The Top Ten Health Concerns of Baby Boomers

SoCalMasters_rotatorScripps.org has published the top ten health concerns of baby boomers; concerns that will come as no surprise to anyone.

https://www.scripps.org/news_items/4623-top-10-health-concerns-of-baby-boomers

1[ Type 2 diabetes

2] Cardiovascular disease

3] Cancer

4] Depression

5] Eye problems

6] Alzheimer’s disease

7] Arthritis and Joint replacement

8] Osteoporosis

9] Flu/pneumonia

10] “Sandwich generation” stress

~~~

Okay, so now that we know what we already knew, let’s take a closer look at each of these with a more critical eye [eye problems, notwithstanding]:

1] Type 2 diabetes

From Mayo Clinic:

Researchers don’t fully understand why some people develop type 2 diabetes and others don’t. It’s clear, however, that certain factors increase the risk, including:

a] Weight. Being overweight is a primary risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The more fatty tissue you have, the more resistant your cells become to insulin. However, you don’t have to be overweight to develop type 2 diabetes.

b] Fat distribution. If your body stores fat primarily in your abdomen, your risk of type 2 diabetes is greater than if your body stores fat elsewhere, such as your hips and thighs.

c] Inactivity. The less active you are, the greater your risk of type 2 diabetes. Physical activity helps you control your weight, uses up glucose as energy and makes your cells more sensitive to insulin.

d] Family history. The risk of type 2 diabetes increases if your parent or sibling has type 2 diabetes.

e] Race. Although it’s unclear why, people of certain races — including blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Asian-Americans — are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than whites are.

f] Age. The risk of type 2 diabetes increases as you get older, especially after age 45. That’s probably because people tend to exercise less, lose muscle mass and gain weight as they age. But type 2 diabetes is also increasing dramatically among children, adolescents and younger adults.

g] Prediabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar level is higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. Left untreated, pre-diabetes can progress to type 2 diabetes.

h] Gestational diabetes. If you developed gestational diabetes when you were pregnant, your risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases. If you gave birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds (4 kilograms), you’re also at risk of type 2 diabetes.

i] Polycystic ovary syndrome. For women, having polycystic ovary syndrome — a common condition characterized by irregular menstrual periods, excess hair growth and obesity — increases the risk of diabetes.

 

SUMMARY

What you need to take away from all of this is that while genetics play a major role in your destiny, lifestyle changes are just as important.

So basically, eat right and stay in shape. The rest is up to mother nature.

 

2] Cardiovascular disease

It may surprise you to know that depression plays a major role in cardiovascular disease.

The twist here is that exercise tends to mitigate the effects of depression, so you might want to consider getting off your butts and into the gym for reasons you didn’t consider but better learn before there’s nothing left to learn.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150731/IUPUI-researchers-receive-NIH-grant-to-study-effect-of-depression-treatment-on-cardiovascular-disease.aspx

 

SUMMARY

“In previous studies, we have found intriguing positive evidence that managing depression lowers risk of future heart attacks and strokes,” said Stewart, associate professor of psychology and an affiliated scientist of the IU Center for Aging Research. “With this new NIH-funded clinical trial, we hope to confirm that treatment of depression is cardio-protective, lowering the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.”

 

3] Cancer

Genetics are again the major factor in determining the likelihood of contracting cancer.

And again, the environmental culprits line up like dominoes – all the usual suspects we need to memorize.

a] Tobacco is attributed to 1/3rd of all cancer deaths in the United States each year. Keith Richards, however, is apparently immune to everything that kills other human beings so do not use him as an enabler.

b] Sunburns are something all of us have experienced at one point or another in our lives. The blisters, the burns, the endless tubes of Aloe Vera gel. It’s over. Those days are gone. there’s nothing you can do about something that’s already been done. Move on. This time with sunscreen.

