Category Archives: lifestyle

The Things Happy People Do

Posted on by
Reply

Recently, I was reading an article from Oprah’s site entitled “5 Things Happy People Do”.  The list includes:

  • Strive towards excellence based on your talents.  This means taking on challenges and fulfill your sense of purpose in life.
  • Design your life to bring in joy.  Stated another way, spend time doing things you enjoy.  Minimize time doing things you hate.
  • Avoid the “if only” fantasies.  In reality fulfilling these fantasies won’t be enough to make you happy.
  • Put high quality relationships first.
  • Allow yourself to be happy.

Based on several books I have read over this year, I would modify this list to include:

  • First and foremost, strive for optimum health.  Consult with a nutritionist and learn to eat healthy.  Meditate, exercise and aviod toxins.  The Longevity Project found that those who are healthy are also happy (not the other way around!).
  • Be an active participant in your life.  Be willing to try new things and be willing to fail.  In the spirit of this, I have included a picture of me flying my glider in Minden, NV.  It was scary flying this the first time but I had a great experience and look forward to flying it again this weekend.

Several other sources agree that establishing a sense of purpose and having positive relationships are beneficial to happiness and also longevity.

Who Lives the Shortest Lives?

Posted on by
Reply

According to the eight decade long study presented in The Longevity Project those from the study who lived the shortest lives included:

  • Those who experienced combat in war.  Returning soldiers from World War 2 who fought in the Pacific tended to fair the worse of all who returned from the Great World War.  Upon returning, they tended be depressed and drink heavily.
  • Children that started school early.  They get a head start in school by starting kindergarten at a younger age than what is normal.  As these children progress through school, they tended to be isolated and feel social out of place.
  • Children of divorced parents.  For children who experience the divorce of their parents, they tended to drink excessive alcohol or smoke as adults.  They tended to engage in riskier behavior.  They were also more likely to experience divorce themselves later in life.
  • Drink alcohol excessively or smoked.   Some in the study were characterized as very sociable but they did not live to an old age.  People in this group tended to drink excessively and smoke.
  • Loaners.  People without a social network suffered from not having someone to look out for them and help them through hard times.
  • Drifted from job to job.  This group had a lack of purpose.  They tended to follow an unhealthy life path.
  • Catastrophize.  Typically, these people view their lives as a total mess.  They were most likely to die from suicide or a violent death.

Typically, those who lived the shortest lives had a combination of these traits.  In addition, there were people in the study who had some of these traits or behaviors and went on to live past sixty years old.  The key for these people was to get onto a healthy life path.

Who Lives the Longest?

Posted on by
Reply

The Longevity Project concludes that those who lived the longest lived healthy throughout their lives.  According to this study, healthy behaviors or characteristics include:

  • Have a sense of purpose.  These people had a career in which they were able to make steady progress towards goals.
  • Have a social network.  This would often include a spouse (especially for men), a church group, the broader community or a close group of friends.  The social network looks out for each other protecting them from ill health or accidents.  However, don’t let this group influence you to excessive drinking or smoking.
  • Do not smoke or drink alcohol excessively.
  • Stay active.  There was no secret exercise such as jogging for those who have lived the longest.  Instead, each person would stay active with activities they enjoyed such as gardening or walking.  The key was to do something they enjoyed so they’d keep on doing it.
  • Be persistent.  Interestingly, those living lives with low stress did not live the longest.  It was rather those who aggressively pursued a career with persistence that lived the longest.
  • Be prudent.  These people tended to go to the doctor when they were concerned with their health.  They tended not to engage in risky hobbies or activities.  (Remember the SNL skit of George H.W. Bush saying “that wouldn’t be prudent”?  He is in his eighties.)
  • Don’t retire. Those who stayed active in their careers from their seventies to their nineties ended up living the longest.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that some of these conclusions challenge common wisdom.  The list makes more sense to me when looking at the collection of traits and behaviors and not looking at them in isolation.

