Post #3: Some Things to Think About

FEEDBACK

"This blog is amazing, and SO inspiring.  I appreciate the positive attitude you take, encouraging everyone at all ages to just start now.  Your life is such a testament to your beliefs, which is by far the best way to lead.  You are a rockstar yourself.

I think it would be great to include some daily anecdotes or schedules from your own life, to show how you incorporate exercise on a daily basis.  I think many think that it is a chore that takes away from other parts of life. You two, however, blend it so fluidly and happily into your routines and relationship.  Maybe with each post you could give an example of something fun to do that IS exercise also.  So when we all say, "What should we do this Saturday?", we have your voice in our heads.

Again, bravo.  This blog is great.  Can't wait for the microwave debate!  I don't own one, and people think I'm crazy."

                                             Kelsey, South Africa

Thank you, Kelsey, for your words of praise and support for our blog.  We're looking forward to reading your novel when you finish it.  Your suggestion that we share how we incorporate exercise into our daily lives is right on and on our horizon.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

The most frequent explanation or excuse for not exercising is "I just don't have enough TIME".

I'm always tempted to respond by saying, "Oh, do you have enough TIME to underachieve, to be sick and depressed, and to be spending a lot of time in doctors' offices, hospitals, and nursing homes, and to be prematurely ending your TIME on earth?

There is absolutely no escaping the reality that EXERCISE enhances health and performance, prolongs longevity and prevents or heals diseases ranging from A to Z in the medical encyclopedia.

However, we are also well aware that the excuse of "not having the time to exercise" originates in the reality of the American way of life in which work and home and family responsibilities demand nearly all of awake hours.

So, as we blog along, we will respond to Kelsey's suggestion and present strategies on how to incorporate exercise into busy schedules.  So, stay tuned.

SOME MORE THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

It's estimated that if Americans ate 2 cups of fruit and 2 and a half cups of vegetables every day, we could save 17 billion dollars in medical costs, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.  ("Mens Health" December 2013).

This may be a crappy thing to contemplate, but according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, if Americans substituted just one roll of 100% recycled toilet paper for one day, we could save 423,900 trees.  In a year, we could save 154,723,500 trees.  ("Mens Health" December 2013).

  

And don't worry:  The "Great Microwave Oven Debate" is still coming...

                                                         "Move. As far as you can, as much

                                                         as you can.  Across the ocean, 

                                                         or simply across the river.  Walk

                                                         in someone else's shoes or at

                                                         least eat their food.  Open your mind,

                                                         get up off the couch, move."

                                                                                          Anthony Bourdain

The Bank of Life

Greetings.

The responses to our first post were overwhelmingly encouraging:

“Good for you two.  This blog screams of Ray and Merrilee and is joyful, hopeful and inspiring.  Not sure I agree with everything you proclaim but since aging research is such a dynamic field, I won’t debate.   Good luck!”

Theresa Levinson, nurse at Weston (MA) Council on Aging.

Thank you, Theresa, for your continuing

support.  You were the major catalyst causing the success of our Functional Fitness classes.

And your suggestion to write a blog was visionary in retrospect.    However, please feel free to debate.  It’s one of the best ways for all of us to learn and progress.  In fact, one of my next Posts will feature a fascinating debate about the use of microwave ovens.

 

“Dear Ray:  I thought your blog spot was great until I got to section #4 with your diatribe against microwave ovens.  I don’t know where you got this information from, but I think it must have been someone trying to discredit the greatest advance in cooking method of the twentieth century.   As a physicist, let me explain the mechanism of microwave heating……” 

Colin Bowness,  Weston, MA.

Dear Colin:  Thank you for your well written, informative and persuasive letter of endorsement of microwave cooking in response to my “diatribe against the microwave oven”.  Your entire letter will be printed at the same time of my posted “diatribe” (I love that word).

   

THE “BANK OF LIFE”

We live our lives as if we possess an almost infinite number of Days On Deposit in the Bank of Life.  In reality, our days are numbered.

Using U.S. Average Life Expectancy statistics of 75.6 years for men and 80.8 years for women,  we discover that we are born with somewhere in the range of 28  to 30 thousand days on deposit in the Bank of Life. 

According to these statistics, at the age of 72, I have about a thousand days left to live.  (Don’t tell Merrilee!)

