LDL, HDL and the Curse of being a Guy

Crap, my lifestyle was catching up to me.  Well there you have it.  Like many of you my cholesterol was hovering close to the 200 mark.  So there I was, facing a change in my diet.  Yep, a few too many cheeseburgers and fries and I wasn’t about to go cold turkey.  In fact, I am not a fan of the cold turkey method at all.  Change should be gradual.  So I cut back a little on some of the things I love.  I made sure that I stopped ordering the Whopper and started ordering the Whopper Jr.  I eased up on the fries.  I would skip a burger or two a week and have a salad…often with salmon or chicken.  A few months later, my cholesterol was down to the low 170′s.  Yes, I was moving in the right direction.  I was still eating cheeseburgers and fries…just not as much or as often.  I was doing good.  I started eating more fish and chicken for dinner to keep the numbers down.  And then I went in for my annual physical.  Here we go, another blood test.  Cholesterol reads 155.  Great, right?  Nope.  LDL 116…which is good.  HDL, the good cholesterol, is 39.  Still sounds good?  Nope.  I come to find that HDL should not be below 40 and there is a ratio that the doctors look at to determine risk of heart disease.  Oh well, diet change should help here.  Nope.  As I come to find out, this is where the guy curse comes in, is that diet and supplements do not necessarily address HDL…at least not for guys and pre-menopausal women.  Fish and other foods containing omega-3 fatty acids can increase HDL levels.   In postmenopausal women (but not, apparently, in men or pre-menopausal women) calcium supplementation can increase HDL levels.  So what is the answer, aerobic and endurance exercise.  So there you go, one more medical reason to get out for a bike ride, run, brisk walk, or rollerblading.

For more info, see:  http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/cholesterol/a/raiseHDL.htm

Sweating is good for you!!!

Yes, sweat is yucky.  It smells.  It gets on your clothes.  And it is usually not attractive or fun to touch when it is on someone else.  But, with these negatives, it is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your skin.  30% of your body’s waste is carried away by sweat with most of these toxins coming from your skin.  (No wonder sweat smells.)  These toxins definitely affect your health and the youthful appearance of your skin.

Benefits

1. Keeps your body temperature regulated.
2. Get the toxins out of your body, and in particular, your skin.
3. Activities that cause sweat are often fun activities of youth;  dancing, biking, running, skating, basketball, baseball, football, soccer, etc.
4. Is a critical tool to regaining and maintaining younger looking skin.

After you work up a good sweat  playing with the gang, you should bathe.  This will get the toxins off of your skin and prevent them from being absorbed back into your body.  Also, your friends will thank you.

Strength training and its affects on aging

Part of looking younger is feeling younger and being able to carry yourself like you did earlier in life.  This is one of the areas where weight training helps holding on your age.  Weight training may pull in images in your mind of incredibly muscular people lifting cars and houses to keep their knuckles from dragging the ground*, or athletes getting ready for the football season.  This ain’t what I am talking about.  I’m talking about keeping yourself fit and ready for your day’s activities.  Now if your daily activities involve lifting houses or cars with your bare hands, then please ignore the knuckle-dragging part of this paragraph.

What we really want to do here is to build a good core, respectable strength, and increase your metabolic rate to help process the food we intake.  Below is an excerpt from another website.  It talks of weight training for women, but much the same also applies to men.  You will want to get an idea of your current fitness level and put together a plan for yourself.  I do say “current” because what so often happens, yes it has happened to me on more than one occasion, is that we try to start off where we left of the last time we were on a workout kick.  Guess what?  If you have taken even just a few months off, you will need to back up a bit.  You should also look at variety and balance in your program.  Don’t just do all arms or all legs.  Find a few exercises in each of your body’s key areas and rotate them within your workout.  Also, you could get bonus points for doing fun activities that work out these areas.  Squatting to to the gardening, riding bikes or running to name a few that can workout your legs and accomplish some of your other goals.  Speaking of goals, when you put together this plan you should have goals that you want to accomplish.  These goals should be an area of physical accomplishment, like lose a certain percentage of body fat, to be able to climb the stairs at work without being winded, or ride 100 miles on your bike.  But, also, your goal should be for these workout activities to be fun.  Maybe Latin dancing instead of running one day to meet your aerobic goal.  You should establish your fitness goals to be reasonable and to be accomplished in a reasonable amount of time.  You did not gain those 10 extra pounds in a week, you should not try to lose them in a week.  The way we find shortcuts in not through crash diets or pills, we find them through activities that accomplish more than one thing on our list.

