I have a neighbor I’ll call “Fred” (not his real name).
I met Fred almost 2 years ago, when I moved in to my present location. He’s retired, age 65, and spends his days (and nights) in his “mancave”. He has his computer and TV there, and sleeps on the sofa in that room. He goes out maybe once a week to shop, and that’s about it.
He’s a happy and outgoing guy, and on the surface seems to have his life in order. But there’s a huge problem Fred has that’s not obvious from the outside, except maybe for his 264 pound weight.
You see, Fred has no willpower. Oh sure, he’ll start this program and that one too. But he never lasts, or sometimes just prepares to start, but never does.
Let me give you an example. Earlier this year, Fred told me how he had spent $30 to buy a 1-year pass to some park that has a walking trail, and he was going to start walking. He even went out and bought some walking shoes. But Fred never got around to using that pass or those shoes.
Or last year in April when he told me he had oiled up his treadmill and starting May 1st, he was going to be using it. But, as you have likely guessed, he never did.
Or the time he was going to follow a vegetarian diet and lasted about 4 days. I could go on. But what’s the point? Read on to find out.
Let me talk about Fred’s diet. He eats pretty-much the same thing for most meals of the day.
Around 6am, he has a Jimmy Dean sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich with sausage (410 calories) plus a glass of orange juice (112 calories) – total 522 calories.
Every day (by his own admission), Fred eats a whole 12” DiGiorno Pepperoni pizza, with additional toppings he adds. Calories: about 2,500!
Last week, he was telling me about the sandwich he made with butter, cheese and an egg, and then fried it all.
One day, I gave him a vegetarian sausage to try out. Here’s how he told me he prepared it. “Sausage bits and then the egg mixture, covered with a layer of sharp cheddar and I added a potato cake that I had prepared yesterday along with two slices of toasted 7-grain bread coated in real melted butter.” And, he ate this only 3 hours after eating his 522 calories breakfast!
One time I gave him some shrimp cocktail sauce, as I didn’t like it. The next day, he emailed me: “I just finished off a hard boiled egg dipped in shrimp cocktail sauce. It was so good I had to follow it with a Philly Cheese Steak with the sauce drizzled through and through.” Maybe another 600 calories?
Earlier this year, Fred told me he had been diagnosed as “pre-diabetic”, and was going to have to cut his caloric intake way back and start exercising. But he never did.
And so, about 3 or 4 months later, Fred had his diagnosis changed to “diabetic”. Now he faces:
Heart Disease – People with diabetes have a higher risk for heart attack and stroke.
Eye Complications – People with diabetes have a higher risk of blindness and other vision problems.
Kidney Disease – Diabetes can damage the kidneys and may lead to kidney failure.
Nerve Damage (neuropathy) – Diabetes can cause damage to the nerves that run through the body. About half of all people with diabetes have some form of nerve damage.
Foot Problems – Nerve damage, infections of the feet, and problems with blood flow to the feet can be caused by diabetes. Infections of the feet can spread up into the leg. Sometimes the infection is so severe that toes, the foot, and/or possibly part of the leg must be amputated.
Skin Complications – Diabetes can cause skin problems, such as infections, sores, and itching. Skin problems are sometimes a first sign that someone has diabetes.
Dental Disease – Diabetes can lead to problems with teeth and gums, called gingivitis and periodontitis.
On top of his diabetes, he also has bad acid reflux, so bad it wakes him up at night sometimes. No doubt his being overweight has contributed to this condition, as well as his high-fat diet.
But Fred just keeps on doing what he’s been doing.
I understand why, to a degree. He’s 65, lives by himself, has no friends here, and has decided not to get back in a relationship after his young wife cheated on him about 40 years ago. So Fred takes his pleasure in food. It’ll likely cause him a lot of suffering before it kills him. I wish him well, but I can see a heart attack in his future, as well as possible esophageal cancer.
The sad part is that his health problems are not caused by cancer or some horrible disease. They are caused by eating way too much unhealthy food and not getting any exercise.
There are solutions for this issue, as there are processes to help him release that sadness he still has. But I gave up on Fred months ago, after I spent a lot of time giving him solutions, none of which he tried, or not over a few days.
So what’s the point of this story?
The point is that it’s important for you to make the decision to be healthier and to actually do something about it. Look at your diet, and make healthier choices, both in what you eat and how much. Check out my nutrition section: http://middleage.org/good-nutrition/.
Get moving, if only a little to start with. Go for walks, do a few movements. Go here to learn more:
http://middleage.org/physical-fitness/.
Start slow, and make steady progress. Many, if not most health conditions can be improved, it not eliminated by proper diet and exercise, and helped by supplements.
If you don’t, you could wind up like Fred. Don’t be a “Fred”.
Look at your issues and make the efforts to clear them so you can have a happy & healthy life. Explore this site and make your plan to get healthier. It’s for you!
One of the common themes that I run across when I talk to people about nutrition and fitness is that it’s too hard.
Now, in a way, I can’t blame them. They have this picture in their mind of running or going to the gym for two hours a day. They also have a picture of having to live on salads and tasteless foods. And so, they just get overwhelmed and give up even before they start.
