“Apostle of Fitness”
Jack LaLanne was a pioneer in the health industry. He advocated good nutrition and physical fitness in an unprecedented way. His philosophy about good nutrition and exercise was summed up in his statement:
“Dying is easy. Living is a pain in the butt. It’s like an athletic event. You’ve got to train for it. You’ve got to eat right. You’ve got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they’re the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take out. Exercise is king and nutrition is queen: together, you have a kingdom.”
Mr. Lalanne lived to age 96 in good health, doing his regular workout the day before he died. I believe he knew what he was talking about.
Deposits and Withdrawals
Considering our lifestyle choices, our decisions and actions are either deposits into, or withdrawals from, our health accounts. Eating good, whole foods that consist of high quality protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats are large deposits into the bank while eating simple carbohydrates, including added sugars, most fast food and processed foods is making a withdrawal. While some medical professionals advocate drinking alcohol, the excess sugar-based calories coupled with the lowering of inhibitions that comes with imbibing alcohol is almost always a withdrawal.
Day after day of a sedentary lifestyle, sitting as much as possible and avoiding exertion of any kind is like a constant drain on your account, kind of like impulsive shopping. You just keep doing it and although it doesn’t seem like a big deal at the time, over a lifetime it depletes your resources. Sitting has actually been referred to as “the new smoking”, by some health care professionals due to the fact that people have become so sedentary that it’s killing them in record numbers, similar to the long-term effects of smoking.
Getting active with vigorous exercise will help plump that same account, just get your doctor’s approval before beginning any exercise program. He may have specific suggestions and recommendations about exactly what type of exercise is best for you.
Making sure to get enough quality sleep is critical for your account to remain stable. Partying the night away may seem like a good idea at the time but sooner or later, you will wind up in the red.
Sleep can help to protect all aspects of your health account including your mental state. It also plays a huge role in the safety and security of your accounts. Daytime sleepiness accounts for a large percentage of all accidents including falls and automobile accidents. The number of deaths from falls alone in 2016 exceeded 25,000. (1) Poor sleep quality is also linked to higher blood sugar levels in some people. It raises your stress levels and causes you to produce too much cortisol which can contribute to a multitude of health woes including excess belly fat. Get your ZZZ’s.
At David’s Way we teach “Make Your World Small”-(David Yochim). There is nothing any more devastating or draining to your accounts than patronizing negative people with bad ideology and even worse intent. They will try to control your life and will almost always try to hold you back from greatness. Quite often they will have unhealthy lifestyles and balk when you make healthy choices. Dump these people if at all possible. If you seem to be stuck with them, or they are family members, then at the very least, lay down firm rules. Let them know that your health is your first priority, otherwise they will bankrupt you. “Social Contagion” is the term associated with this phenomenon where we pick up the bad habits of those around us. You can read a bit more about this phenomenon if you like here in an article called “Osmosis”. The pressure around us tends to build up over time and bad habits seep in, just like water pressure. Choose your friends wisely.
How to Build a Fortune
I have a relative who is several years younger than me. We were raised differently with my Mother being health conscious and her’s being a heavy smoker and drinker who didn’t give much thought to the meals that she fed her family. My Mother gave me vitamins and I learned to read with a family medical book. My relative barely learned to read at all. If she did, it was the comics in the Sunday paper. She is intelligent, so she did okay in school, excelling in mathematics. She was naturally athletic and was always involved in sports. As we grew up, I was naturally health minded, learning to eat spinach and LIVER when the doctor told me, at the age of 4 years old, that I was anemic and should learn to eat what I considered to be those terrible tasting foods. I didn’t like those foods, but even then, I wanted to be healthy. I had been sickly and was already tired of it. My relative lived on junk food. While I tried about 2 cigarettes in my life, she began smoking very young, picking up the butts in her parents ashtray. She learned to drink alcohol early and continues to this day. Since she was naturally athletic, her weight remained within reasonable limits during her youth although she became anorexic and developed a multitude of psychiatric problems and addictions. Although I have had my battles, I always fought for my health, never willing to allow anything or anyone to destroy me. The difference in us is that I am pro-active. I fight and struggle and study and apply what I learn to my most important asset, my health account. At the age of about 30, my relative hopped out of the bed one day and heard a pop and all but fell to the floor. Her pelvis had fractured, most likely due to early-onset osteoporosis from smoking because smoking depletes the calcium from the bones. As we aged, she became morbidly obese with multiple health problems, including rising blood sugar. Now, if we are side-by-side, you would never believe that I am older. I lift heavy weights. She can barely lift her groceries. I work full-time. She is on disability. I take no medications. Her list of medications has been significant for years. Our genetics are very close. What has made the difference is the deposits that I have made into my accounts and the withdrawals she has made in hers. Although these pictures are obviously not us, just check this out:
The beautiful woman on the left is Ernestine Shepherd, who has been known as the oldest competitive female bodybuilder in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010. She is still incredibly active and healthy at 85. I would say that her account has served her well.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/deaths-from-falls-are-soaring-heres-how-to-prevent-them-2019-06-05