exercise & diet

We constantly hear about the importance of these things, so much so that we don't really absorb the message any more. But the fact remains, and I can personally confirm the truth of it, good diet and appropriate exercise will largely determine a person's quality of life.

This goes a lot farther than simply not smoking or not drinking to excess. Abstaining from what's harmful is one thing; proactively pursuing beneficial habits is another. They go together, like yin and yang.

My latest dietary reform is eliminating cheese, which I once believed essential to life, you know, as in "Give us this day our daily bread, and a little cheese to put on it if you don't mind." But my nutritionist-naturopathic doctor harangued an audience recently with sufficient passion to convince me I was in denial about this delicious but harmful substance, which is the main ingredient in pizza and found melted ubiquitously in processed food (e,g, Hot Pockets™).

Of course, with the cheese gone I eat more of the other stuff I was already eating, fresh produce, rice, eggs and bread, oats, etc. (OK, small confession here, Parmesan is still on the menu -- a litttle bit grated up and sprinkled on a salad is good , and it's the slimmest cheese.) I've lost a little weight, which I was ready to do, and am now at optimum poundage -- 128 -- on a little guy's slight frame, slender but developed.

That combined with the cardio workout-weight training have lifted my physical well-being another notch, and I'm wondering how far this feeling better stuff can go.

How about you, dear reader? How good do you think you could feel?