Teaching you how to achieve superior health, leanness and performance.
December 21st, 2011 Milan
The key in fighting type 2 diabetes is to apply a direct solution to the problem. And this solution is available to everybody. Every problem usually has a direct solution. The problem with direct simple solutions is that, they are so straightforward, that we don’t see them. We look for other, more complicated solution that don’t usually work.
So I want you to use this straightforward, direct solution to prevent and cure type2 diabetes. The solution is in substantially improving your diet and in increasing your physical performance by exercising regularly.
Yes, it is that simple. And yes, diabetes is on steep epidemic rise. People don’t apply this simple solution. And it is the only solution that really works against type 2 diabetes. Pills are just a temporary patch.
Eat better by cutting your carbohydrate and sugar consumption. Better, eat only fruits and vegetables as your carbohydrates. I have been promoting this kind of diet for a while now simply, because it works.
Don’t exercise to stay thin, exercise to increase your overall physical performance. That means not only walking or gardening, but adding intensive intervals like speed walking or sprints.
If you get out of breath, if you sweat, if your muscles burn so you can’t lift anymore, you are increasing your physical performance. And that will eventually save your life.
Being thin doesn’t mean you are healthy, if you’re weak. There are thin people with pre diabetes and severe heart disease. Being physically strong and fit is rarely connected to heart disease. Add to it a low carbohydrate diet based mainly on fruits and vegetables as carbohydrates and you become invincible.
Some more interesting notes about pre diabetes and diabetes follow:
There is some (very little) evidence, that cinnamon can help lower blood sugar. So ad some cinnamon whenever you can to your food.
But without diet and exercise doing the heavy lifting, trying to control diabetes with cinnamon is like trying to extinguish a forest fire with a squirt gun.
If you eat 2 hot dogs, wash them down with a coke or beer, maybe have some potato chips or some potato salad on the side, than your body will need a firehouse to pump out enough insulin to wash all that sugar from your blood into cells. The problem is, we all do it.
Dannon All Natural Yogurt sounds healthy. But the product includes HFCS and modified cornstarch, all part of 19 grams of sugar lurking underneath the foil.
The difference between spaghetti and whole grain spaghetti is negligent. They are both loaded with carbs the same way.
Fruit juices are the real sugar shocker. They are loaded with sugar. The store interior and marketing shtick makes these drinks seem like a healthy alternative to soda.
Wine is approved item on low carb diet, which is a good thing, since many other indulgences are off limits. The carb count is about 3 grams per 4 ounce glass of red, and 2 to 5 grams for the same amount of white. Even if 2 glasses of chardonnay produce 10 grams of carbs, that still beats the 78 grams of sugar in two cans of Coke.
Drunk in moderation, wine can reduce stress. It is powerful relaxant.
If you are doing everything else right, and you’re having a few cups of coffee in the morning and a glass of wine with dinner, you’re on the right track.
Adding fat to cabs actually slows the subsequent absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. The more fat added to the meal, the greater the reduction. So, if you must eat a baked potato, put a slab of butter and bacon bits on top rather than eating it plain. Most diabetics think the opposite is true because they’re told to avoid fat.
Carbohydrates consumed alone are very quickly absorbed. That’s bad for sugar level spikes.
Add fat to your carbs. For best and slowest transformation of glucose into the blood stream, ad protein and fat to your meal.
Nuts have uniquely beneficial effects on blood sugar.
Nuts contain protein, fiber and monounsaturated fat – all of which slow the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.
Nuts lower heart disease risk by lowering levels of bad cholesterol.
A handful of walnuts or almonds can become part of any meal, whether eaten like popcorn or tossed onto cottage cheese or salad.
Fiber is particularly potent weapon against high blood sugar – despite being a carb, technically. Since fiber is indigestible, the body doesn’t metabolize it as it does other carbs. Fiber is neither turned into glucose nor absorbed by the bloodstream.
Fiber decreases the absorption of anything consumed with it.
If you drink a glass of apple juice, the sugar will be absorbed quickly. However, if you eat an apple, sugar will be absorbed much slower.
Unfortunately, food processing tends to remove fiber.
Everybody should consume at least 25 grams of fiber everyday.
Low or no carb protein powder is great addition to low carb diet.
Because food isn’t what it used to be, supplements like protein powder is oftentimes better choice than pizza, burger or some other heavy on carbohydrates restaurant meal.
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December 14th, 2011 Milan
I had a friend. Her name was Lisa. Lisa was one of the nicest people I have ever met. She worked on front desk at a job I held before. One morning when I got to work, Lisa wasn’t in for the day. Later on we found out, that Lisa suffered a fatal heart attack. She was only 27.