c] Eat right. It’s funny how the same themes keep resurfacing.  No matter what the illness, or prevention of said illness, eating right keeps popping up. So eat right for God’s sake.

d] Keep your weight down. Obesity is not okay no matter how you spin the narrative. The whole “curvy women” or “dad bod” craze is a lame attempt to justify unhealthy lifestyle habits.

e] Stay active. See #3 and #4 and get your butt to the gym.

f] No more than two drinks a day. Most people can pull this off without much difficulty. But this doesn’t mean that not having a drink all week and then binging on the weekends is okay. It’s not. Find the nearest AA meeting and say your prayers. You’ll need them.

g] Work in environmentally safe conditions. In other words, don’t work in a coal mine. For those of you who do, I might suggest a lobotomy.

SUMMARY

Adhere to all the lifestyle habits and throw the dice. Personally, iIm not a fan of getting blood work every 5 minutes because if the numbers aren’t perfect I begin to obsess about it, which makes me more likely to experience stress, and this in turn causes cancer. So no.

4] Depression.

I pulled the following article from Psychocentral.com, which offers a good overview of this topic.

http://psychcentral.com/lib/depression-and-baby-boomers-how-having-it-all-may-be-too-much/

On a personal note, it has been my experience that exercise is the best medication for anxiety and depression.

The problem is that the effects don’t last as long as psycho-pharmaceuticals, so you may want to do both in equal measure.

 

SUMMARY

Healthy lifestyle habits may include Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors along with your daily multi-vitamin.

 

5] Eye problems

After a certain point, we all have eye problems.

Hell, even kids who spend too much time on computers have eye problems.

Big deal. Get reading glasses or have your vision corrected, surgically.

 

SUMMARY

If your eyes are bothering you like the3y do me, go to an eye doctors to determine whether or not you have macular degeneration or cataracts or whatever and go from there.

You know damn well you’re not going to stay off the computer.

6] Alzheimer’s disease

This year, the first baby boomers turn 65. While Alzheimer’s is not normal aging, age is the greatest risk factor for the disease.

So basically, the older you get the greater your risk of death and dying in general.

How does one help prevent your forgetting the names and faces of your children and spouses?

1] Keep your mind active.

2] Eat and drink raw fruits and vegetables.

3] Add vitamin K to your supplements.

4] Reduce stress.

5] Commit to regular exercise.

6] Laugh more.

7] Run 15 miles per week [or the equivalent]

8] Consume more whole fruit.

9] Meditate [i.e., get your shit together and relax]

10] Consume more fish.

11] Quit smoking nicotine.

12] Adopt a Mediterranean diet.

13] Learn early Alzheimer’s symptoms, but don’t obsess about it until you start leaving your car keys in the freezer.

14] Sleep well no matter what it takes to get there.

15] Limit sugar intake.

http://www.alzheimers.net/1-1-15-resolutions-reduce-dementia-2015

7] Arthritis and Joint replacement

“Simply put, regular activity provides lifeblood to the cartilage that cushions joints. Unlike most tissues in the body, cartilage doesn’t receive nutrients from the bloodstream. Instead, it gets nourishment from fluid (called synovial fluid) in the joints. When a joint moves, the fluid sloshes around, giving the cartilage a healthy dose of oxygen and other vital substances. As an added bonus, regular exercise encourages the body to make more synovial fluid.”

I’ll leave it at that.

 

SUMMARY

If you don’t exercise, you can kiss you ass goodbye years before you technically die.

 

8] Osteoporosis

Adults who had spine curvature as children can develop severe arthritis in the spine next to their old curves. In other cases, osteoporosis, or weakening of the bones, can develop as a complication of menopause or medications as people age, even causing fractures. Forms of arthritis in which joints in the back wear out can also let the spine sag into a bad position.” Dr. Huddleston, mayo Clinic

No surprises here. Try strength training.

 

SUMMARY

Absent childhood trauma or a genetic predisposition to spinal curvature, the best thing anyone can do to prevent osteoporosis is strength train.

Most older men with that geriatric stoop are usually found wandering around the indoor track on their cell phones.

 

9] Flu/Pnemonia

Everyone has gotten the flu, and many, pneumonia. They both suck in equal measure.

