Eat Well and Exercise—Body and Mind

By -

While I am entering that category of folks that occupy middle- to old-age, what I discuss here is for all ages. 

Eating well:  This refers to two aspects of eating.  First, as is obvious to most people with a little education, WHAT we eat is important.  For a healthy life, we need a balance of fruit, vegetables, grains…and a good source of protein.  Some time back, I published a list of the best fruits and veggies one can eat.  The best grains are whole grains, high in fibre—whole-grain rice, whole wheat, oats, quinoa, etc.  But, it’s as important HOW we eat.  If we rush through a meal, it affects our digestion—a fancy word for how we ‘process, absorb and make useful’ our food.  Most people think that digestion begins when the food hits the stomach, but this is not so.  Digestion begins when we put the food in our mouths.  The saliva in the mouth begins to infuse the food with enzymes that begin the digestion process—what we do with the food in our mouth affects the process in the stomach.  Mind you—a swig of tea or water may soften the food for us, but this does not take the place of a good, thorough chewing.  (Personally, I choose not to drink anything with my meals—it slows me down and ensures a good start to that process!)  If we chew slowly, chew thoroughly, we increase the positive  processing of the food in our stomachs…and affect what the body can do with the food the rest of the way down the line.  So, yes, eat good foods, but eat them well!

Exercise:  I’m beating a dead horse here…but, if we don’t exercise, we’ll be that dead horse—huge and dead!  It doesn’t take a lot of time…and it pays amazing dividends.  Just 30 minutes of sweat-producing exercise a day, 4-6 days a week, and we feel better, look better and live better.  The easiest thing is to learn about exercises, talk about exercises and think about exercising.  The tough part is getting off our butts and doing it!  But, nothing takes the places of doing it.  I recommend exercising outside of your house or apartment—we all need a break from that space, and it’s all too easy to be interrupted by a phone call or a visit.  So, find a community gym or walking track, find a route to walk or run in your neighborhood, and do it!  Remember, this needs to be aerobic exercise—walking, running or swimming.  I shy away from running just because 1) it hurts and 2) I’ve seen too many folks with running injuries.  While I love swimming, walking is my preferred exercise because I can do it in any weather, almost anywhere and at anytime.  In fact, one of my favorite sayings is, “Humans are made to walk.”

Feed and Exercise the Mind:  Read a good novel, read a history, watch a nature or travel show, work cross-words and Sudoku puzzles.  Again, even if it’s just 30-minutes-to-an-hour a day, these sorts of things keep the juices flowing and/or the imagination active.  Studies indicate these things can ward off some aging issues.  And, besides, it’s fun!

So, I write all of this to remind myself…and you…that we have to take care of this body of ours—our bodies and our minds are actually positively affected by these things…and, therefore, our spirits as well.  Live well, live slowly, live healthily…and we may just live longer and live better!.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Where are You From?”—My Cultural-Linguistic Journey

By -
Image
  “Where are you from?” Few questions illicit as much anxiety as this one. At times, I even avoid meeting new people just to side-step this question. “Where are you from?”—seems like such an easy question that should have such an easy answer. For me and others like me, not so. I am a part of that anomalous group of people called “Third Culture Kids”—those who are born in one culture, raised in another, and never completely ‘at home’ anywhere—and often multilingual in some sense or another. Here is my journey…. [In a rich southern drawl] I was born in south Alabama…way down south where the peanut and cotton fields fill the landscape. I came into that world in the mid-60’s…long before cable TV, central a/c, cell phones, and anything akin to ‘urban sprawl.’ My daddy was the Baptist preacher at a small and growin’ church outside of Dothan, Alabama…that’s ‘Dothan’ – “DOOOE-thun.” My momma, a school teacher, and daddy raised my two older brothers and me in a good Southern home. My f...
Read more

I Never Met Jesus…

By -
Sounds like an odd confession coming from this disciple, pastor, missionary guy, but stay with me…. The lady is an amazing woman who has affected my life in profound ways. I have watched her and learned from her. She has molded me and shaped me in many ways. I listened to her as she told stories, as she conversed with others, as she spoke in gentle whispers and in those rare occasions when deep anger rose to the surface. I followed her at times through great crowds of people…and sat near her around tables, on beaches and in cars. Her songs lulled me sleep…her voice called me to life in the mornings. However, the curious thing is that I never ‘met’ this woman—Mom was just always there. Having grown up in the Church and in a Christian home, Jesus was just always there. From the Bible stories that my parents read to me at night…to the prayers around the table at meal-times…to the Bibles that seemed to form a part of my parents’ accoutrements—Jesus was just always there, simply part of the...
Read more

How to Joyfully Survive an ‘Economic Down-Turn’ (or Recession, Depression, etc.)

By -
Image
This idea has been swirling around inside my mind for almost two years, so I guess it’s time to put it on paper.  Now, some will say, “Why’d wait TWO years if you have the answer for us!?!?”  I don’t know.  I guess I’m busy…and perhaps a bit lazy…but more than anything,  I really wanted to turn my thoughts over and over in my mind to make sure I wasn’t telling you something misleading or incorrect.  Two years later, I believe this is a big part of the answer. The secret to joyfully surviving a recession or to living it through it basically unscathed is this:  Decide to live beneath your means. Now, the first part of that statement is SUPER important.  You (and I) must make the mental decision, must take that intellectual step.  If it’s forced on us—which is what a recession or depression may really do, then there is no joy in the living.  We find ourselves bitter, jealous, on a long-term ‘pity-pot’…if not in debt, homeless or...
Read more