Book Review: The Longevity Project

Posted on by
5

Ever since researching the Blue Zone group, I have been interested in learning more about people who live the longest.  The Longevity Project by Drs. Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin builds on the work of Lewis Terman and the famous Terman study to provide the key conclusions about which traits and behaviors lead to longevity.  The data and conclusions are based on a select group of over 1,500 middle class Americans born in 1910.

I first heard of the Terman study when reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers.  Lewis Terman of the interviewed over 1,500 gifted school children in California, their parents, and their teachers.  He asked questions to understand the children’s interests, habits, environment, and personality.  Almost two decades later, he interviewed the same group of children again.  The interviews continued to be detailed in an effort to understand the habits, personality, and various other traits of the participants at this stage in life.  Decades later, a large team (including the authors of this book) interviewed those participants who were still living.  They analyzed the death certificates and causes of death of those who are decreased.  They gathered over eighty years of detailed information on the Terman group to understand which traits and behaviors that lead to long life.

The Longevity Project is a carefully conducted statistical study that pours through millions of pieces of information.  The multidiscipline study used a variety of subject matter experts to compliment their analysis and understanding of the data. They performed various calibrations to relate the traits and behaviors of people born in 1910 to the traits and behaviors of those born in the more modern times.

Each chapter of the book focuses on either a key trait or behavior which proved important to longevity.  The authors also provide self-assessment tests so the reader can gauge their strength in each area.

I found the book to be well worth reading.  It provided me with insight into key traits and behaviors to cultivate in order to protect my long term health.  It also helps support the idea that it is a healthy lifestyle that is key, not some specific food or exercise regieme.  In addition, several of the important traits and behaviors are quite surprising and often contrary to common wisdom.

Interestingly, the study does not mention specifics of diet such as meat and fat consumption.  The participants did not grow up on the frankenfoods of my generation so the influence of under nourished food and toxicity likely did not influence this group as much.

The key conclusion from this book is that those who lived the longest lived healthy throughout their lives.  That seems like a major non-surprise, doesn’t it? But when you understand the behaviors and characteristics that actually ended up being “healthy” (resulting in longer life), you’ll realize that some of them really are surprising.  And that is the topic of tomorrow’s post.

Deepening My Understanding of Holism

Posted on by
Reply

Over the past two years while living in Pine Mountain Lake, I have developed an understanding of the holistic philosophy that is much deeper than appreciating the beauty of Nature.  In the beginning of this period, we met the Oler’s who encouraged a natural approach to health.  At the same time, Jeremy was reading voraciously on the topic.  Both encouraged us to change out eating habits.  Now we eat more protein and fat – as our ancestors did.  We look more carefully at the sources of our food and buy as much as we can from local farms who farm responsibly.  We take supplements made from real food.  We incorporate natural probiotics into our diet.  We strive to eliminate sugar and other toxins from out diet.

Over this time, we’ve become healthier people.  We also came to understand the trickle down effects of departing from the traditional lifestyle (the lifestyle we evolved from) and how this impacts our health and the health of the environment.   Non-traditional behaviors include current industrial farming practices and industries that pollute our air, water and soil just to name a few.  Fueled by feeling great, we both strive to learn more and do more to have a positive impact on the environment, since doing so will eventually benefit our health–thus forming a positive feedback loop.

We now:

  • recycle our green waste
  • grow our own food (when possible)
  • buy locally grown food (eggs, cheese, milk, fruits, vegetables, beef, chicken, pork)
  • care for the woods on our property
  • give to charities
  • support our health through holistic means [this feels self-referential]
  • communicate our knowledge and ideas through this blog
  • meditate daily

We value businesses that are responsible to the environment.  We value leaders that see the connection of today’s actions on future generations.  I now understand that it is NOT ONE thing but instead it is EVERYTHING that matters.  One change to the system, our planet, has cascading effects that can impact each of us.

I have gained a greater appreciation of the whole of holism.  I now see how my choices in what I do and how I spend my time can give me a greater of connection to the whole and have a positive impact on our future.