The best you can do is wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face, get a fly shot, and then say your prayers if you know any. If not, make some up.

If you’re in good shape, your immune system should be strong enough to withstand a bout of either one, though it won’t feel that way.

 

SUMMARY

We all get sick from time to time.

But when you have less time, you tend to take it more seriously.

It’s not like you get to stay home from school and be served for a week.

This time around you have to cancel your trip to St. John and still have to deal with the office.

 

10] “Sandwich generation” stress.

There isn’t a damn thing you can do about this one.

In my case, I don’t have kids to worry about – and my mom lives near my brothers. of course, she’s only 83 and still running circles around them at 83.

When she does get old, however, we may be too old to care for her.

 

SUMMARY

There is no solution to this problem other than exercise and sedatives.

Good luck. You’ll need a lot of that, too.

Latest Research Lists Top Age-Erasing Super Foods for Older Men [and everyone else for that matter]

age-erasing-treatments-01-bess431Got your attention, huh?

7-Age-Erasing-Super-foodsFocus already. Freaks.

 

For quick reference, I have compiled the list of the 40 top anti-aging super foods as chronicled by the Editors of Men’s Health.

They are as follows:

1] Almonds [Cholesterol, blood sugar]

2] Flaxseeds [Omega-3 fatty acids]

3] Tomatoes [Lycopene]

4] Sweet Potatoes [Glutathione]

5] Spinach [Potassium, magnesium and Lutein]

6] Rosemary [Carnosic Acid]

7] Wild Salmon [docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)]

8] Blueberries [Antioxidants]

9] Green Tea [Releases catechin]

10] Dark Chocolate [Flavonoids]

11] Tuna [Selenium]

12] Carrots [Vitamin A]

13] Dried Plums [Copper and Boron]

14] Whole Grains [Calms inflamed tissues while keeping the heart strong, the colon healthy, and the brain fueled]

15] Red Wine [Resveratrol]

16] Yogurt [Beneficial bacteria/Live and active cultures]

17] Avocado [Monounsaturated fat]

18] Walnuts [Omega-3s and anti-inflammatory Polyphenols]

19] Tumeric [Curcumin]

20] Black Beans [Anthocyanins]

21] Apples [Quercetin]

22] Alaskan King Crab [Zinc]

23] Pomegranates [Ellagitannins]

24] Bok Choy [Calcium, as well as vitamins A and C, folic acid, iron, beta-carotene, and potassium]

25] Oysters [Zinc, calcium, copper, iodine, iron, potassium, and selenium]

26] Broccoli [Calcium, as well as manganese, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron]

27] Kiwis [Potassium]

28] Olive Oil [Monounsaturated fats]

29] Leeks [Thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, and potassium, and folic acid]

30] Artichokes [Magnesium and potassium]

31] Chilli Peppers [Beta-carotene, which turns into vitamin A in the blood and fights infections, capsaicin, which inhibits neuropeptides (chemicals that cause inflammation)]

32] Ginger [Gingerol]

33] Cinnamon [Antioxidants]

34] Eggs [Protein, minerals and nutrients]

35] Figs [Potassium, manganese, and antioxidants]

36] Grass-Fed Beef [Omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids]

37] Mushrooms [Ergothioneine]

38] Pineapples [Mix of vitamins, antioxidants, and enzymes—in particular, bromelain]

39] Fruit or Vegetable Juice [Polyphenols]

40] Bing Cherries [Antioxidants]

For a more comprehensive breakdown of each, please read the following article:

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/age-erasing-superfoods/printer.php

SUMMARY

Most of you will notice that that you already consume a majority of the aforementioned food items, but it’s always a good idea to keep them handy.

Remember, your genes are only part of the picture where your health is concerned.

The study of Epigenetics has determined that we have a lot more control over our health than most of us thought.

Age-related diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, stroke and cancer were thought to be the inevitable consequences of aging, and that our genes were the main determinant.

But as the article below points out, your health is determined by “how you care for your genes with environmental, dietary and lifestyle choices that can influence how your genes behave.”

“Stress, diet, behavior, toxins and other factors may activate chemical switches that turn genes on and off and regulate gene expression. Several studies have shown that changes in lifestyle cause changes in gene expression.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-frank-lipman/epigenetics-research_b_862022.html

Soon Everyone Will Have Steroids with Their Morning Coffee

