A Daily Commitment to Better Health

In early March I was on my way back to Kauai to spend the rest of the winter when we had a long layover in Los Angeles. Unfortunately I had left Dr. Lustig’s book “Fat Chance” at my Salt Lake City office, so I wandered down to the airport bookstore for a copy and stumbled across Daniel Amen’s book “Use Your Brain to Change Your Age”. There is a lot of good stuff in his book including many before and after brain scans of people that turned around bad habits and behaviors both in eating and exercising. The huge difference in those brain scans really got my attention but what stuck with me the most was the story Amen tells about 52 year old Andrew McGill and what he did to end up with a “younger brain, a sharper mind, and a happier life.”

Andrew McGill is a doctor who had totally let himself go and was in poor health (which just goes to show that even being a medical professional does not insure great health.) His brain scan reflected his poor physical state, looking like the scan of a much older man. Daniel Amen says “it could be attributed to a number of causes: alcohol; drugs; environmental toxins, such as mold or organic solvents; infections; a lack of oxygen; or a significant medical problem like severe anemia or low thyroid.” On top of these other possible contributors to his poor health, Dr. McGill weighed 289.5 pounds, which I’m sure was also a major contributing factor.

To cut to the chase and the real heart of the story, McGill had one day “found himself lecturing a diabetic patient about the importance of nutrition, losing weight, and exercise. On the way home he thought to himself, ‘Andy, what a hypocrite you are! When are you going to stop playing around with your own health?’” It wasn’t until later, in November 2006, that McGill finally made a deep, committed vow to never to miss a day of exercising. That was five years ago. Surprisingly, he has kept that promise, not missing a single day. Ever.

Wow! Just … wow! That kind of commitment really made an impression on me. And he was paid well for his commitment. He lost 100 pounds and a new scan showed the brain of a much younger and healthier man. Now, as I mentioned last week, exercise is not the only thing you need to lose weight and be healthy. Dr. McGill also stopped drinking alcohol, which contributes a huge amount of sugar to our diets, among other healthy changes to achieve these results.

The thing is his story was enough for me to make that same commitment to exercise every single day. Truthfully, it’s not that big a deal. There are so many things you can do to get in your exercise each day, things that don’t even require equipment or a trip to the gym—a lunch time walk, a morning run, 10 minutes jogging up and down the stairwell at work, calisthenics on your living room floor while watching your favorite show, etc. The important thing is to do it and if you make a habit of exercising in some manner every single day you will become healthier, especially when combined with healthier eating.

Since reading that story I have only missed one day of exercise and only because my wife had surgery. I have decided that I am going to keep it up for at least one full year … that’s when I hit age 70! And I know I can and will do it. So why don’t you? Is there any reason not to? No. But there are so many, many reasons to take on this simple challenge, aren’t there?

Not By Exercise Alone

By now I hope you have watched Dr. Robert Lustig’s video that I’ve talked about in my last 2 blogs. If you heed his advice it really is life enhancing. I have and it’s made such a huge difference. But now, as I promised last week, I want to talk about exercise and what it can and cannot do for you.

To summarize what Dr.Lustig says on the subject of weight loss and exercise, exercise is not the key to weight loss, but it is one of two keys to great health. The first key is changing your diet by drastically reducing your intake of sugar in combination with a huge increase in your intake of fiber. Do that and your half way to excellent health.

The second key is, yes, exercise and by that he means consistent exercise. As Dr. Lustig points out, exercise will build muscle and in the very long run will help you lose a little of the weight because muscles burn calories faster than fat but this would only be a little additional weight loss. In other words, exercise should be part of a weight loss plan but is not the key to it. Without the change in diet, weight loss will be slow and the increase in overall health will be minimal.

Not a believer quite yet? Well, I’d recommend going out and getting Dr, Lustig’s book “Fat Chance” so you can read about all the factors that go into healthy weight loss and healthy eating. It’s not that exercise cannot have a tremendous impact on your health but exercise alone won’t do it. Next week I’ll tell you about another book and the story it includes of an amazing man, his commitment to better health and how you can follow in his footsteps. In the meantime, start evaluating your sugar intake. You may find it startling just how much you take in and, hopefully, it’ll stir you to do something about it.

Villainous Sugar

If you watch the link I posted last week of Dr. Lustig’s lecture you learned about the major damage sugar does to your body.  His words and proof of what he was saying certainly made a huge impression on me and has changed my eating habits significantly.  I’ve watched his video presentation twice and after that quickly got a copy of his book “Fat Chance” and devoured it. I’m so glad that I did.  Not only did I realize all the damage sugar was doing to my body but I began to see that what I believed to be true about how we process calories was, in fact, not true!

