Horoscopes and Fortune Tellers

I've always been a bit fascinated by these things. NOT by the horoscopes or the fortune tellers, but by the people who seem to put so much faith in them. Amazing, really. I avoid looking at horoscopes because I don't want to ever get caught up in them, and they can certainly draw you in. Like walking into and spider web. But if you are one who gets caught up in them, consider this: read each of the paragraphs, each of the sentences. Likely just about everything written is in such general terms that it could apply to almost anyone on any given day. But take it a step further. Have someone take the horoscope out of any paper on any day and actually cut out each paragraph individually, but cut OFF the star sign so that they have only little slips of newspaper with the statements. Now, carefully read each one and see if you can pick out which one applies to your sign. The odds are against you. In fact, according to a book titled "Why Do Buses Always Come In Threes - the Mathematics of Everyday Life" a study was done that proved that people cannot pick out the statements that apply to themselves. They cannot match up the statements with the star signs. What happens is that someone reads their sign and believes the parts that MIGHT apply to them, and ignores the ones that don't. Not too scientific is it? Want to really know how your day will turn out? Well, I can't predict the future any better than you can. But I have found that with very few exceptions, my day usually turns out pretty much the way I expect it to, day after day after day. If I get myself in a positive frame of mind and decide to have a good day, I usually do. You can do the same. Why would you rely on someone else to tell you what kind of day you will have?

From The Top Down

It has been said that great companies are built from the bottom up, and destroyed from the top down. Can you see how that applies to so many of the large companies currently, or recently, in the news. Thousands of employees and investors left holding the bag while a very few at the top, (CEO's, COO's, CFO's, etc,) have pocketed huge performance bonuses and salaries and stock incentives. Short term successes line their pockets even as they lead the company down the garden path. Well, I'm not planning to write about that today. I just wanted you to see the parallel between this and your personal wellness after 50. You could say you've built your body from the bottom up, from a single cell to a complex 50-something organism with years and miles of experience, also sometimes referred to as wear and tear. If you were to give your overall wellness a number from 1 to 10, with ten being nearly perfect, what would your number be? What would you like it to be ten or twenty years from now, realistically? I believe that a few points are contributed by your attitude. Your positive approach to life, to dealing with the daily events, breaking big problems down into a bunch of little solutions, has a lot to do with what number you answered with above, in addition to your actual physical health. From the bottom up, you need to keep giving your body the basic materials it needs to maintain itself, heal itself, and continue to thrive. Unfortunately what too often happens from the top down is we tell ourselves little lies. Lies like, "I'll start eating better right after the holidays", or "I'm going to start eating better" or "I'm going to start exercising more next month". From the top down, we sabotage our own future by making excuses for not doing what we should be doing right now.
I hope this doesn't really apply to you, but I will admit that it sometimes applies to me.

Still here!! (also B12)

I took a brief hiatus from this blog as we dealt with a number of other issues over the last month or so. But I'm still here and still doing the weekly radio talk concerning health issues, and I will get back to more regular articles here as well. One of the things we've discussed recently is vitamin B12. I'd like to take a few minutes here to share some of that information with you, because I think it might be a very important matter.

As we age, our ability to absorb B12 from our diet diminishes, but sometime around age 50 there is a significant drop. Now, I haven't found any research yet that absolutely ties these two things together in a cause-and-effect relationship, but those with elevated homocystein levels are almost certain to have very low levels of B12 in their system. Homocystein is a very important marker for cardio problems. Some researchers are indicating that keeping your B12 levels up might help lower homocystein levels, and at least it won't hurt. Now, here's the part I want most to impress upon you. All of the B vitamins, and there are many, are water soluble and must be replaced daily EXCEPT B12. You can store a store year supply of B12 in your liver! So it won't matter if you miss a dose or two. But what you want to keep in mind that taking B12 in combination with other vitamins is a waste of time and money, because they will further inhibit your absorption of B12. So take B12 either 1/2 hour before, or 1 1/2 hours after taking any other vitamins, and take it with food. Forget about the B12 on your multivitamin label. Also, you won't likely get enough B12 from your diet alone, especially after age 50. B12 is important in the formation of DNA as your cells divide.

Reminder: I am not a medical doctor and I do not give medical advice. I'm just passing along some of the interesting things I've read that might be of benefit to you. Check with your health care provider for medical advice.

