Healthy Aging: What Matters Most for a Longer, Better Life

As part of Healthy Aging Month, BLU by ThriveWell® Members and their guests gathered at the BLU Café for a special Wellness Wednesday conversation with Dr. Jessica Chen, BLU Co-founder and Chief Health & Wellness Officer, exploring what it takes to not only live longer, but live well.

Through an engaging, whiteboard-style conversation, Dr. Jessica connected the mind, heart, and body, highlighting the factors that can influence how we feel, move, and function as we age.

Start With the Mind

Healthy aging begins with more than physical health. Dr. Jessica discussed the importance of mindset, optimism, and purpose, sharing research linking positive perceptions of aging and a stronger sense of purpose to better long-term outcomes.

The message: how we think about aging matters, and having something meaningful to live for can be part of the longevity conversation.

Know Your Heart and Your Fitness

Dr. Jessica asked: What’s more important, knowing your cholesterol or knowing your VO₂ Max?

The answer? Both.

Cholesterol and other cardiovascular markers provide important risk information, while VO₂ Max offers insight into cardiorespiratory fitness. Dr. Jessica also discussed markers such as ApoB and LDL particle number as additional tools for understanding cardiovascular health.

Muscle Matters

Healthy aging is about more than the number on the scale.

Dr. Jessica emphasized the importance of maintaining muscle and strength to support mobility, physical function, and independence as we age. While daily movement matters, strength training deserves an important place in the longevity conversation.

Don’t Forget the Fundamentals

Dr. Jessica also brought the conversation back to the basics: sleep, movement, nutrition, and social connection.

Sometimes the most meaningful longevity strategies aren't the newest or most complicated. They are the habits we practice consistently.

Think About Your Future Self

Dr. Jessica asked Members to picture themselves at 80.

What is something you absolutely still want to be able to do?

Travel? Play golf? Pick up a grandchild? Hike through Europe?

That future goal can become a reason for what we do today.

As Dr. Jessica shared:

“We’re not training for the mirror. We’re training for our future life.”

That may be the heart of healthy aging: not simply adding years, but protecting the strength, vitality, independence, relationships, and purpose that help make those years meaningful.

Wellness Wednesday at BLU

Wellness Wednesday takes place every third Wednesday of the month at BLU, bringing Members together for meaningful conversations that expand knowledge, encourage connection, and explore what it means to live a longer, healthier, more vibrant life

Because aging is inevitable. How we age is worth talking about.

To learn more about upcoming Wellness Wednesdays and other Member events, or to reserve your spot, please visit our Welcome Center.