I never discussed Lisa’s health issues with her. But, just looking at her and her frequent snacks, I am pretty sure, Lisa was pre diabetic, or maybe even diabetic. And maybe she didn’t even know that. She was extremely overweight and she would sip a soda entire time at work.
It’s crazy! People actually die at the age of 27 on the disease, that’s considered an old man’s disease. Heart disease is closely connected to type 2 diabetes and pre diabetes. So, if you have sweeter blood floating in your arteries, you will most likely die of heart attack or stroke sooner or later. Sorry for being so dramatic, but it is quite true.
The good news is, that there is a way to prevent and even cure these deathly disease – type 2 diabetes. And the cure lies in lifestyle. Avoiding sugar dense foods and staying physically active is the answer for type 2 diabetes.
Here are more notes from my research about type – 2 diabetes:
Sugar consumption significantly rises blood pressure.
Having high blood pressure is the most dangerous factor for heart disease.
Half of all heart attacks strike people with normal cholesterol.
Half of those who’s cholesterol is elevated show no signs of heart disease.
You could eat a cholesterol packed diet and still have normal or even low cholesterol.
You could exercise every ounce of known cholesterol from your diet and still have a heart attack waiting to happen readings.
It’s sugar, not cholesterol that is dangerous for our hearts.
The human body seeks homeostasis, it tends to ramp up the production of what it doesn’t receive, and manufacture less of what it does.
You trim some fat from a piece of meat, picture it clogging your arteries, and think, Aha! Heart attack waiting to happen. Fat is the problem! Anyone can understand that.
Only, it doesn’t work that way.
The problem is that as fat intake shrank gram by gram in the American diet, American waistlines grew inch by inch.
Fat will not make you fat.
Carbs are the perpetrator of our obesity/diabetes epidemics.
Two out of three deaths in the US are due to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The bottom line is that these diseases are largely preventable through healthy diets, physical activity and maintenance of healthy weight.
Go ahead and read that previous sentence one more time, and again, and again!
Type 2 Diabetes is a direct and entirely predictable result of unhealthy eating.
Carb control makes the human body a fat-burning machine.
Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue, allowing for continuous fat burning, not just during the workouts. Use it to your advantage. Build extra muscle.
When you eat the way you are supposed to eat, your body just weighs what it’s supposed to weight. Period!
Carb restricted diets have positive effects on cardiovascular health. Within 6 months, to 2 years, the risk factors for having heart attack significantly decreases.
One strong argument against carb restriction, even for diabetics, is that people don’t stay the course.
A low carb diet keeps brain sharp and alert. I can definitely confirm this. My memory is fantastic, and my thinking is incredibly clear. I can do a lot of stuff without getting mentally tired.
Studies have linked a low glycemic index diet to a reduced risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, although certainly the weight loss may be contributing to all three of these beneficial outcomes.
The most recent game changer was the discovery by Japanese food scientists, made in the 1960s, that cornstarch could be turned into a clear, sweet goop called high-fructose corn syrup – HFCS.
HFCS and soft drinks were the perfect match, but not the only one.
HFCS found it’s way into nearly everything we eat and drink. Ketchup, crackers, cereal, yogurt, baked goods, salad dressings, condiments and seemingly everything else on supermarket shelves contain it.
So everything processed has HFCS. If you want to stay healthy, avoid it.
HFCS is not worst than sucrose, dextrose, organic cane juice, brown sugar, honey and other sweeteners. The are all bad for your health.
In truth, when you’re diabetic or trying to prevent diabetes, no sugar is good sugar.
A 12 ounce of soda contains the equivalent of 8 teaspoons of sugar.
Sweet soda has been a Trojan horse for type 2 diabetes.
Drinkers of more than 1 daily soft drink were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as drinkers of only 1. So there is clearly a correlation.
Don’t drink soda at all, live longer, live healthier.
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December 6th, 2011 Milan
Another important sign, that a person is more likely to develop higher blood sugar levels or diabetes are the intense spikes and crushes in energy levels after eating heavy carbohydrate meal.
I think, I am one of those people. I still clearly remember feeling incredibly sleepy in the middle of the day and hardly keeping my eyes open. I would fall asleep over my desk when studying for my anatomy or physiology exam.
There I was, studying anatomy, exercise physiology and generally human performance and hoping to become an expert in the field and not realizing, that those pancakes I had for lunch are having debilitating effect on my own mental and physical performance and energy levels.
