“When I woke up the morning I was 100, I didn’t find anything unusual. [same] “That’s amazing,” she told CNBC Make It.
“It’s not something you have to do. It’s just a part of life, something you automatically know you have to do. It’s not a choice.”
Below are three daily habits that Shekely believes are the secret to longevity.
1. Move Every Day
“I always try to walk one mile a day and I count my steps to know when I’ve achieved that,” Sekely said.
“You can’t have a nap in the afternoon without getting some steps in. It’s not strict, it’s just something you do. Just like waking up in the morning.”
Her advice for making daily exercise easier is to “find an active friend.”
“I’m Jewish. [friend who is a] “She’s a Catholic nun who loves to walk, so that’s why we walk,” Sekely said. “She showed up. [we] go.”
Although Shakeley’s exercise routine isn’t as intense as it was when she was younger, she explains that it still helps: Natural, low-intensity physical activity like walking is a common habit among the world’s longest-living people.
When Shekely lived in Tahiti with her family, she would bike to school and home for lunch, and as an adult she regularly practiced Pilates and ran a fitness resort, which helped her make exercise a priority.
2. Eat a pescatarian diet
Shekely has followed a primarily plant-based diet since she was a child: “I’m a pescatarian, and I’m fortunate to have never eaten meat thanks to my parents,” she says.
Her eating habits closely resemble the Mediterranean diet, which prioritizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fish.
A typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Shekay looks like this:
- breakfast: Yogurt, bananas, whole grains
- lunch: “At home, I always have a salad,” she says, but adds that when she eats lunch at a restaurant, she likes to try different things.
- dinner: “I eat out a lot,” she says, so she’ll choose between fish, salad and baked potato, or try something new.
During the early stages of Székely Fitness Resort & Spa, she served as head chef and managed the farm, and her meals consisted of fresh ingredients, which she incorporated into the meals she served there.
3. Sociable and always “learning”
Shekelly’s social schedule is pretty packed.
“I, [Old Globe Theatre] “San Diego has a lot of theater,” she says, “and I go to a lot of theater, and I love opera.”
Just hours after we spoke, Shekely was guest speaking at a birthday celebration for a group of several dozen friends. She also speaks at the resort every Wednesday and interacts with guests several times a week.
In addition to her social activities, Shekelly is always looking to learn, and longevity studies have shown that people over 80 learn something new every day. Shekelly speaks four different languages and is immersed in many different cultures.
“My German is rusty, but my French is great because I think a lot in French. [and] “I dream in it,” she says, “and I speak Spanish every day.”
If there’s one thing Szekely wants to share with his readers, it’s that “the most important thing is to learn.”
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