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#Dailymail ran an article a couple of years ago that stated “up to 20% of Hollywood’s leading men use PED’s [performance enhancing drugs].

Check it out for yourself:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2400714/How-Hollywood-stars-rely-steroids-buff-bodies-Up-20-percent-leading-men-using-PEDs-claims-new-report.html

But as everyone who works out regularly knows, the number is more like 90%, with the remaining 10% losing out to actors with “better hairlines,” which would be irrelevant had they taken the damn drugs.

Articles and website abound touting the merits of “hard work and diet” in achieving a preternatural physique.

“Yes, even you Mr. 60-year-old can look better than you did back in college with the right lifestyle choices!”

Total bullshit.

I guess no one bothered to mention the fact that eternal and youth aren’t synonymous under any circumstances.

However, if a man wants to look like the two guys in the above photograph who are well over 60 [source: Facebook’s “fitmenover50” page], steroids are the only way to achieve it.

I know you don’t want to hear this.

I also know you resent having to use facial fillers, take 300 vitamins every morning to supplement whatever time is stealing in your sleep, and avoiding anything that tastes good.

This is life in the absence of steroids.

You want a perfect physique?

You want to have a slice of pizza from time to time?

You want to train at half the intensity, half the time?

You have to take the drugs!

If not, join the mortal brigade and feel good about the fact that it’s all you.

But you won’t find yourself landing on these pages…

https://www.facebook.com/fitguysover50

See, in order to get press, you have to be extraordinary.

But in the the context of fitness, extraordinary isn’t enough unless you look extraordinary, which no one who undergoes regular drug tests can achieve.

Am I getting through here?

All these self-righteous pricks who tell you they have all the dense muscle and low bodyfat by the grace of god are completely full of shit – or steroids, as the case may be.

Thick, sculpted muscle fiber combined with extremely low bodyfat on a “fit over 50” man is the very definition of S T E R O I D S.

Hell, it’s tough for a 25-year-old guy to build that kind of physique.

The reason for that is that IT’S NOT HUMANLY POSSIBLE WITHOUT DRUGS!

EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY BODYBUILDER I HAVE EVER KNOWN AND/OR PHOTOGRAPHED WAS A STEROID JUNKIE, MOST OF THEM IN DENIAL.

Puhleeze!

Like we’re idiots?

Since when did mankind evolve into super beings that don’t even remotely resemble anatomy charts?

The only “human anatomies” people reference these days can be found in department stores that sell Under Armour apparel, which uses flawlessly sculpted “giants” to sell their products.

But they are M A N N E Q U I N S!

117927560

And while some elite, and ridiculously genetically blessed, professional athletes look a lot like this, it doesn’t last long.

In the context of things human, it’s a way to sell clothing, websites…press, in general.

As we’ve all come to learn, reality is a buzzkill.

So we’ve replaced it with something more interesting – no matter what the side-effects, both physically and psychologically.

But hey, ya’ only live once, so why not?

Better to burn out than fade away.

Note: Lest you think that men are the sole users of steroids, check this out:

http://www.oddee.com/item_99125.aspx

For those of you who are interested, the following article highlights the most popular steroids among older men:

http://www.mensfitness.co.uk/nutrition/supplements/1106/steroids-sale

On a final note, there’s the Anderson Cooper story, which has caught fire like everything else that involves cheating fate:

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/07/74-year-old-defies-time-with-hormones/

But as one commenter stated: “At 65+ you’re looking at balancing the improved quality of life with HGH vs a longer life with less quality.”

This is becoming a mantra that pretty much says it all.

Throw the bones.

“Dad Bod” is the Key to Invisibility [Irony, Notwithstanding]

robfat2A “normal” overweight 59 year old male. 205 lbs and 5.11″ BMI is 28.6 or just under Obese at 30.

Master-OHScott Olson, winner of the Masters 60+ division of the 2014 CrossFit Games!!!

jay60This is me, a fit 59 year old male. 6’1″ and 230 lbs. 14% body fat – and drug free!

No Testosterone supplementation.

No HGH.

No Anabolic Steroids.

Just hard work and discipline.

I’ll explain why men in my demographic would rather put a bullet in their heads than look like the first guy.

