It certainly is...

Perhaps this is one of the most important things to take into account! What goes for you is probably not applicable to me and what is good for me might be detrimental to you!

That is why advice given about nutrition and vitality is only partly universal.

Of course, some aspects have been generally accepted, so these can be named and advised without severe consequence.

This predominantly entails the food that we consume, but also the (clean) air we breathe in, as well as the water we drink (insofar not determined as food).

As I have been a vegetarian for many years, for reasons of health, but also because I care about animal welfare, I will not promote the consumption of meat on this website.

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In order to (once again) become a healthy (primordial) person again, we need to consume healthy food.

Healthy food:
- Veg and fruit
- Wholemeal products
- Nuts and seeds
- Proper fatties (such as vegetable oils)
- Protein(whether or not included in the above)

Unhealthy food:
- Processed meat
- Roughly anything that can be found in tins, pots, boxes and bags

In addition, it was found that we need loads more proteins and fats. These two can even be combined!

Fats (unsaturated) can be found in:
- vegetable oils (olive oil or coconut oil, not palm oil!)
- nuts (almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts)
- seeds (Chia seed, lineseed)
- (fatty) fish (mackerel, herring, salmon, tuba - max. 1x per week)
- Avocados
- Eggs

Proteins (vegetarian) can be found in:
- Soy products
- Quorn products
- Legumes (beans, lentils, capuchins)
- Nuts and peanuts

Over the last decades, there has been increased research on food combinations, e.g. in terms of carbs and fats or fats and carbs versus proteins, the latter of which was already known not to be beneficial for digestion and thus the general health.

For overall individual advice about (your) nutrition, I recommend that you contact me. After a (free of charge) intake interview, we can start a course of treatment. Not a diet, but a new food pattern!

There are numerous way of exercising (more).
It could be tricky to find an exercise that perfectly fits you, but in general it applies that walking is one of the best ways to just lightly load your body and still retain your weight (provided that you do not binge-eat before or afterwards!).

When you go walking, you will only start burning fat after 30 minutes of action, which triggers the slimming.
So in that respect it is better to walk for an hour twice or three times per week then to do daily rounds of 25-30 minutes 4 or 5 times per week.

Of course you can alternate the walking by cycling and swimming and any other sport that takes your fancy.

For any schedules with regard to this, please contact me.

In addition to that, bone and muscle strengthening exercises are no less that essential, especially when you are a bit older.

Alternating walking and fitness will result in a healthier, slimmer and stronger body.

In the morning, just after waking up, try some light exercises (see also blog PPPP).
I know, it sounds extremely beige, but it does make sure that your body is (reasonably) fit when you started your day, it's better than moving your body from your bed to the sofa and play the couch potato.

Arnold Schwarzenegger stated: 
"In the morning, start exercising before you start thinking"

Lately I have found that I benefit from "living consciously". This may sound arduous, but it entails hardly any more than, for instance, consciously paying attention to the glass you pick up from the worktop, so it will not slip out of your fingers.

Living consciously also makes your life interesting rather than something that passes by unnoticed.

When practising Mindfulness, this is one of the daily activities. Doing the things that you do more deliberately and with more attention.
For more information about Mindfulness, contact me.

Recently I learned from none other than Richard de Leth (who could be referred to as the Dutch health Guru) that people basically have three "brains".
The first one is: your heart. It ensures that you feel what is good and what you love.
The second "brain" is: your abdomen (gut). You instinctively feel what you want and what is the right thing to do.
And that brings us to the third brain, which is your actual brains. They mainly tell you what "should" be done. 

Far too many people rely on their brain; profit motive, making sure that everything is in order, just about anything that is not esotheric.

If you live being guided by your brain, there's little chance that you will know inner bliss. Your actions and objectives are not being driven by that "fire" from within, that mainly takes place in your abdomen, but also in your heart.

So far in a nutshell.

Over the last decades, we have been communicating ever so much with others. Look at how many 'friends' you have on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Are these your friends?
We fail to say hello to our neighbour, but we do send loads of WhatsApp messages to someone in Austria, who briefly appeared in a post of someone you 'know'.

On the other hand, loneliness has recently become a hot topic. This specifically applies to elderly people and is a severe social problem. People are lonely for a reason. Empty advice like: "you should join a club and meet other people", is something they can come up with themselves. There is something else going on. Are these people:
- shy
- not too sociable
- not willing to get acquainted with all sorts of people
- victims of rows, or worse: crime, which makes it harder for them to make contact with other people?

This is something worth thinking about.

Being creative is crucial in order to distract yourself and seek diversion, but also for your personal development.
Whether you construct houses of cards, write poems or create paintings, it is something you enjoy and find purposeful.

