Hello,

I trust you're safe, fit and well.

All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Farmer tractor scams.

If you are buying a tractor online be careful. Apparently, scammers are taking advantage of supply shortages, tempting some farmers to pay over $300,000 for tractors that did not exist.

Ingenuity has no limit when it comes to cyberscams!

Sugary and processed foods train our brain to want more of them - it wants more as soon as the last hit wears off. To break this habit takes a plan - see item #2.

Cardio exercises come naturally. Adding strength exercises improves our lifespan but it's hard to keep up the habit. Try these tips - see item #1.

Here are the topics I have chosen for you to help you live longer better:

⭑ Five thoughts to help you make strength exercising a habit ✔
⭑ Eating more fruit and vegetables can be a chore - here's how to make it a habit
⭑ You've been diagnosed with mild dementia ✔ Should you keep driving?
⭑ Build strength during the ad breaks - make the couch work for you!

01 A Low-pressure Guide To Making Strength Training A Habit​

A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that combining aerobics with one to two weekly strength sessions not only lengthens our life span but improves our quality of life and well-being.

But it’s not just about living longer; it’s about living better. The study found that the combination of aerobics and strength training improved mental health, cognitive function, and quality of life. It also led to less disability and a better ability to perform activities of daily living.

⇒ The challenge is how to stick with your strength training, as despite seeing progress it is common to see our commitment ultimately petering out.

What it means for us: Observations from trainers, psychologists and enthusiasts like me all hone in on 5 key factors which help retain our commitment to strength training. Try these:

1. Start simple. Making it more than simple usually means putting it off, and often means giving up after a short time because everything is too complex. Start with things that fit your lifestyle e.g. bodyweight exercises at home.
2. Accept that it will be a little confusing and that you won’t always be sure of what you are doing. The main goal is to pay attention to the correct way to do the exercises and to not over-exert yourself. When all else fails search Youtube on reliable channels such as livestrong.com.
3. Most people find exercising in the morning more likely to succeed than in the evening - because by the evening they can no longer be-bothered.
4. Wear whatever you want. For those who can't stand the thought of changing into specific workout clothes, don't bother. Wear workout clothes if it motivates you, but don’t let "the right clothes" be a barrier to exercising.
5. Celebrate your progress, one pushup at a time! Enjoying an activity and feeling accomplished is the path to longevity.

Try the simple three "TV couch exercises" in article 4 below to get started - make the couch work for you!

Related: ​​How To Go From On-knee to Full Pushups, and Reap The Benefits​

02 Food Hacks to Help You Eat More Fruits and Vegetables​

Many studies show that our bodies are healthier when we eat more vegetables. But changing our diet can be challenging - especially so when our brain has come to yearn for stimulation from processed, sugary and fatty foods.

When we eat processed sugary and fatty foods, our brain gets a shot of dopamine, which is a feel-good neurotransmitter. This dopamine rush is what makes these unhealthy foods so addictive and hard to resist.

The problem is that the more we eat these unhealthy foods the more our brain craves them. This is because the dopamine rush from these foods is temporary and as soon as the last rush fades our brain wants another hit.

⇒ To change takes a plan and a conscious effort. But step-by-step you can do it - one real food at a time.

What this means for us: Prepare a note covering the following points in your Reminders or Notes app, and check it regularly. By setting these goals you can gradually incorporate more fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices and other plant foods into your everyday diet:

1. Set a daily or weekly goal for how many plant foods you’d like to eat.
2. Keep a stash of healthy, easily-prepared snacks with you at work, such as nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and veggie sticks.
3. Make a point of trying one new fruit or vegetable every week.
4. Add a handful of greens to your breakfast smoothie.
5. Make a big salad for lunch or dinner at least once a day.
6. Incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet, such as a vegetable stir-fry or lentil soup.
7. Eat a plant-based meal or snack before heading out to social events.
8. When you’re craving something sweet, reach for a piece of fruit instead of cake or candy.
9. Drink plenty of water throughout the day to help you feel full and prevent cravings.
10. Give yourself permission to indulge in your favourite unhealthy foods occasionally – just don’t make them a daily habit.

Related: Forget Beetroot Juice, Eat More Vegetables For Nitrate Potency And Longer Life​

@Medium - Follow my publication there↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life

03 What’s the Relationship Between Memory Loss and Driving?​

We don’t want to see it but it is difficult not to notice the association between older drivers and coordination mishaps such as accelerating into a hairdressing salon when manoeuvring to park in front.

It certainly makes me ponder how long I will be competent to drive, and how cognitive changes impact driving safely. My bellwether is a couple across the street who still appear to drive competently - he is 90 and she is 86, each with their own car.

Driving requires hard work from our brain, specifically, all four pairs of lobes — occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal — in the left and right hemispheres are active and working cooperatively when we are driving.

We just don’t think about it. We often drive on autopilot and most of our driving occurs automatically and unconsciously.

⇒ But our conscious mind has to take control in an emergency or even in unusual driving conditions where we might feel under pressure. This can result in confusion.

What this means for us: Should you be driving if you have been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease?

People with Alzheimer’s disease often show impaired visual, auditory, attention, and decision-making abilities because it affects all four lobes of our brain. However, not everyone with Alzheimer’s must stop driving. When it is very mild, accident rates are similar to inexperienced drivers, and not a great concern.

