The Most Important Thing in My Life is my Health
Explaining my Personal Owner's Manual for 2022 - #1
Click to read the 50 things - Original Owner’s Manual
Which #values, #morals, #principles, #mission, #rules, #directives, #ideals, #virtues, #traits, #tenets, #ethos, #visions, and #legacy - are important to me?
Health Article Summary:
Disease
Exercise
Diet
Hydrate
Cold Showers
This article is self indulgent. You can skip it if you don’t really want to get to know me.
Health
“We overvalue nonessentials like a nicer car or house or even intangibles like the number of our followers on Twitter or the way we look in our Facebook photos. As a result, we neglect truly essential activities, like spending time with our loved ones, or nurturing our spirit, or taking care of our health.”
― Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Health is the most important thing I have in this life. It is an essential priority. Without it, nothing else matters. I wouldn’t be able to take care of my family. When we are feeling well in good health we tend to forget how bad life can be without it.
It is not until we have a life-changing diagnosis that punctuates just how precious our health is to our body, mind, and soul.
Through no fault of my own, or reason other than a “spontaneous occurrence” - In late 2019 I was diagnosed with Male Breast Cancer. I was one of just 200 men in Canada who got Breast Cancer that year. It is quite rare for men.
When I was first told about my Cancer I had to face my mortality. It’s a lonely and scary task. You have to get right mentally and dig deep to accept your unknowable fate. This is when it becomes spiritual. Box breathing techniques, mindfulness, and meditation became an important normal part of my day-to-day.
Wives, Mothers, Girlfriends…: Check yourself then check your hubby for lumps, or get him to do it, and Guys: Check yourself. Or ask your doctor when you have your yearly check-up.
I was very lucky in that the cancer was removed from my body with surgery. I had a double mastectomy. If you’d like to know what happened, just click the article box above.
Guys don’t tend to check for lumps, so they are often quite advanced when found. My lump was discovered at an early stage during a heart and chest imaging procedure.
About a month after the Surgery, I forgot about the feelings I had when I was diagnosed. I forgot about the pain, mental stress, or inconvenience relating to that most shitty time of my life. Our brain seems to do what it needs to when smoothing out recent memories affecting our body, mind, and soul.
By the way…I’m doing great with no troubles linked to Cancer. I have to take a pill every day for 5 years with yearly checkups. That’s it. Sure, I’ve been called “Lucky - Lucky No Nips”… 🤣
Aerobic Exercise and Weights
I’ve said that we have 2 bodies in life. The body we have when we are young, and the body we have left when we reach 60-ish. (I’m 65. Where the heck did the years go, heck, where did that thought go?)
With my younger body and immature mind I kind of abused my body. Not on purpose, but we certainly don’t think about health, routines, good habits, eating well, illness, and so on like we should. We do things to the extreme when we are young - Play hard, work hard. Kind of like what you’d imagine being a carefree rock and roll lifestyle.
After 15 years of this carefree living, we are forced to start to think about the future, and what we are doing to ourselves. Mr. Getting Older Body says…
”Hey Slicky McSlickFace, what’s the hurry? Everything’s gonna be here tomorrow. And think about what the future will hold for us. You have a family to take care of now.”
My older body has been repaired pretty well. With some self-help, and from medical practitioners along the way.
My brain still thinks I’m 35 or something, but there are signs that my cognitive function is slowing down a bit. Hiding sometimes. A cruel little game of hide and seek with thoughts and memories. Like “So… why the heck did I head to the kitchen?” and “I’m sure my car is in this aisle somewhere”.
To be a functional healthy person I have to exercise daily. It is a habit. I spend about half an hour first thing in the morning - before anything else - doing a dumbbell routine. I have about 7 different exercises I do every day.
In between the exercises I stretch, bend, and twist to loosen up my muscles and bones. And do some sit-ups.
We’ve started to go to our gym a couple of times a week as well. I do some leg work and walk on a treadmill. I’ll throw in a little more chest, arm, and back exercises on the universal machines.
Every day my wife and I go for a half to a one hour walk. It is important to get outside, breathe the fresh air, and get sunlight. We usually go for a walk in the morning. We don’t walk at a brisk pace but don’t doddle either. Somewhere in between, but still able to talk as we walk.
