11/3: LOOK IN THE MIRROR
On Saturday after leaving the gym, I stopped at Playa Bowls to get an acai bowl and they had on a show from "Surfer TV" of some guys visiting some remote tribe of people and it got me thinking all kinds of throughts. The first thing that was very clear was that not one single person from this tribe was over weight. Not only that, but all of the looked healthy. Then it really hit me: absolutely none of them would have ever taken any western medicine, and here they are, appearing quite happy and healthy. This is in such stark contrast to what we see in this country.
Approximately 40% of people in this country are obese, and I challenge you to find anyone over 70 years old that is not on some type of prescription medication. We have been so inundated by the pharmaceutical companies with ads that most people believe it is NORMAL to be on some type of medication. Since the beginning of man's existence, it's only been in the last 50 years the we have been conditioned to think we are supposed to be on some type of medication. I just saw a facebook post that said something to the effect of, "It's amazing that drug companies have thousands of medications to treat illnesses, but none that actually cure them."
I could go on and on about my feelings and experiences on this issue and we could argue about whether we are better or worse as a population with the westernized diet and westernized medicine vs where we were 100 years ago, but there are too many factors surrounding why our health is like it is to address in a couple sentences. But I wanted to address health in general.
We have generally have 2 choices when it comes to our health: Live large now and pay the price later, or live well now and reap the rewards later. We can treat our food like medicine today, or treat our medicine life food tomorrow. We can shop the perimiter of the grocery store and buy healthy, natural food, or we can shop the aisles and slowly poison ourselves with manufactured "food". We can pay for our health now by purchasing more expensive, higher quality food now, or pay for our health later by purchasing expensive medications and treatments.
If you are a student at the gym, I already know which side of the equation you are on. You are actively seeking to better your health. When I see someone who is doing better than me in a certain aspect of life, I want to know what they are doing so I can emulate them. On the other side of the coin, I want to be a guide for you on how to live a healthy life by being the proof in the choices I make. I'm certainly not perfect, but the only 54 year olds I see that can keep up with me are the people I compete against at Master's Worlds competitions, so I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track.
Granted, I have been blessed with longevity in my genes, but sticking to eating mostly fruits, vegetables and meat....you know, actual food that comes from the earth.... drinking almost exclusively water and loose leaf tea, supplementing that with natural plant and animal based supplements from my nutritional Dr, and visiting a chiropractor regularly, has kept me from seeing my primary care physician but twice in about the last decade.
My goal is to be on the mats teaching and sparring well into my 80's like Helio Gracie just weeks before he passed away. If you are not on a healthy path, what is it going to take to get you there? Another great quote I heard a while ago is: "You say you are willing to die for your children, but are you willing to LIVE for them?" Dying is easy. We will all do that some day. Living is hard. Making the right choices to live well and fight the battle to keep yourself healthy is a challenge.
If you are not taking on that challenge, what will it take to start?
