From Reader’s Digest of all places, here’s a list of things you can do keep up a regular sex life. Yes, having sex is not only fun- study after study shows that gettin it regular is an important component of your overall physical, mental and spiritual health. In other words, doing it longer can help you live longer.

1. Have sex tonight! Having intercourse regularly helps to keep your sex drive in high gear by increasing the production of testosterone, which is the hormone mainly responsible for libido in both men and women.

2. Men: If you smoke, ask your doctor to prescribe you the nicotine patch. Why? Because it’s scientifically proven that smoking can clog the blood vessels in the penis in the same way it clogs the arteries in your heart. Ever heard a better reason to quit?

3. Go write a list of all the medicine you’re taking, then check for party poopers. More than 200 medications can cause erection problems and diminished sex drive, including drugs used to treat high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, and stomach problems. Check the Internet or ask your pharmacist or doctor if any of the drugs on your list could be culprits. Of course, you can’t stop taking a drug you need, but you can talk to your doctor about possibly changing the brand, dose, or timing of your medication.

4. Spend tonight planning a steamy vacation. Even if you don’t go, spending time together picturing where you’d go, looking at photos on the Web, and imagining yourself in some tropical paradise will be enough of a libido booster to get you to bed — early. Plus, it’s a lot more stimulating to talk about than why your teenager is failing geometry.

5. Women: Practice Kegel exercises. You know what Kegels are — they’re the squeezing exercises your doctor told you to do after pregnancy or because you were having a bit of a problem with leaking urine. What Doc probably didn’t tell you is that they’re also great for strengthening the pubococcygeus muscle, essential for orgasm. To do Kegels, take note of the muscle you use to stop urinary flow, then practice contracting that muscle, gradually releasing it. Work up to 20 contractions three times a day.

6. Men: Start taking supplements of ginkgo biloba every day.

7. Make pesto and serve it over pasta tonight.

8. Go to the movies with your partner, sit in the back row, and neck like you used to when you were a teenager.

9. Every time you pass your partner, reach out and touch or kiss him or her.

10. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon wheat germ on every cup of yogurt

11. When you’re at a party or out in public with your partner, take a moment to stare at him/her

12. Rent an erotic video and watch it with your partner.

13. Read a sexy “bodice ripper” out loud to your partner.

14. Open your eyes when you kiss and when you are, um, intimate.

15. Say exactly what’s on your mind — sexually, that is.

16. Pretend you’ve just met.

17. Create your own intimate rituals.

18. Get a massage.

19. Turn the timer on for 15 minutes and talk to him (or her)

20. Go away for a couple of days — by yourself.

21. Send the kids away and stay home together.

22. Before you go to bed, take a few minutes to write out a to-do list

23. Spend an hour with your partner touching every part of his/her body — but you can’t use your hands.

24. Open up a dozen oysters.

25. Stop at one (or two) drinks at the most.

26. Go purchase at least one item of sexy lingerie.

27. Re-create your favorite sexy scene in a movie.

28. Create a romance CD for him (or her).

29. Tell your partner two things you love about him/her every day.

30. Call your partner at work.

31. Do something physical together,

This list has been severely abridged. To read the full list and full descriptions, view the original post at it’s source:

Develop a Stronger Libido and Enjoy Better Sex (Reader’s Digest)