Hailing from the town of Roma in the Queensland Outback, Kruger is a former veterinary surgeon, poet, author and cattle farmer. “I lived very close to nature, and I ate mostly what I grew in the garden or the orchard or the farm,” he told ABC News.

He credits the simplicity of his lifestyle as one factor in his long life. “It’s because I do things differently,” said the supercentenarian, who was born January 13, 1910.

Kruger was raised by German immigrants, according to 7NEWS, and he started in the cattle industry at an early age. “When I was seven years old my father gave me a heifer calf, and I’ve been in the cattle business ever since,” he told the news outlet.

For those trying to emulate his success, Kruger offers one piece of guidance: “eat good food,” according to ABC News. He explained, “People do eat too much…they eat themselves into the grave.”

In a similar vein, Kruger told the news outlet that “chicken brains” are a dish that he enjoys on a weekly basis. “You know, chickens have a head and in that is some brains, and they are delicious little things,” he told ABC News. “There’s only one bite.”

Kruger’s 74-year-old son, Greg, backed up these claims, noting that Kruger’s diet is key. According to Greg, Kruger always ate “plenty of salt, sugar and fat” but stayed away from processed food. “His system wasn’t worn out trying to process the junk food—he’s never been overweight, always active,” he explained.

Kruger manages to keep busy with activities like a “strict morning exercise regime,” spending time outdoors and working on his latest project, an autobiography. According to 7News, the autobiography is the 13th book he has written.

He also likes to keep up with current affairs, as bleak as he may feel things are. “I don’t think [today’s world] is a nicer place, I do not,” said Kruger. “People are not happy. They have too much debt…. We have far too much money to spend on rubbish.” He added that “life was much more relaxed” before “we got all this computerized technology.”

Reflecting on his past, he ABC News about his wife, Gladys, whom he called “the love of my life.”

“I didn’t have to go chasing after females. I had a girl who wanted me, and it wasn’t very long before I realized that this was the girl for me,” he said. “We were out in the bush. There was no way you could take Gladys out to the movies or take her out for dinner, so I visited her in her home.”

Now, however, Kruger has his sights set on a new goal: to become Australia’s oldest person, ever. He has only a couple of years to go—the title is currently held by Christina Cock, who was 114 years and 148 days old when she died in 2002, according to ABC News.

Kruger added that he’d “like to live until [he finds] it too difficult to live.” As he told 7News, “It has been and will continue to be a great honor to be the oldest man ever to be in Australia.”