Turning 40 doesn't mean suddenly feeling old.
For many people, though, it is when some subtle changes start becoming harder to ignore.
Maybe you don't bounce back from a late night quite as quickly. Your energy isn't as predictable as it once was. Recovery takes a little longer. Maintaining muscle requires more effort. Or you walk into a room and briefly wonder why you went there in the first place.
Welcome to healthy aging.
The goal shouldn't be to somehow become 25 again. It's to give your body the support it needs so you can continue feeling strong, energetic and capable for decades to come.
Here are seven habits worth prioritizing.
1. Protect Your Muscle
Muscle is about much more than appearance.
Maintaining strength becomes increasingly important as we age because it supports mobility, balance, metabolism and the ability to continue doing the things we enjoy.
You don't necessarily need to spend hours in a gym.
Consistent resistance training—even a few times each week—can become an important part of a long-term healthy-aging routine.
2. Make Sleep Non-Negotiable
Sleep is often the first thing sacrificed when life gets busy.
Unfortunately, consistently sacrificing sleep can work against many of the things we're trying to accomplish with healthy aging.
Your nighttime routine matters.
Try maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, keeping your bedroom cool and dark, reducing late-night screen time and avoiding the temptation to treat sleep as something you'll catch up on later.
3. Eat for the Person You Want to Be at 70
Healthy aging isn't built from one "superfood."
It's built from patterns.
Prioritize whole foods, vegetables, fruits, quality protein, healthy fats and adequate hydration while minimizing the foods that consistently leave you feeling sluggish.
Think long term.
The question isn't simply, "What should I eat today?"
A better question might be:
"Does the way I eat support the person I want to be ten or twenty years from now?"
4. Don't Ignore Cellular Energy
Here's something many people don't think about when they think about energy.
Energy isn't only about caffeine.
Your cells require energy to function, and one molecule involved in cellular energy metabolism is NAD+.
NAD+ has become an important area of longevity research because levels can change as we age. NMN—nicotinamide mononucleotide—is a precursor the body can use in the production of NAD+.
That is one reason NMN has become such a widely discussed ingredient in the healthy-aging world.
5. Keep Your Brain Working
Your brain likes a challenge.
Read. Learn something new. Travel. Play an instrument. Take a class. Build something. Start a business. Learn a language.
And perhaps most importantly, stay connected to other people.
Healthy aging isn't simply about extending life.
It's about maintaining a life you actually want to live.
6. Reduce Friction in Your Wellness Routine
One of the biggest problems with wellness routines is that they become too complicated.
Five bottles in the morning.
Three more at night.
A powder you use occasionally.
Something else you're supposed to take with food.
Eventually, many people simply stop.
The best wellness routine isn't necessarily the one with the most products.
It's the one you can actually follow.
That's one of the ideas behind Leverage.
Leverage was created as a once-daily longevity powder that brings multiple healthy-aging ingredients together in one scoop—including 550 mg of NMN along with L-Glycine, Pterostilbene, Hyaluronic Acid, L-Theanine, Magnesium and other nutrients.
One scoop. Once a day.
Because consistency beats complexity.
7. Stop Thinking of Aging as Something That Just Happens to You
You cannot control every aspect of aging.
But you can influence many of the behaviors that affect how you experience it.
You can move.
You can sleep.
You can eat better.
You can manage stress.
You can stay curious.
You can support your nutrition.
And you can make those decisions consistently.
Aging Is Inevitable. How You Approach It Isn't.
Healthy aging isn't about being afraid of getting older.
It's about being proactive enough to make the years ahead some of your best.
You worked hard to build your life.
You should have the energy to enjoy it.
Everyone needs a little Leverage on aging.