I would only change my diet about 7 years later.
I don’t blame my university for flawed diet knowledge it gave me mainly because carbs and sugar were in that time. Carbs and sugar were highly recommended for peak physical performance. But times change. And they did. I hope that, what students learn these days in school, I attended is something entirely different what we learned.
Only later, while studying on my own and applying on myself, I would realize how wrong this belief was. Carbohydrate and sugar overload is not only performance killer, but also dangerous for human health.
My carbohydrate intake, beside getting enough protein and having plenty of fat in my diet consists from only fruits and vegetables. That’s it. Fruits and vegetables, nothing else. When I have my 5 eggs for breakfast in the morning, I won’t have them with a toast, I have them with few tomatoes or spinach and apple.
My grilled chicken doesn’t come with rice, it comes with some greens and lots of olive oil.
And I feel fantastic. I feel better, than anytime before. My memory is amazing. I am never tired. I feel generally healthy and I don’t need that much sleep to feel this way. My blood pressure is perfect 120/70 and my creativity and positive attitude is at my all time high.
Seriously look at your diet and cut the all crap from it. And than look at it again and again and cut some more crap. You will be left with pure natural low in sugar and processed flour diet that will totally transform your life. Add some regular exercise to it and some sun exposure and you will become totally invincible.
Here is more from my notes about type 2 diabetes and how to prevent it and cure it:
Even now, diabetes is often diagnosed only after someone survives a heart attack.
We feast on carb-dense foods that send our blood sugars soaring and crashing all day long, and the harder we crash, the stronger the pick-me-ups.
It’s well documented, that blood sugar spikes and crashes damage the inner walls of our arteries.
Blood sugar swings among non diabetics leads to high blood pressure and heart disease.
The blood sugar fluctuations, even among those who are not diabetic, are toxic.
Many of the folks who suddenly slump at their desks or never wake up from a night’s sleep in their forties or fifties were probably well on their way to type 2 diabetes. They just suffered a fatal heart attack first. It was, in most cases, preventable.
By syncing my diet with my workouts, I have found, that I can control blood glucose to a degree that neither tool could alone.
- Dr. Workman
Even those with high risk DNA for type 2 diabetes, through no fault of their own, can avoid the disease.
The Amish, that have very low occurrence of type 2 diabetes, teach us that regular physical activity, independent of it’s effect on body weight, can protect against type 2 diabetes. So if you do nothing else aside from cutting back on sugar, don’t sit still. You don’t need to plow the fields like an Amish farmer. But whether you work behind a computer or drive for living, strive to match that level of caloric expenditure in the gym or elsewhere. It might end up saving your life.
Abnormalities in cholesterol and blood sugar tend to go hand in hand.
Lifestyle change is a better alternative than drugs for both the prevention and the treatment side of type 2 diabetes. Every person in the country can put down a can of soda and run around the block a few times.
When people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, they are ready to make a lot of changes, but if you give them a tablet, you’re saying it is not their lifestyle that is the problem.
More money can be made treating diabetes with a pill, than curing it with a lifestyle change.
Metformin, the most commonly prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes is less effective than lifestyle change. That’s been proven.
Metformin has nasty side effects on humans body.
Diet and exercise don’t need pairing with prescription drugs against type 2 diabetes. They work fine without them.
The chubby kid who turns diabetic before his senior prom? He may be getting his chest cracked open in the ER in his early thirties, not his late fifties.
Many doctors don’t say diet and exercise work. They look primarily to prescribe drugs.
Per capita sugar consumption in US has risen from 5 pounds in the later part of the 19th century, 25 pounds in the later part of 20th century to 160 pounds.
So how do you prevent or cure type 2 diabetes?
There are actually highly intelligent people out there, that don’t recognize protein from carbohydrate. Learn everything about your diet. And than apply that knowledge.
When I meet you on the street and you tell me that cereal you bought in your favorite grocery store is better for your health than egg is, you’ve got a long way to go. Keep learning. It get’s better. Stop learning and you’re dead.
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November 28th, 2011 Milan
One of the symptoms of high blood sugar levels or the over secretion of insulin to lover it is and many don’t know it, early baldness in men. The kind of baldness I experienced, which is baldness before the age of 30. And I was completely bald at 25. That really makes me wander if I have a diabetic gene in myself or if it was the result of my terrible, sugar and flour loaded diet.
I was very athletic. I was basically a performing animal. Going from brutal practice to brutal practice and winning races. So my fitness was great. The problem was in my diet. Looking back at it, and picturing myself and my teammates pimples covered faces, makes me grab something made of glass and throw it against the wall.