Stay Younger Longer

By now you may have given up on finding the fountain of youth. You may have even resigned yourself to the idea that each year you should look and feel and act a year older. Well, a lot of us aren't buying that one. Just look around you. So long as we continue to inhabit these imperfect bodies in this corrupt old world we will continue to age. But WELLNESS AFTER 50 is one place that you won't find such complacent people, just sitting around listening to their own exhalations while waiting for the other shoe to drop. Much research as well as anecdotal evidence indicates that we can be a lot happier with our lives if we remain "engaged", and take steps to keep ourselves healthier and more fit, both mentally and physically, and even emotionally. So here are just a few more things you might want to consider. For most of them you don't even have to talk to your doctor.

1. Eat a small handful of nuts every day. If you have allergy issues, of course DON"t do this. Otherwise, keep it to a small handful, about the size of your palm, and be sure to have a variety including hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, etc. In fact, you can go look up my article about nuts in the "other" blog, thenew50@blogspot.com

2. Tell them to cut it out. If you live in the same house with a smoker, their habit is carving years from your life expectancy. Smoking is such a foolish way to die. It's not just their habit, it's your life.

3. Get off the couch. Couch potatoes eventually all tend to look like their namesakes, potatoes! You may have also noticed that potatoes, while not terribly fragile, do have a limited shelf life, and often you don't know they've gone bad until they really begin to stink. Get up and go do something...anything!

4. Just write it down. Seems that we adults tend to lose our ability to remember things in the short term long before we forget how to read. Simple? Just write it down. If you are going to the store to pick up a few things for the wife, don't be too proud to make a list. That way you won't have to be embarrassed when you come home without the main thing she sent you out for in the first place. Doing this will help keep you calm while still sailing smoothly.

5. Keep track of who you are, what day it is, where you are, and once in awhile, even give a thought to WHY you are where you are. Couch potatoes, on the other hand, don't have a clue about any of this. Some folks seem to think acting all befuddled is somehow cute as they get older. It isn't. Trust me. Some think it is their right to be helpless and confused. NOPE. So long as you have the ability to be aware and engaged, make the effort. People will actually want to spend some time with you, talking with you, being with you, instead of working around you and pretending you aren't there at all.

6. Speak up! By this I mean don't sit there in pain and fear if something isn't working quite the way it usually does. It might be important! An amazing percentage of the time it is something that can be coaxed back into normal operation, or patched up well enough to be mostly good enough to suffice. The point is, in this life pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. If you can't take yourself to get some medical attention, speak up to someone who can, and should, and probably will. In fact, they are more likely to get a bit peeved if you DON'T speak up. No matter how much we might WISH for someone to read our minds, it just isn't going to happen.

7. Drink up!!! Drink a lot, and drink pretty often. Now I'm talking about water and tea mostly, but slip in a nice glass of some red wine once in awhile as well. If you don't drink now, don't start. But if you do have a drink once in awhile, then a single daily glass of the red stuff can probably do you a lot more good than harm. If you have some condition that rules that out, then don't drink and know that you have my deepest sympathies. Otherwise, start your morning with a glass of water. Have a cup of coffee later or maybe a cup of tea. Any kind will do, but green tea is a winner. Then have another glass of water. Just dont drink anything, especially cold things just before, with, or right after a meal. Want to clog up all your pipes? Pour grease in your drain then run some cold water. Same thing with your body. When you are eating, don't drink. When you are drinking, don't eat. Simple.

8. Well, maybe that's enough to think about for now. If you just do these things every day until you don't even have to think about it, then you might be ready to add a few more. By then you might also see that it is making a difference in the way you feel, and the way you sleep. And maybe a few other things as well. I hope you'll find your way back here to tell us about it. Let's make that number 8. Share an encouraging word or experience. Lots better than whining and complaining.

What's Past Is Prolog

With each passing year, we can look back at what we have done to shape our future. We will become whatever we have set ourselves up to become, whether that is active and healthy, or sedentary and unhealthy. Please don't tell yourself the lie that you are too busy to do the things that will keep you active and healthy well into your "golden years". If you are too sedentary now, those years may not be so golden. They may have you functioning like a rusty hinge: not too smoothly, and not without loud groans of protest. So what will you make time for today?

In order to just maintain our present level of mobility, we MUST do what we CAN do. If you can climb a flight of stairs, then by all means you would be well advised to skip the elevator and climb that flight of stairs. If you can walk for 30 or 45 minutes at a fairly brisk pace, then you better make time to walk. You do not need to train for Olympic events, or try to set some age group distance record. Just discipline yourself to stay active now, so that five or ten, or twenty years from now you can still be active.