~~~

OVERVIEW

There are certain areas of the country where looking “normal” is considered normal.

While traveling during my years as a professional photographer, I noticed fat farms mostly in small communities, where having a 400–pound wife was considered a “bigger bang for the buck,” and husbands with pregnant guts were simply men of “healthy appetites.”

Needless to say, this mindset insured that everyone stayed out of shape…and home where they belonged.    

SIDE NOTE

There are smaller cities like New Orleans where a daily diet of fried foods and vodka-martini nightcaps are indicators of “healthy lifestyle choices.”

It’s among a few places in America where alcoholism and type 2 diabetes are considered a normal part of the aging process.

In places like Houston and Los Angeles [to name just a couple], being grossly overweight – or overweight at all – is unacceptable.

The only obese people I ever see are suffering a psychiatric disability or some form of head trauma.

Note: Our version of obesity is anorexia, which is considered acceptable in big cities.

Digressions aside, obese people are often heard using the “thyroid” argument to justify [or explain] their conditions, but it’s usually dismissed because everyone already knows from TV that POW’s with thyroid problems are still rail thin.

The only people who get away with obesity are billionaires who spend all their time around hookers who find them irresistible.

ANOTHER RELATED NOTE

It is common to see suburban daughters of obese men lovin’ on their dad bods.

But the innuendo is demeaning, not that anyone openly acknowledges it because the fading dad feels loved – while the daughter, worshiped.

It’s a simple equation.

Everything in its right place in time.

I’m young + you’re old = my girlfriends are off limits.

CONCLUSION

When you enter your 50’s, the first thing you start hearing about is how you need to slow down, moderate your physical activity.

After all, you don’t want to risk “injuring your back.”

Of course, it’s the other way around, as anyone who works out hard eventually learns.

Then we’re hammered with TV ads stereotyping us as feeble and resigned.

I can’t count the number of actors in pharmaceutical ads who play Pillsbury Dough Boys on golf courses in the company of matronly “wives” who look like they could play stand-in for their mothers.

This is NOT reality as I know it, and it shouldn’t be for you.

Don’t accept the defeatist mantra that sucks you into the BIG PHARMA bandwagon before your time.

Fire physicians who tell you to slow down when you have no reason to do so other than fear.

Burn your golf shirts and pleated khakis and get under some weights.

Old age is decades away. Your time isn’t up.

If anything, it’s a new beginning. A new chapter. New rules of engagement.

Your life doesn’t end just because the calendar says your time came and went.

If that’s the case, you’ve got a lot of time ahead of you to be miserable.

If that’s what you want, go for it.

Remember: It’s a choice, not a physical reality.

The sooner you wake up with this mantra in your head, the sooner you’ll be doing wall-balls and push-ups at 78.

I know quite a few men like this who could kick your sorry asses to the curb.

ACCEPT NOTHING UNTIL YOU’RE DEAD, then you can come to terms with certain limitations.

When Did Bad Service Go Airborne?

t1larg.bad.serviceEvery heard the term “Coffee shop attitude?”

If not, I’m sure you know all about bad service, whether it’s a stoner serving coffee, or say, a plumber with a house note and problems with his wife that you need to hear all about.

