1. Good News
2. Product Highlight
3. Brainpower tip
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
For many people, retirement goes like this. They have a few years in which they no longer commute to work. But they really have to watch their spending because now they don't have that income. So all that working life talk of retirement travel and living the good life once they retired was simply a pipe dream. They worked long hours, enduring 40 or more years of weekends given up in hopes of gaining that promotion, putting up with an idiotic and abusive boss until that boss is fired or they can find another job, going through one corporate acquisition after another, giving up evenings to take classes to keep up and then getting laid off anyhow, and so on. But the big carrot of retirement allowed them to keep going while getting flogged with all those different sticks. A few years into retirement, it starts. The visits to the doctor, the prescription medications, the back pains, the lack of energy, and so on. For men, a common ritual is to tell them they have a low PSA (never get this test done, it's a scam) and must submit themselves to a series of barbaric and pointless "treatments" that leave them with huge physical problems. For men and women, it gets harder and harder to walk. Eventually, the retiree gets a cane or a walker. And then upon losing all mobility, a bed in a nursing home. To pay for that expensive bed in the nursing home, the retiree typically needs federal assistance. The problem there is to qualify, the retiree has to totally lose that nest egg she or he worked so hard for (see the first two paragraphs). OK, so we are at this point. You slave away and put up with all kinds of abuse only to end up with nothing. So the reward you counted on just doesn't materialize. It doesn't have to be this way. There are some reasons it is this way, and if you can understand those reasons and take the appropriate actions, it won't be this way for you. Let's start with that mobility issue, since it is so devastating and yet so easily preventable. The human body is always trying to conserve resources. You've heard the admonition "Use it or lose it", right? To preserve your mobility, follow these tips:
Following the two tips above is easy. It's not as good as a full-fledged fitness program, but just this small effort, if put forth diligently, should preserve your mobility. What about the slave issues while on the job? I once worked at a place where face time had great importance. I refused to live at the place, and because of that I got supervisor abuse and coworker abuse. But I noticed other people spent relatively little of their time actually doing anything. I focused on being productive. I followed the "work smart" philosophy, eliminating wasteful steps and finding efficient ways to do things. Things came to a head one day, when I was called into Personnel to discuss my "poor performance." I came armed with data. As it turned out, I produced more work in a single month than another guy in our group did in a full year. And my work was clearly of much higher quality. Also, I didn't engage in idle time games as he did so nobody had any complaints about me other than I "left early each day." My security card showed I arrived an hour earlier than anyone else. Once the facts were established, I asked if they would like me to stop working two hours after I arrived so that I would be at the same level of output as Bob. I said if I slept at my desk for 6 hours each day, I would still outperform him. But if they wanted to effectively have twelve Bobs for the price of one, they could just leave things as they are. The company ran into difficult times, and a series of layoffs began. Bob was laid off a full three years before I was. Even though he put in the requisite face time. If your boss is abusive, manage your boss. I had a boss who was abusive to me. So one day, I pulled the typical boss trick of asking, "John, you got a minute?" Then I just too the role of boss, treating him as a subordinate. I told him his performance as a manager was under par, and that I did not appreciate his trying to make up for it by abusing me. I told him that putting his name on my work so he gets all the credit, and writing outright lies in my performance appraisal were firing offenses. "You've done those things for the last time. Do you understand me?" He was totally taken aback. He was supposed to be the one intimidating me, not the other way around. Once he recovered from the initial shock, he went on the attack telling me I was not the one in charge. I told him to think again. It's a team environment, and he's not a team player. I also told him I had not only documented his abuse but had discussed it with his boss' boss. "You're on notice. So don't mess with me anymore or you'll be looking for a job." Then I walked out. Now that was an extreme case. I had handled other bosses less aggressively. What this case illustrates, however, is that if you keep your own porch clean at work and strive to be the ideal employee, you have great power when you're in a hostile work environment. You really can brush aside the corporate structure when your boss is abusive. Note that there's a difference between demanding and abusive. So don't slave away with the idea that you have to take the abuse to get the rewards that come with the promotion or retirement. Remember too, your clock does run out. As I type this, I have a couple of hours before I leave for climbing. I'm 58 and strong 5.11 climber. A friend recently asked me why I climb almost every weekend. I told him I don't want to wait until I'm 70 and have lots of time to do that. I sacrifice things now so I can climb regularly while I am still young enough to climb. Rarely am I not the oldest person at the climbing gym. Climbing is great in many ways, one of which is building that core and those legs! Don't defer enjoying life, because of work obligations. A deferment typically is a cancellation, in reality. At this point in the article, am I was going to address to to save enough money for retirement? No, of course not. Because it doesn't matter how much you save if your weak core and weak legs mean you lose your mobility. Unless you are ultra-wealthy, the medical costs will wipe out your savings pretty quickly. Even if you have insurance. Besides, who wants to die that way? I sure don't. In summary, preserve your retirement nest egg by making smart choices long before retirement. |
5. Security tip
|
When Google de facto changed its motto to "Do more evil" and transformed a
good search engine into one that stinks, other search engine providers took
a different approach. Duck Duck Go is a prime example, and it's catching on.
