Health Is A DIY Project

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Hey Brothers,

Welcome back to the LenDentonThrive Letter. This is where I write every week about the ThriveLife - my food-first, gym-optional approach to help you lose weight, get fit and stay fit for life!

Do-It-Yourself?

A few days ago, I encountered a reel on Instagram that really made me think.

There’s this ER doctor - in the business of saving lives.

And, he said something really profound. He said: “medicine is downstream from health.” 

Hmm, okay. That made sense to me. 

But it was also a bit unsettling as I thought about it more deeply.

He said that he had lots of tools like medications and procedures and protocols to fix medical problems that he encountered every day. But, none of those tools made his patients healthy!  

They just fixed problems associated with poor health.   

I’d say that most of our doctors are in the same business. They aren’t making us healthy. They’re merely fixing us when our lifestyles lead us to the point where we’re not able to take care of the situations ourselves.

Think obesity, diabetes, heart disease. These conditions eventually lead us to a point where we need medical attention. So, we see a doctor to help us get to a better place. 

Most of our doctors aren’t delivering healthcare. They’re providing sick-care! And, my Instagram ER doctor said it plainly:

“Health is a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Project!”

A Diseased Lifestyle?

Statistically speaking, American men are less healthy than they’ve ever been. Obesity rates are the highest we’ve ever seen. 

Don’t believe me?

Just look around the next time you’re at the store or at your kid’s ball game. I’ll bet most of the dads there are carrying a visible extra 20 or more pounds. The average American guy is 33 pounds heavier today than his grandfather was in 1960!

The #1 cause of death for American men is heart disease. And, we call it a lifestyle disease.

I can relate.

My family has been stalked by heart disease for generations:

• Grandfather - fatal heart attack at age 62

• Father - fatal heart attack at age 35

• Younger brother - fatal heart attack at age 39

• Me - diagnosed with heart disease (high cholesterol) at age 42. (I’m 68 now.)

To put it more accurately, heart disease is actually caused by our diseased lifestyles!  

That diseased lifestyle is a combination of too much of the wrong kinds of foods (ultra-processed foods, fast foods, sugary drinks, etc.) and not enough of the right kinds of exercise. Online fitness influencers focus more on building muscle than avoiding or getting rid of fat. The result has been a looping cycle of failed fitness projects that leave guys with injuries and burnout, but few results.  

Increasingly, guys are considering more drastic measures like GLP-1 injections. (Today, 1 in 8 Americans are using these powerful drugs.) 

The upside of these drugs are some impressive results. 

But the downsides include high cost, potentially big side effects and a life-long committment to the protocol. The bottom line is that GLP-1 drugs will be a good strategy for some, but not all. Your mileage will vary. 

Healthy Habits…Healthy Life

A few years ago, I was living my own version of the diseased lifestyle. Then, at an annual check-up, my doctor told me that I was a poster child for a heart attack or stroke. 

That radically changed my outlook and caused me to make some drastic lifestyle changes that resulted in a 70 pound weight loss in only 7 months. And now, 12 years later, I’m still enjoying the benefits of those changes every day. 

The key to this transformation wasn’t a new fad diet or working at the gym every day with an amazing personal trainer. The changes were small new habits that I could do every day for the rest of my life.  And, I’m still doing them today.

I call this habit-stack “my ThriveLife.” It’s a food-first, gym-optional approach to building a healthy lifestyle. There are no crazy diets, no counting calories, and no grueling workouts. 

If you’re interested in building your own ThriveLife, here are two ways I can help:

1 - Subscribe to this LenDentonThrive Letter for weekly strategies and tips

2 - Join the wait list for my upcoming new book ThriveLife Transformation, where I’ll show you how to build a healthier version of YOU with 6 Smart Daily Habits that you can do in 30 minutes a day. 

To join the waitlist, just reply to this newsletter and say “Sign me up!” I’ll send you an email when the book is available.

Thanks for reading today.

And remember, God loves us. He wants us to THRIVE! Let’s thrive together!

All the best… Len

Healthy dads raise healthy families!

My mission is to help 1 million men raise healthy families for the Kingdom of God. So, I write this newsletter to make a positive impact on the lives of men and their families. If you found this information useful, please consider subscribing to receive new editions each week. And, please share this with friends or family that would benefit from the ThriveLife!

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