Part II - 12 Secrets to Health and Longevity: Keys to Good Nutrition and to Eating Healthy

Here is Part II of the 12 secrets to health and longevity. In case you missed Part I, I'll repeat the introductory question and comments.

Question: What would I say if someone asked me what they had to do to live a long and healthy life?

Answer: I'd say, "Do you want the short answer or the long answer?"

Here's my short answer...
Listen, know, and understand that there are keys of knowledge that will help you unlock the secrets to a long and healthy life.

These keys to good nutrition and to healthy eating will open a whole new world of health, life, and vitality to you. I believe you were created by God and destined to live a life of health and prosperity.

5. GIVE YOUR BODY THE REST IT NEEDS TO REJUVENATE ITSELF

Get 8 or 9 hours of sleep a night, and make sure to go to bed by 10 pm. Take a short power nap when you can. Learn how to manage stress and to take better care of your body. Give your body the Sabbath day of rest your Creator made for your rejuvenation from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. The seventh day of the week was created to be a day of rest for mankind. It was made for man to relax and rest, to take a mental and physical break from his work, and to connect with his Creator in a special way. This is a great day to spend more time alone with God, and to spend special time with your family and friends.

6. FAST FROM FOOD ONCE A WEEK

Learn the extremely healthy habit of therapeutic fasting. One day a week fast from all food and just drink natural spring water. This will give your body the time and rest it needs to purge itself of toxins and heal itself. Once or twice a year go on a longer juice fast of 7-21 days for a greater detoxification process and more thorough healing process. Fasting is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body, so make it a regular part of your life and enjoy the health benefits.

7. EXERCISE DAILY

Daily exercise is a very important part of reducing stress in your body and mind. It also helps to keep your muscles strong and flexible. In addition, daily exercise will help keep you regular. One of the best things you can do to exercise is to take a 30-60 minute power walk outside in the fresh air and in the sunlight. Remember to also practice deep breathing exercises to increase the oxygen in your lungs and body. Do vigorous aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Lift weights every other day to increase and maintain your muscles (strength training). Use a "rebounder" (mini-trampoline) for 5-10 minutes a day. And finally, be sure to enjoy the pleasure of vigorous sex (aka - sexercise) with your spouse daily. It's great for your health and your relationship, and it's a gift of God to enjoy.

8. KEEP YOUR INTESTINES CLEAN WITH FIBER & REGULAR BOWEL MOVEMENTS

Constipation is dangerous to your health and can lead to all kinds of health problems. It is a huge problem in America, and it is very much a result of eating the standard American diet of highly processed and refined foods made with things like white flour, white sugar, refined salt, high-fructose corn syrup, processed meats, fast food, junk food, etc. Most Americans don't eat enough vegetables and fruit in their diet, and therefore they do not get enough fiber in their intestinal tract. Some of the most prominent nutritionists and doctors believe that most illnesses can be traced back to the intestines and constipation. Make it a habit to eat plenty of high fiber vegetables, fruits, seeds, grains, and nuts to keep yourself regular. Do plenty of exercise and drink lots of natural water. For more information on fiber, keeping your colon clean, and regular bowel movements, see my blog on September 22, 2007.

Add the Keys of EXERCISE & DEEP BREATHING to Eating Healthy & Good Nutrition

Daily Quote: "Exercise helps you lose and control weight in two ways. First, by elevating your metabolism you burn more calories. Second, by building muscle - which requires more energy to maintain - you use even more calories. Exercising promotes better elimination and circulation that helps body cleansing!" - Paul Bragg

"Breathing deeply, fully and completely energizes the body, calms the nerves, fills you with peace, and helps keep you youthful." - Paul Bragg

A very important part of a healthy lifestyle is to exercise your body consistently and to practice deep breathing. These keys are in addition, of course, to good nutrition and eating healthy. Let me emphasize that the starting point to improving your health and losing unhealthy weight is to start eating healthy live organic whole food and to stop eating denatured, packaged, unhealthy dead processed man-made "foods" which are loaded with toxins, unhealthy fats, sugars, salt, and excit0-toxins. In other words, first focus on creating a healthy nutritious diet that will sustain your body and give it the nutrition it needs to function properly, and then, add healthy daily exercise and deep breathing.

A few years ago when I was trying to improve my health and lose weight, I first completely transformed my diet and eating habits. I quickly started losing weight and enjoying better health. However, my weight loss slowly came to a standstill after losing about 15 pounds. I couldn't figure out why until I realized that I wasn't exercising.

As soon as I started daily exercising, something changed in my body and I began to continue to lose more weight. I believe now that "something" was my metabolism changing from a slowed down metabolism to a higher metabolism. In other words, because I had added regular exercise to my body and routine, my metabolism sped up and adjusted itself in order to burn fat more efficiently and to stop storing fat as it had been. This one change made a huge impact on my weight loss and my personal fitness. I not only lost another 10-12 pounds, but I became more physically fit.

Regular exercise can benefit your body in many ways. First, exercise helps break up stress and tension and helps release it from the body. Stress is negative energy that wears down your body, but exercise allows it to leave the body. Second, exercise increases oxygen to the cells, which is necessary for life and vitality. Third, exercise stimulates every cell in the body in order to help eliminate toxic waste. Every cell produces its own toxic waste, and every cell needs stimulation to eliminate that toxic waste and remain healthy. Fourth, exercise increases the movement of lymph fluid in the body, which is an important factor in the process of elimination of toxins. Most people's lymphatic systems are dangerously sluggish and clogged, and moving the body through exercise helps to start moving the lymph fluid. Fifth, exercise opens the channels in the body to help the electromagnetic energy to flow freely and unhindered. This energy gives life to the body's cells, but it must not be blocked or congested in order for it to flow freely through the body to do its job of energizing the body's cells.