Read the full story here: |
6. Health tip/Fitness tips
|
We are rapidly approaching the time of the year when most Americans rapidly gain body fat. During the last six weeks of the year, the typical gain is an astounding ten pounds. That's almost two pounds of new fat per week! Then people make a New Year's resolution to "lose weight" and they slowly take off most of that fat gain by October. But not quite all of it, meaning over the years they get fatter and fatter. In fact, the accumulation averages ten pounds per decade (with a coincident loss in muscle and bone mass, disguising some of the fat gain on the scale). This does not have to happen to you. Before addressing prevention, let me point out that "weight loss" is not the way to think of your body composition goals. If you want to lose a lot of weight fast, just have your legs amputated. Of course, nobody sane would have their legs amputated just to lose weight. But you get my point. So if it's not about weight loss, what is it about? The correct answer there also provides the key to effective prevention of fat gain. Excess body fat is not a disease or condition you treat. It's a symptom of something else gone wrong, and that something else is what you treat. Any other approach will result in frustration. |
|
|
| |
There are two reasons you would have excess body fat:
Most people focus on that second reason. They look at how many calories are in a pound of fat and from that calculate how many calories they need to reduce and/or burn to lose fat and/or prevent accumulation. But it doesn't work that way. The thing about calories is you just need to stay reasonable. You have a lot of leeway there. Of course, my definition of "reasonable" will shock most people because they routinely eat oversized proportions. My point is that you don't have to try to make an exact science out of portion control. Of far more import is that first reason. This is where the following factors come into play:
Now, look at what you just read. Only two reasons to consider, and that first one has only three factors you really need to worry about. See how simple this is? How it works during the holidays:
"What about the social aspect? Is it not rude of me to refuse to eat what's offered?" No, it's not rude. It's smart. But it isn't smart to just assume everyone else make smart food choices so discuss this with the host well in advance. If an agreement cannot be reached, then don't go. You don't need to spend time with people who believe your health and appearance don't matter or who have a holiday eating disorder that they won't do anything about. You don't need the stress and you don't need the other issues that go with being in that environment. It's important not to say you are "on a diet," as this sounds like you are doing something temporary instead of living in a sustainable say. You can say, "No, I'm not on a diet. I make smart food choices consistently, because I don't want the anxiety of dealing with a growing waistline." People who can't respect that have their own issues, don't worry about their judgmental attitude. Many people try to rely on their willpower. This is how you fail, because you have a limited reserve of willpower. It will run out. Simply stick to your smart choice approach and don't even consider stupid choices. Oh, those frosted chocolate brownies look tempting! Wrong. They look like Type II Diabetes. They look like an endocrine problem. They look like a fatter waistline. Picture yourself with a gut hanging over when you look at them. Gross. Those brownies are gross. Do this exercise with each disease-inducing "food" and you will not need willpower. But again, get things sorted out in advance. If those disease-inducing brownies aren't there, then neither is the temptation. If your host insists on having all the stupid choices available, then why are you going? Skip this event and visit when the host is not suffering from a holiday eating disorder. People sometimes ask me how I can "resist" this or that poison and why am I depriving myself. I tell them I'm not resisting anything, and I don't feel deprived. I will then ask them why they deprive themselves of a delicious superfood with all of its amazing flavor and nutritional value by substituting something that has a negative nutritional value. Why would I eat to be fat, when I can eat to be fit and have more dining pleasure as a bonus? Also, did you know that to people not accustomed to junk food, the junk food tastes terrible? That's right, it's an acquired taste. Why not just acquire a taste for broccoli, sweet potatoes, kale, bok choy, red cabbage, and dozens of other amazing fruits and vegetables? There's no reason to gain even an ounce of fat this holiday season. The choice is "take charge or be large." Which choice will you make this year? | |
|
| |
At
www.supplecity.com, you'll find plenty of informative, authoritative
articles on maintaining a lean, strong physique. It has nothing to
do with long workouts or impossible to maintain diets. In fact:
| |
7. Factoid
|
Sucking the capital out of a capitalist economy makes that economy ill. This principle is why Barry Soetoro was able to do so much damage to the American economy and why the economy has gotten so much healthier since the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. Keep this in mind at the polls; vote big spenders out of office. |
8. Thought for the Day
| You can choose to be defined by something like "race" and thus make your unthinking way through life, or you can choose to be defined by your principles, your character, and how you treat other people. Seems like an obvious choice to me. |
Please forward this eNL to others.
Authorship
The views expressed in this e-newsletter are generally not shared by criminals, zombies, or brainwashed individuals.Except where noted, this e-newsletter is entirely the work of Mark Lamendola. Anything presented as fact can be independently verified. Often, sources are given; but where not given, they are readily available to anyone who makes the effort.
Mark provides information from either research or his own areas of established expertise. Sometimes, what appears to be a personal opinion is the only possibility when applying sound logic--reason it out before judging! (That said, some personal opinions do appear on occasion).
The purpose of this publication is to inform and empower its readers (and save you money!).
Personal note from Mark: I value each and every one of you, and I hope that shows in the diligent effort I put into writing this e-newsletter. Thank you for being a faithful reader. Please pass this newsletter along to others.