Albert Leans are on their way toward achieving longer, healthier lives. Moreover, the organizers of AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project said the entire country will be watching Albert Lea, with many national media organizations interested in what happens.

During what was the kickoff for the Vitality Project on Thursday at Albert Lea High School, 1,200 community members both young and old united to hear small changes to their lives that could set them on track to be more like the world’s longest-lived people.

The project, the first of its kind, is being used as a pilot to implement into other communities. It gives Albert Lea the opportunity to be an example for America and the world, Blue Zones founder and New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner said. The goal is to add two years of projected life expectancy to every participant.

“You are going to hear things tonight you’ve never heard before,” he told the crowd.

While the project will give Albert Leans the opportunity to implement some of the longevity secrets from the world’s healthiest, longest-lived people, it will also allow them the chance to get advice from the world’s top experts, add good years to their lives, feel better, look better and lose weight at the same time, Buettner said.

He said one reason Albert Lea was selected is that it is statistically average for health rates and other communities can relate to a place like Albert Lea.

Over the past five months — during the first phase of the project — community leaders have met with AARP and Blue Zones leaders, walkability experts, health experts and nutrition experts to work on environmental changes that can help the city’s residents live better lives.

Now, during the second phase, people will have the chance to make individual changes and make a commitment to leading a healthier lifestyle.

Those changes began at the kickoff when people pledged to be a part of the project. A series of events will soon begin to help them achieve their goals.

Buettner, who’s traveled the world studying the people who live the longest, healthiest lives, has written a book titled “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest.”

During the kickoff Thursday, he shared what he learned from those expeditions to the crowd and then invited them to join in on many of those longevity secrets. He said by Oct. 15, when the pilot project is completed, people will look and feel at least two years younger than they did at the start.

The changes people will make will live well on after the project is over, he said. They will not fade away like a diet.

Buettner said the project began about a year ago, when he and leaders from AARP first discussed the idea for a community makeover. He wanted to take what he’s found from the world’s Blue Zones — or areas where people live the longest, healthiest lives — and implement them into a community.

Nancy Perry Graham, editor and vice president of AARP The Magazine, said AARP got involved because the company’s readers are interested in living longer, better lives. The Vitality Project is “the most ambitious” project AARP has ever undertaken.

She said it is refreshing to come to a town where people are positive and hopeful of making change.

“I have never been as taken with a town as I am of Albert Lea,” Graham said.

She noted it was a thrill to see the dream of the project come to fruition.
They move naturally. They live in a community where they walk to places.

They take time to relax every day.

They have a sense of purpose.

They usually drink wine.

They have a plant-based diet.

They stop eating when they’re 80 percent full.

They put their loved ones first.

They belong to a faith-based community.

They surround themselves with the right kinds of people.
Also speaking to the crowd were Hubert H. “Skip” Humphrey, a Minnesota native and AARP board member, Dan Johnson, CEO of United Health Foundation, and Brian Wansink, professor and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

Humphrey said he can’t wait to watch the rest of the world watch Albert Lea succeed.

Albert Leans in the crowd shared equal enthusiasm for the kickoff.

“It’s very exciting, and I think there’s good things they had and a lot of reasons for optimism,” said one resident, Sandra Almquist.

Almquist said the project is an answer to prayer for her.

“All I know is miracles happen,” she said.

Couple Adrian and Yvonne Hestness said they, too, were impressed with the project and planned to pledge that night.

“It’s a great, great project,” Adrian Hestness said. “It’s a lot of little changes.”

Yvonne Hestness said she wants to start walking more and doing more volunteer work.

“I thought the whole thing was good,” she said. “I think it’s exciting Albert Lea was chosen.”

Albert Lea Mayor Mike Murtaugh said the high attendance — a full-house crowd in the auditorium and overflow seating of 500 in the gymnasium — shows that Albert Lea is showing the world they’re ready to begin their commitment.

“We are serious about making our community stronger,” he said.

The AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project is sponsored by United Health Foundation.

Look to Sunday’s Tribune for more about Wansink’s presentation on the home-eating environment.