The CRON Diet: The Fountain of Youth
Alright, last week I promised to share with you the diet that I truly believe (and there are lab results to support this as well) will greatly extend your life as well as help you live better. Is this all going to come from a change in what you eat? Yes, believe it or not, it certainly is.
The diet I’m talking about is known as the CRON diet (Calorie restricted, optimum nutrition). The ideas is that you will keep your caloric intake down enough to keep lean while still giving your body all the supportive, energizing nutrition it needs to stay healthy.
Studies involving this particular diet showed significant increases in longevity and health in laboratory mice. Not only that, I can attest to the fact that ever since I’ve changed my eating habits to follow the CRON guidelines, I’ve had more energy, more ease of movement, and I just look better. All this adds up to a much younger attitude and feeling. And who wouldn’t want that?
This diet is not as difficult as the name might make it out to be. You don’t go hungry and you aren’t forever cut off from your favorite foods. You just make better regular choices and watch your portions. Here are the basic guidelines:
•   Focus on eating low calorie, high nutrient foods such as vegetables and fruits.
•   Just a couple small servings of protein in the form of fish, lean meat, nuts, beans, soy, and egg whites are enough.
•   Greatly reduce the consumption of processed foods and sugary drinks. These foods have had the nutrients processed out of them and usually have a lot of sugars and fats added back—the characteristic “empty calorie†which does nothing but add to your waistline.
•   Cut back on high calorie, minimally nutritious fats except omega 3 fatty acids found in fish and flaxseed.
•   Cut back on starches, eating whole grains and smaller portions.
•   Eat 4-6 small, balanced meals throughout the day rather then a couple large ones.
•   Learn to eat well before you try to lose weight. Once you are eating more nutritious, lower calorie foods, you can start cutting back on total calories to reach your optimum weight. Lose slowly, at a rate of 1%-2% of your present weight a month. This gives your body time to adjust which is easier on you and makes it more likely that the weight will stay off.
Now, that’s not a very scary diet, is it? No special foods or meal preparations are needed. Just your determination to be good to yourself. Go ahead and discuss this diet with your doctor. Find out what a good, lean target weight is for you and then go out and get one of the books on this diet and educate yourself.
Look over the CR (Calorie Restriction) Society website (http://www.crsociety.org) to get a list of the best books on this subject. Then take the 42 day challenge as described in my book, How to Ignite Your Passion for Living. In just six weeks you can be feeling younger than you have in years.
The ‘Fast’ Way to Great Health
Have you started thinking about your New Year’s resolutions yet? I hope your health is on the top of the list. If the chilling information about junk food and its addictive qualities from last week’s blog didn’t get you motivated, how about the wonderful news that you can boost your energy, enhance your mental acuity, decrease pain, lose weight, eliminate fatigue, and feel young again in just a few days? You can do this. I have. With fasting.
I fast for just 48 to 72 hours every 3 or 4 months to get these huge benefits and know that it is key in making me feel younger and keeping myself healthy.
Fasting is simply a period in which you abstain from food but drink fluids in sufficient quantity to take care of your thirst and physiologic requirements. With no food coming in, the body no longer has to focus on digestion and getting rid of the toxins that come in with the food.
Instead, the body will turn to breaking down malignant substances, repairing damaged tissue, and cleansing itself of the toxins that have built up in your tissues over time. As damage is repaired and the toxic load is reduced, your cells are able to function at more efficient and beneficial levels. This optimal functioning at the cellular level is the source of the many benefits of fasting.
Keep in mind, there is a right way and a wrong way to fast and it’s not for everyone. Before you try fasting, get your doctor’s okay and then get his or her recommendation for a fasting regimen or a reputable book on the subject that can guide you.
Next week, I’ll let you in on the one diet that can actually help you live longer as well as better. And don’t forget, I talk about many of these things in my book, How to Ignite Your Passion for Living. If you don’t have your own copy, get it now to help you focus your New Year’s resolution. If you do have it, give a copy or two to friends and family and help them grow their passion for living.
Kicking the Junk Food Habit
Last week I talked about keeping focused on your health during the holidays. But why make this just a holiday focus? We are faced with poor food choices all day long. We’re grabbing trans-fat laden pastries for breakfast, dashing through drive-up windows for lunch, and are lulled into the eating out of boxes for dinner by their ease and convenience.
The thing is these empty, processed foods have a cumulative and addictive effect that gets harder to kick the longer we allow them to persist in our diet. Fats and sugars are primary culprits. There have been studies that show that sugar triggers the production of the brain’s natural opioids which we respond to in the same way as other addictive narcotics—with a craving that just increases each time we have some. Significant fat intake, on the other hand, has the affect of increasing our resistance to leptin, the chemical that signals us to stop eating. Now put the two together … it’s no wonder we crave everything super sized!
The end result is we gain weight, the empty calories actually drain us of vital nutrients, we lose energy and the unhealthy feeling we end up with saps our motivation to push forward with our goals and dreams. It’s no way to live.
