The most important of those seven things is most likely your diet. Sometime around 431 B.C., Hippocrates said, "Let food by thy Medicine." And in 1930 A.D., Victor Rocine said, "If we eat wrongly, no doctor can cure us; if we eat rightly, no doctor is needed." Both understood the importance of consuming a healthy diet, which includes the right foods for our body. All foods have different properties, so that you need to know how to plan your diet in order to achieve the correct balance specifically for you. Even if you were to eat only healthy foods, you would need to balance what you eat correctly. Of course, few people eat a healthy diet, which only adds to the causes of possible health problems. If you are overweight (which has its own set of problems) and love to procrastinate, you may be doing irreversible damage to your health. So you must start now to make improvements. If you are thinking that you want to enjoy life to the fullest by eating what you want, when you want, while saying to yourself, "I'll worry about the consequences later, at least I'll be enjoying myself now," it is time to re-evaluate that thought. Eventually, you will no longer be enjoying yourself. Your health will start declining (maybe this has already happened). It may start so slowly you'll hardly notice, until one day, you realize that your health has deteriorated, and when you go to the doctor, you may find out you have diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or any other of a number of problems. Years ago, in a photography class, the professor said, "eliminate as many variable as possible to get the best results." That applies to diet and health as well. There are many variables in the foods we eat - they may contain dyes, acids, artificial flavors and sweeteners, sugar, texturizers, nitrates, nitrites, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, genetic modifications, and more. They may have been grown in poor conditions and have been sitting on store shelves for days. Then you buy them and overcook them. With all these variables, perhaps you can begin to see why you are having problems. Never forget that we are what we eat (and these days, what we are exposed to in the environment). The food we can do something about. Check labels, and the best advice is to not buy nor consume foods with the items listed above. That would include most processed and fast foods. Once you eliminate these items from your diet, your food will actually start to taste better, although it may take several weeks. After you've started eating a healthy diet, you need to cleanse and detoxify your major elimination organs to assist your body in getting rid of toxins you've accumulated over the years. This will help keep you toxin free, feeling great, and help prevent disease. Your diet will probably be the most difficult thing to change. However, there are many resources available on the Internet to help you with your diet and to stay fit forever. If you're a couch potato, then exercise may be about as difficult, although you probably have the "rest" thing down to a science. A good place to start, after checking with your health practitioner, might be your local gym or a personal trainer. As for supplements, a good multivitamin is a good base to start with, then you may want to add individual nutrients depending on your needs. As for sunshine, early in the day or late afternoon is best. Once your health returns and/or you start feeling better and have more energy, it will become much easier to think positive thoughts, although you should begin immediately as this will help you reach your goals. Please visit http://stayfit4ever.com for more information.
by Tony Belmont