I try to be conscious about my posture. As I walk and sit at the computer, I will think about:
how upright I am standing, with my chest out.
shoulders back and relaxed
don’t lean forward or back
eyes forward
tighten your core
take full breaths - breathe through the nose
Diet
I try to eat healthily. I observe a 15 - 16 hour fast every day. I won’t eat a thing after supper until breakfast in the morning around 9 am. I usually have cereal with 1% milk for breakfast.
A mid-morning snack will be an apple, banana, or a blueberry smoothie.
Lunch is often tomato or chicken noodle soup with toast and peanut butter and honey or an avocado and tomato toasted sandwich. I’ll pick up a 12” pizza or meatball sub for a couple of lunches every other week or so.
For an afternoon snack, I like a handful of pistachio nuts.
For supper, Keri usually makes a salad and some sort of chicken or ground beef dish. I enjoy dessert occasionally when we go out but not typically at home.
In the summer we usually have tenderloin steaks on the barbecue 2 or 3 times a month.
We’ve stopped having chocolate and chips around the house. We walk to get apples every week because they are locally grown and sold through the B.C. TreeFruits Co-op. In summer, fresh off the tree peaches, pears, and cherries are awesome.
Hydrate
I have one coffee, and one tea a day. Then I only drink water. Maybe 8 - 12 oz glasses a day. We have a little filter jug that we fill up all day, then keep in the fridge. The taste is good, and well, it’s filtered water. Not much more to report there, just that staying hydrated helps feel healthy.
I’ve been sober for just over 30 years now. My doctor said I had a problem and I had to stop. So I did. I haven’t had a drop since January 2, 1992. I have pretty good willpower and that’s how I quit. I am happy to talk about this process and some of the feelings if you’d like to know more.
Cold Showers
Do cold showers have a positive effect on my well-being? There is a bit of mixed science about cold showers. I choose to believe that they are beneficial to my mind, and body. Some say they have no real benefits to you. But who knows what is correct anymore? Heck - Pluto used to be a planet. You only use 10% of your brain. Yeah, right, I’m pushing 11%, and I go swimming right after I eat!
I usually have a normal temperature shower, followed by a few minutes enduring the coldest water setting. It makes me stronger mentally that I did something most people wouldn’t consider.
They say if you have any type of heart problem you probably shouldn’t consider cold therapy showers. But as always, ask your doctor first.
Pros:
Reduce stress by letting your body overcome levels of stress
Increases willpower
Increases alertness by waking up or shocking your body
You become aware of your breathing and focus more
Studies have found that a Cold Shower increases the number of white blood cells in your body. These blood cells protect your body against diseases. Researchers believe that this process is related to an increased metabolic rate, which stimulates the immune response.
Wim Hof says it helps with Weight Loss
One of the top cold shower benefits is the fact that they lower the damaged tissue’s temperature and constricts the blood vessels. This helps reduce any swelling and inflammation and even numbs the nerve endings, bringing immediate relief.
Ryan Holiday says:
All the data about taking cold showers is bullshit to me.
Sure, some research says that they can reduce anxiety, improve your immune system, increase metabolism to assist in weight loss, reduce the number of days you call out sick from work, and potentially even improve cancer survival.
But I don’t care about any of that.
The reason I interrupt my warm showers by cranking the knob to the side is far more simple, in fact it’s nearly tautological. I do it to do it.
It’s making a statement about who is in charge.
In one of his letters, Seneca describes himself as a “cold-water enthusiast.” He would “celebrate the new year by taking a plunge into the canal, who, just as naturally as I would set out to do some reading or writing, or to compose a speech, used to inaugurate the first of the year with a plunge into the Virgo aqueduct [present day Trevi Fountain].” But then he gives the real reason: “The body should be treated more rigorously that it may not be disobedient to the mind.”
I think about that every morning just before I crank the knob. Who is in charge? The courageous side of me or the cowardly side? The side that doesn’t flinch at discomfort or the side that desires to always be comfortable? The side that does the hard thing or the side that takes the easy way? (…source)
The Kelowna Rockets WHL (Western Hockey League) team goes for a plunge in Lake Okanagan on April 20/2022, 2 days before starting their playoff run. (video by Pau1)
Coming next time:
Inflammation
Sleep
Mindfulness
Thanks to all Subscribers. Feel free to reach out if you’d like any clarification. paul@pau1.ca ✌