Why nobody told us? The answer is, that nobody knew. Everybody thought, that you need sugar, that sugar is energy and you need energy.
The result of this were hard rowing practices and races full of pain and fog in front of our eyes from all those sugar and insulin spikes that were happening in our bodies. Like I said before, knowing what I know now about diet and how crappy our was, I would have a medal from Olympic Games, and maybe it would be a gold one.
Effects of high blood glucose levels, of the extra insulin secreted to lover it, or both:
The situation, you might be facing every morning, after eating your favorite bowl of cereals, or having your favorite muffin in neighborhood Starbucs. But most probably several times per day.
This is a very scary stuff. So be warned ahead. It kind of makes me quit everything that is processed or has even a little bit of sugar in it. Ooooo, actually, I already did that.
Her are the effects:
Cancer as it turns out, has a sweet tooth
Recent researches show that the consumption of high amounts of sugar and refined grains boosts the odds for cancers of the esophagus, kidneys, and pancreas.
Excessive insulin production, in response to high glucose (right after you eat that muffin) appears to raise your risk of being diagnosed with a number of cancers, including breast and liver.
High blood sugar can sour your mood
In a recent study, researchers found that people who drink two and a half cans of sugary soda daily are three times more likely to be depressed and anxious than those drinking less pop.
High glucose levels in your blood can drive you crazy
High glucose levels provide fertile soil for plaque-forming proteins that can wreck brain neurons, increasing the odds of dementia, and than speeding it up once it begins. Some researchers believe that Alzheimer’s disease may be a sort of “type 3″ diabetes, a provocative but yet unproved theory.
High blood glucose levels can brake your heart
Elevated blood sugar levels correlate with a greatly increased risk of heart disease, the number one killer of Americans.
High blood sugar levels increase the risk of stroke
High blood pressure is responsible for this. The San Antonio Heart study concluded that high insulin levels, both fasting and post meal, predict hypertension in the normal-weight and overweight alike.
The hormonal response to high blood sugar that crashes is like having 3 or 4 panic attacks a day. That will jack up anyone’s blood pressure.
The kidney disease is more likely happen to people eating heavy sugar/carbohydrate diet
High blood sugar levels case bad vision and even blindness
High blood sugar levels cause to loose some hearing
The researchers speculated, that over time, the tiny blood vessels might become damaged in your ears (cochlea), same as in your eyes (retina).
Along the way, your teeth will rot
In part because too-high blood glucose damages the salivary glands, and raises the risk for gum infections.
High blood sugar levels cause erectile distinction
High sugar levels damages small blood vessels first. So, guys, first your penis goes, than your heart and brain follow suit.
Woman aren’t spared either. High sugar levels tend to diminish their sex drive, promote vaginal dryness, and short-circuit their organs.
Women with high blood sugar levels have a narrower fertility window than women with normal blood sugar levels. They often have increased difficulty conceiving.
Over time, diabetics often develop nerve damage, usually starting in the feet
In the public mind, diabetic and amputee are almost synonymous. No wonder: the disease is responsible for loss of about 84 000 limbs every year.
Researchers have found that diabetes damages the DNA in man’s sperm. This has a serious and detrimental effect on the ability of an embryo produced from the sperm to, implant, and then survive pregnancy.
Blood sugar gyrations can lead to insomnia and other sleep disorders. And that appears to increase formation of blood clots, a predictor of heart disease.
Why the F… would you than eat so much processed sugar? Isn’t this scary enough? It is! And if you let sugar, carbohydrate overloading and inactivity destroy your body and your life with it, than you don’t really deserve to be healthy.
Staying healthy takes conscious thinking, some form of knowledge and willingness to apply that knowledge. If you eat garbage food and don’t move regularly, than you’re missing one or more of these traits. Fight like hell to improve that. Learn, thing and apply ruthlessly, otherwise you will live unhealthy miserable life full of pain and regret.
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November 21st, 2011 Milan
How to prevent type 2 diabetes should be the question, we should all take very seriously. And we should all know the best strategies to prevent it. If you think, that having normal healthy weight and staying active is enough to do this, you are wrong.
I am a very lean and fit guy. I always thought, that by staying lean, maintaining healthy weight and being physically active will keep me protected against type 2 diabetes forever.
Than few years ago, I found out how terribly unhealthy my lifestyle was. It came down mainly to my diet. I would eat anything that tasted good. I was still picky in choices I bought and consumed. I preferred healthy natural products.
