December 1999
coronaryheartdisease,cancer,lungailments,liver ail-
ments and suicide. These six deadly killers are themost prevalent
in our society. Most can be prevented, cured, or at least contained
with theuse of proper diet and/orfood control, meditation or deep
relaxation, briskexercise of anykind, chiropractic adjustments,
andperhapsaclassinbehaviormodification.Insomecases,
some light medicationmayalso be needed.
Still with me? You must really like to flyorneedto.
Weightmanagement,foodintake,andproper nutritionall
come under the same heading. What it boils down to is whether
you are eatingthe correct foods for your particular needs in the
properamountsandwhetheryouareburningupthefoodor
storing it as excess fat. Some helpful hints might include cutting
down your sugar consumption (especially soft drinks which can
contain as much as 7 teaspoons of sugar per can), avoiding white
flourandoverlyprocessedfoods,eliminatingfriedfoodsand
foodscookedinheatedoilsfromyour diet,andlimitingdairy
productstolow fat or fat free.
Trytoeatmorefruitandvegetables,5servingsaday,
especially in season, andstay away from canned, processed and
frozenfoodswheneverpossible.Stopeatingfastand/orjunk
foods such as burgers, fries, and doughnuts. Eat your last meal of
the day as early as possible. Eat starches and proteins separately;
eatfruitsandvegetablesseparately.Chew yourfoodwelland
learntoenjoythedifferentflavors.Stopeatingwhenyour
stomach ishalf full; the other half is still onthe waydown.
Freshvegetables shouldmake upasmuchas50% of your
daily food intake.Fresh fruit, 15%. Starch,10%. Protein, 15%.
Fat, 10%. Avoid foods high in saturated fats such as beef, dark-
meatpoultry,poultryskin,butterandotherwhole-milkdairy
products. Readfoodlabelson processedfoods. Manyproclaim
themselves“cholesterol-free”wheninrealitytheyareoften
made with highly saturatedtropical oilssuchas coconut, palm,
and palm kernel. Snack on fruit,carrot sticks, air-popped popcorn
or low-fat crackersinstead of chips andother high-fat snacks.
Supplement thiswith2-1/2 quarts of water eachday which
is about the amount we lose over a 24-hour period. Your body and
thisplanetwe live onare both75 % water. Thisiswhyitplays
such an important role in your lifestyle andhealth.
Take these helpful hints and do some research on your own.
Don’t take someone else’s word for your health but find out what
is best for you based on your body’s needs. Now, armed with all
the facts, youcan designa weightmanagement/food consump-
tionprogram that bestsuitsyour lifestyle and your needs. As a
result, you will notonly feelbetter but live longer.
Eventhough itmaysound like weshouldquit eating alto-
gether or at least give up some of our favorite foods, it’s simply
just a tradeoff. What you love to eat has gotten you this far. The
questionis, are youhappywith where you are?
Finally, one more thing to hate. Exercise. Start now to make
your excuses and I guarantee that your mind and body will agree
withanything youcancome up withno matter how outrageous
it may sound. Equate food intake to putting fuel in your propane
tanks. If you put in more fuel than the tank will hold, it blows the
pressure release valve. Same thing with the human body except
itruns over on the waistline.
How do we get rid of excess fuel? Burn it! Same thing with
food;we havetomove aroundandburnitup. Takinga nap or
lyingdowntowatchTV after a bigmeal is nota greatidea for
burning upanoverload of food.
Hereagain,themethodthatyouaccomplishfortheend
result is completely up to you. Do an activity that sounds like fun
and trytobreak a sweat. Bad word, sweat. It means that you are
going to have to do more than ride in a golf cart or lie on the beach
or watch aball game. Youare goingtohave to participate and
move aroundinorder toburnwhatyou just ate. Being thin and
healthy doesn’t just come from what you eat; your body has to get
inon the action, too.
The thought behind this is that after you realize exactly how
harditistoburnupexcessfood,youwillthinktwicebefore
taking in an overload. Example: jogging for one hour burns less
than 500calories; 3,200 caloriesequal one pound of weight.
You don’t have to train for the Olympics, youjust have to
move,sostartsmallandworkyour waytothe moredifficult.
Walking for 40 minutes to an hour at any pace is a start. Make it
exciting like walking in the park on orthe beach. Don’t live on the
beachornexttothepark?Imaginethatyoudo.Getsome
headphonesandlistentowhatevermakesyoucalmdownand
appreciate being alive. And little changes in your habits make a
difference, too. Take stairsinsteadof elevators, parkyour car a
distance fromwhere youaregoing,andanytimeit’spossible
walkinstead of drive.
Andtrytohaltweightgainbeforeitgetsbeyondyour
control. When you’re atyour idealweight youwill notice right
away when yougain a little bit.
What I have described in this three step changeover is what
mosthealthypeople do tomaintain goodhealth. Youknow the
ones I mean. They always look healthy and they always eat a lot
of salads. It may look boring, but they generally live forever and
keepflying longer.
