Met up with my old school mates last night for a reunion dinner. Many of them are very accomplished people, including an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist who just received his Datukship (Malaysian knighthood) from the Agong (King) last February.
Who would have thought that, more than 20 years ago, we were all just kids with big ideas and no real notion of what the real adult world was all about?
But that's how we all start in life. We live, we learn and we achieve.
Unfortunately, we grow old too. While growing old is not necessarily a bad thing, it's something that requires careful consideration.
Do we want to grow old before our time? Do we want to be a burden to our loved ones? Do we want to continue realising our potential in this world, so that we can do good by ourselves, our loved ones, our nation and its people?
Most people would answer "No to the first two and yes to third question". And if you're one of those people, then you also know that living the "good life" requires good health.
I'm a passionate believer of this, such that I hold on to my youth like its gold. Thus far, I have been successful in holding back the years, such that many of my friends at the reunion have been amazed at how young I look despite my advancing years.
Well, today is the day I share my tried and tested methods of keeping young. But I must caution that, while these work for me, they may not work for you. Furthermore, I am not a dietitian, nor am I a qualified health consultant.
I'm just a guy who wants to live a healthy life for as long as I can. And the following are some of the things that I have done to achieve this.
1. Tackle them fats
Some people, when they grow older, they become gaunt. Me, when I grow older, I become fat. It's my genetic make-up. And when I get fat, I look old, feel old and behave like an old man.
I walk like an old man. I run like an old man. But in my mind, I'm still that kid who rides his racer-bike to his best-friends' houses.
So, if being fat stifles my youth, then being fat is the enemy of my youth.
What do I do? I get rid of fats to regain my youth and hold on to it with dear life.
There are three basic ways that I accomplish this? Exercise, foods and supplements.
Urggh! The exercise word. Well, there are no two ways about it. You want to get rid of them fats, you have to exercise. But listen to your body. Do what feels comfortable and manageable, don't over exert because your body needs to not only burn fats but repair and build muscles as well.
Strike a balance. Think of how farmers work their fields. They don't over exert themselves because they can't afford to fall sick or get injured. If they do, then their crops would suffer.
Likewise, you need to exercise daily but alternate between rigorous exercise days and light exercise or "rest" days. How rigorous or how light depends on how fit you are (you have to find your own rhythm).
Then, there's food. You need to cut back on the carbs and increase lean protein and fibre intake. But don't cut back on carbs or fats entirely.
You need carbs for energy and muscle repair, and contrary to what many people think, you also need good fats.
So, what sort of carbs should you eat? Well, the best carb to eat is brown rice (I take Ecobrown). High in fibre, brown rice gives you just enough carbs to keep your energy levels high but on a more sustained basis - as opposed to white rice which gives you energy boosts for short durations, making you hungry more quickly and putting you on drastic energy high and low swings that promote fat accumulation.
Apart from brown rice, you can take fibre bread or anything other carb that is rich in fibre.
Then there's protein. Your body needs it to repair and build muscles. But many animal protein sources come with fats.
For instance, chicken skin is loaded with fats. So, if you are eating at KFC, don't eat the skin.
Lamb shanks are also chock full of fats. While lamb fat is tasty, it's really better to carve it aside and just eat the lamb meat.
What about fish skin? Well, here's where good fats lie. The thing is, you need good fats to get rid of bad fats. Good fats are high-density lipoproteins, whereas bad fats are low-density lipoproteins (the kind that clogs your arteries). Fish fat is good.
Unfortunately, if you want to lose them fats, eating good fats can also make losing your fats an uphill struggle.
This is where supplements come in. What I do to hasten the process of losing fats using supplements is two pronged - fat expulsion and suppression of fat accumulation.
I use slimming tea to expel fats from my body. Some use Oolong tea. I use "Teh Orang Kampung", a brand of slimming tea that makes you... well, go to the toilet quite a bit. While it's not very pleasant, the results are quick. Just be sure to time its consumption, such that you don't get caught in a traffic jam or in an important meeting while having the terrible urge to go!
I use Ayurslim from Himalaya Products to suppress fat accumulation. The thing about getting rid of fats with slimming tea is that you tend to get rid of good fats too. Well, Ayurslim will help ensure that when you eat to replenish your good fats, you don't unnecessarily accumulate them again.
Yes, it's a damn tug of war when it comes to fighting fat. You have to get rid of fats but you still need them too. Sigh!
2. Tackle them muscles
It's really not enough to just get rid of fats if you want to regain your youth. You need to build muscles. Why? Well, exercise promotes the production of human growth hormones, which are necessary for you to build new cells in your body that replace old and dying ones.
But as you grow older, it gets far more difficult for you to build muscles just but exercising. So, you need body building supplements like whey protein, creatine, glutamine, liquid L-carnitine, etc. But be careful of artificial steroids - these can actually ruin your health and your youth (especially the kind that you inject directly into your muscles).
What do I use? Well, I use supplements by Nitro-Tech among others, which I get from GNC, both for maintenance and for muscle building.
3. Tackle that nasty cancer threat posed by free radicals
Like it or not, when we breath or exercise, we expose our body to the threat of cancer resulting from the production of free radicals in our body. These things will kill you quickly if you don't eat the right plants or herbs.
The best plants to eat when tackling free radicals are the ones that produce green and red pigments or bioflavinoids. You don't have to spend through your nose to do this. A large can of tomato juice would give you enough bioflavinoids to last you an entire week - just take one glass a day and you're good.
Eating raw chillies along with leafy greens is also a good way to get bioflavinoids into your system, provided you can stand the spicy after taste.
As for herbs, well, for men, saw palmetto works wonders. Available at almost any pharmacy, saw palmetto keeps men virile and the hair on our heads thick (or at least reduces hair fall). It also has good anti-cancer properties, such that it can keep your prostate glens healthy.
As for the rest of the things I do, well, I'll continue later - there's this stupid kid screaming his lungs out at the coffee shop where I'm writing this blog. His bloody parents don't have the freaking decency to shut him up despite the fact that he's bloody annoying other patrons!
Later!
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