part0080

My precious, wonderful children, , I wouldn’t be doing my job as a Dad if I had this chance to talk about all kinds of pieces of life and values and we didn’t discuss the fundamentals of your health. These are the big rocks for everything that makes up your physical form, your energy, the mental clarity that you can have, and it’s really the base and the fundamentals for a great life. If you don’t take care of your fundies, then you’ll fall prey to the spirit being willing, but the body being weak.

“Being in great shape is something that no one can take away from you. It’s something you can do and it’s only yours. It’s your thing and it makes life so much better. ”

You know that he was a Marine and he has been very physically fit his entire life, and his words always stuck with me.

Other things in your life will not matter as much if your health is suffering.

Going back to the quote at the beginning of this, if you don’t have your health then usually the ONLY thing on your mind is (or should be) getting that back. It won’t leave room in your life for the sweet pursuit of other goals. Your energy will be lacking. You won’t be as mentally sharp, and your confidence will be negatively affected.

Maybe you won’t notice that as much when you’re young, but bad health habits compounded day after day after day will stack up, multiply, and become a burden in your life.

Now, we’re going to talk more about each of these-- the eating, the moving, and the sleeping in later chapters--but I want to give you a big piece of advice right now and that is:

You need to love yourself enough to care about doing these things.

You are children of God. You’re also in my family and you deserve a life of health, vibrancy, energy and abundance. You deserve to be able to take care of yourself and others with ease, and all that starts with these fundamentals. The fact that you do these and the degree to which you do them will determine how well you can take care of everything else. Having good sleeping habits, good eating habits, and exercising will make everything else possible in this book. I hope that this is hitting home .

Eating, moving and sleeping right are all necessary for a great life. If you don’t do even one of them well, you’re going to be at a tremendous disadvantage. It’s not something you just do every once in a while, practicing these is something you do all the time and there’s a running score card for it.

Consistency is so important with this. You’re not able to wait a month and THEN work out for twelve hours straight. But twenty minutes every day will make a gigantic difference. The bad news is that the bad habits compound and cause disaster. The great news is that GOOD habits compound and will completely transform your life for the better.

Are you eating or drinking for energy and for health, or do you eat whatever feels good in the moment?

Are most of your meals healthy, or is a healthy meal a rare occurrence for you?

If you do what’s easy now, you’re going to have a hard time later. If you do what’s harder now, with a little self-sacrifice and moderation, then things are going to be much easier later.

The big rocks for eating are:

Those are the fundies. A lot of these will have their own chapters of advice because of their importance and how much of a difference they make in your life.

When you’re eating cheat meals (I prefer to call them free meals because it doesn’t sound as bad as cheat meals ), you just need to make sure those are in moderation. I think it’s actually part of a good life to do that every once in a while. You should have your occasional piece of pizza if you love it, go out to the movies while savoring popcorn or eat with your family for a big celebration. It’s just that these occasions should be something that’s done as a somewhat rare treat, rather than the norm.

Those are the big rocks and the things you need to think about when eating.

Do you have a regular, consistent workout routine?

Does that routine make you sweat?

Do you take the time for it and actually schedule it during your week?

Are you working towards a goal, physically?

Are walking and weight training a part of your movement plan?

Now, the big rock on this: you need to move every day, even if it’s for a walk .

We start to slow down, age and lose what we don’t use. Get out there and at the very least walk. At your best you want to have high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT with some walking and wind sprints thrown in for good measure.

Don’t run for long distances as that can be bad for your knees and joints and other things. I’m saying this as someone who’s run a marathon and a couple of half marathons. See http://alsearsmd.com/2016/06/long-distance-running-effects-your-health/ Running long distances is not the best for you for aging purposes, but you still need to sweat very often.

You also need to lift heavy things. Weight training is so important for males and females. It’s so important that it will have its own chapter of advice. Charles Poliquin, a friend of mine who happens to be one of the top strength trainers in the world, told me specifically that muscle mass is the best indicator of aging well, living longer and retaining mental sharpness and acuity later in life. 7

Make sure that you do have a weight training program as a regular part of your life!

Are you getting AT LEAST seven to eight hours or more of sleep most every night ?

Do you have a set bedtime routine?

Do you shut everything down at a certain time and perhaps turn off blue screens and blue lights from your smart phones, computers, and TVs before you go to bed?

Do you have a room that’s dark?

Do you keep it somewhat cool when you go to sleep?

We spend a third of our lives sleeping (hopefully), yet it’s something we don’t usually talk about in school. It seems strange that we don’t have a class on sleeping! It’s such a huge part of our lives. That’s why this has its own section in the book.

Now the big rocks for sleep:

You need to have a sleep plan. Get a good mattress. Keep your room dark and cool with very little light and have a nighttime routine where you shut everything down so you get a good amount of sleep. There’s much more to come on sleep in this book.

Question for you, how did all of these questions make you feel? Are you killing them or are they killing you? Do the questions make you uncomfortable, or do you smile in satisfaction knowing that you’re doing pretty good? There’s a lot more on this in a few chapters to come soon.

You can be proactive with the fundamentals and go after life and get better, or you can be reactive and take what life gives you. It’s easy to just go with the flow and do what you want when you want and hope that things turn out okay. But they won’t. Looking after these fundies is going to make such a big deal in your life.