1. Check with a trained medical practitioner to assure that you are able to perform exercise and where your limits may be.
2. Establish your base level of fitness.
3. Establish reasonable goals in a reasonable amount of time.
4. Keep it fun.
5. Add variety.
6. Measure.  Watch your fitness level change.

An example of a fitness program that I am currently doing.  Being a recent iPhone convert, I have found several applications that help me keep on track.  I have set a goal of seeing measurable change in my strength and appearance in 6 weeks.  The other thing to note about this time frame is that I feel that if I can keep it up for 6 weeks, it then becomes part of my lifestyle.  Well back to the applications…I have found three that are free.  They cover three areas of my body; upper, mid and lower.  One sets the goal of 100 push-ups.  The other two set up a goal of 200 squats and sit-ups.  I like these exercises for their convenience.  I can do them anywhere…hotel, living room, bedroom, office, bathroom, etc.  These applications take starting and interim measurements to apply the appropriate levels of each exercise.  Do you need the application to do this, no.  There is a website, www.hundredpushups.com, that you can go to for either the application or to help you track it on your own.  I will say that after two weeks I am looking and, most important, feeling better.  Also, when I do work in the garden or on the car, I am not “feeling it” the next day.  This is the kind of fitness level I was talking about at the beginning, the ability to do your daily activities.  One of my other 6 week goals is aerobic, but I will cover that on another day.

Another fun way to add strength training to your routines is Pilates.  To start, I recommend that you find a studio that teaches Pilates.  I was able to find a person teaching at my local recreation center.  This will help make sure you get proper foundation in form and will get you started on your core.  Like the exercises I mentioned above, Pilates is pretty portable.  I have even used the breathing techniques in “the 100″ while sitting in traffic and on planes.  Pilates is an exercise that I have found that may not seem like you are really working out when you start, you may “feel it” over the next few days.  Check it out.  After you get started, I would also look to see if you could find Brooke Siler’s book on the subject.  She has a pictorial in there that if you follow it, it will give you a great routing that you can build on.

And, lastly, of course, you can do weights and other resistance machines.  I list these last only because they are often the most inconvenient.  With these most people find themselves having to drive to the gym, where as the others you can do wherever, whenever.  If you are new to weight training, it is recommend to get with a trainer at least to start.  They are great for motivation and will also show the the correct form and help you keep track of your progress.  There are plans that you can pull from that will help you get started and keep track.  Most of these will have you start with a comfortable weight and have you see how many times you can perform these exercises.  Then it will build a routine using this number, say 10 and have you do multiple sets at 80% of this level.  Or, if you are able to lift more than 10-15 reps, it may have you increase the weight until you find one that limits you to 10-15 reps.   Then you will use this weight to do several sets at 80% of your max number of reps.  One thing to note, if you do more weight at fewer reps, let’s say your max at a given rate is only 5 reps, you will build bulk.   If your max reps at a given rate is in the 10-20, you will tone.

As you increase your strength level you will find that many of your daily activities will get easier and you will not want to lose it.

From www.thirdage.com

Strength Training Combats the Effects of Aging

Posted April 28, 2008 12:49 PM

Much of what we have traditionally thought of as “aging” is actually related to physical inactivity and poor nutrition, according to Miriam Nelson, author of the “Strong Women” book series.In a talk titled “Strong Women Live Well: Foolproof Strategies for Effective Weight Control,” Nelson said her movement to have older women undergo strength training met with some resistance when she started in the 1980s.

“People thought of women in their 50s, 60s and 70s as ‘old’ and that strength training might do more harm than good. Now, women in their 80s and 90s are building muscle,” she told several hundred women who attended her talk here, which was sponsored by the Woman’s Center for Wellness. Regular exercise can enhance performance of daily living activities — even such simple things as climbing stairs or getting in and out of the bathtub, she said. It can also reduce risk factors for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, depression, obesity, osteoporosis, insomnia, cognitive impairment and premature death.

Women who are not active lose, on average, about a quarter pound of muscle mass each year after the age of 40, she said. However, evidence indicates that those who begin a strength training program, even just once or twice a week, will maintain and even build muscle mass. — To read the complete article, go to http://www.thirdage.com/exercise-fitness/strength-training-combats-the-effects-of-aging

*Note:  I really am not that big and I do realize that even if you cannot lift a house or a car, you may still be able to inflict significant harm.  So, if you took offense of the first paragraph, I sincerely apologize.

