I am encouraged with the journey of health

Jim and Judy Smith in the Phillippines,
They have given me the joy of laughter

For over 6 years now I have been reading and researching health and the Bible and how to get healthy as we age. What I have learned has been encouraging considering the limitations we have being temporal beings here on earth. Our fight for longevity mainly concerns our battles with heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Doing things that are good for our heart help the the other things we encounter. Along the way I fought anxiety and depression and learned alot about our mental health as well.
I am encouraged because there are things we can do that help us live better and give us a chance to have more years to take up our lives with purpose and pleasure.
Sometimes we need support from the medical field which can give us more years to enjoy our lives. I have two eye diseases which doctors have treated and I have a good prognosis to enjoy eyesight into my 70's and 80's. My doctor has worked with me on my heart health and I have come through a loss of 1/3 of my colon. In the good old days  would have experienced loss of eyesight and probably would have had an heart attack and died of a ruptured colon. Of course as a preemie I probably would have died in childhood. I see God's grace in all of this, but I am thankful for medical support. It is a big reason why many of us will live longer.
My research has convinced me that we can also do things to help us live better. We can eat healthy and control what we eat and we can walk, use resistance training, and work on our flexibility to improve our health.
Two articles I read this week you can check out.
Thirty minute workout can really make a difference a study from Denmark tells us.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/08/23/30-minutes-a-day-will-keep-you-in-shape-mentally-physically/43595.html

 

Working on aerobic walking and improving our good cholesterol can help us prevent death by heart attack.

http://todayiwill.com/2012/08/cardiorespiratory-fitness-level-and-ldl-cholesterol-level-is-one-more-important-than-the-other/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cardiorespiratory-fitness-level-and-ldl-cholesterol-level-is-one-more-important-than-the-other

A garden in Manila

You read everywhere where we are overweight. Everywhere we have people telling us how including me. But our battle remains. Here I am encouraged as well. I have been walking now for over 5 years. I have learned how to use my own body with weights and bands to help to get stronger. I haven't met my goals yet but I see the benefits. The journey of health is worth the effort. Our journey will encounter changes. This is about our health and how we feel. It isn't about being 20 again. We can look better but we will still be 60, 70, 80 or more. How are we living? Here we can encourage each other.

Walking is part of our experience, but so is a good book or movie. Working out is part of our experience but so is our spiritual walk and family life. Stretching is a part of our life but so are our friends and relationships that keep us going and help us continue to live and embrace the challenge of life. Eating healthy foods and  veggies work on the inside but so does our willingness to show kindness and care for others. Nothing ages us more than being a self centered Scrooge.

So my friend keep walking