But these are false ideas. In fact, if you were to start a fitness or nutrition program in that manner, you are almost for sure doomed to failure. Sure, you might last a few weeks, but that’s probably about it.
Back in the mid-1970s, I saw a sign on the wall of a yoga studio at which I was taking classes. The sign read “The best way to make progress quickly is to make progress slowly”. And that applies to eating in a more healthy way and getting some fitness into your life. Let me give you some examples.
When it comes to improving your nutrition, there are number of approaches. The simplest and easiest way, however, is to substitute healthier foods for those which are less healthy.
Easy-Peasy
So for example, instead of eating white bread or the like, substitute whole-grain breads such as Dave’s Killer Bread Thin-Sliced 21 Whole Grains and Seeds, Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Bread, or Oroweat 100% Whole Wheat bread. Not only are these really-tasty breads, and really healthy for you, but they’re also quite filling. That way, you’re not going to wind up hungry half an hour after eating your sandwich.
I can almost guarantee you that if you ate this kind of bread, for example, you’d never eat the “regular” bread again. The only thing is, you’d say the only thing “wonder” about “Wonder” bread is that people eat it. ;o)
The same concept applies to substituting other foods. Substitute spinach for that iceberg lettuce you been eating. Cook up some whole-grain brown rice, or, better yet, some barley and eat that instead of white rice.
For pasta, I love Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice and Quinoa Fusilli Pasta. (Read about it by clicking here) Believe me, I’ve tried lots of whole-grain pasta that tasted like cardboard, but this stuff is pretty darn good. In addition, one cup of dried pasta (cooked up) provides 10 grams of protein. This can be really helpful if you’re cutting down on meat and dairy in your diet, and you’re looking for a good protein source.
Scaling Back
Another way to help clean up your diet is getting a food scale. You can get a nice digital food scale for less than $20. Then, all you’ve got to do, is start weighing the food you’re eating. This generally is not going to apply to foods that are automatically portioned. For example, you don’t need to weigh slices of bread or vegan cheese. The same thing goes for pie. I love pie, but I cut my pie into 16 slices and just have one slice a day after my evening meal.
On the other hand, I find my scale really handy for when I buy foods like Trader Joe’s (frozen) Roasted Potatoes with Peppers and Onions. The potatoes have been cut up into nice little bite-sized pieces, which I really like. They come in a 24-ounce bag, and I like to get 3 meals out of that. So, I just get out my handy scale and weigh out 8 ounces.
Of course, you’re going to want to also use the scale to limit how much food you eat at a meal. So if you’re still eating meat, maybe limit your serving to 6 ounces or less.
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The “E” word!
Now, let’s talk about fitness. OK…let’s use the “E” word…”exercise”. Do you cringe even at the sight of the word? Well, you’re not alone. Many people just go blank when they see/hear it, and change the subject ASAP.
But, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I’m not talking about “running or going to the gym for two hours a day”. Please read what I am about to say; it’s important. All you need to do is to start with a very-small effort.
Let me tell you a true story about a neighbor I used to have named Connie. To be honest, she was on the heavy side. I’m not good at this, but maybe 40-50 pounds overweight. I moved away from that neighborhood, and a couple of years later, I was back there, and a lady approached me. I didn’t recognize her, but she introduced herself “Hi. I’m Connie. I used to live across the street from you.”
I could not recognize her at all, as she had lost about 40 pounds. She told me that she had started out just walking up and down the block every day. After a couple of weeks, she started walking two blocks daily. And then three. Eventually, she was walking a few miles, and the weight came off.
She also changed her diet and how much she ate, which is a must. Generally, portion control is how you lose weight, and exercise is for health. If you walk and burn up 100 calories and then eat 3,000 calories a day, you’ll not lose weight. To learn more about nutrition, go to http://middleage.org/good-nutrition/ .
NOT Pumping Iron
In addition, strength training is a big help in getting healthy. Now don’t start envisioning yourself pumping iron for hours, or at all (at least to start). There are plenty of bodyweight exercises you can do that will really be beneficial.
As a matter of fact, if you go to this location: http://middleage.org/physical-fitness/ you can download a free eBook on bodyweight exercises. In addition, there are some links to some good videos that you can watch.
So, let’s say you went to my site and decided to follow a bodyweight exercise program. Maybe start out by just doing 3 pushups, maybe even doing the “girlie” ones where you rest your lower body on your knees instead of your feet. Just do 3. The same with the other exercises. Just do a few. BTW, be sure to keep a record, on paper or on your digital device, of the date, what movements you did and how many. I explain all of this in the Physical Fitness section of this site.
And then, maybe in 2 days, do another set of exercises, same numbers. In about a week or even more, try to increase the number to 4. Take it easy, go slow and feel great, as well as feeling great about yourself.
Here’s another important point: exercise will help you feel better. Not only will you feel more energetic and alive, but many studies have shown that exercise is a great help in relieving depression.
So, I hope you can see that getting healthier and feeling better is a lot easier than you may have thought. :o)
Thanks for reading this, and see you next blog.
