AlanHarmon.net

Earlier this year I started down an unexpected path. It wasn't an epiphany, but several things came together to make me realize that I should start taking my health more seriously. Here is what happened:

It Was a Cold Day

Yeah, it really was, with an expected high of 48 degrees at the Sourdough Bread Festival at 123farm.com in Beaumont, California. We were going to make a day of it, going to the festival exploring the grounds and going to a lecture on ‘Sourdough Bread Making’. Our friend makes sourdough bread each week, so we were looking forward to hearing about some other techniques from some experts.

Curveball

Once we arrived at the festival, we enjoyed our time looking at all the different vendors, buying some organic honey and other fun things to add to our pantry. After a little while I looked at the schedule for today to coordinate lunch and the lecture on Sourdough Bread Making and lo-and-behold, that lecture was last week on February 19, 2023, not on February 26, 2023.

Was It Serendipity?

We were here, so why not just grab our lunch and enjoy the ‘Cultured Foods’ lecture and then possibly see if we wanted to stay for the ‘Counterfeit Bread’ lecture – for whatever that meant. What the heck is counterfeit bread? Is this going to be some crazy over-zealous nut talking about all the bad things about how we make food and put his crazy ideas out for us to try to win us over? Well… not exactly.

The Two Questions That Changed It All

The lecture was presented by Dr. Kevin Ham, which I will go over in more detail in future posts. After a few minutes of introduction and going over some of his power point presentaion, he asked two simple questions:

1. How Long Do You Want To Live?
2. How Long Do You Want To Be Healthy

Two simple questions, right?

Well, for the first question, most people will answer somewhere between 80 years old and 100 years old, mostly depending on their current age.



The Second Question is where it gets tricky. If I want to live to be 90 years old, how many of those years do I want to be healthy?

Two Options

Whether we think about it or not, there are really only two options.
1. OPTION #1: We are healthy for much of our life, but at the end we have a longer period of poor health.
2. OPTION #2: We are healthy for most of our life and die with a relatively short period of poor health.

Control

We don’t have full control of how long we live, or how long we are healthy. We do have some control though. Did you know past generations did not suffer from heart disease or diabetes? Did you know 70% of your immune system is based on your gut health? Did you know that when modern bread and processed sugars were introduced, all kinds of problems started happening in our society?

Well, I sure didn’t know those things, and a lightbulb came on in my head. Currently at age 55, I really have no desire to live to be 100. What I do want though, is to be healthy for those years I do have on this earth (Option #2). We do have some control of that. We can literally reduce our chances of having certain diseases by how we live our lives.

My Healthy Living Goals

1. To Maintain a Healthy Weight

2. To be Intentional with Eating Healthy, Beneficial Foods

3. To be Active with Exercise and Activities

4. To Continue to Find Things to be Passionate About

I write this over seven months after my trip to the Sourdough Bread Festival. I have for-the-most-part, continued the course. How I approach eating is significantly different than is was before February 26, 2023. My weight is still 15 pounds from its, high, and I am committed to getting it lower. I strive for perfection, knowing that it is not attainable. I am dedicated to do what I can to increase my chances of being healthy for the majority of my life here on earth. I am sure I will be writing much more about this in the days to come…..

Related Posts

February 26, 2023 - The Day That Changed My Life
My Healthy Living Journey – 2023 (Part 1)
My Healthy Living Journey – 2023 (Part 2)
My Healthy Living Journey – 2023 (Part 3)