Holistic Approach to a Healthly Lifestyle

As I sit back and formulate my life plan in what I am calling TheChiLife I am looking at taking a holistic approach.  This is pretty evident in my previous ramblings.  I wondered in what may have appeared to be an aimless direction in a discussion on balance.  I waxed philosophic in an attempt to discuss the different areas in my life that I needed balance.  There was also a quick glimpse into looking at things from a short, mid, and long term perspective.  All of this was done to bring the concepts together for today’s blog.

The whole system

When looking at taking a holistic approach to ones health, you are really talking about making a lifestyle change. Some of these areas will be a greater diversion from our current path than others. Definitely those of us who are challenged by the morning alarm clock will have the greater challenge to wake up even earlier to get a morning workout in…or prepare a healthier breakfast. Rather than focusing on illness or specific parts of the body, the holistic approach to health considers the whole person and how one interacts with their environment. It emphasizes the connection of mind, body, and spirit. The goal is to achieve maximum well-being, where everything is functioning at the very best level that is possible. As with many aspects in life, you are in control of a good portion of the level of health you have.

Your mind

According to Prevention Magazine, our brain activity begins to slow. In order to counter this, there are a few basic rules to follow.

1. Eat right
2. Keep physically fit
3. Exercise the brain

Physical fitness is covered in the next section, but let’s cover diet and exercise for the brain.

Diet

This is where the term “brain food” enters into the equation. These are the foods that improve brain function and are often high in omega-3 fatty acids. These foods promote healthy blood flow to the brain in support of its activities. Fish is probably the most common source of omega-3 in our diets. However, there are additional brain foods to consider. You may also notice that these are also your “heart healthy” foods.

Avocados, Bananas, Beef(lean), Brewer’s yeast, Broccoli, Brown rice, Brussels sprouts, Cantaloupe, Cheese, Chicken, Collard greens, Eggs, Flaxseed oil, Legumes, Milk, Oatmeal, Oranges, Peanut butter, Peas, Potatoes, Romaine lettuce, Salmon, Soybeans, Spinach, Tuna, Turkey, Wheat germ, Yogurt

I would be remiss in my duties if I were not to mention a list of foods that are detrimental to your brain functions. However, you may note that alcohol is on this list. (“Bummer”, you are saying to yourself.) However, certain alcoholic beverages have shown to support good heart health. (At this point you may be thinking that yes alcohol is bad for brain function. There were parties you went to that you have little recollection of the next day. That really isn’t what I meant.) So with those two items on the table, it would be good to remember that to limit yourself to no more than 2 drinks on any regular basis in support of a “heart healthy” lifestyle. Now for the list of foods that are not that great for mind support. This list basically says stay away from high process, high sugar and fatty foods. So basically, the list covers most vices, so I think the key word is “moderation”.

Alcohol, Artificial food colorings, Artificial sweeteners, Colas, Corn syrup, Frostings, High-sugar “drinks”, Hydrogenated fats, Junk sugars, Nicotine, Overeating and Undereating, White bread

Mental fitness

This is the fun part. There are many ways to exercise the brain that provide a wide variety of options. Basically, they are anything that provide a source of brain activity. Games, research, reading, writing, art and hobbies are all sources that can provide brain activity. The more technical the better. For instance, fishing by its nature may not seem to be a source for great brain activity. True, but the hobby of fly tying or pole building may provide a great source. Each of these provide a technical level of research to get things right. For fly tying you may also want to have an understanding of the insect you are trying to duplicate. Even the activity of shopping may provide a source for brain exercise…I mean besides the scheming up of ways to hide the purchase from your spouse. To do the due-diligence to become the educated consumer can keep the mind active.

Games and puzzles are also a great way to keep the mind going strong. Games that require math, matching, pattern recognition are good examples. The game itself does not need to be complex, Yahtzee, Uno, Clue, Hearts, Farkle, Poker, Cribbage and Mahjong are great choices and can also be found in electronic form for your computer.

In addition to proper exercise, the brain will need proper rest. Good sleep patterns or meditation may provide the solution for you.

