LifeNuts
  • LifeNuts
    • What is a LifeNut?
    • Origin of LifeNuts
    • LifeNuts Levels
    • What is a LifeNuts Community?
    • Why LifeNuts Works
    • How to Get Started
    • Current LifeNuts Communities
  • Founder's Story
    • Speaking
    • Credentials
  • Stress
    • Concepts of Stress
    • Diseases of Stress
    • PNI
    • The Relaxation Response
    • Psychological Stress Management
    • The Faith Factor
    • Relationships
  • Health
    • Nutrition
    • LifeNuts Fitness
    • Supplements
    • Sleep
    • Excuses
    • Time Management
    • Children >
      • Childhood Obesity
      • LifeNuts for Kids
  • Financial
    • Financial Stress Management
    • Transitioning
    • Goal Setting
  • Blog ...
    • LifeNuts in the News!
    • Blog
    • Are You Faster Than a 91-year-old Challenge
    • FAQ
    • Contact Us
    • The LifeNut Forms

RELATIVITY by Mike Fremont, 96 years young

8/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Note: I asked Mike Fremont, whose lifestyle this website is based on, to write a guest blog, as he did several times in the summer of 2012 before setting a new world marathon record in November. I thought that, since, six years later, he’s showing no signs of slowing down – although he runs mostly shorter races – his perspective on life would be interesting. I asked him, “How does a 96-year old avoid the nursing home?” Mike felt that relativity is an important angle. Here’s his response.
 
Don’t be overcome with fears of nursing homes. I go to visit my contemporaries in them all the time and they all seem happy, never complaining. Years ago one of these was E.E. Keller (Eek), in his 90’s, holder of international records for long-distance running. He was seven years older than I and he kept his trophies in the trunk of his old Buick parked near his apartment. He must have run on the grounds outdoors in good weather but the staff were concerned when he ran in the residence corridors in bad weather “what if someone opened a door when he was running by”, or “what about a crash with a wheelchair coming around a corner?”
 
We “borrowed” him for a Thanksgiving Day 10K race with promises to take care of him. He not only ran the race but won his age group and got a prize! He started off pretty fast in the race and I soon realized he didn’t want to lose sight of the person in front of him!
 
Continuing one’s sports in old age is really fun, relative to being younger. Nobody expects anything of you (they shouldn’t!). There is – effectively - no competition. Considering the 19,743 healthy diets available today, I can still run races on the Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet, the modern name for  the Vegan Diet, which was the modern name for the Macrobiotic Diet that I adopted at age 69 to deal with cancer. I’d been given three months to live if I declined an operation - so, there was a gun at my head. But I cleaned out my kitchen and stretched that three months to 27 months. The surgeon said he’d looked for metastases - seen by the diagnosticians - in 35 places, and found none. That is what the change in fuel did! No radiation, no chemotherapy, just a different diet.
 
The WFPB has let me live outside of nursing homes for 27 years, without a headache or stomach ache and maybe two colds in those 27 years. I also lost the arthritis I had on the old standard American diet and now eat all I want absolutely without concern. WFPB is meat, egg and dairy free (no poultry, fish, seafood). It’s whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruits.
 
There is good company in this lifestyle - our sitemaster Dr. Bob... Socrates, and athletes like Martina Navratilova, Carl Lewis, Tony Gonzales, Mike Tyson, Scott Jurek, Harvey Lewis, Serena Williams.
 
As elders, our athletic performance is pitiful relative to younger folks and we tend to moan about how we get slower or less competitive as we age - every year, or month even, shockingly… and predictably. But the public makes a huge fuss over our diminished bodies in our occasional presences in races, which for us is incredibly rewarding.
 
A few cookbooks? Cooking with Rachel - Rachel Albert, Vegan Soul Kitchen - Bryant Terry, Crazy Sexy Kitchen - Carr & Sarno, The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen – Klein, May All Be Fed - John Robbins, The Vegan Table - Patrick-Goudreau, The Natural Gourmet -Annemarie Colbin,
And Vegan Planet - Robin Robertson
 
On a closing note, here’s an interesting stat: sales of vegan food rise to $3.3 billion, with experts saying veganism has “gone mainstream.” Also, the sales of vegan milk (almond, rice, soy, hemp) are up 9% while cow milk sales have dropped 6% in just 12 months.

0 Comments

    Author

    Dr. Bob Kroeger is the founder of LifeNuts. He's also proud to be a LifeNut.

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    February 2019
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Photos used under Creative Commons from USACE Europe District, GerryT, uyeah, thelesleyshow, Elvert Barnes, phalinn, achimh, lilli2de, SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, Serge Melki, Ryan Somma, CitySkylineSouvenir, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., Iman Mosaad, Skånska Matupplevelser, Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation RI, SteakEat, Spirit-Fire, rexipe, Mark Z., db Photography | Demi-Brooke, Official U.S. Navy Imagery, whistler1984, sillygwailo, paddling, USACE Europe District, smith_cl9, emilio labrador, Kevin M. Gill, Kai Brinker, Victor Olausson, Joe Shlabotnik, cNathanielw, treehouse1977