In this society, we are continuously forced to perform at the edge of our abilities. We are always "on". A (creative) hobby ensures that we keep ourselves busy without having to do things correctly. If you press yourself in doing it right, for instance when creating Christmas cards to be sold, does it still qualify as a hobby?

We were all born with "a clean slate". Of course our brains contains our parents' genes, but the real thinking and development of convictions takes place at a later stage.

Obstructive beliefs:
These often derive from things you were deprived of: for instance love, recognition or security.
You were not born with these limiting beliefs, they were developed through the course of your life.

Thoughts like:
- Nobody likes me
- I am not worthy of it anyway
- I cannot do it
were all imposed upon you, or you stored criticism in the past as such.

We all try to do things right and sometimes we do things to please others, which we by no means support personally. Giving in occasionally is not a problem, but when it becomes a habit, you may lose your authenticity.

If then someone asks you: "What would you like"?, you are bound to look at others rather than responding spontaneously.

Anecdote: In 2004 I joined a fitness club, to finally do something useful with my body again. The bloke behind the counter asked me: "What are you doing here?", to which I replied:
"I would like to develop the figure of Arnold Schwarzenegger ". I was rather serious about this, although I realised that it would not happen within just a few weeks of training.
"Not a chance", said the guy behind the counter.

What am I trying to say with this anecdote?

I could have thought: whatever matie, but I chose to be put off by it. My subscription for this fitness club didn't last very long.

What I wish to stress is that if you have an idea, or hope, you should support yourself and your idea all the way and by no means get affected by what others say. You want that, it is your idea, so it is you! Cling to it until you feel that it is time to let it go!

I, myself, perform best when I have a goal to pursue, preferably with a deadline (performing under pressure). That does not imply that I never play the couch potato, but in general there are many people who consider themselves useless or non-effective, because they do not have a specific goal. Perhaps they should set more goals.
When I wake up in the morning, I usually have a rough schedule of the day in my head. I know what I want to achieve regarding certain things. If I don't do this, I may have a dull day, causing me to go to bed at night feeling empty inside.

The bar:

What I often do (which might be an idea for you too) is setting the bar high. I have, for instance six tasks that I want to/have to do.
If they are small enough, I may state that I will do all of them today.
Sometimes I will not succeed and the last two must be done tomorrow or the day after. But I will have finished them within a maximum of three days!

If you think: oh well, I will try to finish one tasks per day.... you will find that this week is all of a sudden so busy, so the last tasks will not be finished in the (foreseeable) future. 

This brings me to the following...

An example of not being effective is procrastination, or stalling. This behaviour could be detrimental to your brain and result in hesitative behaviour, as well as mental - and thus physical - health problems. Having to face that task you still need to perform time and time again is so time-consuming! Often you will find that once you carry out the task, it is easy as pie.
Of course, some tasks you need to put a focus on beforehand, e.g. writing a difficult email, but practise it in your head a few times, sit down at your desk and DO IT! 
The same goes for adjusting the fence that has tilted over the years. Do not keep looking at it and feel annoyed, but start the chore with a focus, keep your mind off other things and align it!

If all of this does not apply to you and you are happy with the way things are going, by all means keep doing what you're doing and neglect the above.

So far this has been about you and the things you (can) do, but what about aspects that are beyond your control, such as:

- Air pollution
- Polluted soil (e.g. due to PFAS) 
- News(messages), especially about unpleasant matters like crime, war, etc.
- Being cut off from utilities (which happens more often than you might think).

General:
* ensure a fresh home. Open the windows in the morning, when possible
* change your pillowcase every three days and your sheets once per week
* by all means, keep your kitchen (the work top in particular) clean!

What is the type of lifestyle you adapted to?
And... does it make you content?
Do you consider the earth when buying things?
Do you feel comfortable with what you have?

Detachment is a type of lifestyle that few people are aware can make them (more) happy.
This "stuff" is a physical load that implies mental load as well, research has shown.

Do you ever look back after having done your thing on the loo? That is not disgusting, it is educational!

For a while I have been very conscious about my excrement.
This means, I'm learning about it, for instance reading that many people have problems with their faeces, because they eat too few fibres and too much fat. What you drop in the loo says a lot about your health!

The Bristol Stool Chart is an overview of different kinds of poo, which provides more information about forms and structures of your excrement.

This is even being taught to toddlers at a nursing school, to make them more aware of what they are dropping. Where is this nursery? In Bristol of course!

Of course there are numerous way to relax.

One person may like to watch films, the other may want to listen to music, go for a walk, paint or do gardening. The possibilities are endless.

