You Can Grow Younger

Tony Handler Turns Mega Excuses Into Reasons

In 1982 a 43-year-old Tony Handler had emergency surgery to repair a ruptured stomach. Following the surgery, the doctors told Tony that they had "good news and bad news." The bad news was that he had cancer and the good news was that they'd seen people live as long as two years with this rare form of pancreatic cancer. Tony had been given a ready-made excuse to turn in his chips and call it a life, but instead, he decided to prove the doctors wrong.

While in the hospital recovering from the stomach surgery, he happened to see an Ironman triathlon event on TV and decided that one day he would run an Ironman. To beat "Mr. Cancer" (his name for the big C) and to be able to one day compete in triathlons, he cleaned up his diet, switching from fast foods and fried chicken to a healthier fare that included more fruits and vegetables, and started exercising. These lifestyle improvements, along with adopting a remarkably positive attitude, must have worked, because in the ensuing 26 years Tony has survived and thrived through:

• 16 more surgeries
• Recurring bouts with 6 types of cancer (pancreatic, prostate, liver ...)
• Removal of half his thyroid
• Angioplasty to relieve 95% blockage of a main coronary artery
• An aortic valve replacement
• Hernia repair
• Monthly chemotherapy shots which he will probably have to endure for the rest of his life to deal with tumors currently in his body
• AND the completion of 220 triathlons

That's right. Tony, who has had ample opportunity to make excuses for why he can't do everyday things, never mind compete in triathlons, has been able, since 1985 (the year of his first triathlon), to somehow wedge about nine triathlons a year between all the surgeries, cancer treatments and recoveries. This includes completing his first of two Ironman triathlons (2.4-mile swim + 112-mile bike race + 26.2-mile marathon run) at AGE 61!

Tony doesn't just complete these triathlons -- these ultimate tests of endurance and stamina -- but he excels in them. In October of 2008, for example, at the Masters Triathlon Championships in Orlando, Florida, Tony finished first in the 65-69 age group competing in the Olympic-distance/division. Still going strong more than a quarter of a century after his doctors gave him less than two years to live, Tony plans to run a Half Ironman, a 70.3 miler, to celebrate his turning 70 in 2009. He sees each of his 220 triathlon finishes as defeating "Mr. Cancer" and sees himself enjoying the triathlon challenge as long as his body holds up.

Despite his monthly chemo treatments, Tony typically trains year round by swimming 8 miles, biking 400 miles and running 25 miles each month. While many people spend their lives looking for excuses as to why they can't do one thing or another, this amazing athlete feels it's more important to "find reasons why you CAN do something."

Florida's Tony Handler has turned his seemingly endless string of mega trials and tribulations into reasons rather than excuses. As a result, he is enjoying his life more than the majority of folks who don't have a small fraction of his challenges with which to deal. Because he took charge of his life when the doctors gave him a life sentence of just two years, he is now celebrating 50 years of marriage to the real love of his life, his childhood sweetheart, Narda.

The question is: When faced with your current situation or next challenge(s), are you going to make excuses as to why you can't ... or are you going to use the situation you find yourself in as a reason to charge ahead and live life more fully?

For a video and audio clips featuring Tony Handler, go to www.GrowingBolder.com and find issue #92.

Ed Mayhew is a speaker (need one? a good one?) and the author of the books: Fitter After 50, Fitter for Life and AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You  Visit Ed at: www.YouCanGrowYounger.com   www.FitterForLife.com  and ask for your F*R*E*E Fitter After 50 / Fitter for Life e-newsletter

What Every American Needs to Know About Health Care

What we call health care in the United States of America is really sickness care. This is because too many of our fellow Americans (not us, of course) are sitting back waiting for their doctors to rescue them with a drug, surgery or other medical interventions each time they get yet another illness. Rather than taking personal responsibility for their own health and well-being, they are looking to the medical establishment to save them every time they get in "trouble" due to repeated poor lifestyle choices. This greatly increases the  health-care costs for all Americans -- both sick and well.

The majority of politicians in Washington seem to think that the answer lies in dismantling our current health-care system and replacing it with a nationalized one. If we allow them to do this, we'll merely be trading one set of problems for another. This proposed solution has a price tag of hundreds of billions of dollars, that we don't have, that will be unfairly passed on to future generations.

There is a better solution. We can dramatically lower health-care costs in America by simply taking care of ourselves -- en masse. Just as we as a nation made going to the moon a major goal, we can make Shaping Up For America a priority. We can deal with this crisis by taking and encouraging personal responsibility when it comes to staying well.

But will it work? You may be wondering if something so simplistic can make a difference. The answer comes from an unexpected source, reality TV. We have three examples from the 2009 edition of TV's Biggest Loser show that illustrate what taking personal responsibility  for one's own health and well-being can do in just a few months' time.