Consider these foods: all natural strawberry fat free yoplait yogurt, turkey sandwich with whole wheat toast, cliff energy bars, power bars, whole grain pasta, candy with vitamins in them, whole grain pancakes, organic blueberry jam and honey, whole grain muffin, fat free peach yogurt and many many other “healthy choices.”
I would eat whole wheat sandwiches , drink all natural, vitamins loaded raspberry snapple and 100% fruit juices. My breakfast would start with packaged cereals and organic chocolate in it. After diner I would have fat free ice cream.
I didn’t realize, that this kind of diet, in spite of me being fit and lean is slowly killing me.
Why? Aren’t these stuff supposed to be good for you? They are organic, fat free, whole wheat, natural.
Yes. That’s what they are. And, it is true. The problem is, that they contain huge amount of sugar and processed flour. It doesn’t matter that the sugar is brown or organic. It is still sugar. And what is sugar and flour? I call these things a “sweet death.” Why? Because they literally slowly over time kill people.
Yes, even reasonably intelligent population, that gives a dam about their health thinks that sugar is ok and fat is the enemy. I was one of them. I would avoid the whole cottage cheese and grab fat free chocolate milk instead, thinking that I am doing my body a favor.
Realizing how bad these foods are for me and quitting eating these foods, I consider as one of the best things, if not the best thing I have ever done in my life. I urge you to try it for yourself. The way you feel will change. Your health will dramatically improve. Your mental and physical performance will skyrocket. You will need less sleep and you’ll have more energy. You will sleep much better and deeper. Your skin will look healthier. Your whole life will change. The way you think, perform and live.
Just remember that sugar and processed grains and starches are the enemy. And stay away from them.
I did an extensive research about preventing type 2 diabetes and I will share the most important notes with you soon.
In short, avoiding sugar, starches, flour like your worst enemy and staying physically active is the answer in preventing type 2 diabetes and living up to your full potential.
Here are my notes from my research about type 2 diabetes. The most interesting book I read, and many notes are from there is Sugar Nation, written by Jeff O’Connell. I strongly recommend it for you to read. I think everybody should read it.
I hope they will help you prevent or fight this scary disease – Type 2 diabetes.
Let’s start:
Sugar has gone from expensive to cheap, from healthy to unhealthy. That’s because most of it’s redeeming value has been processed away.
1 in 3 Americans has type 2 diabetes or it’s preamble, pre diabetes.
1 in 4 diabetics is in the dark about his or her condition.
One of them might be you.
Don’t fear the revelation. It’s what you do next matters the most. But the time to start is now.
You don’t have to be diabetic to benefit from this advice. By following this advice, you will boost your energy, sharpen your focus, and live longer and more healthfully.
By the time someone learns they are pre diabetic, insulin resistance is already in charge, and probably has been for many years.
No one – young or old, thin or overweight, man or woman – should assume they’re safe from this deadly disease.
Chemicals released by sugar consumption trawel the same brain pathways that heroin does.
Blood sugar volatility is a dangerous overlooked risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Sugar gave rise to the slave trade, now sugar has enslaved us.
Type 2 diabetes really boils down to the sum total of a very long trail of personal choices made over lifetime. Whether you went for a run or turned on the television instead. Whether you stuck with your diet or ordered that fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream.
Even if you are skinny, you can still get type 2 diabetes.
With diabetes no outward deformity, no internal alarm bells announce that something is definitely wrong. At first the symptoms don’t even feel like symptoms, they’re so mundane, general and vague. This hurts. That aches. Something feels weird, but what is it exactly?
Diabetes is increasing at alarming rate among men and women of all ages.
Even slight elevations in blood glucose harm the body.
Blood glucose should be at it’s lowest after fasting, so elevation on this test spells trouble. A score of 100 to 125 mg/dl equals pre diabetes. Above that range is diabetes.
On a random glucose test , score of 200mg/dl or higher indicates diabetes.
Blood glucose levels fluctuate in response to nutritional status, activity level, stress, and other factors, even as you sleep.
Everyone knows high blood sugar is bad actor in diabetes or pre diabetes, but another killer is excessive internal insulin production, which can corrode the inside of arteries, feed tumors, and set the stage for rheumatoid arthritis, among a whole host of ills.
Why on earth would you want to be shooting more of insulin into your body if you didn’t absolutely have to?
Pre diabetes and Type 2 diabetes is also setting it’s sight on the young in record numbers. Between 1993 and 2004, hospital stays for diabetes among those 29 and younger increased nearly 40%.
Diabetes, along with obesity, is looming as the biggest epidemic in human history.
