I am still a professional aviator at age 98, actively flying since 1923. I take no medications, have no aches or pains, and my weight and blood pressure are the same as eight decades ago. I take vigorous walks to counteract the effects on my legs and heart of long sittings in airplanes and cars. How did I succeed in preserving my health and vigor?

Listen well, my friends, and you shall learn how to delay the ravages of aging.

From age 4½ I was unalterably determined to be an aviator and was therefore anxious to keep my health. Having such a definite goal seems to me to be important. My mother, a nurse, told me when I was 11 that overweight people did not achieve long lives, so I said that I would avoid eating fats, and from then on I rigidly did so. I would not eat butter, bacon, sausage, or any fatty meat. Of course, we know a lot more about diet now than in 1916, but that gave me a head start on practically everybody, so evidently my arteries are not clogged. I have never had a drop of alcohol, a cup of coffee, or a cigarette. I could see that they were addictive and detrimental.

I eat quantities of vegetables, especially green leafy things. I've avoided breads and other starchy foods. I have taken a multiple vitamin each day for decades and extra vitamin E. I avoided junk foods. For breakfasts and lunches I have an orange, a ripened banana, a leaf of romaine lettuce, milk powder, and a slice of red bell pepper, all blended with grape juice, and drink it, plus a little granola-type cereal and chew it dry. For dinner, I eat seafood, except about once a month when I have some white meat of chicken or turkey, and green, red, or orange vegetables. I keep a daily record of my weight, so I can see trends and avoid gain. It takes determination and will power. Walk right past that refrigerator!

My whole program is simple. Stick to it and you will win. No snacks!