5-STEP EXERCISE ROUTINE FOR FITNESS & WEIGHT LOSS

I would like to share with you the 5-step exercise routine that I used to help me get over the hump and lose even more weight, as well as to become more physically fit. I encourage you to follow my example and start implementing a daily exercise routing including these 5 steps. One of the keys to my exercise routine was to include both aerobic and anaerobic exercise on a consistent daily basis.

One of the main reasons why I had gained weight was that my metabolism had slowed down. When I was younger, I could eat almost anything without gaining weight because I had a fast metabolism. However, once I got into my forties, my metabolism really slowed down and I started gaining quite a bit of weight because I was not eating the right kinds of food and I wasn't exercising. There are certain glands and organs in the body (such as the thyroid, pancreas, liver, stomach, small & large intestines, and colon) that regulate how well the body burns food for fuel and how it also converts food into stored fat. When some of these glands and organs are clogged or sluggish or not functioning properly, a person's metabolism slows down and starts converting more and more food into fat instead of fuel.

What are the two biggest reasons for a slow metabolism?

The first major cause of a slow metabolism is the amount of toxins you are putting into your body. Most of these toxins enter your body through what you eat and drink, in other words, through an unhealthy diet. These toxins include artificial food additives, chemical residues used in growing food that are transfered to your body, artificial sweeteners like aspartame and excito-toxins like MSG, prescription & non-prescription drugs, as well as toxins in the water supply such as fluoride & chlorine. These toxins cause your metabolism to slow down, which in turn causes your body to store your food energy as fat.

The second major cause of a slow metabolism is a low amount of muscle in your body and a lack of regular walking exercise. The more muscle your body has, the higher your metabolism will be. Unfortunately, most Americans have an abnormally low amount of muscles in their bodies, which means that they don't burn calories as efficiently as they could. Also, a lack of walking exercise significantly lowers a person's metabolism. The human body is designed to walk, and when a person stops walking on a daily basis, their metabolism adjusts and begins to slow down.

STEP I - Take a swift "POWER WALK" every day in the sunshine for 30-60 minutes. Your body was designed to walk. Walking every day will help make you thin and keep you thin because it gives your body the kind of exercise it needs, and because it will help to readjust your metabolism by speeding it up to burn fat more efficiently and to stop storing energy fuel as fat. The common denominator of thin, lean people all over the world is that they walk over 5 miles a day, whereas the typical American walks only one tenth of a mile a day. Remember, don't just go for a slow casual "stroll" through the park. A power walk means that you are to walk swiftly with exertion so that your heart and lungs have to work harder. If you want to, you may combine walking with some jogging. I would recommend that you use your 30-60 minutes of walking time to pray, or to meditate, or to listen to inspiring music on your iPod. After you get in the habit of taking your daily power walk, your body will crave this activity and you will look forward to it every day. It won't be a drudgery, but rather a joy and pleasure. Oh, I almost forgot. Don't do your power walk on busy streets that are filled with toxic poisonous gases from cars, buses, and trucks. Find a peaceful, quiet place like a local park where you can breathe in fresh, clean air.

STEP II - Practice DEEP BREATHING EXERCISES to increase the oxygen in your lungs and body. Most people don't breathe deeply enough to stimulate their metabolism and fat burning capabilities. You can do this throughout your day, but make sure to do this especially while you are out taking your power walk. Learn to start breathing in very deeply, from your belly, up through your lungs, filling your lungs with more and more oxygen. I'm normally a very shallow breather; however, by practicing deep breathing exercises, I have been able to increase the amount of oxygen in my lungs, which has had an effect on my whole body. I would recommend that you practice breathing deeply throughout your day. Write on a small index card the words, "Breathe deeply," and tape it in front of your desk or computer and in your car as an hourly reminder.



STEP III - LIFT SMALL WEIGHTS every other day to increase your muscle strength. Get a set of 3 pound or 5 pound weights to start out with. After several months, you can increase the weight from 3 to 5 pounds, or from 5 to 10 pounds. Develop some simple lifting routines to work your various upper body muscles. Keep a record of how many repetitions you do, and then try to increase that every day. When I first started doing this, I actually combined my small weight lifting routine with a small stepper so that I was working my lower body as well. You can find a small stepper machine at your local sporting goods store. It's a small 1 foot by 1 foot machine that you stand on and step up and down on. It has small hydraulic pumps that create resistance so that it gives you the feeling that you're climbing stairs. I recommend that you do this along with your weight lifting routine so that you're exercising both your upper and lower body. Start slowly lifting weights every other day for about 10 minutes, and then increase that time slowly until you're doing this for 20-30 minutes a day. Remember, only lift weights every other day, not every day because your muscles need time to rest and rebuild themselves. You'll be amazed at the difference 20 minutes a day of small weight lifting will do for your body.



STEP IV - Use a "REBOUNDER" for 5-10 minutes a day. A rebounder is a mini-trampoline about 4 feet in diameter, on which you gently bounce up and down. Doing this allows you to stimulate and strengthen every cell in your body simultaneously, stimulate your lymphatic system, and increase your metabolism. It is also very effective for weight loss.

STEP V - SEXERCISE daily. Enjoy the pleasure of vigorous sex with your spouse daily. Incorporate sexercise into your daily romantic workout, but don't let it become routine. Keep it creative and diversified. Various studies have shown that vigorous daily sex burns fat and improves your health. If you don't believe me, try it. It's fun, it's free, and it feels fantastic!