There’s A Great Life Ahead for You If…
…if you make the decision right now to use the information in MiddleAge.org, and in my newsletters, to create an optimal life.
I’ll provide you with all of the tools; you just have to use them.
When I first had the idea for this Website, I figured it would be a resource for middle-aged men and women to get information on fitness and nutrition. And, it still can be.
But as I put it together, I realized that in order to “Make the rest of your life, the best of your life”, it would take more than a workout and a protein drink.
And so this site has really developed into more of a course to follow in sequence for optimal happiness and health. It goes like this:
● Start Here: Gives you an idea of what’s in store and why to follow the sequence..
● Unlimiting Beliefs: Clear out the limiting and negative beliefs that hold you back, and replace them with the belief that you can have a great life in middle age and beyond.
● Creating Happiness: Learn that happiness is not just experienced by chance, but that it’s a state that you can learn to create and maintain.
● Achieving Goals: Now that you’ve cleared out negative beliefs, and know how to be happy, set some goals to achieve the kind of life you really would like to live.
● Morning Rituals: Start your day the right way by putting into action the things you’ve learned in the above 3 sections to experience happiness and achieve your goals every day.
● Natural Healing: Improve or eliminate problems that detract from your health and happiness by using methods that utilize substances from nature, as well as your body’s own healing ability.
● Good Nutrition: Learn about the best nutrition and how to eat in a way that contributes to you having a healthy and energetic life.
● Physical Fitness: It’s a lot easier to get in shape and stay in shape than you think. Start at a comfortable level and build up from there. I’ll show you how.
● Effective Weightloss: Losing that extra weight is simpler than you might believe when you follow the easy and simple ways that I’ll tell you about
● Financial Abundance: Increasing your income is well within your reach by utilizing 21st century methods. Start now so you’ll not only have income for the present, but also for those “Golden Years”. Nothing’s worse than being old and poor (except being old, poor and sick – I’ll help you there too).
● Satisfying Relationships: Don’t leave the creation of fulfilling relationships to chance. Let me provide you with the skills you need to have the relationships you want in life, with your significant other, family, friends and co-workers too.
● Mental Fitness: Getting older does not have to mean losing your mental abilities. Through utilizing proven methods, you can have a good mind even in your senior years.
● Personal Growth: Once you’ve achieved some balance and happiness in your life, it’s time to push the envelope and expand your beliefs to allow for a greater happiness than you have imagined.
● Online Store: In our online store you will find a wide variety of e-books and videos to help make you make your life better.
By utilizing these sections of the Website, you can really make a big change in your life, for now and the future.
But there’s another part too. The newsletters.
You see, if I put all of the information I have into the Website, it would have hundreds of pages, and likely nobody would ever read it all. In addition, every day I scan over 100 news articles and pick the best ones to share with you, so that you can have the very-latest science-backed information on how to be happy and healthy.
So please explore the sections of the Website, and if you haven’t signed up for the newsletters, please click here to do so.
You can make your life wonderful!
Welcome to my blog! :o)
I’m so excited to share my thoughts and ideas with you!
Since this is my introductory blog, I’d like to share with you how this site got started and what I’m all about, as it will be the basis for the forthcoming blogs. It’s a bit long, but please take a few minutes to read it.
My Goals
My goal is to not only help eliminate limiting thinking about “middle age”, but to also provide steps and processes to assist in making that change. In addition, I have information on other topics including nutrition, fitness, natural healing and all other aspects I feel are necessary to provide a great life in middle age and beyond.
I created this Website when I was 72. I was past the phase we call “middle age”, but to be honest, I have never felt I entered it. Even today, when I think of some project or goal, I say to myself “Well, I’m still young, so I can do that”. I still feel as I did when I was in my 30’s and generally my health and fitness reflects that. This is a direct result of my attitude and of the behavior that this attitude engenders.
And so I have decided to create a Website to pass on to you what I’ve learned over the past 50 years so that you and others can create lives for themselves that are fulfilling and joyous.
“It all started when…”
This really all started when I was a teenager. When I was in high school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for college, so my father sent me to a prominent university to be tested to find out what I was suited for. Unfortunately for him, the tests showed that I could do anything I was drawn to, and they also showed my intelligence to be in the top 1% of the world, revealing my potential to succeed at anything I tried.
With my not having any clear direction, my dad suggested I go to chiropractic college. Although I wasn’t excited about it, it seemed a good choice at the time. I wound up spending 4 years there, but I finally lost my desire and left only a few months before I graduated. In the meantime, however, I learned a lot about the body and natural health and healing.
Helping 500,000 People
Fast forward 20 years, to when I created a magazine for natural health and healing, personal growth, and other related topics. It wound up being highly successful and had the largest circulation of any publication of its type, with more than 500,000 readers. I sold that magazine after 10 years, and got involved with the Internet. And that lead me here.
For the past 50+ years, I have used my gift of a sharp mind and my desire to always know more, to learn and apply many ways to be healthy and happy. Now, at age 72, I feel that it’s time for me to share my knowledge with the world, and I thus created this Website.
I truly hope that you will take advantage of my efforts and utilize their results to “make the rest of your life the best of your life”.
See you next blog!