Most of us have been lead to believe that a calorie is a calorie regardless of the food we get it from.  So if we thin k that if we eat a 1,000 calories of food that is loaded with sugar versus a 1,000 calories of food that is relatively  sugar free the results to our bodies is exactly the same. But if you believe that (like I did) you’d be wrong.

The reason that one type of calorie can cause your body to gain weight and another one will not, is all in the way the body metabolizes the food.  So let’s say that in the next 6 months you ate 2000 sugar loaded calories a day. You might gain 5 lbs. But if you ate 2000 calories of non-sugar foods you might lose 5 pounds or stay the same weight.  But that’s just the beginning.

As Dr. Robert Lustig says in the beginning of his book, “Every good story needs a villain.  While I am loath to reveal it this early in the book, I won’t keep you in suspense.  It’s sugar…..a substance that now permeates nearly all food and drink worldwide.  It’s killing us … slowly, and I’ll prove it.  Every statement throughout this book is based on scientific study, historical fact, or recent statistics.”

Plain and simple, Lustig makes a totally convincing case that sugar is TOXIC.

If you read his book you will see all the ways sugar is doing damage to your body.  Lustig’s book certainly motivated me to cut out almost all the sugar and processed foods from my diet. By the way–did you know that there are dozens of different names that the food industry uses to hide sugar content, especially in processed foods? If you aren’t sure you can identify them, go to the USDA’s page here for a list.

And if you are thinking, like so many people, “I will just exercise more to counteract the sugar.” Sorry, that’s not going to work either.  Don’t get me wrong … exercise is not bad. In fact it’s very, very good for the body but that is not how you will counteract sugar or to lose weight. Why not, you ask? Well, I’ll talk about that next week. In the meantime, read your labels. See just how much sugar you are really taking in and try to cut it out of your diet. I bet you’ll be surprised just how many things you’ll have to eliminate but that just tells you how bad the situation is.

Wise Words from Dr. Lustig

On Feb 21st of this year my son David, sent me an email with a link (see below) to a YouTube lecture by a Dr. Robert Lustig. Without a doubt this video has dramatically changed my physical and mental being! It honestly has lifted my life 2 or 3 levels … and my life was pretty damn good already. Watch it as soon as you can and see if you agree that his words have such tremendous value.

By now if you’ve read even a few of my blogs you know I am big on setting goals and strongly believe that goal setting and your journey toward those goals is a huge key to a happy, fulfilling and super productive life.  Dr. Lustig’s video lecture gives you a pretty straight-forward goal that, initially, you might think is just a health goal but it’s more than that. I’m tempted to summarize what he says but then you won’t really get the impact of the presentation or you might think “I’ve heard all that before.” Trust me, you haven’t heard all this. I’ll just say it’s well worth every minute of your time to watch and learn and follow.

By following, I mean for you to set some health goals based on what he is saying.  I certainly have done that and WOW what a superb and uplifting change it has made in both my physical and mental life—if you don’t believe me just ask my wife! So get yourself a nice cup of tea and sit down to listen. Then change your life. Now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

 

Sharing and The Great Reward

Not too long ago I was in Costco buying an elliptical machine. (These machines are a great way to stay in shape without hard impact on your knees, hips and back.) This 26 year old guy helped us load the machine into the back of our car. I couldn’t help but notice he had a certain sparkle in his eyes and was full of energy. He was so very helpful and friendly I just had to give him a little extra reward so I gave him my financial book The Next Step to Waking up the Financial Genius Inside You.

A couple days later he’d tracked me down via the internet thanking me profusely in an email. He wanted to tell me what a huge impact the book had already made even though he’d only read a few chapters. The very day I gave him the book he went to his bank and took care of some financial things he’d been putting off and he said because of the book he had reignited his life goals and was super inspired to really accomplish what he’d set out to do before but had let things slip.

Well, I couldn’t let his enthusiastic response end there, so I wrote back and invited him up to the house to talk. That day, before he got to the house, I couldn’t help but think of how a couple books I’d read had also hit me like a ton of bricks and changed my life forever. Now my book was making a difference in this young man’s life! Not that this was the only email and success story I’ve heard from those who’ve read my books but I don’t often get to meet them.

We had a great chat. This young man talked about how he has set news goals and renewed old goals and was already acting on them. Not just financial goals either but some very wonderful life and living goals. I could tell that he really got the message that money should be a means to a greater end not the end itself. As I have said many times “with the right formula, combined with drive and determination most anyone can make millions of dollars, especially if you are motivated by a higher and greater cause.”

