser top and bookcase top filled with trophies. I intend to keep playing tennis for as long as I can get around a tennis court. 

 

Calorie Burning Events (CBEs). One might say I (and my wife, Judy) have a CBE-driven life and lifestyle. Exercise is an essential part of our daily activities. Include among the CBEs we engage in weekly are running (Judy), tennis (Dave), hiking, walking, biking, floor exercises and stretches in our homes, gym workouts (Dave), exercise classes (Judy). I may be up there among the Guinness World Record holders of Crunches. I do about 1800-2400 of these weekly - even at age 80, and have done so for decades. Daily, when  my wife heads for her bath, I plop on a towel on my living room carpet and bang out 150 crunches and 75 geezer push-ups (done from hands-and-knees position and including pushing my rear back to my heels after completing each push-up). I think all the CBEs - which add up to 25-32 each week (a CBE being roughly a half-hour of a pretty good workout or physical activity (walk hike, tennis match, etc.) - has helped me keep my wait and waistline the same as it was in my Senior year of high school where I wrestled in the 165 pound weigh division. Current weight: 164 pounds, waist: 33 inches. In the gym, I work machines religiously - about 13 stations, often doing them twice while my wife is in an hour-long exercise class. Weights on the machines have not diminished in several decades. And I've added about 5 pounds to the resistance each year for the last 3 or 4 years. Please see the 80th Birthday Certificate below for a summary of my CBE accomplishments over the last seven decades. 

Brain Stimulation Activities. It seems I've been exercising the ol' bean for as long I've been alive. Creating games and activities to play wih my mates in grade school and beyond. Also doing a lot of reading since I learned how. Found I loved math problems as a youngster and actually have gone in search of those.

  • Artwork. Started drawing around 5 years old and even created some marginal art for a school PTA meeting program in Kindergarten in 1948, at the request of the PTA president. That kcked off an avocation that endures through today. Graduated from cartoons, to comic strip characters to the wonderful caricatures in the Mad Magazines of the 1950s, moved on to doing spirit posters while at the Naval Academy as a Freshman (Plebe) and won weekly poster contests in my USNA Company throughout the 1961-62 Footballl Season. Dabbled in art work - drawing - thru my Naval career and my career as an IT professional. And since 2008 when I retired from permanent employment, it has been gangbusters. Please see my birthday certificate below for a summary of my artwork accoomplishments. 

  • Reading and Audiobooks

  • Creative Activities

Pursuit of Individual Passions/Interests

  • Artwork

    • List all my DAA activities and projects

    •  

  • Poetry

    • All my poetic endeavors

  • Dogs

  • Cooking

  • Authoring – 3 books: 1 hardcopy published, 1 hardcopy self-published, 1 eBook on iBooks

 

Giving Back and Philanthropic Activities

  • TPU

  • CCHI

  • USNA ‘65

  • PetArt for Non-Profits

  • Pet Tributes/Fur Angels

  • AWO Support

 

Educational Pursuits

  • HS, USNA, Naval PG School, various IT courses, Great Courses on Libby

 

Financial Achievements

 

Lifestyle

 

Cultural Activities

  • Travel

  • Concerts

  • Documentaries

  • National Parks

  • Botanical Gardens

  • State Capitol Bldgs

  • Presidential and Other Historical sites

  • Lighthouses

  • States visited

  •  

 

Weekly Routine

For a new website – Age Defiance – A Manifesto

 

Move B-Day cert to Google Doc

 

This is ME – today and hopefully for the next 20+ years!

 

Categories

 

Appearance

         Wear clothes of a much younger man

 

Interests

         Life-Long Learning

         History

Nature

Science and Technology  

 

Physicality

         Fitness

         Weight/Waistline

         CBEs

                  Crunches/Push-Ups

         Tennis

 

Mental Acuity

         Reading

         Poetry

         Puzzles

         Documentaries

         Historical touristing

         Creative artwork projects

         Website design and maintenance

 

Technical/Technological

         Websites

 

Social Enterprises

         USNA’65 Class eForum

         USNAAA

         Club and Group Memberships

         Common Cause

 

Artwork and all that Entails

...Include 80th B-Day Cert and Addendum here

Family and Friend Relations

 

Accomplishments

         Educational

                  High School

                  College – US Naval Academy

                  Naval Postgraduate School

         Career

                  Navy

                  It Profiessional

         Sports Related

                  HS Football, Wrestling, Baseball

                  Tennis

         Artistic

                  Wild and crazy – but creative – efforts to push artwork to support 

good causes

Artistic websites

Financial

         Nest Egg

         Income vs Outgo

Cooking/Mixology

 

Philanthropic/Give Back/Community Support

         TPUing

         CCHI

         HPR

         HHS

         USNA65

 

Support for Good Causes

 

Creative Endeavors 

 

Life/Lifestyle Details

         Homes

         Cars

         Travel

         Fam support

 

Daily/Weekly Activities 

 

Goals for Age 100 (see many of the categories listed above)

 

 

From Back of Weekly To-Do List - 26 Jul-01 Aug 21

Accomplishments (Categories)

  • ​Educational

  • Marrying Judy

  • Sports

  • Physical

  • CBEs

  • TPUing

  • Nest Egg (Net Worth)

  • Career

  • Art and art packages (see above)

  • Poetry

  • Volunteering

  • Cooking

  • Reading - books and audiobooks

  • Trave;

  • Puzzles completed

  • Income vs Outgo

  • Fam support

  • Two residences owned outright

  • Number of activities each week

  • Books read; audio books listened to

  • Weekly blog - for 22 years

  • Weekly To-Do Lists - for 22 years

  • US Presidents - specialty

  • History readings

  • Doggierels and other humor - sent weekly for 15 years

  • Photos weekly for 14 years

  • Websites created and maintained

  • Dog portraits for fam, friends snd AWOs

  • Crunches

  • Books published

  • Art contests - with awards

  • Weekly ADL spreadsheets for 15 years

  • Weight and waistline of much younger guy

  • USNA Class of 1965 support - Class Corresponding Sec'y since 1960; over 63 years

  • Dog portraits for fam/friends/AWOs

  • Weight and waistline

  • Books published

  • Mileage per week (biking, walking, hiking)

  • Documentaries watched

  • Jigsaws completed/other puzzles too (Sudoku, Spider, Opdoku

Dave's Best Ats and Uniqueness

  • TPU tonnage

  • P4s

  • Dog portraits

  • Fur Angels

  • Crunches

  • CBE count - daily and weekly average 

  • Recipes created/fixed

  • Tropitini recipes

  • PAfD, DCCK, PAfNPs pkgs

  • USNA Class of 1965 support - Class Corresponding Sec'y since 1960; over 63 years

Dave's Traits/Characteristics

  • ​Athletic Build

  • Wears younger clothes

  • Intelligent (IQ at 130, Mensa Member, SAT and GRE 780/790 in Math, around 640 in English

  • History Buff

  • Multi-tasker

  • CBE-driven

  • Excellent cook/chef

  • Excellent mix master

  • Very good communicator

  • Very good tennis playeer

  • Darn good husband/affectionate/loyal/loving

  • Very good grandpa/dad

  • Looks over 15 years younger than current age

  • Reads a lot

  • Volunteers/supports non-profits

  • Spends money wisely with little waste/saves monthly

  • Darn good poet (with rhymes!)

  • Loves dogs and little kiddos

  • Loves and respects nature/science/history

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