How to Get & Stay Healthy

How to get & Stay Healthy,

The simple way

There’s nothing like overeating to ring in the New Year. So are you considering a resolution to make a healthy change to your body? Well I’ve got bad news … you will never look like Mr. or Miss America. Not that you wanted to. But I guarantee that all of us wish we felt or looked better than we are. There is some good news too. Other than the fact that we should like ourselves in spite of our physical appearance, we can still become healthier.

I’d like to pass on some simple things that I’ve learned through the years to help me stay fit. The basics are “eat right and exercise.” I know what you’re not saying. “Wow! What a revelation. Thanks Gary.” Give me a few moments to explain. The key to success is simplicity. If you really want to be fit, then one has to recall information quickly and implement it while in the middle of a typical food impulse. A complex formula for calculating calories or trying to remember the highest glycemic indexed foods doesn’t help when involuntary instincts kick in.

The first and most important thing to remember is this triangle. Keep it in your mind.

I created this food triangle based on common ranges of solid nutrition from scientific data (if you really want all the sources, let me know).

Here is a summary of what I say in this article:

(1) Avoid too much or too little of the wrong thing.

(2) Eat smart/Live smart.

(3) Most often our timing is off.

(4) Eat more carbs in the morning and more protein in the evening.

(5) Eat more vegetables.

(6) Don’t smoke, and avoid drugs.

(7) Exercise.

(8) Manage snacking.

(9) Eat desserts…not banquets.

(10) Buy good food on sale.

(11) Exercise to reduce heart rate.

(12) Indulge in life, just don’t overindulge.

Now if you want the details, please read on.

What is good health? It's really very simple; avoiding too much or too little of the wrong thing. A companion statement would be that we don't do what we should do. Why not? I've seen rocket scientists with big bellies and uneducated people with perfect bodies. My approach--Eat smart/Live smart.

As we continue, I will give some brief explanations on how we can enjoy ourselves and not overdo it. But before we move on, I wanted to let you know that I am not a nutritionist or a fitness expert. I’m just an ordinary guy that has scrutinized the data and applied it to my life. Since it has worked so well with me, I have decided to pass it on to others. By others, I mean people with no serious medical conditions.

Food Quantity and Timing

Most often our timing is off. We don't do what we should do when it is time to do it, or in some cases we do what we shouldn't do when its time to do it. For example, when I was younger I would have a piece of my wife’s famous apple pie, it was semi-healthy enough...apple, flour, that gooey stuff in between ... then I’d help myself to another piece. Hold on now! I just enjoyed my one piece. Why did I have to ruin it by having another one? And if I did this, I’m probably not alone. If I was smart I could have enjoyed the second piece the next day.

I know it is obvious, but I have to say it. Activity is directly relative to food portions or Input = Output. A person’s intake should be dependent upon the level of daily activity. See example below.

Sedentary - Small food portions

Average Joe - Medium food portions

Fitness Buffs - Large food portion, all the time

The next chart shows the approximate percentages of how to use food to your best advantage.

Bed time note: When you sleep, extra carbs will go into storage ... not a good thing if you’re an average Joe or Joretta. However, if you worked out hard a slow protein like cottage cheese will help repair and rebuild your muscles while you sleep.

Before I continue onto the next section, it is important to discuss the basics of food. Our body’s primary source of energy comes from good carbohydrates. Notice I said good carbs. That means vegetables. Not so good carbs are: bread, chips, cookies, donuts, etc. Building good muscles and organs comes from good protein. Notice I said good protein. That means, lean fish, eggs, poultry, and meat, in that order. Not so good protein: Hamburger, fish that had lived in the water a long time (because it picks up pollution), bacon, etc. Oh, I forgot. There is a food that is great for you, but it's not really food. Its protein drink. This kind-of-food drink (or bar) is great for snacks, emergency meals, and after workout supplementation. Lastly is fat, which is essential for good cell function

Food Triangles

Food triangles (or pyramids) were produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1960s in response to awareness of heart disease. The triangles portrayed a quick picture of the food guidelines for us to live by. Below is one of the first existing triangles that were implemented by the USDA.

Notice which product they encourage you to have the most? Breads and cereals. As science started disproving some of the tenants of the triangle, another one was developed.

Clear things up for you? It didn’t for me. It’s too complicated. They tried to rearrange and add levels of the triangle and add sub-triangles to justify the first triangle. It didn’t take. See the web for a better rendition of the photo. Additionally, the powers that be realized that cereals and grains were not as great as once thought. So they decided to go back to the drawing board. See the next diagram.

