When I was 17, I met a most remarkable man. Unbeknown to me at the time, meeting this man was going to have an indelible influence in my life.
I met him just once. I have never seen him again. I don’t remember his name, and I vaguely remember his face. But what I do remember is his physique, and what he said were the reasons for having such a fit and healthy body and such an optimistic and happy outlook on life.
I was utterly impressed by this man. That meeting set things in motion in my young mind.
Since then, I took an interest in wellness and fitness, and gradually came to uncover the secret components of health, fitness and longevity, and without realising, I started planning for a healthy and pleasant old age, if there can be such a thing!
We all want to live, and to live as long and as healthy as we possibly can. No normal person will ever set the the date of his own funeral.
Admittedly, there are a few who would dutifully plan ahead and take steps in order not to be a financial burden for their loved ones when that time comes. They pay for their funeral in advance; they take life insurance; they arrange everything. But the vast majority of us don’t even want to think of that subject.
And it’s really not surprising, because the Bible states that God has embedded time indefinite’ in the subconsciousness of humans. “The will live can be pretty powerful”, said the president of the International Longevity Centre, Robert Butler.
A recent study found that older people with a more positive outlook in life and ageing “lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions of ageing,” stated a paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study, conducted over a period of 23 years on 660 persons aged 50 and older, established two things: A negative attitude toward ageing “can diminish life expectancy,” and a positive outlook “can prolong life expectancy.”
Indeed, positive self-perceptions may contribute more to longevity than such things as low blood cholesterol and ideal blood pressure, suggests the study. It concludes by encouraging people to take a more positive view of life in general and about growing old in particular, and to “play down negative stereotypes of ageing,” which people tend to accept—even if unconsciously their detriment.
So, outlook and emotions play a powerful part. It has been established. But what about nutrition, food supplementation and exercise?
It is my intention to share with you, everything I have come across in relation to nutrition in order to become and stay healthy; to the most suitable physical exercise according to one’s own age and, to the kind of general outlook in life necessary to lead a healthy, fit, long and happy life.
Not all articles in this Blog will be written by me. I will be using this as a hub of very good information provided by other people too.
After I’ve met that man I referred to at the beginning, I decided I wanted to experiment with myself. I wanted to see if those concepts were valid and to see whether they could have a positive effect in me too.
The motivating factor was a dual one. Because on one hand, I saw old people suffering the effects of old age so much. They were full of pains and aches and disabilities to function without the help of someone else. And I saw that as a frightening prospect!
On the other hand, I saw people of the same age who seem so full of zest for life and still energetic and in full charge of their minds and bodies.
What was the reason for that? Was it just down to genetics? Can we actually plan for a healthy, fit and long old age? Was that possible?
Therefore, the motivating dual factor for me was really one of fear and one of desire.
Fear of having to age so painfully, and the desire to live a healthy, happy and long life.
I quickly made a distinction between living and existing!
That man I met when I was 17 was just the beginning of my quest...Others would come along.
As I grew to maturity and moved on with my life, what I’ve learnt from him, and later from others, stayed with me. By gradually expanding my knowledge on nutrition, exercise and relaxation, I came to understand how dramatically they determine one’s own health.
That knowledge helped me to broaden my choices, creating my own nutrition system, and incorporating into it the very things that seemed to make such a remarkable difference in the lives of these people.
Therefore, I'll be sharing with you all what I've found. Of course, that is not compressed in one single formula. Neither would I like to make it sound like a lecture. In fact, as we go along in our conversations, I would welcome feedback, opinions and experiences from you, who are joining me in this Blog!
When I first started my quest to a healthier life, I started picking up information, tips, clues and suggestions from a variety of sources: real people’s experiences, seminars, books, and later from DVDs, the Internet, and companies who offer newsletters, products, supplements and accessories sometimes very useful for the reaching of those goals.
I'll be sharing with you some interesting discoveries I have made along the way; even what at a first glance appear to be very simple, but what actually proved to be very powerful. I won’t hold back from sharing absolutely everything I have learnt, and I wish that what I found will be of benefit to you too!
