What is a LifeNut?
A LifeNut is an individual who is fit, both physically, socially, and mentally. He or she has the following characteristics:
Daily exercise and wise nutrition.
A BMI between 17 and 22 and a waistline with little, if any, belly fat.
A powerful cardiovascular system.
Mastery of stress management including proficiency in emotional intelligence, relationship building, managing time, finances, transitioning, and goal setting.
A vibrant life purpose. A healthy self-image. Life balance.
Achieving all aspects of a LifeNut may seem difficult but, with time and dedication, this goal can be reached … from children to senior citizens. The book, LifeNuts, details the two levels of LifeNuts and can teach you how to get there.
What Are the Benefits of Being a LifeNut?
Dynamic level of energy to handle life’s daily tasks
Increased life expectancy – Watch your grandchildren graduate from college!
Lower risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease
Robust self confidence
Financial security
Enhanced relationships
Strong self image
Too old? Too overweight? No time? Read about these two LifeNuts and you might change your mind. Listen to a 90-year-old LifeNut who sets world records in marathon running and hear what a 65-year-old LifeNut has to say about how this program saved his life. Then listen to an 86-year-old lady who is fit, healthy, and happy but doesn't run marathons.
Mike Fremont turned 90 in February of 2012 but hardly shows his age. He runs marathons each year and has set world records in marathon running that are still intact. He started running as therapy when his wife died, leaving him with three small children when he was 35. He knows how to handle stress as all LifeNuts do. Mike’s plant-based diet demonstrates that even an older person gets adequate nutrition to perform challenging endurance activities such as a 26.2 mile race. Since1966 he continues to work to preserve and restore rivers, and since 1991 he strives to improve public health and prevent global warming.
He holds six national and international marathon records for his age: 81, 83, 85, 87, 88, and 90. His running passion also validates ongoing research that suggests that rebound activity (walking, running, skipping rope, trampoline) stimulates neuronal growth in the brain. To talk to Mike is like listening to a verbal encyclopedia. His vitality defies his age, qualifying him as a shining example of a LifeNut going into his 90s. You'll enjoy this six-minute look at a 90-year-old LifeNut's wisdom. Mike also set a new American marathon record, which is detailed in the Nov. 12 blog on this site and is documented in a You Tube video.
Dr. Bob Kroeger, the founder of the LifeNuts program and the author of LifeNuts, gave stress management seminars in the 1980s and early 90s while raising five children. After this child-rearing journey, Dr. Bob and his wife made plans for their golden years, which were interrupted – before they could start - when she died of cancer. He relied on his many stress management skills, along with new approaches to exercise and nutrition, to survive this dark period in his life. You can read how he got through this ordeal.
An 86-year-old LifeNut … with passion!
Rachel Lewis, 86-year-old LifeNut
Rachel Lewis proves that you don’t have to run marathons to be healthy as you approach 90.
I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel in November, 2012, and thoroughly enjoyed a delicious home-cooked lunch which she prepared – free of meat and dairy. But what interested me more about this lively 86-year-old lady was her passion for living, her loquaciousness, and her trim figure. She’s as sharp intellectually as anyone I’ve met and her words flow effortlessly.
The Office of Minority Health, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that African American women are the most overweight of all groups of Americans: about 80% are overweight or obese. And, almost twice as many African American children are obese when compared to their Caucasian counterparts (Source, CDC, 2012). So why is Rachel so unique? How does she stay trim? What are her secrets?
Rachel was born in Cincinnati in 1926 and lived through the Great Depression. Eventually she became a nurse and, in her early 30s, she switched to a vegetarian diet – after joining the Seventh Day Adventist church. However her adherence to this diet fluctuated and she eventually left this church. At 70, with her husband sick, she became more interested in the connection between diet and disease and learned that certain foods are better than others. Gradually she returned to her vegetarian ways.
Finally in 2007, at the young age of 81, she decided she was going to take better care of herself and switched completely to a plant-based diet, avoiding all meat and dairy. The results were impressive. At an age when most people are taking more and more medications for their many medical issues and spending much of their time in nursing homes, Rachel lost 15 pounds and was able to gradually get off her high blood pressure meds.
Now, let’s think about that situation. Can losing 15 pounds lower blood pressure enough to eliminate the need for medication? Fifteen pounds isn’t a lot of weight unless you’re awfully short. Rachel has average height. So what did the trick? Was it her diet? Could there have been a trigger in the meat and dairy products that caused her blood pressure to run high? Although it’s hard to prove, my guess is that her switching away from meat and dairy had a significant impact on her blood pressure. From personal experience, going vegan helped a friend of mine to lower his cholesterol by 90 points in six weeks.
