Cold therapy while chopping wood in the winter.
Combining technology with old school principles
Being alive is not living…longevity with vitality instead of a sickly existence
Unless one is healthy or taking steps to improve one’s health. It is a wonder to me how there are so many people still smoking and practicing unhealthy behaviors.
From poor food choices and uncaring attitudes and living for the moment. I am struck daily by the litter on the waterfronts that I frequent. The noise pollution of drivers speeding with ultra loud exhausts. I am constantly reminded of the American indian tearing up in that early 70’s commercial. But I digress.
People are living longer, while in poor health. Technology has enabled a pathetic existence with medications and artificial methods to sustain life but not quality. Technology has also given us the tools and knowledge to thrive naturally. We now know better and what we need to be doing for life extension. I don’t mean extension for the sake of it, but quality of life longer. In my opinion, what good is living if ones physical and mental being has been ravaged by the deleterious effects of food and lifestyle choices?
I know by experience. After several painful years of limping and enduring a degenerate hip, I decided to take the plunge and get the offensive joint replaced. I trained hard during the months leading up to the operation and made myself as healthy as I could with the resources that I had at the time. From colostrum to bike riding and one-leg squats, I made sure I was ready. My point here is that it took some amazing technology combined with my own combination of old school and new school knowledge to reach that level of success by regaining lost muscle and getting back in the longevity game. Walking now gives me one of the greatest pleasures I have ever known.
I have long been passionate about eating period. I feel fortunate in that. I have learned much about my body in 60 years of life and realize I will never stop learning about nutrition and health. What works for me now may not work in 5 years, so I have to keep adjusting and learning.
Thirty years ago, I wasn’t much concerned with longevity and had not the foresight of how my body would hold up for the future. I was into food and eating but from a fuel, taste, and curiosity standpoint. I wasn’t a junk food type, but I also lacked the education and knowledge to make better food choices. I mostly followed mainstream nutrition guidelines. In my body-building phase while in college, I subsisted on canned chicken breast and wheat germ. Had I continued on that route, I don’t think I would have had the same outcome.
Technology and the natural way
You might call me an anti-aging activist but I am more an anti-crappy-aging activist. I am thankful for having found my way into the nutrition and fitness business and to be able to become aware of what really matters when it comes to living longer.
I am a longtime lover of technology and ongoing new discoveries in science, but when it comes to food, I enthusiastically go the natural route. I’m not a fan of artificial food of any type, including protein bars. I believe they have their place as an emergency or backup form of getting nutrients, but not for daily consumption.
I believe that by combining technology with eating, we get the best of both worlds. What I mean by this is utilizing the research on food and applying it to a healthful diet. We now know that we need certain amounts of vitamins and minerals to thrive. I would rather find out what foods have those certain nutrients and eat that, as opposed to taking in supplement form. Yes, technology allows us to reproduce almost anything in nature, but I argue, not exactly, as technology can be double-edged when it comes to food.
Supplements can be created with proper daily amounts of micronutrients, but they may not occur in nature together, so this is not an exact science. Natural or whole foods, if grown or raised in favorable conditions, will contain the natural balance of micronutrients necessary for a good life.
I like a weight-room as much as I like hiking in the woods and picking up stones and logs. I like pressure-cooking bones and animal joints with a modern Instant Pot. I like my titanium and ceramic hip joint so I can walk around and shoot animals with my stick bow.
Use technology as a tool to assist in your own personal program of wellness for longevity and vitality.
How this post was born
I was introduced to 1729.com from a Tim Ferris podcast. This is one of the longest I have listened to and one that I couldn’t help but listen to. I have since listened to it twice and going for a third. That is how interested I am in it.
In this particular podcast, Tim interviews Balaji S. Srinivasan and in a segment, Balaji mentions that he put together a project that pays people to write about health and longevity on their own private newsletter and domain. I immediately jumped on this for the main reason that I wanted to write a post on this subject that I am so passionate about.
The description of this project contained terms and words like reverse aging, life extension, These terms have a great appeal to me as a wellness person. I embrace modern technology and ancestral practices equally.
