Hi, my name is Alex, as of today May 8, 2024, I am 75 years 11 months and 20 days old, happily married with two children and three beautiful grandchildren. You may ask: why this Healthy Eating, Healthy Life page? Well, I try to inform the reader about the benefits of Good Eating Habits. Notice that I did not say Good Diet. I, personally, don’t refrain from eating anything that I like but, it seems that I like things that are good for me. Was I born liking these things that are good for me? I don’t think so, I think that my upbringing had a lot to do with this. I follow Healthy Eating habits not by design but, by preference. I believe that as a result, I have a normally Healthy Life. My BMI is about 24.5 my waist circumference is just less than 33 inches. That may indicate that I am, somehow, healthy.
What does all this mean?
Well, the medical establishment seems to believe that if your
weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness
for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may
lead to health problems.
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Weight in pounds (lbs) divided by height in inches (in) squared
and multiplied by a conversion factor of 703
weight (lbs) / [height (in)x(in)] x 703)
An example of calculating body mass index using the BMI formula:
Weight = 181 lbs, Height = 6 ft (72 inches)
Easy BMI Calculation: 181 ÷ 72 ÷ 72 x 703 = 24.55
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
Measuring waist circumference helps screen for possible health risks that come with overweight and obesity. If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men. To correctly measure your waist, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out.
Apparently, I am normal and OK. Well, if you ask my wife, she may have a totally different opinion.
Why is Alex, apparently, normal and OK? You may ask.
Alex on a South Florida Beach – Apr. 2018
Why is this guy apparently normal? Is he supper gifted? Are his genetics helping him? Is he a health food fanatic? Does he spend hours upon hours in the gym? Did he discover a new formula?
Well, I am sorry to disappoint you but, the answers to all those questions is a big NO WAY JOSE.
My heritage is, depending on which side of the family the answer comes from, either Spanish/Italian or Italian/Spanish. I cannot tell the difference.
What does that tell you? I am an average North American with a lot of European backgrounds. Judging by what I know about the Old Continent, now Unified Europe, people were more alike than different. Their differences came from their territorial, tribal, protectionist tendencies. This is very normal, instinctively, we all try to protect our crowd, in our own territorial and tribal ways,
The Irish members of my extended family do eat almost the same type of dishes that they eat in Spain. Though, neither will admit it. My Italian half eats almost the same dishes that the Spaniards eat. Now, in all fairness, the Italians are the ones who eat pasta more than anyone in Europe.
Just think about. On this small world of ours, to eat something we all stew, boil, braise, fry, barbecue, broil, steam, pickle, ferment or just do nothing and eat our food totally raw. What else is there to do with food?
Now going back to the question, why is Alex so normal?
Many things about Alex (me) may surprise you. As a young toddler, I remember, either my mother or my grandmother would wake me up in the mornings with half a glass of Marsala wine with a raw egg in it. Typically Italian of my time. That was to make me strong and beautiful (LOL). All I know is, I had a very happy childhood (LOL). The point I am trying to make is that I was brought up in a very old fashion southern European environment. Is that good? I don’t know but, it is a fact. I can go back in memories to my 2nd birthday and I do not remember not drinking wine during my entire life. Do I promote drinking? No, but, that is another fact. I enjoy my glass of wine and occasionally a beer with my meals but, I do not go stupid and get drunk. Another fact, I do not drink to get drunk. I never get drunk.
I rarely eat sweets, just because I do not like sweets, I don’t like fried foods either and I very rarely eat “fast foods”. We prefer to prepare and cook our own meals and we don’t use a lot of processed foods. Perhaps, all this helps me stay within my “normal” BMI. Do you know the funny side of this? we do all this because that is the way we have always done it.
Finally, I try to exercise regularly. I tend to favor resistance exercises over aerobics but, this is a totally personal preference.
As a child, I ate meat, potatoes, pasta, eggs, fish and seafood, green salads, etc. all home-made. You see, I was not different from my fellow Americans of sixty some years ago. You know what? We were all very slim then. We had, without knowing, fairly Healthy Eating Habits.
What went wrong?