I have taken time to talk with many people in the course of the last ten years who are now disabled in one way or another. Some are no longer able to work and live on a disability income. Others work part time, or even full time with constant pain because they need the income. It is sad just how many of those people were very inactive for twenty or thirty years before they became disabled, and not a few of them now believe that at least some of their present health issues directly relate to that sedentary lifestyle. Those who were sedentary by choice for most of their adult life are now forced to be sedentary by declining health. It is because of those people that I began this blog and it is because of them that I made a firm commitment to myself to stay as active as possible right now.

Some of the folks I was referring to in the last paragraph became disabled thru some sudden accident or illness over which they had no control at all. But those who were active before then, often were the same ones who worked hardest at achieving whatever recovery was possible, and have again found ways to be active within their current limits. So even they have benefitted from staying in motion. I know this is a misuse of this law of physics, but I think you will agree that it seems to apply: bodies in motion tend to stay in motion. Humans who are active tend to remain active. So, what will you do today in order to have a better tomorrow?

Low fat? High protein? Whats the deal?

There is a surprising shift in the health care community concerning just how we should go about achieving, and maintaining, our healthiest natural weight. We've been told for decades that in order to lose weight, we had to cut way back on the fat in our diet, right? And to gain weight, load up on the complex carbs and protein, right? Well, maybe that just doesn't work for most people.
You see, our body must have sufficient fat in order to metabolize vitamins and minerals from our food intake. It must have fat in order to function. So what happens when we cut way back on our fat intake? the body say "Uh oh, hard times are coming! we're not getting enough fat. I better start storing up as much as I can, just in case." So we reduce our fat intake and GAIN weight. Now, I'm not advocating that anyone should eat a bunch of fat. Moderation is always a safe rule to follow. And we certainly don't want any trans fats in our diet at all. But don't sabotage your weight loss efforts by cutting too much fat from your diet. Monitor your results closely in two or three week intervals. If you've cut back on fat, modified the rest of your diet, and are exercising regularly, at least three times a week of vigorous exercise, and you are GAINING instead of LOSING, maybe you need a bit more fat. (This could be in one of several forms, including things like fatty fish, rich with Omega3 oils) At the same time, make sure you are taking in more protein than usual. I sometimes drink a protein shake in the morning, or eat a bit of leftover chicken or fish instead of a more typical breakfast. My normal routine though is to eat some peanut butter on whole wheat bread using Smart Balance spread in lieu of butter (absolutely NEVER eat margarine! See my article on trans fats - visit http://thenew50.blogspot.com/ and look in the 2007 archive for DIABETES TYPE II.)

In summary, a lot of what we've been told turns out to be bad advice when it comes to weight loss. Keep yourself informed, and don't count on your doctor to know any more than you do when it comes to weight loss. Do your own research before you discuss it with your doctor. Get his opinion first, then see how it fits with what you have learned. Might make for a really worthwhile discussion.

Stress and Strain

I believe that most of the problems each of us face from day to day are problems we create for ourselves. Now that is a pretty shocking statement, but let me explain. Of course I am not referring to the daily "problem" of finding a parking place or a seat on the bus or a table at lunch time, though I could probably even convince you that those are also problems you bring upon yourself. I'm really focusing here on something a bit deeper. Let's say that someone pulls out in front of you in traffic and then they drive like a turtle. You begin to get stressed because you don't really want to drive in the turtle train, and besides you might be late for work. If you are late for work, your boss will be on your case all day because you were late twice last week. Not only that, but if you are late, you will have to park at the far end of the lot and walk about half a mile to get to the building and it looks like rain. And if it rains you are going to get soaked because you have no clue where you left your umbrella. If you get soaked, the client you expect to arrive at 9 am will be paying more attention to your disheveled appearance than your presentation, and you really need this contract because you haven't been doing so well reaching your sales target lately. Taking that three day golfing weekend might not have been such a hot idea, but you really needed the stress relief. Of course, that twinge you got in your back that kept you out two additional days didn't help. Not only that but... well you get the idea. Just go backwards through this whole scenario and you can easily see that it is not that turtle in front of you this morning that is the problem. It is the poor decisions, lack of planning, disorganization, and out of control life that is the problem.