Your body

The human body is an amazing machine. The human body is amazing, not only in its beauty, but also in its function. If you take care of it, it will take care of you. Use it or lose it. Our emotions affect our health. Our health affects our emotions. Your body is your temple, treat is as such. Ah the truisms could go on and on forever. In fact, do a search on “body is a temple quote” and you will find many more than you really care to. From ancient time, health was maintained by the daily activities of life. These activities were much more physically demanding than what we see today. Illness was also treated with natural medicines compared to the synthesized drugs we have today. During the 20th century, wellness…

Diet

Your diet is the fuel for the mind/body machine.  In order for it to function at its best, it needs to have the proper diet.  I know, this sounds like basic “duh” stuff, but I am not going to go down the can’t eat cake ‘cuz it’s bad for you path.  What I am talking about is making sure that your body is getting what it needs to function properly and also have the understanding that anything extra is waste.  How your body deals with this waste is part of the story.  Extra “junk” will either pass or get stored.  Also, how your body reacts to the processing of the “junk” make have a direct correlation to your appearance. Let’s look at this a little closer.

When you eat properly and keep a balanced diet what we are talking about is making sure that the body and brain are getting the proteins that it needs.  As physical activity changes, the body’s needs also change.  If you have a sudden decrease in activity, the body’s safety mechanism will store the carbs in order to be prepared for your body’s “normal” level of activity.  If you keep the same diet and never get back to that level of activity, you will keep storing and it will show up on your body as fat.  It is a slow process to gain and a seemingly slower process to get rid of.  Same is true in the other direction, if you suddenly increase your level of activity and you do not change your diet, your body will want an increase in consumption make up for the extra energy spent.  If you do not increase your consumption, the body will start pulling from these stores and your percent body fat will go down.  So what happens when a person decreases their consumption and increases their activity…you know the diet approach taken by many trying to lose weight*.  Well the first couple of days, not much.  Then you will start not having the energy you need to continue working out.  You may feel sick due to lack of nutrients.  Your body is telling you to eat so you succumb.   Now you are on the roller coaster.  You body says it needs more intake and you give it to it.  Now all of that water weight you lost sweating in the workouts comes back quickly and you are consuming more and your body isn’t burning it.  And guess what?  You now weigh more than you did before you started your diet.  Lesson learned:  Start working your body out.  Gradually decrease your consumption, maybe something as simple as no fries at lunch.  Then maybe looking at a healthier lunch or dinner in general.  Keep in mind that protein will help the body not feel hungry longer than carbs.  So easy on the potatoes and pasta and maybe grab a handful of nuts to help hold off the hunger pangs.  Keep balance between consumption and activity and gradually move your consumption to the level where it needs to be for you to be healthy.

(*NOTE: I hate this phrase…lose weight.  Face it, you are not really trying to lose weight.  You  are trying to lose fat.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  Chances are you will gain weight when losing fat.  Or, you may not lose weight as fast as you would hope.  Ultimately, get fit and worry less about weight.  The ultimate result will be pleasing.)

Exercise

Exercise helps build the machine and keeps it in working order.   Exercise is also the tool we use to help process what we consume and to help get the poisons out of our systems.  Often these poisons are what causes us to appear older than we really are.  As we age, our strength decreases.  After the age of 40, muscle fitness is very important in men and women and will help prevent injury and osteoporosis by supporting our skeletal system.  It also aids our movement and our ability to perform tasks.

Areas to focus on:

1. Core – our abs are the most important area.  They support most of the major organs and spine which is key to the rest of our body movement.
2. Aerobic – Helps us process our nutrients and give us the endurance we need for our everyday life and extracurricular activities.
3. Arms and legs – These often get addressed with our aerobic activities.

Don’t be afraid to mix it up.  Aerobic does not necessarily mean dance and running.  It can be a brisk walk, bike ride, swim, hike, martial arts, etc.  Just try to keep the heart rate up.  For the muscular training, this can be weight training, yoga, Pilates, bike ride, running, etc.  Look at this list again.  You will see areas where you may be able to kill two birds with one stone…bike ride or running, builds leg muscles and addresses aerobics.  Cool, I just bought back a little more time in my day.

Your spirit

Spiritual and religious health is a very personal aspect and each person needs to determine what this means to them.  To address this you must understand what is right for you and embrace it.  Ultimately, you will want to find peace with your spiritual pursuit.

Spiritual fitness

Once you have found you spiritual direction, use it to find balance in your life.  Spiritual fitness will be your compass in your life for moral direction and often decision making.  It may also be your escape from the rat-race.  Often people use meditation and prayer to help clear themselves from the distractions of the world.  Spend some time with nature.  Spend some time in cloister.  Spend some time with others.  I recommend blending this with your own private time and the time you spend with others, especially your family.  Use this as the opportunity to help others.  Not necessarily sharing your religious beliefs, but to spend some time doing the right thing.  Maybe prayer groups.  Maybe volunteering to help the elderly.  Maybe helping with community projects.  The list is endless.

