As I get older and not so sure about the wiser, I have been returning to my childhood days and finding out that we may have the clue to life. For all of you who are younger, much younger, this message may question all the healthy plans you have but even if it doesn’t change your mind, it may encourage you to lift you eyes, head, and even your body away from your almost permanent fixture called Iphone. Bear with this ole gal as I give you a glimpse of life before all this technology.
First, let me give you a clue. In the 40’s, 50’s, and even 60’s there were hardly any obese children. Some adults were overweight, but not a large majority. It wasn’t that we didn’t eat carbs and sugars, we ate plenty of the fats too. It was activity both in work and relaxation. I smiled thinking of how many calories we burned while playing ball, swimming, running and chasing, climbing, and any other activity we could find. We walked, we ran, and we used every limb of our body as well as every limb in every tree we could climb. We MOVED!
Work was physical. I can remember working at Sears while still in school and my job was filling bags of returned merchandise which weighed at least 40+ pounds and throwing those bags on a pile which by the end of the day got very high. I thought nothing of it. I was strong and I got paid to do it. Nuff said. When I got off work, I studied. I didn’t play video games and I also did my chores around the home.
Don’t get me wrong, I got tired. What is wrong with getting tired? I am not writing this complaining about my younger life, I am proud of what I could do physically. Today, it seems as if people have to go to a gym to get a work out, and they boast about what they can lift or how many miles they can do on a machine. What happened to morning runs in the fresh air? What happened to doing yard work? What happened to growing a garden to provide those healthy foods? Man, we are ordering our food online and getting it delivered so no exercise going up and down the aisles. Are you beginning to see the picture of why we are in the fix as a human race?
I don’t have factual proof but I am sure that the experts have looked at this so why would the majority of people think we have to change our entire eating habits? Leafy greens, yes but we ate mustard, turnip, and collard greens on a regular basis. No bread? What, we had bread at every meal but our bread was not filled with preservatives since we ate it before it could go bad. Sweets, by all means but they were a treat and not a staple. We would look forward to a home made treat, a pound cake, save our leftover biscuits for a biscuit pudding, or oatmeal cookies. But we MOVED. We washed our dishes and dried them before putting them away. We didn’t plop down on the sofa as we had our baths to take, clothes to be ironed after washing them and Wait for it, hang them on the line to dry. There hasn’t been a laundry additive invented that will rival the fresh air line dried clothes. I remember sticking my nose and smelling them as I put them in the basket after taking the clothes pins out.
Here are my recommendations to healthy life changes:
Activity is important so clean up your home by cleaning out closets, utility rooms and houses, rearranging furniture, and even remodels if possible. Vacuum cleaners give a natural workout as I have never seen it work without some pushing activity. Window cleaning, floor sweeping, and a multitude of gym activities can be replicated without ever leaving home and a lot of pride when it is spic and span.
3-Mind-Boosting-Games-for-Kids-to-Improve-Concentration (photo courtesy of)
Cooking food for your family. You can choose the type and what goes in each dish and the fresher the better. I chose several years ago to cut portions and not food groups. I eat from every food group but I don’t eat a lot from any of those groups. You would be surprised by learning control without elimination of the foods I like. Example: We were looking forward to eating from Olive Garden for a night away from cooking. I skipped appetizer and yes, even salad and chose Cheese Ravioli. Greg had gotten mozzarella sticks (Oh no, not fried mozzarella sticks you are thinking). I pulled out two sticks and here’s the amount I ate with those two sticks, I ate 2 cheese raviolis and was totally full. I didn’t eat bread. I felt satisfied. I don’t know if this works for anyone else and am not advocating this is the only way to eat. All I know is I have slowly taken off 41 pounds and feel like I don’t live to eat but eat to live and it feels good.
Development of a MOVE attitude. Get off Social Media, do some stretches, clean and organize, take a look at your clothes and develop “I will get back into those smaller sizes”, and realize who actually controls your mind, body, and life style. There’s nothing wrong with going to the gym, I am definitely not saying that but you may find you get a better workout if you get up off your backside, quit feeling sorry for yourself and do what you can to get moving, even if it is a small task, DO IT. You don’t have to run marathons but even getting in gear and walk some.
For those of you who say, I don’t know what I am talking about, maybe you are right but at 72, I still cook and clean (I have help every two weeks just to be transparent) but younger I did all of it myself while working full time (and for me full time was about 60 hours), and work full time and oversee a million dollar web system. I do my hair even cutting and styling. I do laundry and happily say my husband will do a load in a heart beat. I have written three novels and many inspirational quotes so I recommend exercising our minds as well. I don’t say this boastingly as I have battled Diabetes for almost 1o years and have it almost normal levels. I meant I wasn’t going to let it win. Am I skinny? I am laughing as I am typing. I am not in bad shape either. Do I get inspired? Yes, when I see 89 or 90 year olds still giving it their all, I want to do more.
I hope you give this message a few minutes thought. I hope you look at how you live your life in a new light. It is all decided in your mind and your body will follow. Enjoy life by saying to yourself, It is my life and I will take care of myself by controlling how I live it. Have fun!
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