Notice that breads dropped into second place. Not bad, but it still was not right, because grains are still too high and proteins are too low.

Vegetables should always be the biggest thing in our diet. We need a lot of them (good carbs) to provide vitamins and energy for the body to operate at its best. Fish, poultry, and meat are the next biggest portion. Proteins are a must if our muscles are to grow and repair properly. There have been times that I have worked hard during the day and didn't eat enough protein. My joints began to ache. What actually was happening was that my muscles needed repair, so they retrieved nutrients from another storage source--my bones. Ewe! Carbs are nice, but humans need protein too. And a lot of it if your active. Grains should be relegated to a sub level of the carb quadrant—let’s just say that they are inefficient. Fats are actually more important than you think. Although they should be relegated to the smallest quadrant of the triangle, they are essential for good cell function. They also are superior at being converted into energy stores, which is why you have to be careful with them.

Rule of thumb tip: Plant fats—good, animal fats—bad.

Let’s address the allotted dairy category for a moment. What makes them so important that that need their own category? Cottage cheese has a large amount of protein, so let's stick it with the protein section with meat and poultry. Some milks or yogurts have more carbs than bread, so why not stick them in with the carbs? That is just what I did in my triangle.

All food in the United States is categorized into three areas: Fats, carbohydrates, and protein. Every package in a store will indicate the quantity per serving. This is why I came up with a food triangle that fits how we read packages. You saw my diagram at the top, but here it is again. Remember, it’s only a guideline.

Notice in the diagram that cereals, and breads are only 10% of the total carbs, and total carbs are about 50% of your total diet. Which means, breads are only 5% of our total diet. Cereals and breads just aren't very efficient at doing carb work (don’t believe me, talk to a nutritionist). Yes, you can still eat your favorite slice of bread!

If you eat dairy that has low fat, think of it as a carb. If any product that is primarily a protein or a carbohydrate but also has a large amount of fat in it, you might as well move it to the fat area--or better yet, just don’t eat it. Most of what you get from dairy you can get just as well from vegetables.

Did you notice that there is a range of percentages in my triangle? Rearrange your intake as per your activity. Such as: Sedentary -15% fat, 20% protein, and 65% carbs probably would do the trick (they need less fat and protein, because their just not movin'.) WhereasFitness Buffs may want to try a 20% fat, 40% protein, and 40% carb diet (they need more protein and fat for muscle growth.) As I said earlier, timing is important. My triangle is a daily summary of food intake. If you have three meals, each meal triangle would look different. Here are crude samples of meal triangles for the average person. The biggest sections indicate the areas where we should eat big portions.

Breakfast Meal Lunch Meal Dinner Meal

The Obious Duh!

Don't smoke, don’t take illegal drugs, avoid continued use of over the counter medication, and lastly … exercise. I know, I know. You've heard that a million times. Why? BECAUSE IT'S TRUE, FOR GOODNESS SAKES! Don’t worry if it's doing leg lifts on the couch while you watch marathon movies, chasing after the cat when it goes into its running fits, or taking the garbage 10 feet to the curb … do something--anything! Be creative … you can do it!

Snacking

It's evening and the kids finally fall to sleep after asking for the fourth glass of water. You want to relax in front of the T.V., HD flat screen, or computer monitor--whatever. “Experts” say that watching more than 2 hours of T.V. is not good for you. Therefore, this tip is designed for the 2 hour movie event.

Do Not: Set a bag of chips (or pick your poison) on your lap and dig in. We are humans and our nature, especially in America, is to do it right and do it big-time. If I had a bag in my lap, I would keep digging and digging and digging, all the while engrossed in my program, until the bag was almost empty. At a commercial, I’d look down and see the damage I've done, and say “Yuk! How could I have eaten all that?” But by then it is too late and I feel disgusted with myself (or not), then get up and look around for something more nutritious--then eat more! Is it shameful of me or am I a person with gusto? Now, I know I’m not the only one. Most of you do the same thing, and we have to get a handle on this.

Here is a good solution for the above dilemma. Go to the kitchen and set out four small saucers. These, I call, the commercial snack saucers. At every half hour, (I know there are commercials in between, so just have a handy glass of tea, water, etc handy (Not Soda; remember refined sugar is bad, very bad. P.S. Stay away from diet drinks too. They have who-knows-what kind of chemicals in them) to get you through to the half-hour mark. Back to the saucers.

