Posted in Ageism, Health, Personal

Becoming Internally Oriented

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been busy with work and writing and I’ve also taken a few days off to spend with the family. It’s important to do this. We’re trying to create some lasting memories with our kids. They’re growing up so fast and time feels like it’s slipping away.

Even though they believe they know everything and don’t want to listen to our advice or wisdom, they’re still sweet kids. So, the terrible teens aren’t so terrible. However, this shift in perspective from relying on our advice to trying to make decisions on their own, I see a loss. There’s so much wisdom the older generation has that the younger generation needs.

In ancient times, our elders were respected, and their advice was sought out. When did this change? And why? Now, society tries to make our mature adults feel as if they have nothing of value to offer. They try to push them aside and shove them out of the limelight.

Did this change when manufacturers started creating products to make us look younger? When did we buy into the idea that looking young was the only worthwhile state of being? We’ve become too externally oriented as a society. We need to focus on how we feel. Do we feel healthy?

Look at all the products on the market that really aren’t good for us. All that processed food is killing us by making us overweight. Do you know many diseases are manifested because of being overweight? Diabetes, Cancer, and Heart Disease just to name a few. Our young people need to be aware of this.

They sit in front of their computers playing video games for hours at a time. What is this doing to their bones? They need physical activity to make them healthy and strong. I try to get my boys outside and most days I’m successful, but is it enough?

That’s why listening to our elders is more important than ever now. With the way the media “spins” things, and the way manufacturers disregard the effects their products have on the people and the earth, we’re all vulnerable. No one knows what to believe anymore.

How can we turn this around? First, we need to become internally oriented. Focus on our feelings and our health. We need to turn off the TV and Social Media, where they work on keeping you engaged by posting pictures in your feed based on previous likes.

We can turn this around by focusing on our health and making sure we get enough nutrients as well as sunshine and exercise. It really is that simple.

How about you? Do you have any ideas how we can turn this around? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

Posted in Health, Personal

Time to Get Moving

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work and writing. I’m working on my second WIP while I query my first one. I have to change my query to reflect the changes I made in my WIP, so I’ll be doing that today, but enough about that. Today, I’d like to talk about exercise.

It is so important for your health to make time to exercise. I know everyone knows this, but I don’t think it’s sinking in with people. Did you know that being overweight or obese leads to many diseases like diabetes and cancer? When my doctor told me, I was close to being pre-diabetic, I knew I had to do something, so I made it a priority to start running again. I had to lose some weight. I did and got my numbers back down, but I have to keep this up to keep the weight off.

A study done in 2018 shows that 10.4% of the population has been diagnosed with Diabetes. That is disturbing. I believe part of the problem is because of the food industry. I’m starting to believe anything man made isn’t good for us. Food manufacturers add sugar to their processed foods, so they taste better which leads us to be addicted to sugar, but enough about that. To learn more about that click this link. https://lisaorchard.wordpress.com/2017/07/15/is-processed-food-poisoning-us/

Sorry for my digression. Now, back to exercise. I run but walking will also help along with any type of exercise. Did you know that a walk after dinner helps keep your blood sugar down? We just need to get moving again folks. Exercise is also a great stress reliever. So, it’s good for your mental health, too.

Diet is also important. I saw a meme once that said, “you can’t exercise off a bad diet.” This is so true. However, I didn’t really believe this until just recently. When I was younger, I figured I could eat what I wanted because I was exercising. This may have been true back then, but now I pay attention to the carbs I’m eating, and I try to stay away from sweets. I do indulge occasionally because deprivation can lead to binge eating and that’s worse than an indulgence in my opinion.

Writers need to be very careful because they’re work is so sedentary, but that can be said for anyone who sits in front of a computer for work every day. Get up and get moving, you’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. What do you do to stay active?

Posted in Health

Is Processed Food Poisoning Us?

 

Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back today and I’m talking about the food we eat. I just watched a documentary titled, “What the Health.” It was eye-opening to say the least. To check out the documentary click the link below.

What the Health 

In this show, the producers claim it is the meat we eat that’s causing heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. They feel the public has been misinformed by all the health organizations who encourage us to eat meat. Their spin on the whole thing is these organizations accept donations from the meat industry and therefore, act as advertisers for it.

Photo via Visualhunt.com

I watched the documentary in its entirety and it did make me question whether or not their claims could be true. There were people interviewed on the show that were taking all kinds of medications for diabetes and heart disease and after two weeks of eating a plant based diet they were either off all medications or on their way there. They interviewed doctors who all claim that meat is the cause of many of our society’s sicknesses.  The popular theory is that all the pesticides and preservatives in our meat are causing these life changing illnesses.

The way our food is processed has come under attack before. In the documentary, “Fed Up,” it illustrated how sugar is added to our processed foods, like canned tomatoes and other vegetables (See the link to the trailer below).  It’s added to our soda and cereals as well.Now sugar is just empty calories, so if we’re adding empty calories to our diet, what happens? We store those calories as fat and now that we’re a more sedentary society, we don’t burn off those extra calories. Where does that lead us? Obesity. What happens when we’re overweight? We’re at a high risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Trailer for “Fed Up”

 

Photo via Visualhunt

 

We are literally poisoning ourselves with the food we eat. How sad is that? So what’s the answer? Well according to the producers of “What the Health,” we need to eat a plant-based diet. But where will we get our protein you ask? From nuts and beans.

 

I’m going to try and eat a more plant-based diet and see how I feel. How about you? Do you feel the way our food is processed is making us sick? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

 

**** On a side note, there were some conflicting claims between the two documentaries so keep that in mind if you watch them. 🙂