Use it or lose it . . .

I’m no shining example but I’ve tried to exercise, to eat right and I get along fairly well. And it all began with Miss Gorlinski, gym teacher at Granite High.

Her first words that stayed with me were, “Don’t choose your food just because it tastes good; but choose food that is going to be good for your body.” Yes, Miss Gorlinski, I remember.

She told us to notice how our mothers gave our newborn siblings only what was needed for their bodies, and nothing just because it tasted good.

Yeah, but she also told that before those babies were a year old, we would be giving them a taste of some dessert. Bit of ice cream, or candy. Yeah, shame, shame, shame, before they were a year old, they knew the difference and were hooked for the rest of their lives. Sugar is addictive.

Miss Gorlinski taught us to use our bodies, and reminded us of how the babies exercise because there on their backs, they twist and use every muscle in the body, flinging arms and legs every which way, and those same kids, keep doing the same as 8 or 9 years olds. Climbing trees, racing each other, wrestling, bicycling, yeah, and at school recess we were  using all our muscles again.

Everyone  should have a Miss Gorlinski in their early lives.

Today we’re told over and over How to be Healthy, and a big one is to not eat anything White and that’s OK, but that puts a ban on cauliflower, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, Tofu, all marvels of food, so don’t put them in the same boat as white sugar, and the thousands of foods from white flour.

We’ve got eyes. And common sense tells us to use the brown stuff. Brown bread, brown rice, brown pastas, and we should use those eyes, and look at the list of Ingredients on every package or box of food we buy.

Dry Breakfast Cereal has become a big lie. They have pictures of good grains on the box, but put on your glasses and look at the ingredient list. And, I betcha that in three fourths of those cereals, is sugar, sugar, sugar  And, if sugar is one of the first three (4) ingredients, it’s a dessert no matter what the label says.

Miss Gorlinski was a gym teacher, and reminded us that we don’t get down on the floor and swing away. No we don’t get on a bike and race up and down the sidewalk.  No, we don’t bend and roll  as children, but she asked: Why Not????  She told us, that while standing at the sink or table doing some chore,. bend the knees and shift your weight back and forth from leg and foot to the other leg and foot. Just as you did as a kid. Do it again.

Orange juice is full of vitamin C but, a Continental Breakfast of O.J., do-nut, and coffee, while a standard breakfast for many, will make us feel zippy for a half an hour, but after that???? We feel sick and mentally dull.

So we go on to carbs, the brown, not white ones, and their impact is slower to take hold, but once they get in gear, their impact lasts 4 or so long hours. And then we get to protein, and a serving must be more than a slice of bacon. It is slower  to kick-in, but once it does its wonderful power remains with you for 7- 8 hours.

And then, all day long, every 2 or 3 hours, we’re told to give our body a jump-start, and it’s easy. Not a meal, but a tsp. not a Tbsp, of peanut butter is immense; A tbsp or so of beans does the same. A good carb, a protein and a fruit and you’re good for another hour or two. Think small for these tidbits.

And we’re told that we can’t be babies again, but we can exaggerate every move during our day.  When we make our bed, stand in the middle on one side, and without moving our feet, stretch to the left, the right and far forward across the bed. Ho, ho ho, stretch your body, and if the muscles rebel???? Well, they’re telling us that we’ve been ignoring them. So, nod and stretch again. .   Use it or you’ll lose it.

Where oh where are the Miss Gorlinskis to tell today’s pre-teens that we have just one body, there are no returns, but there is maintenance. Good ole maintenance. For today and on and on and on right into our senior years. Why Not???