Welcome To Healthysport!
The Quadrangle of Life
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There is no doubt about it. Computer programming renders me immobile for hours and I need to get away from my ‘learning’ momentarily (currently I am immersed in cloud computing via AWS and digital ocean) and focus on lighter side of things, like, life. Oh yeah, I need to get a life. I am a late bloomer in computer languages and sometimes I act like a freshly minted college graduate who just got his first job, and, well, that is basically true. I just graduated in I T last December. A few days ago I was offered days off from clinical work on account of having low hospital census (summer). That excited me. It meant I could work on my coding which I was dying to do. It doesn’t earn me a penny but wow, what I can do with it in my free time! But (despite pursuing my passion), sitting on a chair for hours can be dangerous to my physical health. Being old and wise now, I need to press the brakes when I get too concentrated. Prolonged immobility is no good.
I remember a patient who recently had surgery of a fractured hip asking me, “I am in so much pain, why must I sit up on chair? What is so important in sitting up?”
Obviously the patient haven’t had been in a hospital before or he subscribes to the old notion of bedrest in times of injury or disease. I said there are things that happen when you go vertical. You move the muscles, you inhale more air that expands the lungs, your circulation goes down the legs to be pushed up back, which makes the heart work more, gravity pulls down whatever needs to get expelled out of your system, you prevent hypotension, you prevent blood clots, all your organs will rev up and of course, you eat better when you are sitting and looking better when visited by friends and families.
I guess my answer did register something as he asked to be assisted to the bathroom. Yeah, unfortunately, I need to deal with THAT when people go vertical the first time after being sick. He just couldn’t wait to use the bathroom.
That is the reason why movement, no matter how little, matters to everyone. For seniors like me, it is much more important. There is a quadrangle of needs a person must meet at this stage in life, like 4 corners required to stabilize it.
Movement, Nutrition, Mental Stability, Rest.
We need to balance all these to maintain an optimally functional and good quality life. One should not be tempted to focus on one and ignore the rest. Too much movement or exercise at the expense of the other three leads to injury and depressed immune system. Too much dieting or the opposite will lead to starvation or obesity and related problems, too much stress or mental anguish will lead to stress hormones affecting the whole being, and absence of rest will lead to fatigue and again, compromised immunity.
These components of the quadrangle are very dynamic, much like setting up a pole supported by 4 wires. All those wires should be equal or at least each compensatory for the others as need be. The goal is perfect harmony and balance. Do not ignore any of them.
A lot of health care workers nowadays are looking more closely into the mental component since it appears it is the main driving force of all 4. If we seriously consider them all, the mental discipline seems to drive the resolve and concentration and consistency for the quadrangle. It is the motivation to keep us moving. It is the mental discipline to choose the right food. It is mental power for us to turn the light off at night so we can complete our daily sleep.
There are a few ways to address the mental component of the quadrangle:
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To keep motivated to exercise, read exercise books, internet blogs, health and lifestyle magazines. Spend time with people who are regular exercisers, talk to family about giving you space and time to exercise, keep a journal of your routine. Shoot for self-data progress. Data progress includes weight loss, improved sugar and blood pressure, feeling of well being. Keep these data so you can evaluate progress.
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Keep a journal of what you eat. Educate yourself on proper nutrition. If you have no time to cook healthy meals, subscribe to programs who can do it for you. Personally, I always look for natural cooking in my own kitchen.
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Make sure that no matter how hard working you are or how passionate you are with what you do, set a time to pause and stop to resume at another time. That applies well on me. It is important to mentally shift your gears to sleep mode, rest mode, exercise mode, meal mode. Don’t get complacent. When you say you finish work at 5 pm, try your best to finish at 5pm. If you determined sleeping 7 to 8 hours a day means retiring at 10, try to drop everything you do and sleep at that time.
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Again, it’s all about mental power.
Begin Form the Beginning
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Ok there my friends, I am moving away from computer programming to blog about my current exercise program. Right now, this website is still looking for a direction or maybe it is meant to have no direction at all.
Just like my running - I have the serious runs( pacing, fartlek, slow long distance) and then I have the play-run. This is the type of run you don’t really think much about while doing it. You can run, you can walk, you can jog, you can sit on the grass, you can basically do anything and call it play-run. It is usually accompanied by music.
And then, I do weight lifting. My weights are moderate since diabetes and hypertension can ruin the retina in overdoing exercises. I avoid extremes.
Everything I recommend to people especially for those above 50 is moderation, moderation, moderation.
Exercising should not be a life or death activity. If you are very serious about competing and pushing yourself to the limits, and as healthy as a newborn stag, this site might not be the best for you. Healthysport is meant for those who are more into living life in a non-stress, non-competitive yet to the fullest approaches to existence. And those who are already dealing with some health problems and are worried about over-exercising versus under-exercising. Generally it is to share ideas about:
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How to start exercising with or without health issues and continuing them.
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How to prioritize life’s tasks to rid of stress.
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How to do get the best tools to manage one’s health proactively.
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How to prevent or at least reduce the risks of stroke, heart attack, lung problems, obesity, depression through lifestyle changes. It goes without saying consulting with MD and being treated if needed, is still the number 1 rule to prevention of these risks.
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How to understand different medical issues and how to alter lifestyle to manage them better.
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How to cope with caregiving of loved ones.
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Ways to cope with difficulties : relaxation, travel, spending quality time with friends, family.
These are a few of the topics this web site is hoping to cover. Along the way I will offer links to certain products but I don’t endorse them since I probably haven’t used or utilized them. These are links and suggestions and it is the responsibility of the reader or buyer to check out any product they are intending to purchase and utilize.
My activities have been good lately. I am still consistent with my 5-7 mile runs 3-4 times a week and lately I’ve added weight lifting to my routine. I have lost 23 pounds since December and am generally pleased with my progress.
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