Pre diabetics and diabetics who are obese, but who are at least moderately fit, have a much lover death rate that those who are normal weight but unfit.
Physical fitness does a better job than physique shape at predicting who will become a type 2 diabetic.
You can be very skinny and unfit, which puts you in the risk of having pre diabetes or type 2 diabetes.
Fitness gives us a yardstick that’s far, far more important predictor of mortality from diabetes than either body weight or obesity.
Primary care physicians equate being diabetic with being overweight. Which is wrong!
The truth is, we don’t need all those carbs, and they don’t give us all that energy.
There are overweight people who don’t have metabolic problems, and normal weight people who do have these problems. That’s telling us, that weight gain isn’t the underlying cause of diabetes.
Insulin resistance alone is a factor for heart disease. If you don’t have diabetes but are insulin resistant – and much of U.S. population is – you are at increased risk for heart disease. You may also get diabetes, but your heart disease likely will have gotten worse long before that happens.
Your bloodstream is supposed to contain a teaspoon or so of glucose at any given moment. Tissues begin suffering damage when this small amount rises by even 1/4.
The higher the concentrations, the stickier the situation becomes. The linings of arteries and capillaries begin suffering damage. High blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and diabetes likely aren’t far behind.
Message:
Stay active. Aim for physical (athletic) performance, not just watching your body weight. Limit carbohydrate consumption to 100g per day or less. Get your blood glucose tested even if you are skinny and fit.
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November 8th, 2011 Milan
Recent surfing competition on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach started with sighting of a big, scary shark.
Dusty, a pro surfer exited the waters of Ocean Beach in first round heat of competition, after noticing something big and moving in the water and never came back.
“I was sitting out there and saw something in line up.” Dusty said in the statement. “I have seen dolphins before and that wasn’t dolphin. That was the biggest fin I have seen in my life, and it was right in front of me.”
The shark sighting came few days after 27 year old surfer was bitten by a shark in not too far away Monterrey area.
Anyway, I know Ocean Beach. I surf there regularly. It can be a pretty scary place to surf. Sun almost never comes out of the fog out there and surf is usually big and violent. So, I can relate.
Kelly Slater won the competition. Did he know about the shark sighting the day before right there where he was surfing? Of course he did.
Was he afraid the next day when he won? Of course he was.
Even the surfer, who will tell you, that he is not afraid of sharks is very afraid of them.
Yet, he was in the water competing. And he won the competition.
Kelly Slater and other high performing individuals learned how to conquer their fears.
No, the fear doesn’t go away, It stays. Important is, what you do next.
Don’t let fear paralyze you. The most successful achievements and ventures lead through some scary situations the encounters went through.
The fear will always be there. What you do after is important. Are you going to crawl under the table, or face your fears and win?
It’s with anything in life, if it’s running a marathon, picking up kite surfing, joining a gym, asking for a date, swimming open water competition or quitting your job and starting ghost hunting business. If it feels a little scary, you are on to something. And if you don’t let the fear paralyze you, you will most likely win.
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November 2nd, 2011 Milan
The cost of inactivity is a funny subject. People usually want to know, how much is it going to cost them, in money terms if they don’t exercise. Like for example, if they have a heart problem or get hurt because of fragility from inactivity, and how much is it going to cost to fix it. But, measuring the cost of inactivity in money terms is wrong. Very wrong.
There is much bigger price to pay, than several tens of thousands of dollars.The cost of inactivity is a matter of life and death.
If you are inactive and you get seriously sick, your most important worry will be to get better, to survive and to somehow get through it and live well into the future. Not how much it is going to cost you. That will certainly worry you, but it will be secondary.
If you are inactive, you will pay in other terms for it than just money. You will pay by not having healthy heart, healthy digestive system, clear and sharp mind, lots of energy, risking deadly diseases and others. And of course, you will still pay a lot of money to get these back, if it is still possible. And very often it is not.
So, first, set your priorities straight. Your health is much more important than money! Your health is the most important thing in the world. If you think otherwise, don’t read any further. You will most likely die too soon with a fat bank account.
The cost of inactivity – unhealthy, weak heart
By far, unhealthy, weak heart is responsible for majority of premature deaths in the world. And in most cases, it can be prevented.
Just think about it for a second. If you are inactive, you are risking dying 10, 15 and maybe more years earlier, than you would otherwise. And that is a incredibly huge price to pay. You pay for it with your life. And if that doesn’t make you to do something about it, I don’t know what else will.