Hopefully, it is a fluid account…and hopefully my healthy lifestyle has been depositing additional time to my Bank of Life account.

 INVESTMENT ALERT 

THE TIME IS NOW

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE

TO BEGIN INVESTING

IN THE BANK OF LIFE

During every day of your life, you either deposit or withdraw additional minutes, hours and days in your account in the Bank of Life.

RECOMMENDED DAILY DEPOSITS INCLUDE:

Virginia Mannick, in her 80's, doing her daily stretches.

•     EXERCISE that includes strengthening and stretching muscles and aerobic exercise of the critical cardio-respiratory systems. 
• 
  
•         Eating essentially a Mediterranean Diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes (beans), nuts, seeds, olives, olive oil and fish.



Chef Charlie's Vegan Delight at DeAngelos By the Sea, Melbourne Beach, Florida

•              
•        Sleeping for a minimum of 7 hours every 24. 
• 
•                                          
•        Avoiding or effectively managing stress.                                                             
•        Pursuing goals and dreams.
•         Involvement in positive relationships with family and/or friends.                                                                                                                                        

COSTLY DAILY WITHDAWALS INCLUDE:

•         Cigarette smoking.
•                                                     
•         Living an essentially sedentary life style devoid of regular exercise.
• 
  
•         Consuming a Western diet of mostly animal meats and products, manufactured (processed) food stuffs, refined grains and an abundance of sugary foods and beverages.
•                                                                                                               
•         Sleeping less than 6 hours or more than 9.                                                                 
•         Experiencing stress due to worry, fear and regrets.
•                           
•         Social isolation…   “One” ( is the loneliest  number)  by Harry Nilsson.

When your DEPOSITS are greater than your WITHDRAWALS, you are rewarded with the following DIVIDENDS:

•         Additional minutes, hours, days, months  and/or  years in your Bank of Life account.
•         Increased immunity to illness and disease.
•         Weight loss.
•         Better mental acuity.
•         More productivity.
•         More energy, enthusiasm and desire for adventure and joyful experiences.

It’s a typical tragedy in our society for people to spend the majority of their lives pursuing money to enjoy when they retire, only to discover that they no longer possess the health and mobility to actualize their plans and dreams.   They had not paid much attention to Deposits and had overdrawn from the Bank of Life.

For life ultimately boils down to the functioning of our body and brain.  Our existence becomes limited to our physical and mental abilities to go places and do things.  There’s no amount of financial wealth that can buy health and longevity.  And there are no transfers of dollars to days in the Bank of Life, except to maybe purchase a new heart or some other failing body part.

It is never too early or too late to take control of your Bank of Life and make deposits for investment in a long and healthy life.

LONGEVITY ALL-STARS:  SIR MICK JAGGER

Los Angeles, May 2013.  Photos of Mick by Chuck Keller

“Time is On My Side” by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones is a fitting description of his life as he currently leads the Rolling Stones on their 50th anniversary tour.  Although some call them “the Strolling Bones”, Mick and the other Rolling Stones continue to perform at a level equivalent to or greater than their earlier concerts.  During the several hours of a performance, Sir Michael Phillip “Mick” Jagger, who turned 70 this year, continues to run, jump, and contort in continuous dance while maintaining the breath to belt out his lyrics.   It’s estimated that he travels about 12 miles during a performance.   He prepares for tours with daily 8 mile runs.

In 1981, over 30 years ago, I attended a Rolling Stones concert in Tempe, Arizona and then again a few years ago in Ft. Lauderdale, and there was no noticeable change in Mick’s appearance and performance as if he had never aged in the past thirty years.  

Research revealed that a nutritionally focused DIET and EXERCISE are priorities in his life.  The son of a physical education teacher, fitness has been a major part of his life.  The ageless Mick runs, swims, bikes, kick- boxes, weight trains, takes Pilates and ballet lessons and benefits from the training of an Olympic trainer… Wow!

And he still finds the time and energy to continue his legacy into his 70s as one of the greatest Rock & Rollers of all time.   Long live Sir Mick Jagger and long live Rock & Roll!

Stay tuned for the great microwave oven debate coming up in our next post…

                              “If you can’t fly, then run,

                               If you can’t run, then walk,

                               If you can’t walk, then crawl,

                               But whatever you do,

                   You have to keep  moving

forward.”