I worked with a young woman a few years ago who found it impossible to get to work on time for our 6am shift. So I adjusted her starting time to 7am to see if that would help her adjust to this new early morning job. She was late for the 7am start three times that week. The following week she was late the first two days for her 8am start time and after that, we had to find a replacement. She was not a bad person. She was productive and pleasant and cooperative. But she managed to be late no matter what her start time was. And every time I discussed this with her she explained how she was just under so much stress. It was not my role to counsel her, but in a friendly way I asked why she was so stressed. Turns out she had just purchased a new travel van, totally tricked out with everything but a hot tub, and had trouble keeping up with the payments, as well as her three children and two dogs. I think the real source of her stress was a long string of bad decisions, but I doubt if she would ever agree.

We have the power to control, prevent or avoid most of the stress that comes at us simply by deciding how we will react to it. Samson and Delilah are an excellent case in point. Delilah kept on asking, begging, nagging for Samson to tell her what she wanted to know. Samson said that she was driving him crazy with her questions. But was she? No, of course not. She was asking, beggin and nagging, but it was Samson who convinced himself that he couldn't stand it. He had the power to ignore her pleadings, to remove himself from her, and there would have been no stress. Why pump all that acid in to your stomach because some turtle gets in front of you? Leave for work 15 minutes earlier, and don't let it bother you at all. YOU have the power. Not that all stress is bad. Resistance makes us stronger. You build literal muscle by lifting weight.
You build endurance by struggling against the hill, or against the wind or the current. You grow stronger emotionally by overcoming difficulties. Welcome the challenges. View them as opportunities for growth. Thrive on that sort of stress. Even positive events in our life produce stress. That is called eustress. The turtle in front of you might cause distress. But that is up to you.

Weight Loss Project

Weight loss - DAY 1
First thing this morning I drank a 16 ounce glass of cold water. No food, no coffee, just water. I then waited at least 45 minutes before my next intake. That was a delicious drink called Green Goodness that is produced by Bolthouse Farms. I am not promoting any particular products on this blog, but I will tell you what I like and why... (To read the entire article, please go to http://thenew50.blogspot.com All weight loss articles from this project will be posted there as they are submitted. Thanks!)
Weight loss - with Juice!
I have been asked several times now about safe but lasting weight loss. This seems to be a very common thread that runs through many of the e-mails I receive. The problem for so many of us is that we have become an "instant" society. We want results, and we want them NOW!!! But weight loss generally can only be accomplished in much the same way that weight gain happens - gradually, over time. If you want to risk your long-term health using risky and often totally unproven over the counter weight loss miracle pills, this blog will not be of interest to you. I am interested in staying healthy, and helping others to do the same, not putting our health at risk. But if you are interested in really losing weight at a steady rate, and keeping it off, I will devote articles over the next three to four weeks on proven methods of doing just that. Since I have recently added a few pounds myself, I have decided to make some serious changes including losing a minimum of 25 pounds. I will keep you posted on what I am doing to accomplish this and provide updates at least once each week on how I'm doing. I hope it will inspire others to do the same. Here's a hint on just how I intend to start: juice. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetable juices. So if you have a juicer, get it out from under all the pots and pans and clean it up and let's get started. My first weight loss article will be published on 1/4/08 and I hope you will join us.If you are willing to provide just a first name and your weight loss goal in pounds in the comment area, we'll try to all keep each other motivated and on target to reach our goals. So, until tomorrow...
Posted by Jack at 4:08 PM 0 comments
Labels: goals, Health, juice, weight loss, wellness.
Thursday, January 3, 2008

A SIMPLE, BUT EFFECTIVE EXERCISE

Want to tighten up your stomach without doing crunches? Good! Crunches aren't the best way. In fact, they can cause other problems. Everything I've read consistently says that spot reduction is not possible, and all the fitness gurus seem to agree that unless you remove the layer of fat covering your absdomen, even if you have a six-pack you won't be able to see it. So let's talk about a long term approach that will get results. If you are interested in being a baby boomer body builder (too many B's for me!), then this will not interest you. But if you are willing to do incremental things on a regular basis that will give long-term, lasting results, follow me.

Whether male or female, this exercise can be beneficial. A strong abdomen can help prevent back injuries. It is not a replacement for any other regular exercise you may get, but the nice thing is that you can do this WHILE you are doing something else that is part of your daily routine. Like applying makeup or shaving, or brushing your teeth. It's called the Stomach Vaccuum. Here's how it goes.

First, stand erect, straight back, in a comfortable stance. Now inhale deeply. As you slowly begin to exhale, pull your stomach in tight, as though trying to touch your belly button to your backbone. Now completely exhale, slowly. When your lungs are empty, continue to hold the vaccuum for another few seconds, then relax. In time, you should work up to at least ten repetitions of this exercise, and hold your final vaccuum position for at least ten seconds before releasing each time. You may find that doing this makes you a little light headed at first, and you should probably only do a few reps to begin with. But in time, you can do several sets each day. Remain erect as you squeeze the abdominal muscles. Don't curve your back or hunch your shoulders. Oh, and keep in mind that it is probably a good idea to do this before a meal, not after.

