I do protein in the morning.  One thing I’ll do is combine egg whites into my oatmeal.  Also, I take in less carbs later in the day since I’m not as active and thus don’t metabolize as well.  My mood and whole attitude towards life revolves around what I’m putting into my body.  The reality is that poor diet is a major contributor to the high rates of depression among children today.

In terms of rituals, yoga is a thing that I do on a regular basis. It’s a daily practice, which I don’t miss all that often. I find that the difference between a yoga day and a non-yoga day is huge. It just seems to enhance the positive, non-complaining outlook and gives me physical energy. With my music, if you come off in an energized fashion, the audience picks up on that and gives it back in kind. The same concept applies to life, which is why I think a practice like yoga can do so much on the quality of life front. I really think that experiencing stillness daily is essential. One of the things that’s so beneficial about the yoga is that you’re actually stopped from filling up every moment with a distraction. We make appointments to do things but we need to make appointments to do nothing too. Actually slot that in. Just taking a walk in a park or whatever; it’s really energizing.

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A sense of relaxation is a great state in which to experience most everything. The sky is bluer. The wine tastes better. Pain is less.

I consider napping one of my most vital skills as it allows me to stay refreshed and work long hours. Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher were masters of the catnap and I use their example in my own life.

In life it is essential to think about longevity, not when your 50s, your 60s, the time to start thinking about longevity is in your 20s. In my experience, what has helped with my mental and physical health is a lack of interest in food, I eat enough to sustain myself. Part of my longevity is also the pleasure I get out of working in the gym and walking 18 holes on the golf course. Lastly, I get major sustenance from reading and the joy of discovery in writing.

I do flexes and crunches to strengthen the abdomen, which helps a lot in maintaining proper posture. I also get on the treadmill every day. I love the results but I get bored with the repetition. So to make the time go by, I use it to go through my challenges of the day, how I should deal with them and how I should plan my day. I get on the treadmill asking how in the hell am I going to get a client to say “Yeah, you’re asking a lot of money but we want to do it.” How do I frame a lecture I’m going give this afternoon to best motivate my students to learn the lessons? How do I deal with this family problem that I’ve got?

I keep rigorous tracking of my weight, heart rate, blood test data and pro actively share this information with my doctors. My doctors are always surprised at the amount of information I show them at my appointments. I use a dashboard approach to monitoring my health related data.

I live an uncomplicated life. I work ten or twelve hours a day. I exercise four to five times a week. I started jogging in 1968 and it’s a big part of my life. I’ve found that it helps me not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.

You have to find a program that is transportable wherever you happen to be. I’ve changed my whole lifestyle in order to be able to fulfill my exercise program.I do 15 minutes of mat stretching, then I walk for 35 minutes, then I do about 10 more minutes of stretching. I do this 6 days a week. It’s not about living longer. I don’t think I can control that. But I have an opportunity to impact how well I feel each day. I also see an acupuncturist on a regular preventative basis to keep the immune system working.

Fasting once a week barring special circumstances. I fast 30 times a year at least. It provides tremendous physical rejuvenation. Give your body a rest! The day after is when I feel the most energized.

Exercise is a key part of my life. If I don’t work out, I’m not good at anything. It clears my head, allows me to see things more clearly, and gives me more energy.

I definitely notice a difference in how I feel based on what I eat. As far as meats, no red meat anymore, just chicken and fish.  Also, I’m not uber strict about it, but I believe in the premise of balancing proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.  I’ll eat vegetables when I’m eating meat or fish and I’ll have carbs either alone or with a small amount of protein. If you eat a hamburger with a bun, you’re going to digest and burn that bun into fuel (glucose) faster than the meat because it’s easier and has a smaller chain to break down.  And so your fuel tank glucose reaches “full” before you really start to digest the hamburger. The protein in the meat will either not get digested before you expel it, or it will get converted into fat and stored for later on.  Now it would be great if your body burned all that fat later on; but then you eat again --more or less eating the same thing day in and day out -- and you’re constantly add to astorage tank that gets bigger and bigger. I’m not a specialist about all this, but I know how I felt before I changed my diet and how I feel now, and I’ll never turn back.