                                  

Martin Luther King Jr.

 

FEEDBACK

Questions?  Comments?

You can email us @

rayfit@gmail.com

 

          

The Beginning...

          GROWING YOUNG WITH RAY

WELCOME!

GROWING YOUNG WITH RAY is a blog about what to embrace and what to avoid in order to live a long and healthy life to 100 years—and beyond.

THANK YOU for checking us out.

This is our FIRST POST on our new blog and we’re excited!

                                                         

ABOUT US

Ray is Raymond Williams, age 73.  He is qualified to write this blog because not only is he is a Certified Fitness Trainer specializing in SENIOR fitness, he also has an MSW so that he can exercise both mind and body at the same time.  With over five decades of experience as a social worker, mental health psychotherapist, school teacher, professional actor and published writer, he views successful aging from different perspectives.

CO-CREATOR/EDITOR/PHOTOGRAPHER:  Merrilee Keller Williams, B.A. from Brown University, is a former world ranked professional tennis player, who has improved the tennis skills of many players as a tennis teacher and as a tennis coach at Brown, Harvard and M.I.T.  She provides computer skills, coherence, color and pizazz to this endeavor...besides, she and Ray are married, so it works out pretty well for both of them.

                                                                    THE BEGINNING

I don’t recall the exact date, but it was about two months before my 70^th birthday.  

I awakened early in the morning in a chilled sweat from a frightening dream that jerked me awake with an aerial view of my body reclining in a coffin.   My initial feeling of relief that it was just a dream was immediately replaced by sinking feelings of despair and hopelessness as I thought about my death.   I turned my head to look at the precious face of my sleeping wife, which caused me to catch my breath as tears flooded my eyes.  The fear of us not “growing old” together totally overwhelmed me.

My fear was not totally irrational.  When I met and married Merrilee in my early 60’s, she was and continues to be exactly 20 years and 1 month younger than me.  She had become my major motivation for GROWING YOUNG.  My passionate obsession was to stay healthy to share and enjoy life with Merrilee for as long as humanly possible. 

 

I rolled out of bed, brewed a cup of coffee, turned on some Eric Clapton blues and sat down at the computer and began writing. 

As I began writing about the nightmare of my death in the coffin, my depression and anxiety began to fade… I suddenly knew what I needed and wanted to do:  I changed the title of “Ray’s Journal” to “GROWING YOUNG WITH RAY” and officially began my anti-aging blog.

Now, after almost three years and hundreds of hours of research, study and writing, I am ready to share what I have learned and will continue to learn about GROWING YOUNG as we age.

GROWING YOUNG WITH RAY will be a blog about the cornerstones of health and longevity-- which are EXERCISE and DIET-- plus numerous other Lifestyle issues that either curtail or enhance healthy longevity.

And although this blog is aimed at older adults (SENIORS), the information is FOR ALL AGES.  There are so many LONGEVITY SECRETS that I could have benefited from if I had known about them earlier in my life...

The FUTURE appears PROMISING and HOPEFUL, however.  We will keep you informed of the EXPLODING MEDICAL RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY, which could be just a few years away from curing the disease of death, resulting in the possibility of  HEALTH and LONGEVITY FAR BEYOND 100 YEARS. 

 PREVIEWS OF COMING ATTRACTIONS 

#1.  RISE OF THE CENTENARIANS

The NUMBER OF CENTENARIANS-- those living to the age of 100 and more-- has more than DOUBLED in the U.S. from 32,194 in l980 to 71,944 in 2010.  There is now a greater opportunity for humans to live longer than ever before, primarily because of the miracles of modern medicine. 

                                                       …To be continued…

 





#2.  SITTING DEATH

Most Seniors, and many younger people, spend 75% or more of their time sitting while driving, working, eating, watching TV, reading and relaxing.

The Surgeon General has compared a LACK OF EXERCISE equivalent to the health hazards of smoking a PACK OF CIGARETTES A DAY. And the American Heart Association has equated a sedentary lifestyle with smoking 2 PACKS A DAY.

A SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE is definitely a shortcut to the grave and researchers are recommending a public health warning about a lifestyle based on continuous sitting and calling it the “Sedentary Death Syndrome”, which I call the SITTING DEATH SYNDROME.  