The cost of inactivity – slow, lousy brain function
Healthy, fast functioning and performing brain and clear healthy mind is a base of everything happening in our bodies and our life’s too. And without regular physical exercise you will not have it. And when you don’t have this incredible benefit, everything else suffers.
There is never healthy mind in unhealthy body. But there is almost always great mind (great functioning brain) in healthy strong body.
The cost of inactivity – incredibly high risk of injury
If you are inactive, you will almost certainly get hurt sooner or later. Your body will be fragile like a wine glass. And what happens to the wine glass when it flips over on the table? It breaks. And you will brake something too, when you fall. The active person that is tough and strong will end up with some bruises when he falls, but nothing broken.
If you are injured, your abilities are limited. You are in pain, you suffer and you are miserable. And all of that can be prevented with regular physical activity.
I haven’t have any serious injury past 15 years now. I had Nothing broken, no twisted ankles, no bad knees and hips, not even pulled muscle. And I engage in extremes sports, like surfing, aggressive fast skinning, playing soccer, rollerblading, taking many ugly looking and painful falls in the process.
My primary job when I came to America was moving. I did this kind of job for 3 years almost everyday without day off. It’s an occupation notorious for it’s high back and knee injuries. I still remember being crushed by large piano on fourth floor of 7 floor building at 11 PM and still finishing the move that ended at 3 AM with lots of bruises and cuts but without anything seriously damaged.
Now, looking back, I just laugh at those times. I laugh, because I don’t have any long term health consequences of doing this kind of job. A lot of people go to lifetime disability after a job like this. Yes, moving companies love fresh immigrants in America.
The reason I didn’t get seriously hurt was my regular weight training. Yes, even inspite of moving furniture every day, I still did find time to do my weight training and stretching exercises. If I didn’t I would be in pain today.
The cost of inactivity – low self confidence
Successful people know, that their confidence in their abilities is one of the most important things for them and for their success. Lots of them build theirs through intensive physical training.
It is not rare to see successful doctor, dentist or investment banker to look incredibly fit and strong. They know, what intensive training gives them – high self confidence. And they can transfer it tho their life and profession.
I sometimes think, that my self confidence is just simply too high. I get almost cocky, and I don’t like that. Authority people in many situations don’t mean anything to me. And I lose respect often to people that have certain authority, subsequently getting in trouble. That’s why I got fired from 3 our of 5 jobs I held before. But eventually found my dream job after that 
Which is of course a side effect of my own physical fitness. And often times, I need to calm myself down and play nice humble guy.
Of course, i don’t want you to get too confident and cocky and getting into a trouble because of that. And you won’t, unless you can mach my own physical fitness
But some healthy confidence can really help you in life. And, If you are not physically active, you are missing on your own self confidence build up.
The cost of inactivity – bad sleep
It is true that, if you don’t do much of physical activity throughout your day, you don’t need that much sleep either. But the sleep you get is usually shallow, not completely restful. You have a tough time to get up in the morning, and you feel tired throughout the day.
Being physically active improves and deepens the quality of your sleep. Your body is able to recover faster and you feel more rested in the morning and in your day.
The cost of inactivity – low energy levels
To get more energy, you have to spend some energy. This is true with physical exercise and your energy levels too.
Yes, I know, exercise makes you tired. Working your body to the sweat will leave you tired. And that is true, especially when you are just starting and your body is not used to it.
Over time, when physical activity becomes part of your life, and you become regularly active, you will experience huge amount of extra energy. This will probably happen right in the beginning when you are just starting.
You have to start slowly. Your body is not used to it. Starting with just 30 minutes of walking around the block will be enough for those completely sedentary.
Increasing amount and intensity of physical activity over time is important later for even more energy, performance and health benefits.
I never feel tired and I never take naps. While this is mainly because of my diet, regular exercise plays a big roll in it too.
I feel incredibly amazing the whole day. Sometimes when I just feel good, I am disappointed, because I want to feel amazing. Of course feeling good for me feels like feeling incredibly amazing to somebody who doesn’t eat perfect diet and moves regularly. My standards in this case are just too high.
The cost of inactivity – cancer
Regular physical activity helps prevent cancer, period.
If you are physically inactive you are exposing your body to this dangerous illness. And that might cost you your life. That is the ultimate price you can pay for something – your life.
Engaging in just for 20 minutes in any kind of physical activity helps decrease your chances by getting cancer exponentially. And in this case, we need any help we can get.
Nobody is immune against cancer. We all have a cancerous cells in us. Our job is to do maximum to minimize this chance. And physical activity and healthy diet will massively help you to do that.