These days, if I want great service I have to pay the highest price imaginable for it.

If I’m traveling, I have to choose – for example – Ritz Carlton, a company that trains its employees in the fine art of great customer service.

Of course, I’m looking at $500.00/night on up for said service, but it’s well worth it given the alternative.

If I want a great overall dining experience with air-conditioning and hand towels, I have to pick the most expensive place in a given city or I put up with cultural flu.

How exactly does this ‘attitude’ play out?

Simple:

WAITER

“You [the customer] make me feel like giving a shit. If you’re successful I’ll pass you a plate without dropping it in your lap.”

In the case of a plumber [and I use ‘plumbing’ randomly], you have to offer restroom facilities, cold drinks and sometimes gas money to Home Depot when they don’t have the part they need on their trucks.

When did this all this crap start? The entitlement?

I remember when plumbers, waiter, electricians, gardeners – suppliers of every kind – were appreciative and polite to their customers.

It’s how they got what was once known as repeat business.

As kids we were taught that the nicer you were to your customers, the more money you made.

It seemed pretty simple at the time.

But today, people resent serving anyone who doesn’t kiss their butts – as if we [the people paying for their services] owe them special treatment for assisting us in exchange for our money.

Obviously, people are feeling more and more invisible in a world where respect is a birthright, not something earned.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’m older, more successful, and, generally speaking, more experienced that I expect more.

But in the end it doesn’t matter what the rationale is.

What does matter is where they’ll be in ten years when cleaning dishes is no longer cool.

Note: This discussion is slightly off topic, but I couldn’t help myself after some moron at an organic hamburger joint was too stoned to understand the meaning of “I’d like a hamburger with lettuce wrap and sweet potato fries” all in the same sentence.

By the way, I want to smack that douche in the photograph above, and I know you do, too.

Steroid Use Among Affluent Urban Boomers Considered “Maintenance”

article-1294029-0A65EBCC000005DC-498_233x388

What you’re looking at is a close-up of Sylvester Stallone’s left arm, wrapped in what appears to be distended tunneling, courtesy of steroids.

It was then shaven and bronzed to set off the highlights.

This is what aging gracefully looks like to many affluent urban men; the same men who berate older women for plastic surgery overkill, but I digress.

Taking testosterone in combination with Human Growth Hormone [HGH] usually starts when a man hits his mid to late 50’s and realizes his endurance isn’t what it used to be.

He may also notice that losing body-fat requires twice the effort and ten times the pain, not to mention the emotional pain of endless dieting.

So he turns to testosterone because on a certain level it works as advertised.

You bleed body-fat while building muscle on half the sleep and twice the energy.

Bingo.

It’s become so “mainstream” I’m sure Prada will soon design cases for all the syringes.

My trainer knows which of his older clients ” juice” and which don’t and then trains us all accordingly.

I happen to be in the minority of men who do not take testosterone, which means I can only train hard 3 days a week for one hour, instead of 6 days for 3 hours a session.

As a result, my arms also don’t look like Stallone’s in spite of the fact that they are still lean and muscular.

As for my abs, they are visible, but not distended and sunken around preternatural ravines.

Remember, steroids build muscle everywhere except for the sexual organs, where they tend to have the opposite effect.

The upside for me is as follows:

1] My body can still produce its own testosterone naturally

2] I don’t need regular blood-work to scan for high PSA levels

3] I don’t succumb to things like road rage in spite of my already passionate nature. 

The downside for me is psychological: I am at a disadvantage around the men I train with who recover like teenagers on 4 hours of sleep.

It can be depressing, believe me. I’m walking wounded while they bounce off the walls like rabbits on methamphetamine.

Needless to say, the pressure to capitulate to the testosterone craze allure is constant.

I literally struggle every day to remain sober, this as the cacophony of radio and television ads and infomercials extol the virtues of the needle under the pretense of wellness.

With this as a backdrop, I have a power-lifting meet this July.

