By Mike Thompson
Lifestyle disease is all around us. Most of us are overweight and almost 50 percent of our society is obese. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says obesity and being overweight causes diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. We emphasize the importance of education and a good career to live well and attract the family relationship of our dreams, but we succumb to advertising and eat a lot of fast food, drink sugary beverages and eat few fruits and vegetables… and then many of us go for quick-fix weight loss to balance their lifestyle.
Japan’s lightning-fast bullet train took off 50 years ago and reduced a six hour cross-country drive into a 90 minute trip. Japan’s leaps in economic productivity in the 1970s and 80s were the envy of the western world. Like the bullet train-efficiency, speed and to-the-second timeliness were buzzwords for success.
The western world leapt to follow their example. The Japanese had harnessed their amphetamine-fueled maximum work culture from World War II and spearheaded a phenomenal business renaissance.
We want everything fast here, too.
In many ways, US culture over the last 50 years has strived to mimic this efficiency. With our adoption of hustle culture we work long hours to move upward, ingesting fast highly processed food along the way. We take every minute of 16 hour days to work, parent, commute and use whatever is left, if anything, for a bit of self care. Doing more in less time is a standard. Daily coffee served by sophisticated baristas pumping caffeine makes artificial stimulation normal here, too, although not as extreme.
“Health and happiness be damned; I’ve got stuff to do. Make those fries extra-large, please.”
Sadly, the dark side of the Japanese business culture is exemplified through a deadly phenomenon now called “karoshi”: working oneself to death. By 2011 over 775,000 people had died from causes stemming from overwork. One of the few things that could throw a bullet train off schedule was a popular remedy for karoshi: a businessman committing suicide by jumping in front of the train.
Turns out speed kills.
Almost symbiotically with our fast food and lifestyle disease environment, a bullet-train-like weight loss culture sprouted, driving users with promises to lose dozens of pounds in a few weeks.
Just the health-damaging hope a frustrated overweight society devours.
Evidence of Danger: Recent research published on the National Library of Medicine website at the National Institute of Health discloses “95-98 percent of individuals who undergo a diet for weight loss purposes will gain back their weight within 5 years.” Pay attention: only 2 to 5 out of 100 dieters keep their weight off. Buyer beware. There is a healthy alternative to bullet train living; and higher thinking people have moved to the Shiki-shima track.
The Shiki-shima (meaning the island of four seasons) is a sophisticated, high-end train introduced by Japan that goes at only a moderate speed. It takes fewer passengers, features large glass modernist observation cars, and even hinoki bathtubs in some suites.
Passengers can mindfully eat their healthy meals in a less hurried, more thoughtful environment where they have time to consider the beauty of their journey and where they are going. You can treat yourself to a Shiki- shima world without even leaving the farm… How?
Healthy, advanced 21st century thinking requires unplugging from distractions and refilling your mind…adding wealth and value to your journey through life rather than blindly taking the ride.
Mindful eating and taking time for thought and meditation are top stress reducers and long-life producing skills. The US National Library of Medicine of the NIH promotes the evidence for healing due to prayer. Nicolle Martin MD clarifies the reasons meditation and prayer works to improve life: 1. Stress reduction 2.
Improved health such as lower blood pressure and decreased risk of heart disease 3. Better thought control 4. Happiness 5.
Better concentration.
Like the wealthy and satisfied travelers on the Shiki-shima train do for their commute, taking the deliberate and slower paced path to sustained fitness and health over a bit longer term gives you a healthy, happy and sustainably-fit wealth enjoyed by few in today’s world.
Since rapid weight-loss diets provide few long term benefits; responsible health coaches and medical practitioners are taking the Shiki-shima approach to health-which brings not as rapid, but more natural and sustainable weight loss.
Energized health and longer- term life expectancy comes with it as well.
Here’s what sustainable Shiki-shima habits look like:
1. Evaluate your goals and lifestyle and identify healthy habits to substitute for bad habits
2. Make time for mindful practices in planning/ thinking, eating and recovery/sleep Introduce new smallstep habits one at a time:
3. Exercise a little (20 minutes) 6 days a week and take 1 day off
4. Eat whole/unprocessed foods at regular intervals
5. Identify distractions to your new healthy habits. Work on reducing the distractions.
6. Learn and practice mindful eating
7. Sleep 7-9 hours a night
8. Stay consistent with your habits To support your rich journey:
9. Ignore food advertising
10. Don’t engage in extreme diets
EVIDENCE FOR YOUR HAPPY ENDING: The CDC notes “patients who embody higher behavioral competence will have a greater likelihood of sustaining their weight results and become the successful 2-5 percent of weight maintainers [after significant weight loss]”.
CDC goes on: “The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn’t short-term dietary changes; it’s about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating and regular physical activity.” It’s that simple. If you need help, health coaches are available to help you stay on a sustainable track.
Take the road less traveled, slow down a bit, and take time to plan for a life where you’re not annually worried about getting ready for swimsuit season. TIME: take time to plan, take time to think, take time to visualize, take time to eat and enjoy your meal, to enjoy the tastes and sensations, to enjoy treating your digestive system like royalty, and to enjoy the person you are becoming. Enjoy treating your mind on the Shiki-shima journey of molding your life and body into a spectacularly happy, long living organism.
Your wealth depends on it.
Mike Thompson is a health coach and writes about nutrition and amazing aging. He lives in Richmond Hill, is certified in exercise nutrition and founder of SelfCare Sustained. Reach him at MikeThompson@SelfCare- Sustained.com.