“Yang is the initiating impulse, which divides and delineates; yin is the responsive impulse, which nurtures and reunites. Without yang nothing would come into being; without yin all that comes into being would die. yang is mental activity in its forceful aspect, yin the imaginative and poetic, exalting the merely mental to the beautiful. yang goes ahead with things, yin contains things within herself and knows their nature without effort. yang does, yin is. Yang in his givingness bestows the gifts; yin in her being receives, preserves, enhances, and redistributes them. Yang constructs, yin instructs; yang implements, yin complements; yang is strength, yin endurance; yang is knowledge, yin the mystery that reveals itself and becomes knowledge. yang is the discoverer, yin lures toward greater discovery. Yang is the self-developer, inspired by yin, the self dedicator, for her development and his dedication. Yang is the lover, and yin is therefore beloved; yin is the beloved and the source of love. Yang is will and yin is wisdom, and one without the other is neither, and together they are joy. Yang is as the day, turning into night, and yin the night preceding the day; the one is the force that drives the waves of the ocean forward, the other the force that draws them back so that they may go forward again.” – “Twin Souls,” by Patricia Joudry and Maurie D. Pressman

…and yes, I did include Homer Simpson and religious symbols in the same blog…

Why TheChiLife?

Chi or Qi is the Taoist word for the energy or life force with any living thing.  This is the the energy that flows through the living.  Western religions may relate this to include ones soul.  With this said, TheChiLife is a term that I coined to reference the basis to support one’s energy, vitality and youthfulness.  All are signs of the energy within oneself.  I have taken TheChiLife to include the balance of several aspects of my life.  I have mentioned this balance previously in my blog.  However, I will now take the time to talk about some of the physical aspects that support this balance.

What are the signs of youth?

There are several aspects that people speak of when talking of youth.  It may be quotes given when seeing a child playing at full throttle, “I wonder where he gets all of his energy?”  It may also be along the lines of the George Bernard Shaw quote of, “Youth is wasted on the young.”  Or even the vitality of young lovers.  (Just watch an hour of television and you cannot miss seeing an advertisement of products that help support this area.)  And you cannot leave out the general appearance of youth which starts to disappear with graying hair, wrinkled skin and hair loss.

What can you do to maintain these traits?

The first thing that will need to be done is to analyze yourself.  Look at areas that you would like to see differences within your life.  With this always remember to keep balance.  And notice I said where you would like to see differences.  Some changes will be quicker than others, but all are attainable with time.  So let’s cover some of the basic areas that may have disappeared with our maturing.

1. Energy – There are several ways to regain some of our energy.  Exercise should be your first thought.  However, I know, some of us do not have the energy to exercise.  Here is where diet and supplements may help.  And, for those of us who may want to change more in this area than others, you may need to take things slow.  Your body did not get to where you are overnight.  Nor, will it return to where it was overnight.  For instance, a good friend of mine was 60 lbs. overweight, is challenged by diabetes and smoked.   Yes, he could have addressed this by taking diet pills, cut his caloric intake in half, go cold turkey on the smokes and tried exercising to get back into shape.  Let me tell you right now, had that been the case, I would have been one of his pall bearers and that is definitely a position I would not want to be in.  Instead, he took it slower.  To set a good example for his family he cut out the cigarettes.  For the chimney that he was, this was definitely a challenge.  What he did find after a few weeks was some of his energy had returned.  He took advantage of this and started walking and playing tennis with his kids.  (See the balance with self and others?)  His energy continued to return and he started running and cycling in the fitness center.  After about 6 months, you would hardly recognize him.  Some of the weight he had gained after cutting out the cigarettes started falling off.  He was much healthier and younger looking.  Now after a year, he has dropped the 60 lbs.  Looks 10 years younger.  His diet really hasn’t changed much.  He has just changed a few aspects of his lifestyle and started burning the carbs he was storing.  Yes, if you research carbs, you will see that they are what is burned by the body for energy.  He can now keep up with (and ahead of) his kids which the youngest is 11.
2. Vitality – As a person ages, the hormones in the body are produced at a decreasing level.  For instance, men in their 30′s start feeling their testosterone levels decreasing.  For women, hormone levels start decreasing in their late 30′s or early 40′s.  Once again, exercise will help increase these levels.  In men and women both, exercise that build and maintain muscle, as well as, aerobic are key components in maintaining vitality.  However, supplementing the body to help maintain these hormones are also necessary.  Most vitamin shops carry supplements that support these needs in a natural way.  You will also find that some of the supplements that are needed for a man are also needed for a woman to maintain the proper hormone levels.
3. Appearance – The things that are trademarks of the youthful appearance are smooth skin, muscle tone and hair color.  Hair color is the easiest to address with a bottle from the drug or grocery store and I will not cover that aspect here.  Muscle tone is supported by activity and exercise.  I think you will see this as a common theme.  However, skin texture needs to be addressed.  Once again, with exercise comes some of the help here.  Sweating helps purify the skin by removing some of the poisons the body consumes through normal life.  These poisons exit via the sweat glands and other body processes.  However continued support of the skin using collagen supplements and eating foods that offer skin support is best.  These are the same foods that support other aspects of youthfulness.  They provide proper proteins for exercise and have other side benefits, like supporting brain function.  Also, when altering diet, look for balance with fruits and veggies.
   

