Wellness

[phoenixbrd]

I am so sorry @SilleeMee.  You are facing great challenges.  I would hope that how you care for yourself would assuage some of the pain.  Will Tuttle speaks about environmental issues and compassion for all sentient beings...he has taught me so much about kindness (I have taken workshops with him).  Not all of the presenters at this conference are just about the food.  I respect you and always learn from your posts.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  Much peace.

[Nonametoday]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

I already have an incurable disease. Nothing I do today, or tomorrow, will change anything about that.

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@SilleeMee   We just do the best we can with the information at hand, enjoy each day that we are functional and try not to be pessimistic. 

My DH is in very, very poor health and this old zebra has many stripes herself.  Yet, we have done the best we could through the years.  He was an athlete who never did steroids or lived the high life.  He was probably more Tim Tebow in his lifestyle than Babe Ruth.  When the grim reaper comes knocking, sickle in hand, there is no turning back and no way anything you do or wish did, can or will change things.  My husband has his mother's health exactly.  He has lived longer than she because of technology and advances in Medicine but he inherited her health genes.  I inherited my father's.  It is what it is.

[gardenman]

I think life is meant to be lived. Enjoy good food, good friends, and don't deprive yourself of the things you love. Use moderation and common sense, but we're all destined to die. There is no "get out of death" free card in the game of life. You can do everything right and die early. You can do everything wrong and live to be a hundred.

Genes play a big role, maybe the biggest role, but no matter what happens, we'll all die. I've had the opportunity (maybe misfortune?) to spend a lot of time in and around nursing homes where you see "healthy" older people who are just more or less warehoused until they die. Some people outlive their mind, losing it to dementia. Some outlive their family leaving them alone with no one to care for them. 

I tend to think of death as our destination and our life is the route we took to get there. You can have fun on the trip and enjoy yourself, or you can make unnecessary sacrifices and endure hardships hoping to slow your arrival, (which may or may not work) but you still get to the same place.

Some people have developed an almost religious belief that they'll outlive us all because of the way they eat and take care of themselves. They may envision themselves being on TV as a 110-year-old resident of a nursing home at some point and be very proud of themselves for outliving everyone else. Kudos to them if that's their goal, but me, I know how tenuous life can be. I nearly died three or four times in my twenties. I'm one of the few hemophiliacs who survived both the HIV scare and the CJD scare. I prefer to enjoy my life and have some fun.

In keeping with the trip analogy, I'd rather stop in every theme park, amusement park, fast food joint (or fine restaurant if that's your preference) and have fun on the trip to death.  I may very well beat some of the "healthier" people there, but I'll have a lot more fun on the way and we'll all end up in the same place at the end. It's all about the trip. I don't do crazy stuff like sky-diving, or risk my life unnecessarily, but I tend to eat what I crave, and enjoy myself. There's no gold medal at the end of life for outliving everyone else. There's loneliness and emptiness, but no gold medal. Me, I opt to have fun and enjoy myself on the trip to death. Whatever you choose is up to you, but there is no right or wrong. Will I die sooner than I could have? Probably. But, given the choice between that and being warehoused in a facility until I die, I'll take the earlier death. I'm certainly not planning to be the oldest person who ever lived.

[jubilant]

Every time you turn around there is yet another new diet coming out or another miracle herb that has great promise. I am not against trying new things but, at some point,  I got weary of it all.

My goal is to try to feel good in the time I have. I have many relatives that lived from 84 to 95 yrs. old.  They ate anything they wanted pretty much.  Even with all the toxin's in the air, toxic ingredients in their perfumes, toxic spraying of farm fields, a bowl of ice cream every day, lard, toxic dyes in their haircolor, lead in the paint, and I could go on and on. Go figure! Not that we shouldn't be concerned with these things....but we need to acknowledge that it's not just that.  Frankly, I think the media has us so concentrated on our bodies and living a longer life that we are probably dying from stress more than anything.  It literally keeps our minds on ourselves way too much and  that.......  in my opinion, is a big part of the problem.         

[geezerette]

@gardenman 

👍

[Icegoddess]

@gardenman I agree, although I don't think it should all be about the enjoyment of life.  Some of it has to do with finding a purpose.  But, what good does it really do us to outlive all our peers if we are miserable.  And yes, many of those who do outlive their peers are lonely.  My father died at 84 and after his lady friend died I remember him once telling me about being lonely. And then, a couple in my Sunday School class had a parent die who was in his 90's the other day.  The wife remains and she is totally lost and unable to care for herself.  All their friends had died and there's none left to even come to his funeral. 

While I will take supplements and try to eat how I consider is healthy most of the time, it's just about trying to have the best quality of life now. Who knows how much time I have left.  I'm planning financially for a long time, but not counting on it.  

Not going to spend my life eating food I don't like or approximations of the food I like.  Why is it there is such a clamor for plant based burgers?  Just like with the low carb craze where people are always searching for bread substitutes.  Just eat a little of both.  

[QueenDanceALot]

I won't, but really only because I have heard all of these people speak, and have read lots of what they've written, and unless there was something new and earthshaking to hear I don't want to spend the time.

I really tend to agree with @gardenman , that life is to be lived.  The one caveat for me would be to live that life with the least amount of suffering caused to other beings, both human and beast.

There is much more to health and well being than what we choose to put in our bodies.  There is a recurring message on this board from some that health and well being is all about the food.  It's not.  People are weary of hearing that it is.

P.S.  And don't take this to mean that we should just trash our bodies and eat whatever and not take care of ourselves (I help people take care of their bodies every day for a living because I believe in the benefits!), but we need to understand that holistic health is about more than food.  Which I think you, @phoenixbrd , do understand.

[goldensrbest]

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

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@goldensrbest wrote:

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

I have always been so positive about taking care of my health....diet, supplements, lifestyle.   But I have come to the conclusion that really no matter WHAT positive things you do....if the Grim Reaper is going to come for you...NOTHING is going to save you.  When your time is up.....it is over. 

just enjoy your life for as long as can healthy....

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How are you and hubby doing?

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@goldensrbest   You see how jaded I have become😶... 

Thanks for asking how we are Goldensrbest.   I think DH and I are still in the denial mode..we do not talk about it....too hard to...  there is like this empty place in the house....in our routine....  something is missing.   I still talk to Her. Tell her I love her....I miss her.... I can not imagine such a special soul is just GONE....she has to be still some kind of energy here. She was pure love, nothing less.🙁. I hope she gives me a sign so I can move on.

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I hope she does also,it just hurts so much to lose them,they are such a huge part of our lives,i honestly do not think i could do without their love,and championship.

[QueenDanceALot]

@SeaMaiden 

I am so sorry for your loss.  I didn't know and I hope I'm not presuming incorrectly, but it sounds like you lost your dog.  I know how painful that loss is and my heart goes out to you and your husband.

[haddon9]

@gardenman   Wonderful post & so true! It's all how you look at life.

My mother is 93 and her close friend just passed away last week.  All of her friends have either now passed or moved on to assisted living.  Being in your 90s to me really isn't so great unless you have a good social support system.  Mom is down in Fl and refuses to move up here where I am in PA.  She has aides or paid companions for support but it's not the same as being independent and having friends & family close by.

I would rather enjoy what I can in the here and now rather than hoping to live a very long time.  When an opportunity to do something that I've been wanting to do comes along as long as it seems reasonably safe I go for it.  I have friends who can be too cautious...they are waiting to go on that special trip because they think that they have a lot of time to do it in the future.  Once you're of a certain age the future is a lot shorter than it was and time certainly goes by faster.  Enjoy life!....within reason of course.