As he left I just had to give him a copy of How to Ignite Your Passion for Living. The “passion book” gives you specifics about the best way to set goals with a specific formula that helps you stick to those goals until they are fulfilled.

My great reward–and it truly is a great reward–is seeing people light up and take the necessary action to go out and do what they need to reach their dreams! Whether it’s the huge success story of guys like Dell Loy Hansen–who read my book in college and made a half a billion dollar fortune (his story is in the beginning of the Financial Genius book) or if it’s the beginning success of a young struggling couple that were able to buy their first home along with two small rental duplexes, all these stories warm my heart and help me feel fulfilled, motivating me to keep on “paying if forward”.

Be the Leader of Your Brain

 Last week I talked a bit about how you think about death, how it can affect your health and how you live now. Your brain is a very powerful organ, operating beyond your conscious thoughts. You can use its vast abilities to feel better as well as live better.

In the book “Super Brain” Deepak Chopra and his co-author Rudolph Tanzi write that you need to train your brain to do what you want it to do. “The minute you say “My memory isn’t what it used to be.” or “I can’t remember a thing today.” You are programing your brain to “live up to your diminished expectations.”

The authors go on to say “The 1st rule of Super Brain is that your brain is always eavesdropping on your thoughts.” So the lesson here is we all need to be very aware of our thoughts. We need to monitor them and then move them to the where we want them to go so our brains operate on healthy and positive ideas.

Lately I have been saying to myself “I’m starting to feel younger and healthier by the day—frickin’ A!” and I am actually beginning to believe it! My brain is overhearing these thoughts and operating based on them.

Our wise authors also say “You are not your brain.” When you are acting as the leader of your brain you can actively reprogram your own neurochemistry and even genetic activity, no longer indentured to mood disorders. So the huge key here is:

Be aware of your thoughts and direct them the way you want!

Death is Part of Life

 I got a very shocking and sobering email from the wife of a very dear friend a few days ago, a good friend, who is a doctor and in excellent health. His urine had turned very dark and his skin was jaundiced. At the hospital he found out he had a tumor in his bile duct that leads out of the pancreas. Not good! A few days ago he had a very complicated 9 hour surgery in which they took out part of his pancreas, stomach, duodenum and the gall bladder. It was shocking to hear this since my good friend kept himself in great shape. He has, from all his friends and family, wonderful support and encouragement. We know he’s a tough guy and are hoping and praying he’ll be ok.

Quite naturally this got me thinking about my own health and that inevitable end of the road for myself and yes, every one of you who are reading this blog. “Ouch,” you may say. “I don’t want to think about that.” But we all do—and we should—only there is a good way and a bad way to think about death. One way helps you and the other hurts you.

In the book “Super Brain” Deepak Chopra and his co-author Rudolph Tanzi write “If you are afraid of death, it is bad for your body– not because death looms so darkly but because the fear of anything is toxic.” They go on to say “Some cultures, such as Tibetan Buddhism, offer extensive preparation for death and a highly detailed theology of various heavens and hells.” Which they use to help people face and accept their own death.  The authors say the path to making peace with death might look something like this:

1. “I don’t think about death. It’s pointless.”
2. “The main thing is to live your life right this minute.”
3. “Anyway, I secretly don’t believe I will grow old and die.”
4. “To be honest, I don’t think about dying because it’s too scary.”
5. “I’ve seen death of a friend, family member, or pet. I know I have to face it someday.”
6. “I am beginning to feel calmer about the whole issue. I can look at death without running away.”
7. “Dying happens to everyone. It’s better to approach it calmly with eyes open.”
8. “I’ve felt the first serious twinges of mortality. It’s time to face it.”
9. “I find I am actually interested in what death is all about.”
10. “It’s possible to embrace dying as a natural stage of life–and I have.”

As you the read through these stages of thinking about death, try to think back to when you were young (assuming that you are no longer in that category) and notice how close these 10 stages may come to your own thinking back then and now. Have your thoughts changed dramatically?

The bottom line is you don’t need to fear death. It will come so fearing it is rather pointless. Instead, focus on the now, on what you are doing every moment of your life, filling it with purposeful, gratifying thoughts and activities. Living a good life makes fearing death unnecessary.

Next week, we’ll talk a little more about what Deepak and Rudolph have to say about keeping your mind young so you can get the most out of every moment of your life.

 

A Great Means To a Great End

A few days ago I was at Wal-Mart when a very pregnant lady followed by a little girl kind of cut me off with her shopping cart. She apologized and I said “Hey there’s a little girl following you and it looks like another kid is right in front of you”, speaking of her unborn child. This made her laugh.