All three of the above areas are address in a near, mid and long term way.  They are also addressed with balance.

“The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe.” – Deepak Chopra

Toes in the sand…

Wow!  Beautiful day at the beach!  I am spending the week with my family and friends in the Florida Panhandle with the sugar white sands between my toes and views of some of the most beautiful emerald green water in the world.  The weather is great…maybe a little cool, but very comfortable on the beach. The sand was warm.  The sea breeze was a little cooler than most of the days that I have spent on Florida beaches.  It was definitely warmer that the average California beach.  The fresh air that can only be found by the sea helped open my senses.  And, of course, the relaxing sound of the waves splashing gently on the shore.  Ah perfect!

Sitting back with a cool beverage in my hand is giving me an opportunity to reflect back on what has brought me here.  I have always enjoyed the warmer weather, so the beach pretty much is always calling me.  However, camping, boulder hopping, cycling and other outdoor activities have always been part of my life.  Ultimately, to be out in the sun is where I often find my solace.

I have always been a fan of the sun and see it as the symbol that has helped guide me through some of the most challenging times in my life.  As a teenager my best friend found a rather obscure band from Canada called, Klaatu.  On all of their albums they had consistently used two symbols, one of a small mouse and one of a classically drawn sun with a smiling face.  The album covers themselves gave me depth of though, but nothing like the music.  The music really touched me.  Especially, the music on their second album, Hope.  On this album the music is much more orchestraic and I often found myself lost in it.  Interestingly enough, the title song from this album is on the B-side.  This is the song.  At least for me it was the song. As a teenager, I had all of the anxiety that all teenagers suffer.  The anxiety that comes from peer pressure, coming of age, dealing with the changes that come from maturing and relationships.  Within the album and song, Hope, I found my escape and often my answer.  In the song there is a line, “all is lost in one abandoned hope”, that always struck a chord with me.  Whenever I have been met with a challenge that seemed insurmountable, I always return to this line to maintain hope.  Where others have given up, I was always the one that would persist until I found success, this is one thing that has helped distinguish me from others.  It was the power of positive thinking.  This brings me to a quote from Norman Vincent Peale.

Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.                                  – Norman Vincent Peale

Within this quote, you will find the same sentiment as the line from the song that helped guide me.  Ultimately, you will always lose if you give up hope.  And you will often win when you maintain hope even in what seems to be hopeless situations.  Others have found a way to win, follow in their footsteps and you can win, too.

Ah the sun…with the moon, the symbol of balance.  This week was the balance of play to work, self with others, personal time and family…and health with fitness.

So far so good…

It really has been a short time and I am please to find that I have already started seeing results in my life.  That is what it is all about, seeing results and making changes to assure that these results are positive an fit with the plan.  In the short time that I have started adding balance to my life I have seen things becoming a little less chaotic.  On the positive side I have been able to make progress in my work life, personal life and family life.  On the work side, I have added one more certification which addressed a short term goal.  Also, attaining this certification will help in my long term goals of being in line for a promotion at work.  On a personal note, I had my annual check up.  Overall it was positive, but one thing did stand out.  I am showing the signs of a hereditary blood pressure condition.  I have good eating habits and I am not overweight or smoke, so, there is little I can do to change my lifestyle to address this, but I will try.  I will need to add more aerobic activity to my life. On the family side, we have planned a vacation and will be at the beach for a week starting this coming Saturday.  We will be traveling with family friends and this should give me an opportunity to start up a program to address the aforementioned aerobic needs.