So if you haven’t already, kick the addiction and start paying attention to what you are putting into your body. Just take a moment to assess your healthiest option when you are out to eat and plan to keep fresh, lean, and whole foods available at home and at work so you don’t feel forced to succumb to that easily accessible junk food. You will feel so much better and get so much more done.
Next week I’ll talk about some specific healthy habits that have not only helped to kept me healthy but have increase my zest for life. And while planning your gift giving this season, keep my book, “How To Ignite Your Passion for Living†in mind. There is nothing better than giving a gift that will help improve the lives of your friends and family.
Keeping on Track During the Holiday Season
Next week is Thanksgiving. Soon after that there’s Christmas and then New Years. It’s that dreaded holiday time when we are faced with many a temptation and sticking to goals, especially healthy diets, is very difficult. It doesn’t take much to regain that hard won weight loss or bring your health down and it can be infinitely harder to get back to a where you want to be.
So for the next few weeks I thought I’d focus on healthy eating in this time of endless traps. Staying healthy is important to keeping up your energy and motivation in order to accomplish all the great things you have planned. So don’t let a little too much pumpkin pie spoil it for you.
Keep in mind, staying healthy during the holidays doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself. In fact, you should go out there and celebrate with gusto. Just be discerning about what and how much you eat or drink. To do so, just follow a few simple rules:
–Go ahead and enjoy a rum ball or two but not too much. And don’t fall into the “I’ve already been bad, I might as well not worry about it now†mentality and overindulge or tell yourself you’ll do better after the holidays. Let yourself have the occasional treat then get back to your healthy diet.
–At the parties stay active to keep your metabolism up and keep you too busy to visit the buffet table. Dance, participate in all the games, wander the room, and mingle.
–Keep your eye on the big picture. Review your goals and what you want out of your life daily so it’s at the forefront of you mind when the cookies get passed around the office.
Use any other tricks you know to keep you on track for your specific health and diet goals. You can also read more about the importance of health and great things you can do to improve it in Chapter Ten of my book, How To Ignite Your Passion for Living.
Build Your Passion for Life Through Constant Challenges
These past few weeks have been extremely busy for me. Besides working on and traveling for interviews, TV spots, and other promotions for my book, we have been building a new home. We are at the point where we are moving in but are still in the middle of completing most of the rooms which makes life in general rather chaotic, to say the least.
There is nothing I’ve done in real estate that has been quite like the experience I’m having in building my own place. It’s both thrilling and stressful, the process is intriguing, and nearly every day presents a new, often minor, but still necessary challenge to deal with. I could be getting frustrated. I could step back and just let the contractors make all the decisions.
I could give into the easy and quick methods and just get this done. But this place will be a sanctuary for me and my wife and a place to gather and build memories with family and friends. So, even though giving this my hands on attention has been time consuming and trying, it is another great challenge and an energizing experience that I know continues to feed my passion for life.
As I talk about in my book How to IGNITE Your Passion for Living, keeping your passion for life strong means constantly challenging yourself. This should be applied to all areas of your life. Whether you’re changing your financial situation, simply trying to improve your cooking skills, or building a home, put the greatest effort into your goal to get the most you can out of it and to grow your passion for everything you do.
- The High Value of a Hard Won Success
- Using goal setting to become a better person
- The power of simple hard work
The Many Rewards of Intense Physical Challenges
You may have noticed that I talk a lot about my physical activities and how they relate to goal setting and accomplishments. But what I should also tell you is that I play competitive tennis, bike tough hills, and hike mountains because these tough physical challenges also give me a fantastic natural “high†that contributes to my ability to succeed. And that high is not all from the psychological boost the physical accomplishments give me.
According to numerous studies, that super good feeling you get from intense physical exertion is a result of endorphins and dopamine being released into your system and the burning of a stress hormone called cortisol. Endorphins are hormones that block brain receptors from receiving pain-signaling molecules, acting much like an opiate drug but without the negative side effects. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that triggers feelings of pleasure. Cortisol, on the other hand, is a hormone that is produced when we are under physical or psychological stress and, when present in excess, inflames and damages our organs. Intense exercise though, burns cortisol reducing this inflammation and making us feel better overall.
The euphoria and increased feeling of well-being that results from these physiological changes along with the mental stimulation novel and challenging experiences combine to give you an unbeatable feeling and that will increase your passion for life.
So get out there and, with your doctor’s blessing, find new and exhilarating ways to push yourself physically. It will not only increase your health, it will heighten your overall motivation and help elevate your level of accomplishment in anything you aim to do.
The High Value of a Hard Won Success
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going back to compete in the Men’s Singles Tennis Tournament at the Huntsman World Senior Games. Two years ago I won the gold, last year I won the bronze. I am very happy to let you know that this year I won the gold, again. I was as happy about winning the gold this time as I was the first time primarily because I have worked so hard to regain my first place position.
If I won the gold year after year in this competition, the excitement would diminish quickly. But because the tournaments are still challenging for me, I knew I would have to work hard to regain a first place position. If it was too easy, the win would have been far less valuable and not nearly so satisfying.
