Fitness fits the header “One foot in yesterday, one foot in tomorrow, pissing on today”. That’s a quote attributed to Micheal J. Fox. When I spend my mental powers looking at my past physical condition, pondering how it runs the range from superhuman with a rich sports history to being part of the great American Obesity Epidemic. My dwelling here among my past glories and misadventures can be very hazardous to my health as it chronicles a trip downhill to become part of the great collection of American obese persons and personally unhealthy. What we do today affects our physical and mental outlook on the future. A workout today makes all the bodily functions crank up so that the workout becomes a “must-do” activity. Next, the fuel supply for the body to run itself may be in 3 patterns. It can draw on stored fuel to run or run on the current source or store the fuel for the future. What you eat today is extremely important, it’s the fuel source. A huge percentage of Americans are in a state of obesity, They are storing fuel (fat cells), and the confusion to fix that is incredible. You can fix yourself. Change your thinking from One foot in yesterday, one foot in tomorrow, and pissing on today to What is the plan for fitness and long life today? If you keep doing and eating what you are doing and eating, you will keep getting what you are getting or worse. The future according to an insurance accuracy table is grim. The odds of death double every 8 years according to Dr. Andrew Steel in his book Ageless, The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting old.
How do we optimize our life with this process of progessive degeneration called aging always on the march? Where can we end up? What is the goal?
The goal could be just aesthetic. You know, to look good in your clothes. That’s shallow. It could be to gain or maintain strength to combat every one of life’s challenges. You have to face some of those challenges in your head, pushups can’t fix all that. It could be to live a long time, I like that. The drawback is ill health and all the things that go with that plus the loss of friends.
How do we stay healthy or at least recover quickly from our health challenges until the end of this adventure? The Key is Gratitude and Service to our fellow travelers on this planet. This will give purpose to our health. That is the motivator. We must pray and meditate daily. We must work out daily. We must eat right daily. All this so we can be of service. What we do or don’t do daily is the measure of the resulting Karma that will get our attention. We can get another turn if we fail for a day, but……There are billions of lives at stake. Now and in the future.
We want to reach old age without a prolonged period of ill health. That is the goal. We want to come to the end and see the result of a life well-lived.
A recent post from the Mayo Clinic said that in post-Covid-19 America more people are looking at dieting as a way to be healthier for their immune system more than just cutting the quarantine weight gain. I’m encouraged by that news.
Here is a Link to a basic core set of exercises
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/5-day-core-workout-guide/
Blue Zone Lesson #5
The Blue Zones
9 Lessons For Living Longer
From the people who’ve lived the longest
by Dan Buettner
This is not meant to be a book review, but a chance to impart some great information that we all need to know.
“Life expectancy of an American born today averages 78.2 years. But this year, over 70,000 Americans have reached their 100 birthday.”
Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic to find the world’s longest-lived people and study them. They found pockets of people around the world with the highest life expectancy, or with the highest proportions of people to reach age 100.
The 5 places are:
Barbagia region of Sardinia-mountainous highlands
Ikaria, Greece-Aegean Island
Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Seventh Day Adventist-around Loma Linda, California
Okinawa, Japan-Island area.
They put together medical researchers, anthropologists,
Demographers, and epidemiologists to search for evidence-based common denominators. They found nine lifestyle and diet habits .
Here is the first Lifestyle habit:
1. Move Naturally.
“The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms. Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it. They grow gardens and don’t have mechanical conveniences for house and yard work.”
How do I incorporate this into my life?
“Inconvenience Yourself”
“Have fun, Keep moving’
“Walk”
2. Purpose.
“The Okinawans call it ‘Ikigai’ and the Nicoyans call it ‘plan de vida;’for both it translates to ‘why I wake up in the morning.’ Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy.”
In his book, The author says to take time to see the big picture. For me, I know some days are going to not be pain free. Having a purpose helps me push the pain and strain aside.
#3. Down shift
“Even people in the Blue Zones experience stress. Stress leads to chronic inflammation, associated with every major age-related disease. What the world’s longest-lived people have that we don’t are routines to shed that stress. Okinawans take a few moments each day to remember their ancestors, Adventists pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinians do happy hour.”
#4. 80% Rule
“‘Hara hachi bu’ -the Okinawan, 2500-year old Confucian mantra said before meals reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full. The 20% gap between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or gaining it. People in the blue zones eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening and then they don’teat any more the rest of the day.”
#5. Plant Slant
“Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets. Meat–mostly pork–is eaten on average only five times per month. Serving sizes are 3-4 oz., about the size of a deck of cards.”
That’s #5; there are 4 lessons to go.
This blog is a little too preachy, but we all need a kick in the butt occasionally.
Be Healthy,
Coach Brown
HEALTHY AT 120 