Saucer example number one: Put in 6 gummies, Mike & Ikes, Jujubes, Good n Plenty, or equivalent hard candies. Not a lot of calories is it? And you can suck on a couple of them for a long time.

Saucer example number two: Fill the little saucer to the brim with “Baked” potato chips, Cheetos, etc. Baked chips have less fat than even the “less fat” chips. They're not cheep so--yeah, buy on sale.

Saucer example number three: Set a one-scoop ice cream cone, Popsicle, or equivalent, on the saucer. You may want to keep this one cold (we don't need a stinking mess by saving it till last.)

Saucer example number four: Pour in a handful of nuts. Almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc. Legumes are always good for you. Stick a small square of 70% dark chocolate with it and you'll really have something. Anything less that 70% isn't really giving you the flavenoids and antioxidants that help for good nutrition. I hated dark chocolate, but I gradually worked up to the darker chocolates and now I am enjoying 72% with no problems.

Exception #1. I know you're going to do it anyway, I do it randomly. So, if you have to have your sugar soda, fill up the glass with ice first, then pour in the death-beverage. Then drink it slowly, in a nice warm room. At least you will dilute the product with melting water.

Food, Drinks, Desserts

When I mentioned to someone that they should rethink drinking pop and maybe switching to real fruit drinks, they said, “what's the difference? Calories are calories.” I about fell over. Is that what people think. Have what ever you want, as long as you don't exceed a certain amount of calories?

I must tell all of you right now. Quit counting calories! It is a time consuming and anxiety producing way of living. Sure, it's good to generally know how many calories are in a food, but it's more important to know what is in the food.

For example, you drive into a gas station and ask the attendant to fill it up. They say regular or supreme? Or too really show my example, they ask, “low low octane, regular, or supreme. You look at the price and see that the low low octane is half the price of regular. What's the difference? So you say low low octane, because it's just gasoline, right? Well for those of you that don't know anything about gasoline, that is a bad idea. Your car operates well on a certain amount of octane (and other ingredients) to keep your car running smoothly. Low low octane could cause problems; the most obvious being knocks in the engine as you drive off.

So too is your body. It runs best with the best food. Don't just swallow anything that fills your tank or you may speed off with knocks of your own.

Donuts are a good example of a food that would be low low octane. It does virtually nothing for us. It is one of the best tasting, yummy, non-foods there is. I put it right up there with candy bars and such. It not only contains a lot of sugar, but it also has a tremendous amount of fat ... double whammy. Sure, donuts have bleached wheat flour (also not great) and a bit of egg, but that's about it! Believe me, it's not worth it. Want desert? Try fruit. Even pie has fruit in it, and ice-cream has cream that contains protein. Deserts should be to the body like spices are to a meal. A little goes a long way.

Buying

If you are on a budget, especially in a recession, the simple answer is buy the sales!

Forget the type of store. Yeah, Sam's club or Costco have great buys, but so does the corner market when it's on sale.

Let's say you need cereal. There are only four basic types out there: Oats, rice, corn, and wheat. The quality of food is in that order. Actually there is a fifth: the real expensive high quality stuff that you can't afford anyway. Now let's break each of the cereals down.

Oats: 
Best - Oatmeal that you cook. As a rule, the longer it takes to cook it, the better it is for you.

Okay - Oatmeal cereal without sugar.Ignore - Oatmeal cereal with lots of sugar.

Rice: Best Rice that you cook. As a rule the more color the better it is for you.
Okay -   Rice cereal without sugar.
Ignore - Rice cereal with sugar.

Corn: Best Corn that you cook. Hard to find. Good luck on that.
Okay - Corn cereal without sugar.
Ignore - Corn cereal with sugar.

Wheat: Best Whole wheat breads. Wheat in general is not great; wheat gluten is tough to digest, wheat nutrients have decline through time, and other reasons. Try to eat little amounts of bread.
Okay - Wheat cereal without sugar.
Ignore - Wheat cereal with sugar.

Exception #2. Now I know you want your sugar cereal. Normally I do not recommend processed cereals, but since most people do it, I'm going to help you enjoy it, while reducing the bad effects. Here's a trick. Let's say you want to eat sugared corn flakes. Instead, pour a bowl of sugarless corn flakes first, then sprinkle a palm-ful of Trix to get your sugar. Essentially what we've done is increased the “beneficial” corn meal and reduced the over-powering, non-essential sugar (you probably have figured out my bias--sugar without nutrients is just extra unhelpful calories). If you need sugar to get you going in the morning, try fruit juice.