Do this every day for at least six weeks before you decide if this is worthwhile. It is not strenuous, but you will soon see that exercise doesn't always need to be a sweaty struggle.

WELLNESS OR FITNESS? Let's not quibble

Wellness is generally taken to mean a healthy balance between your physical, mental, and emotional state. Fitness commonly refers to your physical condition and is related to exercise and activity. One can be reasonably healthy, meaning disease free, but not in very good condition. One can be in good physical condition, perhaps sufficient to run a marathon or climb a mountain, but not be in good health. The runner Jim Fixx comes to mind. For the purposes of this blog, let’s just let the line between wellness and fitness remain a little fuzzy so as not to define the terms too narrowly. My intent in creating this blog was to provide clearly written articles on various aspects of wellness, to include from time to time some exercise or other activity that might contribute to fitness, and to create a platform for comments from readers who want to contribute their own experiences or studies or discoveries that might benefit us all.

I believe that when I feel “well” I do not feel fatigued or in pain or stressed out. If that’s somewhat close to what you mean when you say you are feeling well, then we are on the same page and I do hope you will contribute your input here. Feeling well is a difficult thing to attain and sustain. We all have certain stresses we face daily, from the jarring sound of the alarm clock to the jumble of traffic on the roads to the noise and light pollution that seems to permeate our space. In addition, we have multiple interactions with other folks who are dealing with their own stresses, and we can’t always be sure what their mental or emotional state might be. So, at least for myself, I don’t believe that wellness is a destination I will reach in this lifetime, at least not for a sustainable period of time. It is a journey, and a worthwhile one. And frankly, most of the time I am far happier with my life than I probably deserve to be. I have a thorn to deal with as far as my health is concerned, but I feel pretty well nevertheless. To achieve and sustain a state of wellness requires that we consciously learn how to keep our lives in balance, like a tightrope walker working without a net. Imbalance leads to trouble, maybe even disaster.
Now, the tightrope walker got up there voluntarily (I hope), but you and I are going to do this balancing act whether we want to or not. How well we do it depends first upon whether we see the need to keep in balance. Unfortunately, if we get out of balance without realizing it, we may not be able to resolve our problems without outside help.

This may sound overly simplistic to you, or to a mental health professional, but it works for me. I believe that, as Roger Miller said, “You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy if you’ve a mind to.” For the most part, barring some sort of chemical imbalances in our brain, we can be happy if we choose to be. In my experience, most of the time the people who were angry, depressed, disappointed, upset, enraged, all got that way the same way that the happy, pleasant, calm folks did. They decided to be. You see, when someone says or does something to you or in your presence, it may or may not be directed at you. Either way, it is their issue, not yours. Before you make it yours, you have the right, and the ability, and perhaps the obligation to yourself, to decide how you will react to it. Here’s an illustration. My friend Jorg says to his wife Kati, “Oh, your mother is coming to visit again!” What Jorg actually says may not be exactly what Kati hears. He may mean that he is happy to hear that his mother-in-law is coming to visit because she is so pleasant to be around, and she bakes things for him to enjoy. Kati may hear that Jorg is upset that her mother is coming for a visit again so soon. She was just here a few months ago. Can’t she find someone else to bother? Jorg might be able to prevent misunderstanding but being very careful where he puts the emphasis or inflection, but Kati also plays a role in how this communication turns out, doesn’t she? She can think about how well Jorg and her mother get along and assume the best. Or she can blow up at him for complaining about her mother’s visit. And there are many other possible interpretations as well. These are real people and I think I know what Jorg meant, but the point is that EVERY interaction is full of possibilities. Fortunately, Kati tends to choose to be happy and pleasant, so Jorg is in good hands.

Many people tend to automatically blame how they feel on someone else, rather than accept their own responsibility. I told my children often that they cannot blame each other for how they feel. “I did it because she made me mad!!!” No, you got mad because you decided that was how you wanted to react, but it was YOUR choice. Next time, make a better choice. Now you are in trouble with me.

To me, teaching children how to make better choices would be a wise thing for a parent to work on. One way is for the parent to also be careful about how they choose to react.
Teach by example. If your child sees and hears you screaming at someone in traffic because they inconvenienced you in some way, that’s a teaching opportunity wasted. But make no mistake, the child did learn something, and they are likely to repeat the behavior.