To 'actively' relax your brain, you can for instance go for:
- yoga
- meditation
- mindfulness

This way, you concentrate on your body or on your breathing. You will convert (mainly) your mental status from 'doing' to 'being'.
It would be too easy to say that this goes automatically. Some extent of concentration is required, but this is nothing compared to the anxiety of going through that presentation again, that you have to do tomorrow.

Doing yoga / meditation / mindfulness you will be engaged with your breathing and (parts of) your body.
You 'observe' it without judgement, without the desire to change anything about it.
You also learn to regard thoughts as 'just' flows of energy that approach you and will leave you again, without addressing them or giving them a lot of thought. Just that cause ensure enormous relief!

This is slightly related to the previously mentioned aspect of Communication.

What are your relations like? In what sense do you "foster" these relations?

Sleep is one aspect of the day that is usually underestimated by many people and is regarded as merely a necessary evil. It is more likely a necessary asset!

What does sleep do to you?

If you are sleeping:

• Your body is recovering in the area of cells and tissue. This takes time, so a lack of sleep will lead to maintenance backlog.
• Waste materials are drained from your brains, after which also a psychological cleansing takes place. This cannot be done at the same time, another reason to ensure enough sleep hours.
• The hormone melatonin sets to work. Apart from ensuring that you fall asleep, it ensures discharge of free radicals! (aggressive substances).
• Melatonin penetrates deep into the cells to do its repairing and cleansing work. As a consequence, enough sleep may even reduce the risk of cancer!

People still have that (ancient)biological rhythm. When you’re young and occasionally stay out all night, it is not such a problem, but as we get older, the hours of sleep become more and more important!

Of every 24 hours, an adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep to be able to keep functioning well.

Sleeping problems (50% of population!):

• You cannot fall asleep, pondering over things
• After a few hours of good sleep, you wake and cannot fall asleep again
• A poor night’s sleep causes you to want to stay in bed in the morning

Causes:

• Being too busy with work / problems
• Looking at screens all evening (mobile phone, laptop) or watching TV
• Eating (late) at night, causing the digestion process to continue during the night*

*This is related to the Basal Metabolism (BMR) (the minimum energy required to make the body function) and the metabolism that could be defined as Resting Metabolism (RMR). The latter is much more energy-consuming, which may be detrimental to the quality of sleep.

What can be done about it?

• 1: Do not take sleeping tablets unless it is absolutely necessary!
• Dim lights between 9 and 11 pm.
• Go to bed on time, preferably during the melatonin-peak, at around 10.00 pm.
• Do not stay up too late!
• Do not eat at night (preferably not even after the evening meal).

Stress is an extremely hazardous phenomenon, still being underestimated by most, even after so many years! 

The consequences of stress may include, for instance:
- Anxiety disorders
- Burn-out
- Depression

All abovementioned problems can be "fixed" by pills, or you can follow endless therapy, or... involve with mindfulness. Doing the latter, you learn to disentangle from the (anxiety) thoughts on the one hand and learning that thoughts are merely thoughts, on the other hand.

This aspect of health (or rather: disease) I studied even 30 years ago. However weird it may sound, most (if not all) physical complaints derive from the brains/mind.

Want to know more about this?
You can search the internet or contact me.

It happens more and more often lately, especially to the elderly:

They fall! Of course this could happen occasionally, we all trip over things sometimes, but the main problem is that people do not know HOW to fall, which often makes them end up in A&E.

To learn how to fall, you could watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztjr5AKbWk0

or: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnLXiJzYmEQ
(for preventive measures)

The stronger the body, the less you are likely to fall:
Do muscle and bone strengthening exercises, as well as balance exercises!

In fact, vitality entails all the facets discussed in this menu.

This is indeed giving your life meaning by doing things you think are useful, or are considered useful in general.

Personal fulfilment could be a result of that, or meaning may even derive from self-fulfilment.

Over the last few years, we have frequently inundated by messages regarding the poor status of the healthcare in The Netherlands (or Great Britain), specifically when it comes to "how to deal with all the patients".

As a comparison the message below:
Lately, garages have been overpowered by cases of punctures, because of all the glass on roads...".

Reading this, what do you think?
"Oh, I know someone who is quite good at repairing tyres"?
Or do you think:
"So clear out the glass, to reduce the risk of punctures!".

When it comes to heatlhcare, The Netherlands, as well as Britain keep sticking plaster on wooden legs and no one comes up with the idea to pay attention to the initial situation. All hands on deck, but apparantly only few people can devise that healthy people do not need medical care.

Also in politics, basically nothing essential is done (besides pestering smokers), to explain (the details of) a healthier lifestyle, something that is also testified by Richard de Leth, a former doctor and nowadays a vitality guru.

If we keep doing what we have always done,
things will remain as they have always been.