The cost of inactivity – diabetes
The cost of inactivity in this case is incredibly high. Inactivity causes weight gain and insulin resistance and that over time leads to diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition, in which your body’s ability to metabolize sugar is diminished. It is an inability to process sugars in our blood stream so higher sugar levels keep washing our arteries and organs causing inflammation and exposing us to huge dangers.
I believe that high blood sugar levels are the beginning of everything bad in our bodies. Either it is cancer, heart disease and subsequently heart attack, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, it all starts with insulin resistance and increased blood sugar levels.
Type 2 Diabetes can be prevented and even reversed with diet improvement and regular physical activity. Working muscles use sugars in blood for energy and that helps to keep normal levels of sugar in bloodstream.
The cost of inactivity – being fat and unattractive
Who wants to be ugly, unattractive and fat? Nobody.
I know a girl that is really ugly. And, she is beautiful at the same time. But this girl, beside being very intelligent, smart and really nice is very physically active. She exercises regularly every day, lifting weights, running and rowing. As a result of her exercise, she is very attractive and men are getting their necks twisted when they see her. She has supper attractive body and even the face looks great from all that physical training. It is still ugly, but kind of attractive.
As a result of her diligent exercise and of course intelligence, she is beautiful. Yes physical fitness can do this to you.
I am pretty ugly, unattractive, bald guy myself. Yet I always dated the most beautiful women. I don’t want to brag about this, but to give you an example how you too can become very attractive by engaging in regular physical activity.
The cost of inactivity – shorter life
Nobody want’s to live short. We all want to live long and happy life’s.
But, we don’t often realize that we are making it shorter and more painful by sitting still on the sofa, enjoying those tasty chips and watching our favorite shows for long periods of time, without having any physical activity in our days.
The price is very high. The price is your life. The shorter life. Are you willing to pay it? I don’t think so.
And the way to not pay it is to introduce physical activity to your life. It’s really not as hard as you think. And it really should be motivating too. The price to pay, if not doing it is just too high.
The cost of inactivity – lousy sexual performance
Inactive people have a lousy sex life. For great sex life, you need to be attractive first, than you have to have some energy. You need fit body and strong muscles to move around and you need a healthy dose of sex hormone floating in your blood stream. And all this can be achieved by regular physical activity.
By not being physically active, your sex life will suffer. It will most likely be nonexistent.
The cost of inactivity – dementia
Studies show, that our brain function correlates with our body’s functioning abilities. In other words said, the fitter your body is, the sharper your brain is. And the more inactive you are, the more cloudy your thinking will be. Which eventually leads to dementia.
Dementia is a condition where brain cell die over time to the point that we lose our independence. With physical exercise, mainly skilled physical exercise, new nerve cell connections are build and that improves the overall brain performance.
There is a clear evidence, that walking 3 times around your block, can increase your brain function by far more than doing challenging crosswords puzzles the whole day.
So, to stay sharp, smart, and independent, don’t sit on your ass. Move!
The cost of inactivity – Alzheimer’s disease and Stroke
Some doctors that are few steps ahead of recent medicine consider Alzheimer’s disease as Type 3 diabetes. Yes, blood sugar related. And so is stroke.
When too sweet blood washes your arteries and brain vanes, it is seriously damaging them. It creates inflammation and the arteries start to attract plaque.
It’s also seriously affecting nerve connections, that are so abundant in the brain. Over time, the damage becomes so serious, that persons artery or a little vein becomes clogged and stroke happens.
Physical exercise is the best bet against Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers didn’t find anything better to prevent it so far. And I doubt, they ever will. Alzheimer’s disease is becoming really epidemic recently. And the reason is: not enough physical exercise in our life’s.
For maximizing of the benefits of exercise against Alzheimer’s, I recommend people to do some skill activity. That means, that instead of running on the treadmill or elliptical trainer, you play tennis,roller blade, surf, play ping pong, swim, kick the ball while running and others.
While doing your cardiovascular exercise, you will be learning certain skill. And that promotes nerve creation and nerve connections. And that makes you smarter and sharper.
You can’t afford not to do it
Intensive, hard physical work is primal to us. We were mend to struggle physically every day. Unfortunately, these healing, highly beneficial physical movement is disappearing from our modern life’s.
But in order to live a great life and to live up to your maximum potential, you have to find the way to introduce it back to your life.
It is seriously important. Your life depends on it.
The cost of inactivity is incredibly high. Many don’t realize it, but they pay dearly for it. They pay with their health and life for it. Don’t let that happen to you. Move regularly. Move intensively. Move. Move. Move. And save your most precious thing, your health and your life.
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