How do you become old? 9 tips from a centenarian
1. STOP WHEN YOU ARE SATISFIED
I only ate so much, until I was full. What to eat for more? I was able to keep my 62 kilos for decades (today, of course, I weigh more). I have never done a diet. I like simple dishes like lamb's lettuce. Or a Knüschen (Hessian for Brotrandstück) with a bit of butter? just like that in passing. That has already replaced me one or the other dinner. Then my stomach was quiet and I could sleep. A bean soup with a dash of sour cream is also a bliss! That's why I've grown and harvested many things in my own garden. Also the berries for my jam.
2. DRINK LITTLE ALCOHOL
With the alcohol I was always reserved. When I was invited, I had a glass of water and a glass of wine in front of me. No one could understand if I drink more water or wine. When my husband and I moved into our first house, there was a great bar downstairs in the basement, lit only with candles. In the 50s and 60s it was obligatory to be a host if you wanted to be part of society. The festivals were always an event! When alcohol is involved, you get to know people as they really are. There were seasoned entrepreneurs who wanted to get in touch while dancing. These advances have never reached me. Because I knew that the men were all the same.
3. MOVEMENT. MOVE. MOVE.
For me, movement was the biggest thing even as a girl? I grew up in a small Hessian village when I was 13, the Nazis came to power, and a few years later the war started. Since I was obliged to work and had to work in an army ammunition. In the evening I came home, put on my training clothes and swung myself on my Dürkopp bike. I drove through the villages to meet the girls for athletics. Naturally also gymnastics, that was at the time given by the Nazis, although competitions were much more convenient for me. My motto has always been: Exercise helps you to keep moving in life. I've been out with my dogs a lot. And long beach walks I loved.
4. LOVE LIFE
Later I worked my way up in the jute mill from apprentice to department manager. One day, on the platform, I was sprinting after a train in which my colleague Elisabeth was sitting with a safe key, which I urgently needed for work. It was Saturday, the soldiers were standing at the railroad track, waiting for the train to take them home. A young man in uniform stepped out and said: "Miss, you are suspected of being an Olympic !? That's how I met my future husband Erich. A short time later he took me to Frankfurt? my first trip to the big city. On a full moon night, we walked through the old city, and he said, "Look at everything, you'll never see that again. Hitler makes war, and then everything is broken.? That is exactly how it came about. Erich was a great antifascist and had seen through Nazi intentions. We got married in the war and got two sons. Decades later, when I was a widow for a long time, I fell in love a second time in my life: in a 15 years younger antique collector. I had to struggle with something, the age difference was considerable! But you have to let love into your life. She is the greatest force ever, she keeps healthy and makes happy.
5. QUARK, LINSEED AND BREAD
My secret recipe for a long life: quark and flaxseed! I got along well with these foods. I grew up with bread, on it butter, jelly and quark. I still need the latter every morning. With homemade jam or honey. Anyway, bread! A natural bakery bread is for me the greatest. I prefer to eat the crust. I have to knock on wood three times and thank my teeth for keeping it that way. By the way, I still have my real teeth. There were curious situations in the hospital when the doctors asked me to take out my third teeth.
6. AB AND TO A SMALL LUXURY
What I would like to advise every woman: go regularly to the cosmetics. Finally, you have to treat yourself to a little luxury. When my beautician opened her studio 43 years ago, I was one of her first clients. Since then, I've been with her at least four times a year. Recently I bought a make-up to cover my dark spots on my face. Otherwise, I take a fresh washcloth in the morning and wash my face cold and warm. Then it is creamed.
7. SLEEPING SLEEPING
My husband and I had separate bedrooms, with the bathroom in between. A great privilege to have rest at night. Because I was fully engaged in our family business right from the beginning, many thoughts came to my mind in the evening. Then I attended a course in autogenic training at the Volkshochschule? that was in the seventies.It helped me fall asleep all my life. The booklet with the records of that time is still in my nightstand today.
8. CHALLENGE THE SUPPORT
It's good to work. First we had our electrical shop, later I spent a lot of time with my antique collection. And I have a bridge round for decades. There we meet in turn with a lady at home and play into the deep evening hours in Bridge. There is a lot to think about. That keeps you fresh in the upper room.
9. STOP WHEN THE BODY IS SO WILL
To ban everything does not make you happy. And joy should already make life. I smoked a pack of Lord Extra every day for 15 years? In the seventies, no one really worried about smoking being unhealthy. One night I watched a thriller and smoked it. All at once I got terrible pain, my eyes were already yellow. The next day, the doctor said I had gallbladder infection. So I left smoking to be overnight. My body clearly signaled to me: far and far away. And I listened to him.
