Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

  I turned 82 a short while ago and I am in a battle . It starts with remaining verticle - meaning not spending most of the day and night in a horizontal position in bed and on the couch - or, at the worst, ending up in a coffin "on the wrong side of the grass". Viability is about surviving or living successfully - being able to accomplish the necessary  functions that were easy in younger days. Vibrancy in the elderly years is a tougher one.It's about energy and enthusiam . Tough goals in your 80s. Luck always plays a role in longevity and my "3V-trilogy". Disease and injury can take you ou t, and genetic makeup plays a major role. I have dealt with all of that. No one in my 5-person, original family lived past 64 years of age - except me . My dad and brother died at that age, and my mom passed away at 48 - while my sister died at 19. I have dealt with cancer and heart disease that took my mother and brother, respectively, and have luckily avoided the n...

 It is an early winter in the North Country of New Hampshire. Today is a relatively warm (34 degrees) day, and the ground is covered with a few inches of snow . There is limited sun , but overall, it is a "blue bird" day up here. The road I walk is plowed , but a layer of snow is maintained to please the snowmobile crowd . The first part of the walk is a steep climb , so metal cleats and walking sticks are almost a necessity for a guy approaching 82 years of age. I discard sunglasses for the walk since limited sunlight into the eyes is a good thing for positive brain chemistry and therefore, better sleep patterns . Coyote tracks in the snow are everywhere, revealing the increase in their numbers, although they are rarely seen up here - b eing mostly nocturnal and wanting no part of humans. There is an open hunting season, year round for them in New Hampshire, and no bag limit.  I walk year round for pleasure and recreation , but also for weight management and cardiovas...

 It happened to me two days ago, and it was alarming! My early-morning urine stream was red, and it definitely looked like blood was in the mix . I did my usual on-line research while my wife, Linda, was prepared to call my urologist. I quickly learned that eating beets can cause your urine to be red - or pink. It is a condition known as "beeturia".  Beets contain a red pigment called betanin - which in some individuals - can not be broken down in the digestive tract - resulting in red-colored urine. It came to me that I had eaten some beets the day before. The situation fit. My "attack" of beeturia lasted the usual 24 hours - and then disappeared. To say I was relieved would be an understatement. Hopefully, this article may help at least one reader who would normally experience such a scare. Beets are in the limelight lately for their possible health benefits. The information I have rendered is worth learning.

 Is a person's grip strangth all that important for his or her present quality of life and the avoidance of negative, future outcomes? The answer is a resounding "YES" according to many research studies conducted over the years. I have been deeply involved in the fitness business for 33 years and have recently refocused on measuring the grip strength of my present clients. Beyond helping people to open stubborn jars, a strong grip appears to have a positive effect on an individual's longevity, quality of life, risk of some serious diseases, bone density, number of hospitalizations - and numerous other benefits still being studied ( per National Center for Biotechnology Information ): "Several diseases have shown a correlation with low HGS (hand grip strength), e.g., Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney and liver disease, some cancers, sarcopenia and fragility fractures. The low HSG is also associated with increased hospitalization, n...

 Still can not fully comprehend being 80 years old and 32 years-retired from law enforcement. If the following sounds harsh - it was meant to be. I am the love survivor of a family of five - with none of my dad, mom, sister and brother having lived past 64 . My best high school friend died at 62 . My college roommate died a few years ago , and my best adult friend put a.38 special slug through his brain four years ago, leaving behind several million dollars for his "kids" that didn't deserve it. Carson Thomas Lane watching his great grandfather on TV My former boss also took his own life by hanging himself, leaving behind a thriving business that his children had no interest in acquiring. Also, the only business partner I ever had ended his life with an intentional overdose of drugs. Neither ever saw retirement, contented or otherwise. As I write this, the sun is shining into the oceanfront condo where we spend our winters - temperature is in the 60's - I have al...

Clint Eastwood:    "Every day when I wake up, I don't let the old man in. My secret has been the same since 1959: staying busy. I never let the old man into the house. I've had to drag him out because he was already comfortably settled, bothering me all the time, leaving no space for anything other than nostalgia. You have to stay active, alive, happy, strong, and capable. It's in us, in our intelligence, attitude, and mentality. We are young, regardless of our ID. We must learn to fight to not let the old man in." Amen to that. As I near 80 years of age, I remain physically and mentally active - short hikes, yard work, weight lifting, writing about pro basketball and life, improving my basement gym, learning about wild foods - and generally eating and supplementing to stay fit, strong and healthy. I have worked as a research engineer, game warden, police officer, personal trainer, weight management consultant - and now spend a lot of time doing online researc...

 When I told my doctor that - by the life-expectancy tables - at now age 79, I should have been dead a year or two (or three) ago. He responded by stating that the 76 years of life predicted at birth (via the tables) increases as men (and women) live into their senior years. So I checked that out and found that the 76 years of life projected at birth rises to 88 years since I have now made it to 79. And if I make it to 84, I might have another 6-or-7 years in me. This is good news. It appears, that the longer we survive various killing diseases, mishaps, etc. - our likelyhood of living into our 80's and even 90's - rises ( per verywellhealth.com ): "Each year a person lives means they have survived multiple potential causes of death. This means that life expectancy actually can increase with age." Who knew? Check it out yourself. Take care of yourself - survive your 40's, 50's and 60's - and possibly live into your 80's and 90's. 

  New day - new beginning . Morning is a vital key to health, fitness and mental well-being . Eschewing the flawed idea that a king's breakfast and pauper's supper is best for everybody, here's my case for the opposite stance. Imagine you are a kid at an amusement park , and your mom has given you only so much money for the day. Spend most of it early in the day, and you are set for a miserable time in the afternoon . You get the analogy. Protein and vegetables get you leaner . I go with one or two eggs, into which I throw canned spinach, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, etc. One egg is only about 80 calories, and the veggies and fungus are almost a non-factor in the calorie count.  My breakfast this morning was one scrambled egg, mushrooms and one link of turkey sausage cut up into the pan. Calories? Maybe as much as 120. With two eggs, it would be 200 - w/3 eggs, it gets to 280. Still under 300 calories. I will follow with a 100-calorie whey protein shake after my worko...

 So here we go! After close to 30 years as a Personal Trainer, Weight Management Consultant and Health Coach - in addition to being an-almost 78-year occupant of the planet - this is the first brief idea that some folks out there may want to follow. You are not a test tube! A test tube is an inert glass vessel to which are added various chemicals to produce a known reaction. That is not you. You are a distinct individual . There is no one in the Universe exactly like you. Carl Sagan said it best. So whatever your goal - weight loss, strength gain, added muscle, longer life, etc. - you need to EXPERIMENT to see what works for you as an individual.  "You become what you eat", so I will devote much attention to nutrition. I began my health and fitness career after working as a research engineer and police investigator, so don't expect the mundane or run-of-the-mill.  Tip # 2 will revolve around the idiotic adage, "Eat breakfast like a king and supper like a pauper...