HEALTHY LIVING: HEALTHY CHOICES

Silvers Sneakers January birthday’s luncheon celebration was fun. The top topic was about food and healthy living It was amazing how our group felt about healthy living. The oldest celebrant was 86. She’s awesome. She’s always present when she can. She enjoys exercising regularly. She is so much fun. She cracked me up. Somebody’s phone was messed up. She said, ‘At least I know how to operate my weird phone.” H a ha ha ha ha.

Our group has vitality. Last month, a friend passed away. He was on his 90s. He came regularly and joined us, with our luncheon celebration every month . We celebrated his birthday before he passed. His wife was always there besides him. He lived a good life. I enjoy watching people enjoying life. Being around them make me look forward to my 80s and beyond.

We were discussing healthy living and healthy diet. I decided to continue this topic to share with you. Simple adjustment can go a long way. I am not a doctor nor a health care provider, but I am a teacher. I took Home Economics. I am a fan of healthy choices, lifestyle, and diet. They go hand in hand.

#1. Healthy Choices: Choosing wholesome activities improves our well-being and very good for our health.

a. People who choose to go to church have more positive friends, look forward to church days and activities, such as retreat, bible study, and so much more. It provides mental, emotional, physical, social and spiritual benefit. People who believe in God have healthier lives. I talk to HIM anywhere, everywhere any time. I ask for his forgiveness all the time. He is the only one who is quick to forgive me. Going to church reduces stress and will have less worries. Praying together and for each other benefits our mental, spiritual, and social life. It give us companionship, encouragement, hope, and opportunities to serve. If you choose to go to church it will be a good choice. It is a personal choice. We have to respect other people’s choices. I believe everything that happens to me comes from God. If what I am doing is not working out, I know he is stopping me from ruining my life. I believe that.

b. Visit your neighborhood gym- I enjoy going to the gym. YMCA offer classes suitable for my age group. There are a lot of classes to choose from. Going to the gym also saves me money, I have a place to go, exercise and meet people with the same interest It is very rewarding for me. Give it a try. Exercise in moderation. Our body needs to recover. Chose what is best for your health.

c. Visit your local library. Our library offers classes for young and old. Learn. Learning stimulates our brain. It is good for our mental health.

d. Visit your neighbor- The way our housing is made these days discourages friendship. We drive our cars to our garage and we don’t have time to say hi to our neighbors. I am fortunate I know most of my neighbors. I get to play with their children. The children bring me a book and they want me to read for them. Good neighborhood. I love them.

e. Walk in the park with your friend, family, or by yourself. I love walking by myself, I can create some good thoughts which inspires me.

f. Gratitude and thankfulness. Feeling grateful and thankful will make you feel joyful and relax. When you are thankful of what you have, and who you are, you appreciate your life. Try saying I want less, a few times during the day. Instead of I want more. More will never end. Be happy of what you have. It may improve your sleep, decrease anxiety and depression because you are content. The grass is not greener on the other side. Yours is just as green, just keep watering your grass. Start a gratitude journal. Gratitude journal will make you feel in a positive mood, more grateful and optimism about your future. Be thankful for the people in our lives. Consider how our life will be without them. Try not to take anything or anybody for granted. I am guilty of this one. I catch myself doing this all the time. That’s why I allocate time to be alone, to reflect on myself throughout the day.

g. Choosing nutritious, plant base, natural food and real food- I believe a good nutrition plan is essential for healthy living. Learning the food that is good for us and bad for us may improve our health. With my experience, watching family and friends with healthy lifestyle and choices, are happier, content hopeful and look at the bright side. They try their best to eat healthy as much as possible. It is hard especially for my family to eat healthy, because we were raised in the Philippines where everything is starchy, sweet, deep fried, smoked, and salted. I am only sharing what has worked for me and some evidence from my research. Eating plant based food, real and natural food are the best way to go. Our body need nutrients to do our chores and the things we enjoy. We need Protein for energy, and repair body tissue. antioxidants to fight varuses, Vitamins, Minerals and all the nutrients we can get from natural food or supplements.

Food to eat- nuts, fruits rich in antioxidant, vegetables, herbs, fish skinless chicken, (lean beef and pork, lamb, sparingly.) natural plant base foods. Choose olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil.

#2. Unhealthy Choices

a. Choosing unhealthy Lifestyle-the choosing to gamble, drink, and smoke can take toll on our health. We don’t need a doctor to tell us that. By now, that is very obvious to a lot of us. It is not just a bad choice it is also expensive. They will deteriorate our health sooner or later. Then, we will spend more time and money to treat our illness. These lifestyles are paired with unhealthy food, which leads to frustration, anger, disappointment, illnesses, and inflammation, to name a few. It is because those are unhealthy food. Processed food has additives, preservatives, and chemicals that our bodies don’t need. Once in a while our body can probably survive. But if we eat unhealthy food day after day, after day, that will be too much to handle. We become ill so fast we will be miserable.

#3. There are evidence from my research the effect of chemicals added to our food will kill us slowly. It will take up to 20 years before it will kill us . By then, it is too late to change. Avoid additives preservatives, processed food, trans-fat, sugar, artificial sweetener, corn syrup (white; rice, bread, sugar ) fried food, and pasta and too much salt.

Everything in moderation. Eating too much junk food will not satisfy you, you will just want to eat more. My experience, is that when I eat healthy I don’t get hungry as fast as when I eat junk food. Have a little of everything, just don’t overindulge!

1Corinthians 10:31  
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Dr. Sten Ekberg, ” The Top Food You absolutely should not eat to live longer.” YOUTUBE Lewis Howes. November 2022.

Terms And Definition

Antioxidants compounds found in plants. that protect us from damaging free radicals and oxidative stress.

Trans-fat- are made when liquid oil turned into solid fats like butter and margarine. These are called hydrogenated oil, mostly found on processed food.

Processed food– High in artificial ingredients refined carbohydrates, and trans-fat. Because of this they are a major contributor to obesity and illnesses around the world.

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