That’s why I tell you to push yourself and choose goals that will challenge you and test your abilities and determination. Besides the fact that lofty goals will encourage you to go farther than you would if you set moderate goals, the intense feeling of achieving something you had not accomplished before is amazing and as well as being an extremely strong motivator to keep going. A win with no effort will feel empty. Just look at all the lottery winners who have ended up being miserable. Personal success that is accomplished after long, hard hours of work and persistence will always have an intrinsically higher value than anything that just drops in your lap.
You can read more about setting goals for higher personal satisfaction in Chapter 9 of my book. And remember, you can now buy the books for below wholesale when you buy 10 or more at a time. Just write Michael Hansen at michaelhansen_99@hotmail.com with your order to get this huge discount.
Share your great discoveries + book discounts
Human beings naturally like to share, but at the same time, we tend to share frugally. We like to share our good news, our bad encounters, our opinions, our troubles, our workload, our days off and the latest gossip.
On the other hand, we tend to hoard valuable finds if we think it will cost us money or time. This kind of thinking is rather backwards. As they say, talk is cheap. If you are going to take the time to tell someone about something so that they really understand and believe in your convictions, it will usually take a lot less time and energy to just show them.
For instance, telling people at work that you found the best bakery in town just around the corner will never have as much impact as bringing in and sharing a box of the baked goods.
This kind of thinking is what is behind the writing of How to IGNITE Your Passion for Living. I wanted to share my formula for success. But rather than just talk to people about it, I put it down in a book that people could use to follow my steps to success and see for themselves how well it works.
I am always looking for more ways to share these ideas. I have noticed that many of my readers write to tell me that the book helped them so much, they have bought copies for others as well. I’d like to encourage all my readers to share the valuable insights in the book by doing the same. But to make it easier, I’m going to start offering significant discounts for ordering multiple copies.
You can still get a single copy of the book for just the cost of shipping and handling through this site but the offer for a FREE copy of the book ends in just a few days. The retail price of a single soft bound book is $14.95 plus shipping and handling.
But from now on, I’ll offer you a bulk discount so you can pass the book on to people you’d like to share these techniques with: $5 a piece for orders of 10-19 copies or $4 for 20 or more. And I’ll even cover the shipping and handling for you.
Just send my personal publisher, Michael Hansen, an email at michaelhansen_99@hotmail.com with your book order requests. He’ll get in touch directly, and personally handle all the details.
As Norman MacEwan said,
“Happiness is not so much in having, as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.â€
Steer your thoughts down a bright road
The mind is an incredible force. With it we can change how we act or feel or even what we are able to accomplish. Some people believe that they can’t do anything about how they feel or what they think about. But that’s just not true. You are in control of your thoughts and feelings through your mind. It’s all a matter of what you will your mind to do.
My daughter, Kristin, died tragically at the young age of 16. I don’t need to tell you that it was a very difficult time for me and my family. For quite a while afterwards, my thoughts would constantly turn to her and the pain I felt at her loss. I couldn’t find joy in my life anymore and it took all my energy to focus on the things I had to do day in and day out. I knew though, that she would not have wanted me to go on that way.
So one day, when that unbearable loss swelled up again, I just willed myself to think of the things in my life that I truly enjoyed, choosing tennis, seeing myself playing and winning match after match. I imagined how happy Kristin would be to know that I was out enjoying life. I focused on these thoughts until I felt the sadness lift. From then on, I kept myself from heading down that despairing path by imagining myself doing the things I loved.
You can do the same thing to get through painful times, increase your confidence, increase your happiness, and accomplish what you want to accomplish. Simply turn your focus away from the dark, judgmental, and pessimistic thoughts that keep cropping up. Choose to think of the things you truly love to do, the things you’ve already accomplished, and the wonderful things you have, and will have, in your life. Choose to take your thoughts down the bright and positive path.
You can read more about the power of the mind and what I call “Mind roads†on page 112 of my book, How to Ignite Your Passion for Living. You can get your copy or get a copy for someone who you think would benefit from the book’s sure-fire formula for getting what you really want.
Using goal setting to become a better person
Do you ever wish you could just better yourself as a person? Do you feel overly pessimistic, especially judgmental, or too self-involved? If you aren’t happy with who you are, you can improve this just as you can improve your financial situation, health, or skills. Although it is less common to hear that someone’s goal is to be a nicer, better person it isn’t any less important or admirable. In fact, it might be one of the most important goals you can have.
The approach to bettering who you are is not much different than any other goal. The most important thing to remember is to take it one small step at a time. You became who you are over a long period of time and were affected and changed by many small influences and experiences.
Changing your attitude towards others and how you live your life will likewise take many small gestures and encouraging encounter. Start by taking note of the things you do that make up the behavior you want to change. Then take on just one of those things and focus on eliminating and transforming it into something positive for others and yourself.
If you’ve read my book you know about the power of the ‘Bite Size’ approach to reaching your goal. If you haven’t read it, you can get your copy here, then go to Chapter 6 on page 57 for the story of how this method kept a man alive and helped him rescue himself when everything was against his survival.
If something so simple can be so powerful as to save a man’s life, it can certainly help you to improve the person you are and better your life and the lives of those around you.
