Reading time: approx: 10 minutes

LenDentonThrive Letter #8

7 Things I’d Tell My 50-Year-Old Self

Happy Saturday! I’m Len Denton, and I’m glad you’re here!

Have you ever wished you could go back in time in order to change the future? In this week's edition of the newsletter, we're going to do just that with 7 things that I would tell my 50-year-old self.

But first, here’s a quick overview of this week’s edition of the LenDentonThrive Letter:

• The Big Idea - This week, we'll look at 7 things I wish I'd known when I was 50, and how that would have changed my life for the better.

• Tip of the Week - This week, I’ll share a quick idea on how you can overcome negative thoughts to jumpstart your efforts to build a ThriveLife of your own.

• What I’m Eating - a quick look at a typical ThriveAge-compatible meal or snack. (Warning - non-professional food photos below!)

• What I’m reading - I’ll share two useful news items that you can benefit from!

I’m really glad that you’re here! We have a lot to cover in ten minutes or less, so let’s get started!

1. The Big Idea - 7 Things I’d Tell My 50-Year-Old Self

Wouldn't it be great if we could go back into our past to tell our younger selves something important that would change our life for the better in the present? Things like buying Amazon stock in 2001! (It was $0.54 a share!)

As the old saying goes, everybody has 20/20 hindsight!

In this edition, I'll use my own 20/20 hindsight to share 7 things I would tell my 50-year-old self that would have helped me to live a happier and healthier life today. I’m really excited about my personal fitness journey (my ThriveLife) over the past 9 years. However, I really wish I would have started it sooner.

At 50, I thought I had everything pretty much figured out. I had a well-paying 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 little time for exercise. I was too busy to take the time 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 - Your First Wealth is Health - 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 one!

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 it’s better to prevent illness than to treat it. Regular check-ups help you find things earlier, when it’s easier to treat them.

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 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 has 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.

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 SAD).

The SAD 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 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 actually consuming on a daily basis.

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 “boxes and brands.”

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.

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 lots of 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 body weight exercises.

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.

Summary

So, those are 7 things that I wish I could have told my 50-year-old self. Having this knowledge then would have led me to start on a healthier path much earlier than I did.

Hopefully, you can learn from my 20/20 hindsight.

The key thing to remember is this:

The best time to start your ThriveLife journey was ___ years ago. (You get to fill in that blank.)

The second best time to do it is TODAY!

Whether you are in your 50s, 60s, or beyond, NOW is the best time to start your journey to the ThriveLife!

Want to Go Deeper?

Do you want to dive deeper into ThriveAge and what it can do in your life? If that sounds like a smart move for you, then consider subscribing to the LenDentonThrive Letter. It’s totally free!

As a bonus, new subscribers will receive a free .pdf version of Chapter 1 of my upcoming new book, The ThriveAge Way (The Over-50 Way To Lose Weight, Get Fit & Stay Fit For Life).

ThriveAge is the roadmap to your custom-built ThriveLife!

2. Tip of the Week: Two Simple Ideas

This week, I’m sharing two simple ideas that can help you to overcome whatever barriers might be keeping you from experiencing your own ThriveLife.

Idea #1 - Start with Your Why! - Give some thought to why becoming healthier and fitter would be good for you and yours. Maybe it’s so you can live better or longer. Perhaps it’s so you can achieve something on your bucket list.

For me, I did it so I could be there for my family to experience the fullness of life in the years to come.

Every guy will likely have a different why. What’s yours?

Idea #2 - Fitness is Behavior - There’s nothing magical about getting healthy and fit. Whatever your current state of health and fitness is, it’s the result of behaviors that you’ve been using over the last few years.

So, becoming healthier is simply a matter of choosing different behaviors for a healthier future. It’s that simple. Small changes can lead to big improvements over time. The key is to start!

3. What I’m Eating

ThriveAge is a food-first approach to health and fitness. I call it '“fitness for food lovers!” So, each week I’ll be giving you a quick insight into one of my typical meals. No crazy diets, just real food.

This week’s entry is an example of how to eat smarter at snack time.

One of my favorite snacks is tortilla chips and dips. But, corn tortilla chips are a Yellow Zone food (with a moderate glycemic index). Most commercially-produced dips are Yellow or Red Zone foods.

For a healthy alternative, try black bean chips, such as Beanito’s. They are a tasty Green Zone food (with a low glycemic index). And, by pairing these chips with Green Zone dips like hummus or salsa, you get a healthier way to enjoy this go-to snack!

Check it out for yourself!

Here’s the break-down:

• 13 Beanito’s chips (or more…) (1 Green)

• ½ cup of hummus (1 Green)

• ½ cup of salsa (1 Green)

This is a total of about 300 calories. But, more important to ThriveAgers, this is a 3 Greens, 0 Yellows, and 0 Reds snack with a FoodIQ of 300. It’s another perfect ThriveAge snack.

Enjoy!

4. What I’m Reading

Here is some “news you can use” from this week’s reading stack. I hope you find these two items to be useful:

1. In keeping with this week’s 7’s theme, here’s an article from Eat This - Not That showing 7 effective body-weight exercises that help you build strength without equipment.

   https://www.eatthis.com/exercises-for-men-build-strength-without-equipment/

2. Viagra Reduces Heart Attack Risk??

   This interesting article from the New York Post discusses a recent study performed by the University of Southern California that found that men taking Viagra were 25% less likely to suffer early death.

   https://nypost.com/2023/01/18/men-who-use-viagra-are-25-less-likely-to-suffer-early-death-usc-study/

I’m Writing A Book!

I’m a busy Over-50 Guy who has spent the past ten years building a practice of personal health and fitness that relies on real food and smart exercise instead of crazy diets and killer workouts. This process, called ThriveAge, helped me to lose 70 pounds and keep it off for going on ten years. Now, I want to share what I have learned with other Over-50 Guys. So, I wrote the book!

In The ThriveAge Way (The Over-50 Way To Lose Weight, Get Fit & Stay Fit For Life), I share everything I’ve learned about the principles and practices necessary to create and sustain a healthy lifestyle. I call it my ThriveLife.

New subscribers to the LenDentonThrive Letter will receive Chapter 1 of my new book for free. To get your free copy of Chapter 1, just subscribe to the LenDentonThrive Letter.

Upcoming Topics

Here’s a quick look at some of the topics I’m working on for upcoming editions of the newsletter.

• Ten Years into the ThriveLife

• ThriveLife - What It Is, And How To Get There

• The Sleep Edition

• Develop a Longevity Mindset to Add Years to Your Life

Thanks for your time and attention. Have a great weekend. See you next Saturday!

Thrive & Prosper,

Len

Hey, Before You Go…

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See you next Saturday!