Series: The key to happiness, part one: Physical Health

The key to happiness Part 1

I have been fortunate enough to be a fairly happy individual. To steal a quote from Wyatt Earp in the movie Tombstone, “I don't laugh all day long like an idiot”, but I’m fairly happy.

I have always enjoyed educating myself through reading, doing, and talking to those who have done it. I have had many opportunities to speak with people in their 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s. My favorite question to ask someone of that age is “Looking back over your life, what would you say is the key to happiness?”. Time and time again I have heard the same thing from many people. Putting together what they have taught me and what I have experienced I have found that there are two keys with two pieces per key:

Health:

            Physical Health

            Mental Health

Wealth:

            Physical Wealth

            Mental Wealth

These are very important keys and each one has a lot of information to them. I will break it up into weekly segments. This week, Physical Health…

Physical health is a very important key to happiness. Especially the older you get. Now I’m not saying that if you have a debilitating disease or something that you can not be happy. I know people with health issues that are not a fault of their actions and they make the best of their situation and that is important.

I have found that physical activity is a key to happiness now, and in the future. The more you can physically do as you get older the happier you usually become.

You have heard the phrase, “Use it or lose it”? This is very true for physical activity. To be physically healthy a person needs to have a daily regimen of physical activity. Bike riding, running, weight lifting, walking, so many other options to choose from.

The important thing is fitting it into your very busy life. The way I have found to make sure I get my exercise in is to make an appointment. Every day at 4:30am I have an appointment at the gym. This is an important appointment and I can not cancel it.

I have a routine already figured out before I get to the gym. You can not be effective in the gym if you just show up and start doing whatever you find there to do. You should have pen and paper and specific things you are planning on doing. When you perform an exercise write down what you did, how long you did it for, what weight you used, and any other pertinent information. Once you get a good baseline for what you can do, try to do just a little bit more each time and you will find you will progress nicely.

Another important piece to be physically healthy is a proper diet. Fad diets rarely ever work in the long term, I’m talking about good nutrition for a lifetime. Fruits, vegetables, vitamin supplements and stuff like that.

There are three important categories of food. Protein, Fat, and Carbs. There are a lot of opinions out there about each one of these. I will tell you my take and you can weigh it with several others and come up with what works for you.

Protein:

I before E except after…. Wait a minute! Protein isn’t even easy to spell let alone figure out!

Protein is the muscle building part of your diet. If you lift heavy, you need lots of protein. I have heard many, many opinions on this. I have found that 1 gram per pound of body weight works well for me. So if I weigh 200 pounds (nice round number) I need 200 grams of protein per day.

Fat:

Pretty small word for something that makes a person big!

Healthy fats are important for Heart health. Many people say a low fat diet is the way to go. Problem with that is people restrict the good fats with the bad. Bad fats increase cholesterol and your risk of certain diseases, while good fats protect your heart and support overall health.

§                    monounsaturated fats (good fats)

§                    polyunsaturated fats (good fats)

§                    trans fats (bad fats)

§                    saturated fats (bad fats)

Carbs:

And then there is this little category that has stirred up a storm of controversy in the past 20 years or so.

Carbs are like a religion. People believe very strongly about no carbs or lots of carbs. Most people with a strong opinion of carbs can not be swayed from their opinion (and will probably hate me for calling it an opinion. It’s just a fact damn it!). Arguments break out all over the internet about carbs (check out fruitarians, or search YouTube for “Durianrider or Freely the banana girl).

My take on carbs: carbs give a person quick energy. That is why a runner “carbs up” before a race. If you are about to expend a lot of energy you need carbs to go off of. There are healthy carbs and not so healthy carbs but this is already longer than I intended so I won’t go into that. Basically, the carbs you eat provide energy for your body. When you eat excessive carbs and your body doesn’t need the energy, it turns it to fat. Your body stores the fat to use for energy later. Unless you live a very active lifestyle, I believe limiting your carbs is a good idea. Take it easy, I didn’t say “no carbs”. Just “low carbs”.

Processed food is not proper nutrition. If you like to snack on potato chips, try peanuts, cashews, walnuts, almonds, or some other nut. They are salty and crunchy just like potato chips but much healthier for you. Nuts are a healthy source of fat and protein. If you like cheeseburgers, try a hamburger without cheese and no bun. And watch the condiments; mustard is a good condiment as long as the label doesn’t list a bunch of other stuff. Ketchup usually has a lot of added sugar. Lettuce, tomato, pickles, jalapeños (yes, I said jalapeños. I LOVE jalapeños on my burgers) are all great toppers.

I could go on for a long time on this but I must stop before this gets long and dry…oops, too late!