Ron Morelli, 54, started the show weighing 430 illness-promoting pounds. Despite bad knees, a shoulder problem, cardiovascular disease, breathing problems, high cholesterol ... Ron was able to lose 192 pounds. More importantly, this resulted in his successfully eliminating his dependence on three blood-pressure medicines and four diabetic medicines he relied on to stay vertical. Further, after just months of exercise and an improved diet, his blood tests were back in the normal range and he was fit enough to walk a full 26.2-mile marathon despite his "bad" knee.

Forty-eight-year-old Helen Phillips went from 257 unhealthy pounds to a svelte 117. The third oldest participant out of 22 (most were in their 20s and younger), she won the contest by losing over 54% of her weight.

The oldest competitor ever, Jerry Hayes, 64, won the at-home $100,000 prize. Having been eliminated from the ranch (where competitors get support and supervision in their attempt to lose weight) at the end of the second week, Jerry went from 369 pounds to 192 almost entirely while at home. According to Dr. Huizenga, the show's resident doctor, Jerry, who suffered from a host of health problems, including diabetes, gout and sleep apnea, was able to rid himself of five diseases and six medicines. It should be noted that Huizenga stated on the air that one of Jerry's medications was the cause of his collapsing during the first hour of the show's first workout, requiring Jerry to be taken to the hospital to recover. 

Helen, Ron and Jerry show that age should not be an excuse for not taking care of ourselves; they made all these improvements in their health and well-being in a matter of months with just diet, exercise and an improved attitude. The medical costs to do all this were negligible.

Think about the health-care costs for just these three individuals had they remained at their beginning weights and kept their many and expanding health issues. Now imagine the drain on the health-care system were these three examples to be multiplied by tens of millions of other Americans who have allowed their weight to soar and their health problems to escalate! Remember, about two-thirds of Americans are said to be overweight or obese and half of these, or almost 100 million by my math, are obese. These weight-challenged individuals will typically have more and more health problems associated with their being obese and out of shape as they age -- think: 75-million boomers entering their more-likely-less-healthful 50s, 60s and 70s.

Let's turn things around. Now imagine tens of millions of Americans taking responsibility for their own well-being and therefore needing much less medical care. Can it be done? If a reality TV show can do it, then surely America can do it, too. Let's take the solution out of the hands of the politicians who,  in a matter of months, have put us 10 Trillion dollars in debt, and let's put it in our own hands!

Every American needs to know that by each of us taking more responsibility for our own health and well-being, by being models of it, and by encouraging others to do the same, we can create an army of super-healthy Americans united to bring health-care costs under control. Will you help make Shaping Up For America a grass-roots movement that makes America once again fiscally, physically and mentally the healthiest country in the world?

Ed Mayhew is a speaker (Need one? A good one?) and the author of Fitter After 50, Fitter for Life, and AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You Visit Ed at: www.YouCanGrowYounger.com   www.FitterForLife.com  Ask for your F*R*E*E Fitter After 50/Fitter for Life e-newsletter    

 

The One Place You Need to Visit For All Your Age-Defying Needs

WARNING: Stand by for a little shameless self promotion and crass commercialism (in the end, all for your benefit, of course!)

The one place on the internet you really need to visit if you're serious about slowing and reversing aging is the new and vastly-improved www.FitterForLife.com. That's where you will find Ed Mayhew's (that would be me) special deals on books and CDs about how to stay youthful and vital for years and decades to come.

Ed Mayhew (tooting my own horn AGAIN!) is THE expert on growing younger naturally by virtue of his studying and researching (and interviewing) hundreds of mature men and women who are redefining what it means to age. These individuals, ages 40 to 80 and better, with their age-defying athletic feats of endurance, strength and speed, are proving that we can have more energy to enjoy life than most young people. By regularly out-performing athletes a decade or two their junior, these folks are pointing out that "falling apart" as we age is an option -- not a mandate.

We have found that there are three things that separate those who are biologically much younger than their age from those among us who are aging the fastest. In my recently released book, AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You, I've taken these three attributes of the masters of aging I've studied and transposed them into three simple steps we can all take to easily slow and reverse aging. For those time-crunched individuals and those who would prefer to learn by listening, my team of professionals have created the Age Blasters Audio Series ( a set of CDs that complement the book).

When you trot over to www.FitterForLife.com you can pick up the AGE BLASTERS book and a F*R*E*E* Age-Blasting CD of YOUR CHOICE for a mere pittance (to be precise, that'd be 20 green-backs) AND that INCLUDES Shipping and Handling. You can't get this deal anywhere else on the planet. You get to choose from three empowering age-smashing CDs:

• Age Blasters All-Stars
• Running WELL Past 40
• Mastering Weight Loss (note: we're not suggesting you need to)

AND you are encouraged and allowed (by decree) to download the audio to YOUR MP3 or other portable listening gizmo (but not the whole neighborhood's).

But that's not all, by a long shot. There's an AGE BLASTERS Club Special where you can get the book and all three life-transforming CDs for just $37. That's more than a 50% savings over the cost of purchasing these four items separately.