Choose Your Conversation and Impact Your Future

Posted on by
Reply

In the book Creating Your Future, Dave Ellis points out the importance of managing our conversation space in order to develop the future we want.  This is an insightful idea.  I had never thought about the impact of conversation on my actions until I examined this relationship more closely.

Conversations include discussions with friends and family, the TV we watch, the radio programs we listen to, the books and articles we read, and the thoughts we have in our heads.  We have a choice to which of these conversations we engage in.  We can be selective and align our conversations to our goals and dreams for the future.  In my own experience, I have been too complacent about managing my conversation space – not fully understanding the importance of controlling it.  However, I have paid a price for this complacency.  I have often times been discouraged from pursuing my dreams because I have been listening to the negativity that sometimes surrounds me.  Managing our conversations impacts our thoughts, ideas and goals and ends up impacting our future actions.

In addition to the bad habit of complacency around conversations, Ellis also points out that people tend to identify themselves with things that are not under their control which include appearance, finances, emotions and possessions.  When we loose them, it impacts how we think about ourselves.  He identifies himself by his conversations.  Conversations are not fleeting but instead transcend time and space.  Examples are seen in literature, art, music and oral history.  Again, we can align this conversation space with our goals.

He also cautions to avoid dream crashers.  Dream crashers are people who express negativity towards your goals.  They do this regardless of how they see this impact you.  I had one of these in my life and have been better off for avoiding this interaction.

You can build and expand your community of people to support your goals through groups on LinkedIn, local clubs, and international group – just to name a few.  You can shape your conversation by choosing who and what you read, steer conversations or walk away from negative ones and engage in daily meditation.

Raise the quality of your choices about conversations and align these around the future you want.

Our Summer Garden

Posted on by
9

Recently, I reported on our Winter Garden.  Over the past 2 weeks, we’ve planted our summer garden.  We now have five 4′ by 8′ raised beds, each about one foot deep.  We have aviary wire lining the base to keep out gofers. We have fencing in place to keep out deer.

We’ve planted 17 heirloom tomatoes of various types, 9 chilli, 4 bell peppers, 2 Japanese eggplant, 1 Lemon cucumber plant, and 1 zucchini squash heirloom variety.  We still have chard, carrots, onions and lettuce left over from the Winter Garden.

In terms of fruit, we have both berries and tree fruit growing.  Last year, I planted 2 blackberry bushes, one black current plant and one blueberry plant.  This year, I’ve added two raspberry bushes and several strawberry plants.  All are thriving.  Our fruit trees include cherry, peach, apple, lemon and lime.  The apple, recently planted, still has yet to bloom.  However, the others are all in bloom.

We also are growing herbs.  We have three types of sage, three types of oregano, two types of rosemary, garlic chives, parsley, tarragon and three different types of mint – which all wintered over.   I recently planted four different types of basil (Lemon, Lime, Thai and Sweet), Lemon Grass and Cilantro.

Garden maintenance is pretty much hands-off except for harvest. :-)   We spent several hours this weekend hooking up our irrigation.  We use the dripper and spray system from Raindrip.  The irrigation system is connected to a daily timer so that all watering is automatic.  Once a week, we’ll visit the garden to check how the plants are doing.  The next big time commitment is hopefully freezing and canning the fruit and vegetables we can’t eat.

Paleo Friendly Foods To Go

Posted on by
3

My sister Kim recently reminded me how difficult it can be to eat healthy when traveling for work.  This inspired me to develop a list of Paleo Friendly Foods To Go that go beyond the obvious list of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts.  Give some of these options a try.