As I checked out, this same lady with her daughter and husband ended up in line right behind me.
I overheard the husband and wife quietly discussing that they couldn’t afford to buy a pair of gloves that they needed and this on a very, very cold day. So as they talked I casually moved the little bar that separated their purchases from mine, putting about $50 or $60 dollars worth of items on my side.

A moment later, as the casher scanned the items, the mother looked up and said “Wait a minute. That’s our stuff that she’s scanning!”  I said” I know it is and I am going to pay for it.”  She then had a very puzzled look on her face.  I quickly added “It’s ok. It’s just a random act of kindness and I really want to do it.”

After gathering herself for a moment, the mother said in a very emotional voice “Nobody has EVER done something like this for me.” and then began to tear up and so did I.

The clerk had overheard it all and said “That was so very, very nice.” I replied “Thank you but in a way it’s a bit selfish since it make me feel wonderful and I’ll feel that for a very long time!”  My impulse actually had more to do with me thinking that they really needed help but the wonderful feeling I got was great extra benefit.

I’m sure you have had similar feelings as you go out of your way to help others. My hope is that we will all step up and do it more and more. $50 worth of goods may not seem like much in the big scheme of things but it doesn’t really matter how much you impact others, just that you do. It will be something they aren’t likely to forget and will forever give them a warm, grateful memory. Knowing that just adds to that wonderful feeling you’ll get to carry around with you as well.

One of the reason’s I decided to make a fortune was that I figured the more financially successful I was the more I could give to others. Money and wealth should be a means to a much greater end–that of giving back. Paying it Forward.  By helping others everybody is a winner and that is the way the world should and could work if we all do our part.  Let’s all go out and do it!

P.S. I’ll have more in later blogs on clues, formulas and methods to making millions and helping others as you go.

The Secret to a Great, Happy, and Productive Life

You can greatly enhance your life no matter what age you are by doing something very, very simple. What is this simple cost free secret? Well, it’s not so much a secret as something most of us forget about and stop doing as we age. I am talking from personal experience, especially now as I am nearing the BIG 70!!

Ok, so what the heck is this big secret?  It’s simply “Action.” That’s right it’s Action and Movement. It’s getting up off your butt both physically and mentally.  Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi in their wonderful book Super Brain give some very powerful evidence that physical exercise and movement along with environment enhancement stimulates the growth of new neurons. And this happens at any age!

You, no doubt, have experienced a big lift in your mood, on days you were kind of of feeling down and out, by merely taking a walk or even just getting up from watching TV and taking a drive in the country or through your own or a new neighborhood.  I know if I push myself to take even a short hike in the mountains or on the beach it gives my brain a huge mood boost. Ditto by doing a few push-ups, sit ups or jumping on the stair master for 15 or 20 minutes

There is a great quote in “Super Brain” that I love. It says it all–“Inertia is depression’s best friend.”  Simple but true.

So, remember, action is the KEY!  Keep moving and make a point to do so every day.  Let me give you just a few of the benefits you’ll get from being active.And  I hope you will add to this list the things you’ve learned from your own experience.

BENEFITS OF ACTION AND MOVEMENT—

• Feeling increasingly better the more you stay in motion- and that is for physical and mental activity.
• Getting a whole bunch of stuff done—financially, socially, spiritually, helping others, etc.
• Overcoming depression and bad moods without drugs.
• Losing weight.
• Staying in shape and having overall better health.
• Helping others by your example.
• Slowing the aging process.
• Increasing brain cells and brain activity.
• Greatly reducing the chance of dementia.

Do think about action and movement and please challenge yourself to do more in that direction. You’ll see how much difference it makes to your happiness, your mood and your satisfaction in your life.

The Mistake of Not Making Mistakes

We are all afraid of making mistakes to some extent. Our society has us thinking that mistakes and failure are shameful things. The strange thing is, we learn best by our mistakes yet the fear of making them often keeps us from taking action. So how are we to learn much of anything if we aren’t out there making those mistakes?

When you have big goals, like creating a large personal fortune, starting a business or even starting a family, you may keep yourself from taking the first step because of the fear of making a mistake. The thing is, the real mistake becomes not taking that first step!

You need to not only accept that you will make mistakes but look forward to seeing what you can learn from them. When you have big goals, you will need to become dependent on your ability to overcome and learn from your mistakes. That is the only way you will be able to move forward and accomplish what you are after.

So go ahead, make a mistake or two. Or ten. Or twenty. It’s perfectly normal and it means you are trying something rather than doing nothing!

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