Then there's the coup de grace -- The AGE BLASTERS Mega Club Special where you get all of the $37 package PLUS two exclusive interviews:

• The info-packed interview in which the octogenarian cyclist extraordinaire, Bill Anderson, tells how at age 81 he can out-cycle all but the most elite young bikers and how you can use his unique techniques to slow your aging
• The not-to-be-missed interview of Michigan's Tamara Savage, who lost over 100 pounds in her early 50s and then went on to run a 100-mile race in 95-degree desert heat. She'll tell you how she did it and how you can have her boundless energy, too!

PLUS you get an  AGE BLASTER T-SHIRT to tell the world that over-the-hill you're not -- ALL this for just $77 -- a savings of $63 over what you'd have to pay for these game changers if you bought them separately.

Of course, while you're roaming around www.FitterForLife.com you can sign up for Ed Mayhew's F*R*E*E* secrets-revealing Fitter For Life/Fitter After 50 E-newsletter or tap the Blog Button to head on over to  www.YouCanGrowYounger.com where you'll find a host of articles to start you Growing Younger Naturally.

Is this not an awesome site for those of you wishing to stop Father Time in his tracks? Well, you'll not know if all this blather is just a bunch of hype to sell ice cubes to Eskimoes or if it's a bona fide good place to begin your journey to a younger, more vibrant you for years and decades to come unless you giddy-up over there right now... come on, giddy-up -- you can do it -- we're waiting to serve you at www.FitterforLife.com

Ed Mayhew is a speaker (need one? A good one?) and the author of AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You, Fitter After 50 and Fitter for Life and the creator/producer of the Age Blasters Audio Series CDs You can visit him at: You guessed it, www.FitterForLife.com AND Ask for your F*R*E*E* Fitter After 50/Fitter For Life E-newsletter and why not get a book and/or CD while you're there -- you know you want one --

Can AGE BLASTERS Really Slow How Fast You Age?

Can Ed Mayhew's new book, AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You REALLY slow your rate of aging? That's a question well worth exploring if you'd like to slow or reverse aging and grow biologically younger.

AGE BLASTERS offers 3 steps to a younger you. In a world awash with hype, is this just more of it, or is this the real deal? Rich Benyo, Editor of Marathon and Beyond magazine and author of Running Past 50, says that AB really does deliver when he wrote, "[Ed Mayhew] ... promises that it is possible to retard and even reverse the ravages of aging, but then he fills the second half of the book with proof positive that it can be done by introducing readers to people just like them who have taken control of their lives ..."

The first step to slow and reverse aging, according to Mayhew, is to believe it is possible and worth the effort to feel and perform like someone a decade or two his/her junior. By introducing the reader to 77 men and women, ages 40 to 80 and better who are documented to be in better shape (and biologically younger) than most 20- and 30-year-olds, AGE BLASTERS challenges one's self-destructive beliefs about aging, making room for more empowering, age-blasting beliefs. You can't read about all these age-redefining individuals without releasing those beliefs that are tearing down your body and making you literally fall apart.

To substantially slow aging, and even reverse it for a period of years, one needs to develop a self image that supports this more youthful version of self. This revised self image in combination with an emotional trigger, is, in a nutshell, what step 2 is all about. AB gives the reader a technique he can use to do this easily and powerfully. No change, whether it's losing weight and keeping it off, starting a youth-enhancing exercise program, stopping smoking ... can last without an enabling/supportive self image. Without a corroborative self image and its accompanying burning desire, the best of intentions cannot be sustained.

The final step is to develop a plan of action that leads sub-goal by sub-goal, step by step, to your goal and a younger you. This book gives all the components needed to do this. Enabled by one's new, empowering beliefs, a potent self image and a burning desire, you can completely transform your life, like the masters of aging profiled in AGE BLASTERS have proven can be done.

Can AGE BLASTERS really slow how fast you age? The 77 men and women in AB, who have slowed aging to a crawl, are proof that it can be done. The AGE BLASTERS 3 steps are based on what the author has learned from studying and questioning them. Here's how Pam Reed, American Champion ultra-runner and two-time winner of the 135-mile Badwater ultra-marathon (all accomplished in her 40s) sees it: "If you wish to look, feel and perform like someone years, even decades younger than your chronological age, then you need to read Ed Mayhew's latest book. It's replete with inspiring stories of men and women, like myself, who have done this. Get Age Blasters today and start growing biologically younger tomorrow."

The masters of aging, such as Pam Reed, presented in AGE BLASTERS, show that by taking the 3 simple steps they've all taken --

1. Develop empowering beliefs
2. Create a supportive self image and an accompanying burning desire
3. Design a workable plan of action

-- you, too, can significantly slow how fast you age.

Ed Mayhew is a speaker (need one?) and the author of Fitter After 50, Fitter for Life and AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You  Visit Ed at www.FitterForLife.com (Ask for your F*R*E*E* Fitter After 50 newsletter)   www.YouCanGrowYounger.com    www.AgeBlasters3.com