healthieruAdopting a healthy lifestyle is inclusive of motion, nutrition, and focus. Good habits require conscious effort and diligence. It doesn’t just happen, start with simple things and build on them. Starting with fresh air and sunshine and good water is a great idea. One of the most productive things to do for health is to walk, especially outdoors in fresh air and sunshine. Working outdoors can be really productive, physical work leads to overall body conditioning. Starting with fresh air and sunshine and good water is a great idea.Then you can take the practice deeper. After experiencing the benefits and incorporating the change in your life. Take walking. Adopt a consistent habit 4-6 days per week and do this consistently for 6 weeks or so. Then add in some other practice. Over the course of time, develop a “fitness and health” lifestyle that is all your own, and it’ll change over time.Following here will be some ideas on diet, exercise, meditation and so on. Jim Rohn said that for any pursuit there are about a half dozen things that make all the difference. These ones I’m writing about here will make all the difference for you.EatingThe simplest advice I have on eating is from Joel Furhman. Dr. Furhman’s health equation is extraordinarily simple: Health + Nutrients/Calories. Eat in combinations and don’t overeat. Follow some rules.
- Stop eating processed foods, especially oils, flours, and sugars.
- Eat very few varieties of food at a meal; always eat at least one vegetable.
- Fruits should be eaten sparingly, no more than 2 to 3 per day.
- Bread or other decidedly starchy foods should be eliminated, or at least eaten sparingly. Never eat these alone.
- Look to beans, peas, lentils for protein instead of meats.
- Meat (or fish, game, poultry, and eggs) should be eaten sparingly. Emphasize wild and organic products only. The consumption of Industrialized meat and meat products is directly related to cancer.
- Meat should be accompanied with raw vegetables or fruits (to minimize fermentation.)
Mike Scruggs Eating Rule #1Never eat unless comfortable in mind and body from the previous meal or meal time.Mike Scruggs Eating Rule #2Never eat in-between meals. If you do, eat the plainest, simple food; and not even then if to do so would break the first rule.Mike Scruggs Eating Rule #3Avoid overeating. The best way to do this is by following the fourth rule.Mike Scruggs Eating Rule #4Thoroughly masticate and insalivate, especially starchy foods.Mike Scruggs Eating Rule #5Stay on a schedule, don’t miss a meal (unless you are fasting and it is planned).In addition to a OFS-free diet (Oils, Flours, and Sugar) strive for a CAS-free diet (Caffeine, Alcohol, and Sugar). Tough ones there, I know. But these are all stimulants. They tax the nervous system and it makes it harder for the body to eliminate toxins. Do you see a consistent theme? Eliminate sugars along with other processed foods, they disrupt many hormonal and nervous system functions in the body.Finally…fasting. It’s a good idea to fast once a week. Bernarr MacFadden, the father of physical culture, fasted on Mondays. I fast for 16 hours twice a week (9p to 1pm), giving up breakfast.Exercise…Motion is LifeExercise involves a mind-body connection; all training involves the nervous system. Learning the movements, training your body to relax and flow, and using techniques to get more strength.Always strive for perfect balance in all thingsThe easiest way to think about training the body is flowing movements and balance. Always focus on the whole body:
- Pull yourself up
- Press a weight overhead
- Squat
- Hip hinge (deadlift/swing)
- Push up movement
- Free-flowing Rotation
- Gait – walking, running
- Carrying stuff
- Balance is critical
Here’s an example:Flexibility & MobilityStaying flexible is pretty awesome. It just makes you feel good. While you watch other people struggle and stiffen up, you’re nimble and feel great.There are a lot of ways to stretch. Stretching where you just chill out, stretching where you flex and relax your muscles to force your nervous system to relax. There are varying techniques shuch as: dynamic stretching, static stretching, myofacial release and so on. Then there are things like joint mobility and animal flow.If you have aches and pains, learning stretching and mobility exercises can eliminate them. This is important restorative work to restore your body to youthful movement and balance.MeditationDoing this right slows everything down. You notice more. You stress less. This can be part of a super deep and rewarding practice. For some of us this is as hard as controlling our eating.Try Hong Sau! Sit on a chair. A straight backed chair, but you’ll sit on the end. Keep your back straight, gaze forward. Close your eyes and focus your eyes at your “third eye”. Inhale, silently saying Hong. Exhale, silently saying Sau.Don’t try to change your breath. Just watch it and silently say Hong and Sau as appropriate. Work up to 15 or 20 minutes of this, once per day. Keep your mind on the breath, but don’t try to control the breath. Just make sure you mentally say Hong or Sau, depending on which cycle of the breath you’re observing.This one technique is a gateway into deeper forms of meditation.The Morning RoutineLots of people have written about the morning routine, it’s a popular subject. If you have one analyze it, tweak it. Eliminate the bad habits. If you don’t have one, make one and stick to it.These are some things I do and recommend:
- Make the bed
- Stretching and physical movement for 5-10 minutes
- Meditation for 5-10 minutes
- Drink a coffee or tea
- Exercise the brain for 5-10 minutes (Soduko)
- Make a list for the day (mental if not written)
- Nourish your body
After that start the household duties, mainly getting myself and the kids ready and out the door and/or starting a productive day. Every day should be productive, but let’s face it…every day is different. Some days are going to be more productive than others, just make sure that every day is productive.AddictionsWhat is addiction???Anything that don’t seem to be “Bright Line” controllable. By “Bright Line” controllable I mean, anything that you can’t draw a line in the sand and not cross it for.Addiction leads to non-productivity. I consider addictions to cover a broad category of things. Some people have a smart phone addiction or a Facebook addiction, you know the ones. And some people have hard core drug addictions, including alcohol. Almost everyone has a food related addiction in one form or another. The big thing here is priorities. You’re not going to go far with an alcohol addiction. It really destroys the body. That’s the type of addiction that must be overcome. Smart phone and computer addictions severe affect productivity.It’s good also to reduce other addictions, those that don’t seem to be too bad, for example too much coffee or sweets.Currently, two is about my limit for coffee. While I can’t seem to kick my addiction to sweets…YET…thankfully one per day is my current limit.Watch your attachments to things. If you got overly excited about something or you rely on it too much, then you must break the cycle. To break from a cycle of addition you must abstain or fast, as a part of a planned program of altering a specific habit.Addictions are blockers. They block progress along the path. It’s good to find them and break them up and overcome them. Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, porn, video games, Internet, smart phone are obvious areas to look at.Motion is Life and Food is MedicineI mean, sure, there’s more. But that’s enough and it gives you some ideas.“Most people know what they ought to do, they just don’t do it. That is where I can help.”…Mike Scruggs “Your Health Conscience”