I have done extensive research on diet and exercise and would be happy to share my information. If you have a question or thought, hit me up…

Finding that special someone

I was recently asked, “How do I find someone to spend my life with?”

 

Well, my first thought was, it’s all luck! Ha! I did get very lucky when I found my wife but I do have a couple thoughts in mind about this.

 

This person told me that they go to clubs looking for someone but only find people that want to hook up for the night. They said they don’t go to church so they can not find someone there.

 

First off, stop looking. If you go to a bar looking for someone the odds are you will find someone, someone that likes to spend time at a bar. If you are not a bar person this probably wont work out. I’m not saying it is impossible. If you met your mate in a bar that is awesome! But the odds are slim and you, just like me, got lucky.

 

Looking for that special someone usually ends in finding that special someone for right now, not for your life. It usually works for a short time and then it ends. So, really, stop looking outward for that special someone and start looking in the mirror. YOU are that special someone. You are amazing and YOU are someone else’s special someone. There is someone out there for you but no one can predict the timing or circumstances of your meeting.

 

Once you meet that person you can begin to focus on their happiness, but in the meantime, focus on you. People are attracted to smiley, happy people. Make sure you are happy with you and someone else will take notice and THEY will be happy with you, and you will be happy with them.

 

Do what you love. If you like the outdoors, go on a group hike or group canoe trip or some other outdoor trek and guess what? You will meet people that, just like you, like the outdoors. THAT would be the beginning of a great relationship. But don’t go on the hike to meet someone. Just go, have fun, enjoy life and it will happen when the timing is right.

 

If you love to go bowling, join a league. You will meet many bowlers and maybe, just maybe, your special someone. I do have a friend that was an avid bowler. He met a girl there. They bowled together, on leagues, three nights a week. He proposed, she accepted, and they got married…at the bowling alley! Ha! They were really die hard bowlers but you get the idea.

 

I have a friend that met his wife when he was 42 years old. They have a baby and are happy together. Don’t sweat being single, love it, enjoy it, be patient. Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.

 

I was not looking for someone when I met my wife over twenty years ago but we found each other and have enjoyed many awesome years together.

Let's take a walk

STRESS!!! ARGH!!! UGH!!!



We all have some level of stress in our lives. It is a crazy world nowadays and, let's face it, stress is pretty hard to avoid. Since avoiding stress is difficult to impossible our response to stress is important. It is easy to let the stresses of daily living get us down and make us want to crawl into a cave, or in our case, crawl into our house, flip on the TV and block out the real world for a while and veg out. We are not really fixing anything or changing anything we are just hiding from the stress. But guess what? Turn off the TV and our stress is still there, glaring at us, jealous that we were ignoring it for the TV. It comes back, with a vengeance!



Stress is an ugly circle. Stress causes us lack of sleep, poor health, depression, relationship problems and a lot more. The stress induced lack of sleep, poor health, depression and relationship problems causes us to stress more. It is a difficult circle to escape but it can be done. Now learning how to deal with stress and avoid stress will not eliminate stress completely from your life, but it can help us stay sane and avoid the pitfalls that come with it.



You've heard the term "Work hard, play hard"? This statement really does have merit to it. Studies have shown that physical activity can reduce stress.



Walking is a great way to start. It is free, it can be done at anytime (even in the rain!), and it has great health benefits. Walking with a partner can be even better but we will discuss that later. Not only does the physical exercise help to relieve stress but the location can do wonders for you. Now don't get me wrong, if your only option is to walk on a treadmill, that is still better than not moving. A nice walk through the park is great! You are subject to sights and smells that can change your mind and take it off the stresses of life.



Water related hobbies reduce stress. I am no scientist so the details escape me but there have been studies on negative ions. Negative ions create positive feelings and mood enhancement. Water is a proven source for generating negative ions. Cold or rushing water has the higher level of negative ions.



The sun is a great source of Vitamin D. Vitamin D has long been studied in the effects it has on your mood. Researchers are now discovering that vitamin D may play an important role in mental health and in depression. There is a disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that affects many people. It usually happens in the winter when the daylight hours are shorter and people cover up all their skin with coats and jackets before going outside. Whenever possible, we should get out in the sun and enjoy it to help with our stress levels.



Positive relationships have a great impact on stress. The more close, personal relationships one has the happier they are. They have actually done studies on the affect of human contact and moods. It has shown that a person requires eight hugs a day to maintain happiness. Hugs can instantly boost oxytocin levels, which heal feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anger.



So, in conclusion, a great way to reduce stress is to grab a friend, go outside and get some physical activity! Even better if it can involve water! As summer comes to a close, let's take advantage of what we have left and live it to the fullest! Your stress levels will thank you for it.