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LenDentonThrive Letter #46

Welcome to the LenDentonThrive Letter!

I’m on a mission to help Guys over 50 to build thriving, healthy lifestyles. I call it the ThriveLife!

7 Things I Wish I Knew At 50

If I only knew then what I know now!

As the old saying goes, everybody has 20/20 hindsight! Using my own 20/20 hindsight, I’m going to share 7 things I would tell my 50-year-old self to help me to live a happier and healthier life today.

I’m really excited about my personal fitness journey (my ThriveLife) over the past 10 years. However, I really wish I had started it sooner.

At 50, I thought I had everything pretty much figured out. I had a great job, I traveled the world, and felt like things were generally going my way.

But, as I look back now, I realize that I was all work and no play. I was working too much. Stress had become my constant companion. I was eating poorly, and my weight had started to climb. There was no time for exercise. I was too busy to see my doctor for regular checkups.

At the time, that seemed okay because I was still healthy…sort of. I seldom thought about my family’s bad history of heart problems that had taken out my dad and little brother in their 30s.

By the time I was 55, I was 70 pounds overweight and my cholesterol was quickly becoming a problem. Just before Christmas that year, my doctor radically changed my life when he told me I was a poster child for a heart attack or stroke. That got my attention and radically changed the direction of my life.

So, with all of this as my historical backdrop, here are 7 things I wish I had known at age 50. (By the way, it’s also what I want every guy to know!)

1 - Health Is Your First Wealth - Your health is the single most important thing that you have! Without it, you have nothing to build a successful life on!

Think about your health as a bank account for a moment. Are you making deposits that grow the balance of your health account over time? Or, are you doing what I was doing at 50…making withdrawal after withdrawal, while making very few deposits? What happens when your health account runs low?

What healthy 50-year-old man would trade places with the wealthiest man in the world, if that wealthy guy was on his deathbed? Not a smart move!

Note to 50-Year-Old Self: Make your health a top priority!

2 - Don’t Avoid the Doctor - Going to the doctor for regular check-ups was not a part of ‘man culture’ when I was growing up. Doctors were to be avoided, except when you were really sick.

I wasn’t doing annual checkups.

Now, I know that regular checkups are the key to long-term health. And, it’s better to prevent illness than treat it. Regular check-ups help you find things earlier, when it’s easier to treat them. Find a doctor you can work with, and make them your ThriveLife Partner. I call this my Medical Early Warning System.

You can learn more about the value of having your own medical early warning system, check this out.

Note to 50-Year-Old Self: The key to a long and healthy life is to find problems as soon as possible and treat them early. Get your annual check-ups!

3 - Sleep More - I used to consider it a badge of honor that I was able to operate effectively on 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night.

Today, I realize that every night that I slept less than 7 hours was another withdrawal from my health account.

We have learned so much about the importance of sleep over the past 10-15 years. We now better understand the role that sleep plays in our brain’s healthy functions, including avoiding nasty diseases like Alzheimer’s. We know that a lack of sleep lowers our effective IQ and raises the level of inflammation in our bodies. Furthermore, we now also know that lack of sleep causes our bodies to retain excess weight.

Getting 7 or more hours of sleep per night is my #1 health and fitness goal this year.

You can learn more about the importance of sleep here.

Note to 50-Year-Old Self: Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night!

4 - Eat Smarter - I wasn’t eating a healthy diet back in the day. Instead, I was eating what I now call the Standard American Diet (aka S.A.D.).

The S.A.D. is basically the product of Big (corporate) Food in America. It’s one of the major reasons why the obesity rate among men over-50 is skyrocketing.

Most of the foods we eat today are highly engineered and highly processed. They are engineered to be inexpensive and addictive. Often, these foods are filled with hidden sugars and sweeteners that actually engage the pleasure centers of your brain to cause you to want more of those foods. (That’s the definition of addictive.)

Another problem related to our eating habits is portion size. America has super-sized everything from french fries to fountain drinks to restaurant servings.

The result of these two factors is an explosion in the number of calories we consume. Most guys have no idea how many calories they are consuming daily.

I wish I’d understood this earlier. I didn’t think I was purposely over-eating, but over time the pounds began to pile on. It was only after I learned how to avoid the worst foods and actively control my caloric intake that I was able to return to a healthy weight.

Eating smarter is more important than just eating less. The key was to avoid the highly engineered and processed stuff that comes with our favorite “boxes and brands.”

You can learn more about the science of Eating Smarter here.

Note to 50-Year-Old Self: Eat smarter by choosing better foods.

5 - Move more - At age 50, regular, consistent exercise was not a part of my everyday routine. I was too busy to make it a priority.

Today, I understand the importance of exercise in creating and maintaining a fit and healthy life. Cardio exercise is an essential first element in developing and maintaining good cardiovascular health. It is also the best way to develop a calorie deficit which is essential for effective weight loss. Over-50 Guys need more cardio exercise, not less.

You can learn more about the powerful effects of Moving Smarter here.

Note to 50-Year-old Self: Get some cardio (preferably 30 minutes) every day!

6- Get Stronger - I am not a weight lifter. I have friends who are, but it has never appealed to me. However, strength training has been shown to be essential for helping Over-50 Guys to achieve and maintain their health as they age. Research has shown that men with higher muscle mass tend to live longer and healthier lives. This is because strength training increases muscle mass, which tends to improve bone density, increases testosterone, and the production of stem cells.

Strength training also helps to improve cognitive ability as men age. The more we learn about strength training, the more important it becomes. Especially for Over-50 Guys.

Today, I am building strength through bodyweight exercises.

You can learn more about the powerful effects of strength training here.

Note to 50-Year-Old Self: Pump the iron, do the push-ups, or do both. Get stronger!

7 - De-Stress - At age 50, I was a stress-a-holic! I prided myself in being able to take on the most stressful assignments.

But now, I know that stress has consequences. And, excessive stress often comes with even bigger consequences.

Our bodies have both a mental and anatomical response to stress. Our minds may feel burdened or overwhelmed at times of stress, but our bodies react as well.

Stress causes our bodies to release cortisol, a hormone related to our fight-or-flight response. High levels of cortisol can cause inflammation in the body, which can lead to illness. Cortisol can also impact our ability to sleep and causes the body to retain fat.

We all have stress in our lives. However, it’s important to understand that excessive stress is bad for our overall health. I suggest two ways to deal with stress as we go through our daily routines:

1. Avoid excessive stress wherever possible. Remember that stress has consequences. So, if you don’t need to take on more stress - don’t.

2. Develop a way to de-stress yourself on a regular basis. That might look like some form of mindfulness. It could also be a hobby that allows you to decompress from the routine stresses of daily life. For me, long walks are the best form of stress relief.

Note to my 50-Year-Old Self: De-stress by recognizing the harmful effects of stress and developing methods to counter it.

In Closing

Wisdom is when one man’s hindsight becomes another man’s foresight. So, learn from my mistakes to build a fit, healthy, and long life… your ThriveLife.

And remember:

• Health is your first wealth

• Don’t avoid your doctor

• Get more sleep

• Eat smarter

• Move more

• Get stronger

• De-stress

And, here’s a bonus thought:

The best time to get healthy was 5 years ago. The second best time is now!

Smarter… not harder.

See you next week.

How Am I Doing?

Thanks for reading this week!

I write this newsletter hoping to make a positive impact on the lives of Over-50 Guys and and their families. If you found this information useful, please consider subscribing to receive new editions each week.

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