  • Hard Boiled Eggs (preferably pasture raised): These can be prepared early in the week and kept in the fridge.  Before you’re heading out, just wrap these in a paper towel and put into a small Tupperware container.  These have worked out very well for us.
  • Trail Mix: Again, you can easily make your own weeks ahead of your planned travel.  Mix some dark chocolate chips with your favorite raw nuts and dried fruit.
  • Dehydrated snacks:  Last Christmas, I gave Jeremy a dehydrator.  With this, you can make several snacks that are good on the go.  These include beef jerky, kale chips, fruit roll-ups… and the list goes on.
  • Nut Butter Sandwiches:  Over the past year, we noticed that Safeway sells freshly made nut butters of all types (Cashew, Walnuts, Pistachio, Almond, Peanut).  You can spread this on some toasted sprouted bread, place it in a sandwich bag and go.
  • Healthy Bars:  Larabar brand sells a large variety of flavors.  The thing we love about these bars is that there are only a handful of natural ingredients.  No sugar or preservatives are added.
  • Paleo Cookies:  We have a few recipes on our blog:  chocolate chip cookies, sweet potato based cookies
  • Paleo Bread:  We made a yummy banana bread a little while ago.  This is a good snack!
  • Leftover chicken soup in a stainless steel thermos:  We often make chicken based broth soups.  Heat-up some left-over and put in a thermos before heading out.  There are some good stainless steel thermos options that retain heat for several hours.
  • Smoothie or Protein Shake in a stainless steel thermos:  Make your favorite shake, add some ice and put in a thermos.  This can stay cool for a few hours and can be a tasty option on the road.

Remember that these snacks should be kept out of the sun and eaten the same day since this is all real food.

Book Review: Follow Your Heart

Posted on by
3

Over the previous year, I re-examined where my career was going.  After investing many years in education and training, I found myself in a stagnant career in a very large company.  Looking outside, the economy also looked stagnant.  However, during this time, positive changes were underway. Jeremy and I threw off the conventional thinking about diet and “rediscovered health”.  Having this positive experience with health made me believe I could approach life differently and perhaps get different results.  In the book “FOLLOW YOUR HEART: Finding Purpose in Your Life and Work” by Andrew Matthews, I have found several nuggets of wisdom that led to several “Ah-ha!” moments.  I highlight a few here.:

WE ARE HERE TO LEARN LESSONS AND THE WORLD IS OUR TEACHER.  WHEN WE FAIL TO LEARN A LESSON, WE GET TO TAKE IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

Ah – yes.  This reminds me of a popular definition of insanity which is when we do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  My best personal example was pursing new business opportunities in my former company.  After a few times of following the standard procedures and not getting positive results, I explained the problems to my management in hopes they would reform the process.  After a few discussions with management and not getting positive results, I learned my lesson.  Positive change was not possible there and I decided it was time to quit.  A few months later, I did.

IF YOU FIGHT LIFE, LIFE ALWAYS WINS

Another key point is that life tends to operate by natural laws and principals.  These are not the same as I learned as a student of science but rather these are observations for how things tends to go.  One principal is that things tend to happen in waves.  I experienced this recently when my sister and close cousin both we diagnosed with cancer within a few month of each other.  In addition, my best friend died.  During this time, I was attached to the idea that this shouldn’t happen.  They are all too young to experiences this.  However, I eventually recognized these are my rules and I have a lot of them.  My life, and life in general, won’t work if I try to live life with my made-up rules rather than accepting that this is the way that life is.  I have found the processes of detaching myself from my made-up rules to be empowering and this opens me up to more possibilities.

HOW WE THINK SHAPES OUR SUBCONSCIOUS. THIS AFFECTS OUR ACTIONS AND HOW WE ARE IN THE WORLD.

The statement emphasizes that I needed to clear and relax my mind if I were going to be effective at doing things differently.  This would mean re-engaging in the daily practice of meditation.  Each day and for 40 minutes every day since reading this book, I practiced (and still do) mindfulness meditation.  During this time of meditation, many things are happening.  I get insight into my attachments and then let them go.  I am aware of how I feel both physically and mentally.  Once I am aware,  I can let these feelings go.  I can be in the moment and not swept away by random thoughts.  After a few weeks of practice, I found that I was generally more relaxed.  I was more open to new ideas and willing to try new things.  In short, I was no longer prisoner to my thoughts but was and am open to the possibilities of life.

After reading this book and putting Andrew Matthews’ suggestions into practice, I am building a career.  In February, I established my limited liability corporation: Advanced Materials Applications, LLC.  I have several new and very interesting potential business opportunities.  The stresses from the previous job experience have melted away.  I feel empowered and energized again.