In order to exceed my previous records, I not only have to train brutally hard, but even more importantly, brutally smart given my mortal attributes.

At this writing, I’m still on the wagon. But it takes ever fiber of willpower not to indulge just once in the fountain if youth.

Fortunately, the USAPL drug tests, so there’s that.

But I know that time alone will tell whether or not I take the plunge because I certainly can’t guarantee it at this writing.

Stay tuned.

According to New Reports, Middle Age Lasts Until 74

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Pierce Brosnan, 61

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11539573/Middle-age-now-lasts-until-74-as-baby-boomers-refuse-to-grow-old.html

“For many people, 70 is the new 50 and signifies the quiet revolution that has taken place in longevity”

…………….

Among the many trending narratives of the day is the one about Baby Boomers who refuse to age, as if that’s a bad thing.

Would you want to age “gracefully” if you didn’t have to?

Before you answer this question, allow me to put forth my definition of “graceful aging:”

“The process by which a middle-aged male agrees to accept natural physical attrition in exchange for a gated community in Florida.”

In my view [and I’m not alone] this is akin to suicide in slow motion, otherwise known among my circle as the dragging out of the end to eternity until you can’t remember where it all started.

So no.

I don’t know anyone willing to “let go” unless they’re in a psych ward for clinical depression or dying of colon cancer.

An average man who retired in 2012 can expect to live until the age of 86.2 years, while a woman who turned 65 last year would have 23.9 years still to live on average, the ONS estimates.

That’s a lot of time to “drift.”

In my socioeconomic demographic. men are often in the best shape of their adult lives, working out regularly, eating right, getting medical check-ups on an annual basis, and making damn sure their teeth look better than they did when they were in their 20’s, among other things. Believe me, I could go on.

I might also add to this [because it wouldn’t make sense if I didn’t], that most of the men to whom I’m referring are well-educated, urban folk of an upper income variety.

They tend to be ambitious, successful men who carry these traits with them throughout their lives, which are then shaped and molded by the pressures of big city life.

These are not frumpy men in cardigans and distended bellies.

They’re a lot like men half their age, only richer, wiser…and, in some cases, more mature.

They take their health seriously because they would rather go out in a blaze of glory than to fade into irrelevance and obscurity.

Examples in popular culture alone are legion.

Such men don’t lay down for the next generation not only because they’re not finished with their own, but because the generation behind them represents the lion’s share of the women they date and marry.

If this trend continues, and I see no reason it won’t, the next generation will consider a man of 50 “young” and his wife of 25 age-relevant.

 

There is a God

pizza2

I think I speak for most health-conscious types that eating can be a pain in the ass.

Everything has to be clean, unadulterated fuel. The enjoyment for me was in how “light” I felt after a meal, rather than how much I enjoyed eating it.

Needless to say, simple carbohydrates like bread were NOT on my menu.

So a few weeks of this new “paleo” diet of mine passed and I started noticing that my lifts in the gym were suffering, that I was more irritable than usual, and I was also lethargic and depressed.

By the way, I have zero to be depressed about, which is a pretty good indicator that something was amiss.

My blood work is good, my body uninjured. So what was it?

So I kind of drifted into the gym in a haze yesterday at 2:15 PM, slightly off balance and weak, and my trainer took one look at me and asked what I’d had to eat before coming in.

My answer shocked even me, which happens when you don;t check in with yourself from time to time: I told him that I had “a whey protein shake and two bananas.” Period.

Are you kidding me?

I’m 6’2, 230 and I had almost zero calories in my body.

How does this happen? Easily.

You get wrapped up in healthy everything until you start losing touch with life’s simple pleasures.

After an abbreviated workout, he sent me packing directly to Whole Foods where I was told to purchase a “loaded” pizza, and rediscover life.

I think it’s safe to say after taking one bite, I remembered all that I have missed about food and life in general.

Moral of the story: Give yourself a break and you’ll never need anti-depressants.