Live your life and forget your age. ~ Norman Vincent Peale
I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Peale, but I understand why some people say, “How can I forget my age when I feel it every second I am awake?” referring to the aches and pains we believe are a normal part of aging. Okay, I hear you!
At 62, I understand because I have experienced the feelings of being older. The way other people treat me because of my age has also affected me. It is easy to fall into the stereotypes of getting older, but that doesn’t have to be our destiny. What if what we are feeling isn’t old age but something caused by stressful situations or the food choices we are making, or both?
Here is an example from my life. Last year was a tough year for me. My son, Samer, had been battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for almost four years, and at just 36, it looked like his options were limited. In September, I flew out to Denver, Colorado where he lived with his wife because he had been hospitalized with a breathing issue. He was released from the hospital a few days after I arrived, and I spent some time with him before returning to North Carolina. His overall situation did not improve, however, and he passed away on November 8, 2022.
I had just moved back to my hometown of Charlotte, NC in August, and started not one but two new jobs, one as a high school English teacher and another as an adjunct university writing lecturer. To say that my body and mind were stressed when Samer passed away would be a colossal understatement. I got out of bed feeling stiff like I had climbed a mountain in my sleep. At times, I thought I had lost the ability to get out of my car easily because my muscles felt so tight yet weak.
Having a child die is a major stressor, and it is understandable to be affected both physically as well as emotionally. However, I am sure I am not the only person my age who, after a life-changing event, suddenly felt “old.”
Like many people over 60, I attributed these new feelings to age, even though I had not had this attitude before. My 30th, 40th, 50th, and 60th birthdays passed without me focusing on age at all. On my 50th birthday, I went hiking with Samer in the mountains of NC to a waterfall, requiring me to hike up and down steep inclines. But after his death, I felt that age had “caught up with me,” a familiar refrain I have heard older individuals say most of my life.
After Samer’s death, I spent more time eating out than cooking at home because I just didn’t feel like being alone, and even though I was only eating around people, it helped reduce my loneliness. Unfortunately, even though I was eating vegetables and whole foods, the food had added oils and lots of salt. My weight which had been steady for several years since adopting a Whole Foods Plant-Based lifestyle started creeping up. My clothes started to get tight; I even had to buy a few new pairs of pants because the ones I had were too uncomfortable to wear.
Whenever I would try to do yoga, my go-to exercise for most of my life, I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. My balance was off, and my wrists hurt in cat pose and downward facing dog. I had always been able to pick up where I left off, but not this time.
Then it occurred to me that perhaps there was something else going on. I refused to give into the “this is what getting older feels like” mentality. I realized I was not following the Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) lifestyle guidelines. Some call it the WFPBNO lifestyle, and now I know why. Even though oil is not a whole food, it bears repeating, and the NO or “No Oil” is added to WFPB.
Oil is in almost everything processed. It is in foods that it was not in several years ago. I used to buy a roasted pepper spread a decade ago at a local Mediterranean market, and now I cannot find one that is oil-free. This summer I was even served pickled beets at a restaurant, and oil was added to them as well. Oil is pure fat and is calorically dense, and even the so-called healthy EVOO is damaging to our endothelium.
After just ten days of cooking at home, preparing my lunches to take to work, and eliminating all oils from my diet, my body feels amazing. The first few days were not great, probably I was getting rid of some built-up sludge in my veins, not scientific I know, but after a few days I felt better, and my energy level has been increasing each day.
As for the yoga and other exercises, while I am not where I used to be (it has only been a few weeks) I do feel stronger, and I am enjoying my sessions more. It probably depends on the individual, but feeling better on a WFPBNO way of eating (It is NOT a diet!) after a week or more has been noted by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., Dr. John McDougall, and Rip Esselstyn in his Engine 2 Challenge among others. The body is amazing in its ability to heal when we give it a chance to.
Education is important when it comes to sticking to a different way of eating, but it is not enough. It takes effort to change. Plus, I don’t expect anyone to believe me. I say challenge yourself for 30 days. That way you will know for yourself. There are plenty of resources to help you get started, I like the McDougall Program because Dr. McDougall focuses on making sure you have enough starches in your diet, so you don’t feel hungry. When have you been on a diet and didn’t feel hungry? Since this is not a diet, you are more likely to stick with it if you are feeling satisfied.
So you don’t have to “get old.” We all age; that is a fact, but we don’t have to fall apart. For me, the turnaround began with making sure I was eating WFPBNO, and the rest, like exercise, comes more easily after I start feeling better and more energetic.
Are you going to challenge the status quo and refuse to fall prey to aging stereotypes? I hope so. By refusing to succumb to what society deems old, we can all heed Dr. Peale’s advice, forget our age, and start living!
Peace!