So what will I do?

Which aerobic activity?  I really do not like running.  But, I hate how I feel when I don’t.  I like cycling.  But, it really takes time to get the same results as running.  Swimming?  Tennis?  Dancing?  Lot’s of choices out there… Definitely another area where adding balance could come into play.

So looking at this, one activity may lead to monotony and may not fit into my normal schedule.  Looking at the opportunity to add variety may be the best approach.  Running is good and relatively quick.  That’s a definite plus.  I do enjoy cycling.  That will definitely be on the list.  Dancing could also be a nice diversion.  Tennis would give me an opportunity to do something with the whole family.  I am beginning to see some win-win possibilities.

Adding Balance

In my last blog I mentioned that I needed more balance in my life.  I have started planning my life by day, week, month, and foreseeable and distant future.  To add the balance that I need I am considering several categories that best fit my life.  If you choose to take similar steps, you may use this as a model and make necessarily modifications that fit you.  Some of the categories may be different for the different time frames.  They also may be prioritized different by the different time frames.  I am also taking into consideration that some of what I choose to do in the near term may also affect the long term.  So it is good to think of each item within each time frame to understand how they affect each other.  The following is what I am starting with for planning my life.

Near Term (My life over the next month.)
Balance: Family Life -
Balance: Work Life -
Balance: Personal -
Balance: Others -
Balance: Spiritual –

Mid Term (Next month to 1 Year)
Balance: Family -
Balance: Business -
Balance: Self -
Balance: Spiritual -
Balance: Others –

Long Term (Year 2 and long term goals)
Balance: Family -
Balance: Business -
Balance: Self -
Balance: Spiritual -
Balance: Others –

The Beginning

Life is chaotic.  There, I stated the obvious.  When I stepped back and looked at the chaos in my life, I was overwhelmed.  How did it get this way?  What can I do to escape some of the chaos?  There was so much, every time I took action to provide relief in one area, the rest started crashing in on me.  In my work life, the in-box kept getting deeper and the projects more time consuming.  Focusing time here took me away from my family and my responsibilities at home.  Both of these together definitely took me away from the “me” time.  What happened to the guy who would hike, camp, scuba, play in a band and, in general, enjoy life?

One morning when catching up on emails and dealing with phone calls from customers and the TV going in the background there was an interview with Suzy Welch.  The interview was about her book “10-10-10″.  It seemed simple enough.  When making decisions, base your results in different time frames of 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years.  Yes, the times are arbitrary, but the meaning is there.  Make decisions on how the affect your life in the short term, mid term and long term.  Of course there is more to it that that and she covers it in her book.  The decisions need to be made in reference to your own belief systems and moral foundations.  In all, the concept of using this for my basic decision making process has helped.  However, for this to work in my life I need to integrate it into my belief system.

You are doomed to make choices. This is life’s greatest paradox. – Dr. Wayne Dyer

One of the key aspects of my belief system has been “balance.”  What?  Doesn’t this go completely opposite to how this blog started?  Well yes.  And that is part of what was causing stress in my life.  So, to integrate 10-10-10 into my life, I had to make sure that things did not conflict with what I believe is one of the key aspects to my life.  And that key thing is balance.

So taking a step into the “Way Back Machine” to review some of the things that brought me success, I noticed key steps that I took to bring balance.  For instance, yes playing in a band was very cool, but, unless you make it big, will not put a lot of food on the table.  So, I made sure I stayed focused on getting my engineering degree.  When getting my Engineering degree, I minored in Business and Audiology.  So with the band, I had a real degree to fall back on to provide balance.  Within my degree program, I positioned myself to where I could use the business aspect to provide balance.  Audiology, just happened but has provided me with a set of tools for understanding development with my kids.  And, of course, if needed is another set of skills I could fall back on.

So looking a little deeper, there is a balance in life in general.  Some would refer to it as yin and yang.  With day, night.  With good, evil.  Etc.  However, as I apply it to my life, I know that there also needs to have a more basic balance.  With work, play.  With spending time for others, spend time for myself.  With activity, rest.  All looking for a basis to provide good health…mentally, physically and spiritually.

“The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.” – Deepak Chopra