PLAN FOR YOUR HEALTH

I think that after 57 years I finally have hit on something that will, at the very least, have me feeling better over the years.

After exhaustive research and investigation (yeah, right...), it looks like a common sense approach to life that requires....
* daily exercise * sensible eating * relaxation techniques *positive visualization

Nothing really radical in these elements...I mean, experts have been touting these for years. But it is in the specifics of each feature that offer all the benefits.

The exercise is something I can handle....walking. About 30-40 minutes daily, and maybe 10-15 minutes a second time. Easy enough to do, listen to the headphones....it's over before you know it.
The eating deal is really easy too....except it takes a little planning and effort. Eat breakfast, include dairy, carbs and fruit, eat a snack with protein and carbs at mid morning, a simple lunch with salad and sandwich, mid afternoon snack like the mornings, not a big dinner and a before bed snack with carbs and protein, like a peanut butter sandwich and small glass of milk. Seems like a lot of eating, but it meet the DASH diet for lowering blood pressure, the idea of not eating continuously, but every 2-3 hours, focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables with a minimum of fats. You get to eat all the food groups and almost everything okay in moderation.
I can still throw in the occasional "Big and Tasty with small fries" from that Scottish restaurant....(you know, McDonalds). And when we shop we try to buy more stuff from the outside aisles of the store....like dairy and vegetables, staying away from processed, canned and boxed as much as possible.
The whole idea is to boost the metabolism at the right times of the day, reducing inflammation of the joints and internal organs, fuel up this wonderful invention of God called the human body in the right way....... Long term goal is to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure and increase endorphins, melatonin and dopamine in a natural way. You know, fighting Boomeritis, which has been defined as the disease of growing older, with its associated aches and pains, but refusing to give in to them. And to do it without having to go to prescription meds until it is absolutely necessary, because once you start them, you usually need them forever.

The relaxation and positive visualization comes from doing the Tai Chi and a daily relaxation technique that I stole from a web site on a thing called Resperate, a machine that helps you lower your breathing rate for 15 minutes to less than 10 breaths per minute, which is supposed to help regulate BP. So far all this stuff seems to be working....the BP is in line, weight is fine, had my best Cardio blood work in 2 years recently....and feeling of depression or What the Hell are very much gone. And being a Catholic, I am trying to get to Mass and confession more often. The grace you get from sacraments is like muscle power for the soul.

I ain't sayin' that meds are not needed, especially if a person has genetic predispositions to heart disease, diabetes, depression, etc...... but there seems to be a heck of a lot we can do naturally, without supplements or herbal remedies that I trust even less than meds, before heading to the Phamaceutical remedy.

My wife works with a group of cardio thoracic surgeons. She said that 95% of the people they see are in poor health due to lifestyle rather than genetics.

Food for thought.