This is going to shock you: WE EAT TOO MUCH AND DO TOO LITTLE.
Growing up, a hamburger was a 2 or 3 oz ground beef patty with a slice of tomato and onion, a skimpy iceberg lettuce leaf between two small hamburger bun halves.
Quarter Pounder
I remember back when in the early 70’s McDonald’s introduced the quarter pounder, WOW, was that big? Quarter pounder, meaning 4 ounces of ground meat before cooking it. Look at any hamburger today. Three times plus in size. You see, to attract more clients restaurants try to give you more food than their competition for the same money. This, along with our enormous appetite to eat out, created a fertile environment for us to eat more than we really need. In reality, one of today’s servings represents more than twice the calories, fat content, sugar content, etc., etc. of a serving of a few decades ago.
In the 1960s, the average hamburger was 4 oz, the fries were 3 oz, and the drink was 10 oz. Today, the average hamburger is 7.6 oz, the fries are 7 oz. and the drink is 32 oz. A Supersized Value Meal can contain over 2,000 calories – more than many of us need to eat in an entire day!
Just because we pay for it and it comes as a single serving, we do not have to consume it all at once.
When Sue Isabel, my wife, and I travel through beautiful Kentucky we have to have Kentucky Fried Chicken, this is a must. You know what? We order one serving for both of us and it is plenty. Do I believe in a starvation diet? No, I believe in eating no more than I need to stay Healthy.
The old adagio says “You Are What You Eat”, I like to say “You Are What You Eat And How You Eat”. I try to eat healthy foods and eat in a healthy manner. Consuming junk food and/or eating too much IS NOT HEALTHY. Sorry for shouting at you but, we all need to wake up.
Does eating healthy help you stay healthy and slim?
I strongly believe so. If you eat healthy foods, only as much as you need and try to exercise regularly, you will have a healthier life and your
weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness
for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may
lead to health problems.
Do you have to eat healthy to be slim?
Well, not necessarily. My father was a very slim man, in fact, his friends called him Slim. When it came to eating he had a very profound saying: “I eat to live, I do not live to eat”. He did not have extremely healthy eating habits, what we call nowadays diet, often, he would eat lardo, brine-cured pork fat, with sauerkraut and some bread for dinner and, of course, a couple of glasses of red wine. He ate a lot of red meat and white carbohydrates and he always had his red wine with his meals. One thing for sure, he never ate more than he needed. Remember? he ate to live, did not live to eat. It seems that these days we live to eat and we eat way beyond our needs. We praise ourselves for being a very Christian society, we are often quick to label smoking and drinking as sins, but for some reason, gluttony is accepted or at least tolerated. Yet, Proverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” and Proverbs 23:2 proclaims, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.” Am I trying to push some religious beliefs? Not at all, just trying to make a point about how hypocrite we are when we need to justify our faults. The moral reality is that if we eat more than we need, we are taking food away from those who may need it to survive.
Enough philosophy.
This blog/page is dedicated to Healthy Eating and Healthy Life. I try, in my own humble ways, to inform about ways to Healthy Eating and to achieve a Healthy Life. Some of the experiences are personal, some of the articles are paraphrased summaries of some material the author read and some may come directly from third party sources. My goal is to help the reader obtain a better understanding on how to achieve Good Healthy Eating Habits leading to a Healthy Life full of excitement, energy and all the good things that come along with Good Health.
Remember, that Healthy Eating will help you maintain a healthy weight. What does this mean? Well, if you need to lose weight, you will lose weight the healthy way and come to your healthy
weight and height. BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness
for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may
lead to health problems.
Yes, we will embark on a new journey together. If we do it right, it will be painless and enjoyable. Let’s hold hands and learn how to Eat Healthily, Exercise and enjoy a Good, Long and Healthy Life.
I hope, you, the reader benefit from the material found on this blog/page. Please, send me your comments, advises and your articles. If I agree with your articles I will publish them under your name. We are on this journey together. If you think it is worthy, please, tell your friends about this blog/page.
Cheers, and to your HEALTH,
Alex.
P.S. Send your comments, advises and your articles to our e-mail found on Contact Us. Thanks.