Rachel readily admits that her success does not rely entirely on what she eats. She sticks to an exercise program of walking and stretching for 90 minutes four to five times a week. Her physical fitness keeps her out of a nursing home and allows her to survive quite well on her own. And she doesn’t run marathons to maintain this level of fitness. Diets don’t work but lifestyles do.
Rachel walks the walk. Her ikigai, her purpose in life, is to spread the gospel of good health to as many as will listen. In 2010 she and others formed a group to take the message of a plant-based diet and regular exercise to area churches – in hopes of motivating churchgoers to change their lifestyle … before that first heart attack hits. Her group and their efforts can be found at www.clergyhealthcouncil.org.
When Rachel was a vegetarian, she ate eggs, milk, and butter and, after realizing the connection between dairy and disease, she commented, “I might as well have been eating steak.” Obviously she hasn’t lost her sense of humor.
Now, seeing so many obese Americans isn’t a laughing matter. And though many continue to struggle with their weight and succumb to disease, 86-year-old Rachel knows that her positive example will help others to change to a healthier lifestyle. Furthermore, she won’t stop trying, which is good news because she’s got plenty of years left in that skinny body and that agile mind. What a great example of a LifeNut!
Listen to Rachel as she explains her lifestyle on this YouTube video and please share her message with your friends and relatives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv5UVa-fJ4Y&feature=youtu.be
I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel in November, 2012, and thoroughly enjoyed a delicious home-cooked lunch which she prepared – free of meat and dairy. But what interested me more about this lively 86-year-old lady was her passion for living, her loquaciousness, and her trim figure. She’s as sharp intellectually as anyone I’ve met and her words flow effortlessly.
The Office of Minority Health, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that African American women are the most overweight of all groups of Americans: about 80% are overweight or obese. And, almost twice as many African American children are obese when compared to their Caucasian counterparts (Source, CDC, 2012). So why is Rachel so unique? How does she stay trim? What are her secrets?
Rachel was born in Cincinnati in 1926 and lived through the Great Depression. Eventually she became a nurse and, in her early 30s, she switched to a vegetarian diet – after joining the Seventh Day Adventist church. However her adherence to this diet fluctuated and she eventually left this church. At 70, with her husband sick, she became more interested in the connection between diet and disease and learned that certain foods are better than others. Gradually she returned to her vegetarian ways.
Finally in 2007, at the young age of 81, she decided she was going to take better care of herself and switched completely to a plant-based diet, avoiding all meat and dairy. The results were impressive. At an age when most people are taking more and more medications for their many medical issues and spending much of their time in nursing homes, Rachel lost 15 pounds and was able to gradually get off her high blood pressure meds.
Now, let’s think about that situation. Can losing 15 pounds lower blood pressure enough to eliminate the need for medication? Fifteen pounds isn’t a lot of weight unless you’re awfully short. Rachel has average height. So what did the trick? Was it her diet? Could there have been a trigger in the meat and dairy products that caused her blood pressure to run high? Although it’s hard to prove, my guess is that her switching away from meat and dairy had a significant impact on her blood pressure. From personal experience, going vegan helped a friend of mine to lower his cholesterol by 90 points in six weeks.
Rachel readily admits that her success does not rely entirely on what she eats. She sticks to an exercise program of walking and stretching for 90 minutes four to five times a week. Her physical fitness keeps her out of a nursing home and allows her to survive quite well on her own. And she doesn’t run marathons to maintain this level of fitness. Diets don’t work but lifestyles do.
Rachel walks the walk. Her ikigai, her purpose in life, is to spread the gospel of good health to as many as will listen. In 2010 she and others formed a group to take the message of a plant-based diet and regular exercise to area churches – in hopes of motivating churchgoers to change their lifestyle … before that first heart attack hits. Her group and their efforts can be found at www.clergyhealthcouncil.org.
When Rachel was a vegetarian, she ate eggs, milk, and butter and, after realizing the connection between dairy and disease, she commented, “I might as well have been eating steak.” Obviously she hasn’t lost her sense of humor.
Now, seeing so many obese Americans isn’t a laughing matter. And though many continue to struggle with their weight and succumb to disease, 86-year-old Rachel knows that her positive example will help others to change to a healthier lifestyle. Furthermore, she won’t stop trying, which is good news because she’s got plenty of years left in that skinny body and that agile mind. What a great example of a LifeNut!
Listen to Rachel as she explains her lifestyle on this YouTube video and please share her message with your friends and relatives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv5UVa-fJ4Y&feature=youtu.be
LifeNuts come in all ages, races, and religions.
Blondes, brunettes, and various shades of gray.
It's what inside that counts.
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