How men can stay healthy in their thirties.

So you've turned thirty.
You used to be twentysomething, now you're thirty. You used to be able to stay out all night and party with the best of them but now you prefer the odd night at home. It's called life, and it bites us all.
You see them out on the streets, these thirtysomethings. They're the ones who are running when it's late at night, fitting in exercise because they know they have to. In the restaurants and bars, they're the ones who order salad and eat fruit. they order orange juice instead of alcohol, and watch the clock because the babysitters got to go home early. This is because they're thirtysomething, and they've heard the slow creak of the wheels of time really clearly, and felt the ache of bones growing older.
You can make changes now, however, before it really is too late. Because it's true that the diseases that kill you take hold in your thirties.
At the risk of sounding slightly morbid, if you're thirty or above, you are getting older, right now. Your brain long ago gave up on growing, so any attempts to expand the mind will now do nothing more than build up defences against further deterioration. With your body, however, there is still time. The thirties are the crucial decade as regards your health. get it right now, and there is every chance that you'll enjoy a good long life.
Basically, human survival is all about diet and exercise, always has been, always will be. And because exercise is something that most people can start changes in reasonably quickly, we'll look at that first.
If you can afford to join a gym, do. And then stay joined for at least a year. this is absolutely crucial. Actually doing anything at the gym is less important than staying on the establishment's books, and attending regularly. The drop-out rate for gym membership is huge, almost as huge as the joining rate in January. Join a gym, go, and keep going until you break a limb or something. Go and drink juice while you watch everyone else, whatever, just keep going.
But if you can't hack the gym, take the money you would have spent on that and throw it into one of two physical sports that are guaranteed to improve your health, boxing or martial arts. Both offer motivation (in the form of target-setting and achievement) that is built in and beyond your control. And both offer stress relief. Stress is a killer, it kills men every day. Martial arts and boxing encourage controlled release of aggression, and sometimes good old-fashioned controlled violence (think Fight Club, then take two steps back from that, and you're there). In addition to this you have grades in martial arts, and the chance to win fights in boxing. There really is nothing better for the thirtysomething male to get involved in if they want to build up their fitness.
As regards diet, eat fish. Then eat some more fish, and to finish off eat another serving offish. sardines are good, eat those as much as you can. If you're eating sandwiches, eat sandwiches that contain fish, not processed meat. then eat your fruit, lots of it. I know a guy who doesn't eat anything but fruit until six pm every day. He's a martial arts champion, and as fit as you could possibly be for a thritysomething.
I'm a thirtysomething male, and my bones aren't what they used to be. But I'm on a quest, a mission to stay healthy and to stay alive. Every man at this age has to start thinking of their future. Later posts will fill you in on my mission and how it's going.