Fort Worth Celebrates The Blue Zone

Fort Worth is having a party Saturday and inviting people to step into the Blue Zone.

The party will celebrate those who took the pledge to join the Blue Zones Project and help make the city one of the healthiest in the nation.

"Fort Worth is by far the biggest blue zone in the country and really setting the pace for the rest of the country," said founder and author Dan Buettner.

"Over 30 restaurants are blue-zones approved, 64 employers, eight grocery stores, eight schools; the community as a whole is really wrapping their arm around it. And, remember the idea here is just to make the healthy choice, the easy choice," said Buettner.

The Blue Zones Project focuses on the Power 9 principles: Nine habits shared the world's longest living people. 

The nine with brief descriptions from Buettner include:

• Move naturally: "They're nudged into movement every 20 minutes or so."
• Know your purpose: "They have vocabulary for purpose, they know their sense of purpose and they live it out."
• Down shift:"They downshift a little bit every day whether through prayer, meditation or nap."
• 80 percent rule: Thinking not of what to add to your diet but what to take food out of your diet. Most Americans eat about 200-300 extra calories. So, saying a Little prayer before meals slows you down."
• Plant slant: "We don't bad mouth any kind of food, but we know that the longest-living people, 90 percent of what they eat is plants. The cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world is beans. About a cup of beans a day will add 3-4 years to your life."
• Wine at 5: "A glass or two a day seems to be protective. We're not trying to promote drinking, but if you drink a little bit,that's fine."
• Right tribe:  "The biggest and most important is thinking about your social network, who you're hanging out with. Curate a group of 4-5 friends with whom you walk or have plant-based foods or with whom you live out your purpose."
• Community: "Having a faith; we know people who show up to church at least 4 times a month live 4-14 years later than people who don't."
• Loved ones first: Make family first. keep your aging parents nearby and invest in your children."

Buettner also says it's important to make changes to optimize your home.

"We can help you cut down the amount of junk food you eat by 40 percent by doing two things: One, creating a junk food drawer which is out of the way.

Next, take your toaster off the counter. Those two simple things, research has shown, will help lower your junk food consumption.

You can learn more ways to make healthy choices easier at the party Saturday.

The Blue Zones Project Power 9 party is free and open to the public. The event takes place Saturday, Oct. 29, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Panther Island Pavilion.