Preventive medicine is incredibly underrated. I don’t know many people out there who are eating right and exercising right, taking vitamins, supplements, and herbal remedies, detoxing and cleansing, and meditating. Most people I know consume inordinate amount of beer, pizza, soda, and ice cream. Some of them cover it up in exercise, but that method of attack will run its course. Metabolisms slow down. Bodies break down. Your cast iron stomach has its limits. Honestly, exercise should not be a counter attack on the food you eat. Exercise should only comprise about 30% of your lifestyle – a drop in the bucket of health – and not the bulk of it.
Eating a diet heavy in carbohydrates (as most Americans do) will undoubtedly lead to dire consequences, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and the big boy: diabetes. I can’t wrap my head around why people continue to chow down on garbage knowing their health will be jeopardized. Instead of biting the bullet, and creating a healthy, nutritious dietary plan, they prefer to eat how they want, ultimately relying on medication crutches. Come on.
I was on the path toward becoming a medical doctor when I realized I could not advocate what doctors preach. It’s medication obsessed. If the alleged expert is preaching medication, it is no wonder the average person is convinced. I know a man, for example, who has had colon cancer. He has high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I told him he could simply change his diet and avoid the expensive, side effect ridden medication. He barked back, “Yeah, or I can just take this.” I was stumped because yeah, he’s right, he can just take that. Yet, why not save your money, respect your body, and simply change up the food you eat? It’s crazy. It’s such a lazy world. People prefer to add fuel to the fire in lieu of buying some veggies and lean meats. Doctors, also, prefer to take the drug route because they are too lazy and indoctrinated to attempt a more natural approach. If I were a doctor, I’d proscribe diets for these typical conditions: “Here’s your script for an increase in vegetables, legumes, protein, healthy fat, and water, and a sharp decrease in carbs. Now, be on your merry way!”
The problem for most is that they are uninformed. What is eating right? What is exercising right? With lots of varying information and crazy diets floating around, it is hard to know. If you want to find a realistic one that works, call on my guru The 4-Hour Body, a brilliant novel featuring the slow carb diet and other health-related topics. The gist: cut out all carbohydrates except beans, and eat to your heart’s content six days a week. Yes, carbohydrates include fruit, alcohol, bread, rice, etc. For those winos out there, you’ll be happy to know you can consume one glass of red wine – Merlot or Pinot Noir – per night. Even two isn’t going to hurt you. Well, what about day seven? Day seven is gold. Eat whatever you want in any amount. It’s basically guilt free bingeing. Shockingly, it’s even healthy for you, an integral component of the slow carb diet. For exercise, swing kettle bells, hold planks, vomit like a cat, and practice myotatic crunches three days per week. That’s it! It’s the ultimate diet for people without spare time for cooking and excessive exercising. It’s economical, it’s healthy, it’s easy, and it works.
Bottom line: We underestimate the significance of diet and overestimate our invincibility. Admittedly, it is hard to change up the routine. It is hard to say goodbye to beer, pizza, soda, and ice cream. Remember, though, that with Ferriss’s diet, you don’t have to say goodbye forever. You just set up a strategic date to pig out on heavenly indulgences. The rest of the week, you stick to a consistent and nutritious diet.
Improper diet is the primary reason America is so unhealthy. It is the reason for diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. It is the reason the pharmaceutical industry is so successful. Don’t try to tell yourself any different. Don’t create excuses. Don’t buy the cheap junk food. There is a reason it is so cheap. It’s made out of inexpensive, innutritious, refined, and processed rubbish. You have the choice to eat better. Do yourself a favor and say audios to those co-pays, those prescription fees, and the enabling doctors. Today, you must be your own advocate when it comes to your health. No one can save you. You may be offered a crutch, but it’s no solution.
