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THE MAGIC PILL

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

Introduction: The Magic Pill............................................................................................1How to use this book....................................................................................................91. The Fountain of Youth Can We Really Turn Back the Clock on Aging?...................................................132. Preventive Medicine An Ounce of Prevention is Worth More than a Pound of Cure.......................................523. Better than Prozac Improve your Mood and Alleviate Anxiety..........................................................974. Invest in Yourself The Costs of Exercise and the Costs if You Don't Exercise........................................1115. Exert Yourself Commit Yourself to Exercise..........................................................................1236. Motivate Yourself Are You Lost in Love or in Love to be Lost? A Labor of Love.......................................1667. Nourish Yourself Do you Eat to Live or Live to Eat? The Nutritional Road Map to Dietary Success.....................1858. Reduce Yourself The Time Tested Strategies of Losing Weight.........................................................2319. Supplement Yourself Live Longer and Perform Better..................................................................27310. Moderate Yourself Matt's Moderation Mantra.........................................................................29111. Assist Yourself Getting Some Help: Hire a Personal Trainer!........................................................30112. Empower Yourself The Power of the Mind.............................................................................31613. Direct Yourself Action Leads the Way to Your Destiny...............................................................340Age Defying Benefits of Exercise........................................................................................16Calculate Your Body Mass Index (BMI)....................................................................................72Exercise Recommendations for Diabetics..................................................................................81Exercise Guidelines for Adults..........................................................................................131Exercise Guidelines for Children........................................................................................134Calculate Your Target (Training) Heart Rate.............................................................................143Walking Program Chart...................................................................................................151The Menu Workout........................................................................................................156Daily Caloric Intake Worksheet..........................................................................................200The Ten Commandments of Nutrition.......................................................................................202The Five Critical Steps of Weight Loss..................................................................................254The Nutrition Traffic Light.............................................................................................264The Supplement Trilogy..................................................................................................277Goal Setting Worksheet..................................................................................................342Acknowledgements........................................................................................................357Selected References and Further Reading.................................................................................361

Chapter One

"Exercise is the closest thing we have to the fountain of youth." Dr Linn Goldberg and Dr Diane Elliot (Authors of The Healing Power of Exercise)

Can We Really Turn Back the Clock on Aging?

Thousands of studies have illustrated the countless benefits and biological clock-reversing power of exercise. Even with all the advances in medicine, bioengineering of "superfoods," and high-tech supplements, nothing surpasses exercise in its ability to keep us young and help us live longer. Gerontologists who research and study aging have come up with dozens of theories and four schools of thought on what causes aging, but have universally concluded that exercise is the closest thing we have to an anti-aging pill. By revitalizing the biological processes involved in aging, exercise increases lifespan and dramatically improves the quality of life during our later years. We can't overlook the impact of science and medicine in giving us vaccines, antibiotics, trauma surgery, drug therapies, psychotherapies, and life saving treatments, all which have contributed to our significantly longer life spans. In spite of all the medical breakthroughs though, and the fact that the average human lifespan has increased by 50 years during the past two centuries, many health experts agree that children being born today have a shorter expected life span then their parents.

Why is this? Simple answer: Because of the ever-increasing prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and poor nutritional habits. Now more than ever, American adults and their children are sitting on their collective butts and eating surplus calories from highly processed, low nutrient foods. We are at the golden age of medicine as biomedical information doubles every three and half years, genes are being decoded, and scientific research unmasks the microscopic processes which make life possible. Allopathic medicine will gladly continue to research and develop more and more drugs to treat the symptoms and discomforts resulting from our poor choices. Exercise treats the underlying cause! I ask you this: Is it better to treat the symptoms or cure the disease itself? Exercise is like a vaccine to old age.

It is amazing to look back just over 100 years ago and see that the three leading causes of death were influenza, diarrhea, and pneumonia. Today's leading causes of death are heart disease, cancer, and stroke. But the tide is turning again as diabetes and downstream diseases related to obesity are working their way to the top. Medicine helps us live longer, but exercise helps us live longer and better. As I've been advocating for the past 15 years to anyone willing to listen, exercise is the best preventive medicine there is and the true fountain of youth. You can quote me on this ... An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure!

We can reform health care with prevention

According to the Budget of the US Government (Fiscal Year 2009), our government spent over 600 billion dollars on health care in 2008 and the US Department of Health and Human Services projects health care expenditures to double over the next 20 years. In his first State of the Union address to Congress, President Barack Obama declared health care is "one of the largest and fastest-growing parts of our budget." In a 2009 public address on health care reform, President Obama said the United States spends one dollar out of every six on health care. The true cost of our poor health is close to 700 billion...