Exercise

No one wants to exercise unless they have to. I recommend it. One thing I have noticed in healthy people is that they have lower heart rates. So what? After doing some investigation, I have found that the longest living animals have low heart beats. See list below:

As you can see by the chart, as a rule, animals with low heart rates, live longer. A Galapagos land tortoise has been known to live almost 200 years. Wow! Realize that genetics is very important. However, it is our job to skew our range to the low end. The average man has a resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute, mine is 58, and professional runners are around 40. Regular exercise is what keeps your heart rate lower and keeps you strong and healthy. So, not only does a low heart rate extend ones life, it extends the health of ones life. I mean, who wants to live long without feeling good too?

You may get plenty of exercise at work: ditch digger, plumber, construction person, etc. But even these folks need balance. There are always muscles that aren't being used and should be. Let say you’re a postal person and walk the route. Forget running for exercise; go canoeing or kayaking to work the upper body.

People may not have a lot of money to go to a gym. Well, be philanthropic and mow someone else's yard--great for the back, and you help out the community. Speaking of which, helping out others probably stimulates some good ole endorphins and such, or at the very least you feel better as a human being. If you do have a proclivity towards a certain exercise, adjust your foods appropriately. For example, Runners need lots of carbs, Weight lifters need lots of protein, and Sedentary folks need to back off on the fats.

To tell if you have too much intake, forget the scale. One pound of muscle reads the same as one pound of fat. Look at your belly instead. Is it growing or is it shrinking? Everyone needs fat; it's the excess fat that harms you. You can tell if you have gotten there when you start to see stomach muscles. People think that they need to do a million crunches to get great abs--not true. A low percentage of body fat will reveal the stomach muscles. If you want to have super strong stomach that has ripple like hills and valleys, by all means, exercise your belly. It can’t hurt and it helps support the back. In any case, belly fat (as oppose to general fat around the rest of the body) is enemy number one.

It is said that you should exercise everyday and run for 30 minutes, blah, blah, blah. I say, do what ever you want to do. The important thing is to do it regularly, whatever that means to you and only you. Keep your eyes on you and your progress, not someone else’s. Exercise in a balanced way. In other words, don't overdo it. Everyone wants to make big gains and just about kill themselves for it. If you over do it, you will suffer with too much pain ... not good. Don't under-do it either. If you don't feel anything, then you're not going to get results. Too much or too little, and you will get frustrated then quit. It takes some pain to make any gain. A little pain means a little gain. But hey, it’s a gain and that’s how you start to see results. For elaborate exercise programs, I suggest talking to a trainer.

One last final area is Rest. It is a vital part of recovery from exercise. You need to get good sleep. Rest also means to put time in between workouts so you don’t over-train and hurt yourself. When a person first starts out in their exercises, they do a lot, everyday ... for awhile. But if they injure themselves, they may quit—don’t overdo it, pace yourself. A person with copious amounts of fat will see dramatic changes in their body, mostly because they’re losing water, which is a lot of baggage that doesn't amount to much. Unless of course you’re skinny and need to gain weight. In that case, you won't see changes very quickly. Don’t think being skinny is great. Very thin people need strong muscles and bones to keep from becoming too fragile. In either case, keep plodding away and make it a routine.

Pacing oneself and developing a routine are vital, otherwise you will believe it’s just too much work, burn out, and give up. Try not to be in a hurry. Start slow then slowly build from there. Your body won't suffer much and recovery is easier, and it gives you time to adapt to the new lifestyle. And I mean lifestyle. This is not a temporary thing. Exercise should be permanent, like brushing your teeth, or taking out the garbage, or swatting flies--whatever. If you get bored with your routine, mix it up with new things, but keep at it.

Final Note

Positive results start with a positive attitude. You have to want to change, but don't change your whole life all at once. You didn’t learn to run until after you learned to walk. Just change one little part at a time. Trust me, it will work if you focus on just one change first (such as not having pop at night) until it becomes a habit. Then move onto the next change. If you want to be fit, you can still have fun and eat well! I know it can work for you, because it has worked for me. Proof is in my shameless photo below. Not bad for an over 50 dude.

Keep it fit, keep it fun, and keep the faith!