to slide through your system more easily. It also quells hunger and fights bad breath. Furthermore, you need to regularly drink water as you age because your body’s ability to detect thirst weakens as you get older.
Eric’s website (www.erictyson.com) has a summary of research on bottled water quality and demonstrates how most bottled waters are a waste of money. Your most effective and healthy avenue is to install a water filtration system at home to improve the virtually free tap water you’re already receiving.
Include fiber in your diet
If you’re eating healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, oats, and beans, you’re also eating valuable fiber. (Some cereals have a decent amount of fiber as well.) The combination of fiber and water helps move food easily through your system without putting too much pressure on your intestines. Doctors recommend that men get 35 grams a day and women 25 grams.
Manage your stress
Stress does horrible things to your body. You can’t eliminate all stress, of course (and, besides, doing so would make life dull). However, you can do plenty to minimize it and turn it to your advantage. You can make the following health-conscious choices to keep stress under control:
Identify the sources of your stress. You can’t manage stress if you’re not clear on the real sources.
Focus on the moment. Spend time every day thinking about the here and now and not brooding over yesterday or worrying about tomorrow. Also, notice the things that most people tend to ignore — like breathing, bodily sensations, and emotions.
Take good care of your health. Make sure you have the other aspects of your life in order, such as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. When you don’t, you’re more vulnerable to the stress.
Get moving. Exercise is one of the best stress (and depression) busters ever invented. See the earlier section “Exercise (and sweat)!” for more information.
Do the opposite. Whenever people feel negative emotions, such as fear or anxiety, they tend to avoid them and withdraw. If you try experiencing the opposite emotions, you can start to feel better. So, for example, if you’re upset with someone, try to be empathetic instead of lashing out.
Focus on and relax your muscles. Tense and then relax the muscles in one part of your body (such as your legs, your arms, your face, and so on) at a time. Doing so reduces stress that you’re storing in your body.
Take some deep breaths. Take ten deep breaths in the morning and another ten at night — and as many as needed in between for stress relief. Find a position that helps you relax. For example, lie on the floor, flat on your back, with one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Breathe in deeply and slowly, picturing your lungs filling with air. When your lungs feel full, slowly breathe out.
Get your calcium and vitamin D
Most people don’t get enough calcium for optimal bone density. Most folks need about 1,500 milligrams daily from foods or supplements. So to reach your optimal health, make sure you’re taking in calcium. Foods plentiful in calcium include whole grains, leafy green vegetables, and nuts. It’s also often helpful to get some calcium from chewable calcium-citrate tablets.
Chapter 3
Developing a Retirement Plan
IN THIS CHAPTER
Many folks dream about retiring. No more racing to catch the commuter train or beat the worst of rush-hour traffic. Say goodbye to long, endless meetings about topics in which you have little or no interest. Instead, you’ll have plenty of free time to do the things you can rarely find the time and energy to do while you’re working. It sure sounds appealing, doesn’t it?
Although many folks dream about retiring, few are preparing. A survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute regarding Americans’ planning for retirement found that
About 67 percent of working adults surveyed are actually saving for retirement.
Of those who are saving, 43 percent have a nest egg of less than $50,000.
About half of survey participants simply guess at the amount of their retirement needs.
We think your future plans are important enough to deserve more than a guess! But we understand that your free time is valuable to you and that you have more interesting things to do than number crunching to determine your retirement needs. So in this chapter, we promise to provide plenty of retirement planning insights and tips without spending gobs of your time. Before we dig into the financial