It’s recommended that people take breaks from sitting every hour, for even a couple of minutes, to move, stretch and walk around, maybe even climb some stairs.  While watching TV, standing up and moving about during commercials can also be very beneficial.

                                                      …To be continued…

#3. DEMENTIA

I like to believe that a benefit of aging is the acquisition of wisdom.   For example, as I move through my 70s, I frequently experience moments of brilliant insights regarding the meaning of life...which then magically disappear within moments.  

Fortunately, my increasing forgetfulness is easily forgiven with an explanation of “sorry, just another SENIOR MOMENT”.

Lately, I’ve been spending increasing time contemplating the “HEREAFTER”.  I often wander into a room and ask myself: “what am I here after?”

Seriously, losing your mind is a fear that often turns into reality as a consequence of getting old.  Ultimately, most of us will face that frightening and confusing condition often sensationalized in horror films as DEMENTIA. 

Dementia is a word that  describes a decline in memory and coherent thinking that sneaks up on people, and ranges from mild cognitive impairment to full blown Alzheimer's Disease with a life expectancy of less than 10 years.

Experts agree that the NUMBER 1 PREVENTATIVE for dementia is EXERCISE, both PHYSICAL and mental.

                                                       …To be continued...

                                 #4. MICROWAVE OVEN DANGERS 

I HATE TO TELL YOU THIS, but MICROWAVE OVENS ARE HAZARDOUS to your health.   

The problem is that the microwaves of microwave ovens bombard the molecules of food at the speed of light, millions  of times per second, creating  incendiary heat that TRANSFORMS the NUTRIENTS in food into strange new stuff called RADIOLYTIC COMPOUNDS that are NOT found in nature and are CARCINOGENIC.

Especially noteworthy is that the NUTRITIONAL VALUE of your food is REDUCED 60 to 90 PER CENT with microwave cooking.

                                                      …To be continued…

                                                    #5. CELL PHONE DANGERS

The long range effects of mobile phones are yet to be fully known since it is a relatively new phenomenon, and the unbelievably prosperous and powerful telecom industry has been very active in suppressing and discrediting studies showing potential harm. 

However, studies have surfaced showing that brain cancer on the side of the head where the telephone is held has been increasing.

 

I realize it is nearly impossible to imagine life without mobile phones.   But to minimize danger, it is advisable to avoid extended periods with the phone pressed against the side of the face, or any part of the body.  And because of their thinner skulls and skin, parents are advised to keep cell phones away from children unless they are turned off.            

                                                              …To be continued…

                       #6. MIGHTY MYSTERY MUSCLE RULES OUR LIVES

FACT:  The single most IMPORTANT skeletal muscle is unknown and rarely used by 99% of all humans. 

Failure to activate this muscle often results in injuries, chronic pain and decreasing mobility.

Using and strengthening this muscle can improve your performance in every move you make and every breath you take.

                                              ...to be continued...

Which previews are most interesting to you?  Please feel free to let us know.

                                        DEDICATION

About seven years ago, in collaboration with the Town of Weston’s Council On Aging in the Boston area, my anti-aging exercises were expanded and incorporated into a Total Fitness group exercise class for Seniors. 

Our class quickly grew from once a week in a small room with a half dozen Seniors to three times a week in an expansive recreation room with attendance sometimes exceeding 20 participants. 

For nearly 6 years, more than 100 Seniors participated.  This group that I led provided an actual “laboratory” showing that regular exercise does indeed stop and even reverse the damaging effects of aging.  With ages ranging from 60 to 95, many of the Seniors, especially those whose lifestyles had never included regular exercise, became more fit, balanced and mobile than at any other time in their lives since childhood.

Over a year ago, our class, named FUNctional Fitness, regretfully ended as circumstances necessitated our re-location to Vero Beach, Florida.  Many class members were saddened because they had learned to regard the class as a source of motivation and information on how to live longer and healthier.

Since I had been writing and researching anti-aging, I promised to share my writings with them and this blog is a fulfillment of that commitment. 

This blog is DEDICATED TO THE WESTON COUNCIL ON AGING’S FUNctional Fitness class members, who have demonstrated that GROWING YOUNG into the 70s, 80s and even the 90s, is certainly possible.  

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count.  It's the life in your years."

                                                                         Abraham Lincoln