Your comments are welcome. Please visit my other blog at http://thenew50.blogspot.com/ directed to baby boomers like me.

STAYING WELL

In my experience and from everything I've read or learned by discussing it with friends, family and folks in the medical profession, staying well is far better and far less expensive than trying to GET well after you've become seriously ill. So give this some thought. For most of us, our contact with the medical folks is limited to those occasions when we have been injured or become ill, right? And unfortunately, most of us don't give a lot of thought to our general well-being at any other time. We get something to drink when we are thirsty. We get something to eat when we are hungry. We go to bed when we are sleepy. Individual variations on that theme are limitless, but for those who have access to food and drink and a place to sleep, that's about it.

For those of you who are NOT baby boomers, don't think this blog doesn't apply to you. In order to STAY well even after 50, you really need to consider the things you should be doing when you are 30 or 40 as well, because much of what you will face in your 50's, 60's and 70's and beyond can be set in motion decades earlier. This can bring either good or bad results. But let's say you are already approaching retirement. Your level of wellness today might be a direct result of what you did or failed to do many years ago.

In order to stay well you need a number of factors to come into play, and frankly, you just cannot control all of them. Genetics for example. You inherited genes that dictate certain things about you and you cannot do much about that. However, you do not need to surrender to that or use it as an excuse. If your whole family tends to be short and a littly heavy, there is a good chance that you too will be short, and unless you make a steady effort to combat it, a little heavy. But let's take this a little further. If your family had bad eating habits that were passed on to you from a very early age, you can do something about that. In fact, if you want to enjoy a high degree of wellness throughout your life, you BETTER do something about it. I once worked for a fellow who was quite large in every dimension. We'll call him Ron. He was about 6'5" and he was rather rotund. He said he was just "big boned", and during the period I knew him well, I seldom saw him without something handy to eat. Potato chips, Twinkies, candy, pretzels, cheeseburgers, milkshakes, you name it. He didn't actually stop to eat lunch. He just called that hour or so his lunch hour, and kept right on eating. I moved on to a different job and lost touch with him for about three years. One day in a shopping mall I heard a voice behind me saying "Jack, is that you?" I turned and looked at this fellow and had no idea who he could be. He introduced himself and though I remembered the name, I could not connect this fellow with that name in my mind.
Seeing my confusion he said "You probably don't recognize me. I've lost a little weight." He had actually lost nearly 200 pounds! We found a place to sit and visit for a few minutes and he told me his story. Briefly, a cardiologist told him that he would die before he made it to 50, just like his father and grandfather and one of his brothers. He asked, "Isn't there anything I can do?" The cardiologist told him that he would have to totally rethink his lifestyle, but he didn't seem to have much confidence that Ron would really do it. But after relating this news to his wife, Ron decided that he would do whatever was necessary to turn his life and his health around, and he enlisted his wife and three children in the plan. Growing up, he was accustomed to having ice cream for dessert just about every night. The family would open a half gallon carton and divide it amongst the three or four of them and eat it all. On special occasions, like Sunday supper, they would add some pie or cake to that. If it was a pie, they divided it, so that most often each one would get one fourth of a pie. They were all large people and had all been raised to empty their plate at every meal. "Waste not, want not." So Ron had these eating habits ingrained in him almost from birth.

In order to lose all that weight, Ron did two things at first. he took time every day, rain or shine, to go for a walk. Just ten or fifteen minutes at first, but eventually he worked up to about 45 minutes. At the same time, he just stopped eating dessert of any kind. Those two things resulted in such a dramatic weight loss that he really got enthused and started reducing portions of meat and substituting more vegetables, something he really didn't like to eat. But his successes gave him determination to go on.

When I saw this new Ron, he was still a big man. 6'5" and big boned, but not fat. He looked healthy and happy, and seemed to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and he certainly had improved his chances of survival well beyond 50. The point is that he took control of himself and his habits and made changes, not excuses. He has already outlived his father. You can do the same. If smoking is your personal struggle, you can do something about it. Something dramatic. We'll talk more about that another time. For now, let's just consider four things that you should keep in mind when you think about your own well-being. In order for the human body to function properly and heal itself from all the things that attack it from day to day, you must provide it with these four things: adequate nutrition, adequate hydration, adequate motion, and adequate rest. Eat properly, drink enough fluids, get some exercise on a regular basis, and get enough rest. If you will just do those four things, you will improve your current level of wellness and set yourself up for many more years of good health.