Magnesium is Vital to Good Health

Posted on by
1

This article is written by our guest blogger Tina Fox.  Tina Fox, LMBT is a licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist and works as a neuromuscular therapist in Cary, NC

As an ex-elite athlete in my thirties, I found myself chronically tired and with the aches and pains of an 80 year old.  (I had felt this way since I was 16 years old.)  In addition, I was working in a high stress job.  I finally decided it was time for a change.   I changed my career to work in soft tissue therapy and understand why we have such an epidemic of chronic pain.

After doing some research, I discovered my grandfather’s way of doing things was right.  He grew all of his own vegetables in a huge garden in our back yard.  As kids, he had us go outside and pick our own raspberries for dessert.   He would then pour a little cream over them.  This was yummy.  He had us soak our aches and pains in epsom salt soaks and then had salve to rub on our cuts and bruises. We used to giggle at his old ways.  Maybe he knew a few things.  He was a potato farmer after all. He saved his bacon grease in a cup to cook his eggs.  He slowly ripened his garden tomatoes in the sun.  He was always eating fresh sliced tomatoes, cabbage with vinegar and, of course, potatoes.

So that brings us back to magnesium.  Remember the epsom salts our grandparents used? Magnesium chloride is a form of magnesium that is readily absorbed by our skin and utilized by our body. So why do we need it?

I love talking about magnesium and the good it does for our bodies. It’s hard to believe it doesn’t get the press that calcium does. But, then again, who really profits if you are magnesium deficient? Not the milk people…

Uses of magnesium by the body:

As a body worker I have learned that magnesium is the relaxation mineral. Calcium works with our muscle cells to cause a contraction and magnesium is the chemical that causes the muscles to relax. But there is more. Much more!  “It is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body.  Magnesium is crucial to its proper functioning and is involved in more than 300 bodily processes including:

  • muscle and nerve function
  • heart rhythm
  • immune system function
  • blood sugar level regulation
  • blood pressure
  • energy metabolism
  • protein synthesis
  • bone health

Magnesium is also important for proper metabolism of calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, and vitamin D.“

Magnesium helps:

  • It boost energy and relieve pain and muscle aches
  • It helps with sleep disturbances-restless leg, headaches, anxiety, TMJ pain.
  • It helps prevent calcification of the tissues of the body as part of the aging process.
  • It relieves inflammation that can lead to chronic conditions such as asthma, allergies, migraines, IBS, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

Yet… Over 76% of all Americans are magnesium deficient.  Why are we deficient?

  •  Magnesium helps our body to process and release the energy from sugar molecules.  It takes 29 molecules of magnesium to digest 1 molecule of sugar. We eat too much sugar!
  • Magnesium aids in making stress hormones….we sure are stressed out!
  • Our food supply is low in magnesium. And we eat little of these foods.

Great sources of magnesium:

Nuts and seeds are a great source of magnesium.

Other good sources of magnesium, providing anywhere from 64-170 mg per serving, include:

  • Halibut
  • Spinach
  • Squash
  • Beans, especially pinto and black
  • Plantain, raw

Reference:  Magnesium rich foods––Foods that contain magnesium-(courtesy of the Vitamin D council)

And magnesium is readily absorbed transdermally via magnesium oil or through epsom salt bath (my personal favorite).

There are some studies using epsom salt baths with ADHD children and Autism to calm them and bring their bodies into balance.

Reference:  http://magnesiumforlife.com/medical-application/magnesium-and-autism/

Magnesium is also needed for our body to absorb Vitamin D.  There is a vital link between these two in our bodies that is now believed to play a large role in chronic pain syndromes that effect our muscles and nerves. There is a lot of great information on the website for http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

Please contact a healthcare provider to monitor your supplementation of vitamin D and Magnesium.

I thank my Pop (grandfather) for all of the wonderful life lessons that will benefit me and my family!

Yours in good health.

Thank you, Tina!