Alzheimer's begins silently, with mild problems with memory, language, and thinking. As the disease progresses, significant memory loss and decline in other cognitive abilities such as awareness and coordination occur.

Here's what to do: (1) Have a young family member or friend ride with you once a month. (2) Ask them if they feel that you are driving safely. (3) Don’t be too concerned if you get lost as you can use an app or ask directions, except if getting lost causes you to become confused and unsafe and endanger others.

If they do not feel that you are driving safely then book yourself in for a formal driving test. That will provide an objective answer upon which you and the family can rely.

Related: ​The Surprising Benefits of Black Tea Daily​

04 Three At-Home Strength Exercises To Do In The Ad Break

Our exercises of the week are... strength exercises to do from the couch during the ad breaks on TV.

To get into the habit of strength exercises try to make them part of your everyday lifestyle, such as while watching TV. Although you may have less energy than in the morning at least you are using another habit onto which you can bolt your exercises. Hence, not a big change to your routine.

⇒ And amazingly you will find that by just doing about 10 minutes each day, three to four times a week, your body will feel so much stronger after a few weeks.

What this means for us: These three bodyweight exercises will build muscle mass and endurance throughout your body - from feet to your neck and shoulders. When the ads come on do these: stand to sits, lounge push-ups, and lounge glute bridges.

#1 Lounge stand-to-sits. Plant your feet flat on the floor about hip-distance apart, sit upright with a straight back, press your weight down through all four corners of your feet, and stand with as little assistance from your hands or arms as possible. Now, reverse the movement lowering to the count of 4 by rotating your hips back and bending your knees until you are sitting back on the lounge. Do 10 reps.

#2 Lounge push-ups. You know the drill for a push-up - hold your back straight, up on your toes or on your knees, lower slowly to the count of 4, and accelerate back up. Do this by getting set up with your hands on the edge of the lounge and your legs extended out towards to the TV. Do 5 reps.

#3 Lounge glute-bridge. Lie with your head towards the TV and raise your feet to push down with your heels on the leading edge of the lounge - where you were just sitting. Push down through your heels and raise your hips are far as you can without overextending. At the top of the movement contract your glutes and hold for a count of 4 seconds, and then lower slowly. Raise fast, hold, and lower slowly for 10 reps.

The above is one set. Do three sets. Do the three sets in one ad break, or split them across a few. Whatever suits you best.

Three Level-ups: (1) Substitute bodyweight squats for the stand-to-sits - stand up, step forward, and then do your 10 squats. (2) Add a press to the stand-to-sits or squats by holding light dumbbells over your chest with palms facing away from your face and when you push up to standing, then press the dumbbells up directly above each shoulder in a smooth movement. (3) Do the push-ups off the floor.

I have added these three exercises for subscribers to my free exercise app ↓↓↓

If you are not subscribed to my free exercise app, try now. Free forever. Opt-out any time. Opt-in by CLICKING HERE PLEASE SEND ME THE EXERCISES. NOTE: YOU ONLY NEED TO SUBSCRIBE ONE TIME.

Good luck.

In case you missed it...

Related: ​How To Exercise And Eat In Your 40s To Live Longer Better - Ten Tips​

Thanks for reading!

About the newsletter: Do you think it can be improved? Have a story idea? Want to share about the time you met Chris Hemsworth, or your questions about how to live longer better? Send those thoughts and more to me at walter@bodyagebuster.com

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'4 Most Valuable' is a weekly newsletter from Walter Adamson. If you like it, please forward to a like-minded soul. Someone forward this to you? You can subscribe from this page.

Resources for you:

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​As You Age Pistachios Can Help You Sleep Better​

​I Started Trail Running At 70. Besides Being Bitten By A Dog I Love It​

​Vitamin D Is Free Yet We Don’t Get Enough And Our Health Is Suffering​

​Are You Ab-Wheel Rolling To Back Pain? I Was — Not Now​

​Measuring Your Waist Will Tell You If You Are On Your Way To Diabetes​

​Brain Health Is Boosted By Eating Less, Often — Here’s How To Start​

​How Avoiding A High Viral Load Can Save Your Life - Coronavirus​

​This One Exercise Will Reshape Your Body And Your Brain, If You’re Game​

​The Surprising Way Hip Flexors Pull You Down Into An Elderly Stoop And ​Shuffle, And How To Avoid It​

​Shining Light On Infrared Therapy - It Helped Unlock My Shoulder​

​People With Problems Want To Give Them To You. Here’s How To Not Accept Them​

​​Don’t Distract Your Immune System By Poor Dental Hygiene​

​How To Keep Your Weight Off With Daily Walks — 5 Fun Level-ups That Everyone Can Do​

​Drink This Many Cups Of Coffee Daily For Better Health​

​Dizziness And Cataracts - Is There A Link?​

​Walking Barefoot Improves Your Brain, Balance, Soul And Reduces Running Injuries​

​How To Sleep Better And Recover Like Elite Soccer Players​

​Rebuilding Your Fast-twitch Muscles Doesn’t Require Fast Movements​

​Why Walnuts Lower Heart Disease and Help You Sleep Better​

​How To Get The Health Benefits Of Black Tea - Even If You Don't Like Drinking It​

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