Men become richer not only by increasing their existing wealth but also by decreasing their expenditure.  
- Aristotle
 
Most people I know would like to be rich if they had the choice.  I’m sure there are a few people out there who could care less about money, but if we’re being honest, most of us would like to not have to worry about it. Good news:  there are two ways to achieve this state in life, there are two ways to be rich in life.  One way is easy, and you can decide upon and maintain your ethics ahead of time and stick with them easily.  You need much less in this case, and so it’s much easier to work and live how you see fit, and be rich. 
 
The other way, the 2ndway, could be ethical too, but it will be harder to maintain your ethics and there’s a good chance it won’t be an ethical richness.  And you may, in the second case, need to pretend you like people that you don’t, for years and years and years.  This way of being rich is to make so much money that you never worry about money.  Depending on what you want to buy and own, you may never achieve this status of being “rich”, even if you have $3 million dollars or whatever.  Which do you think is easier and more realistic for most people? I’m always amazed at how many seemingly “rich” people are miserable.  
  
The average American only saves 5%, while 50-75% of the population has no savings at all.  The juggernaut of unfettered consumerism, which is our primary source of identity in America- that of a consumer, has been terrible health-wise for most people.  Most people need more of an identity than an unfettered will, thrown back on pre-human and primitive desires, unconstrained by wisdom, morality, or the higher brain’s cognitive restraint.  Consumerism as our primary identity is a game we can’t win and a thirst that can never be quenched.  Its “ritual” is consuming, it’s “bread and wine” is credit cards and statements, and its “liturgies” are commercials, slogans, and logos.  What make it even worse is that since we live in an anti-culture we are constantly atomizing more and more towards a life solely existing as a consumer, because it’s the only source of identity most modern people have. So, we keep consuming to feel alive. 
 
Consumption is the only way we know to be rich, because it’s the only way we know to feel alive.
 
The iphone takes precedence over tea with friends at the café.
The expensive car emblazoned with a logo, takes precedence over walking with a friend.
The best SAT score takes precedence over character.
And the best elite schools, highly connected to the new moral community of rootlessness and political correctness, ascend culturally while real community, built on roots, tradition, and internal values, vanishes. 
Overall, despair sets in.  
It’s a game that no one can win.
 
Now back to the original proposition.  I like money. I like traveling, sometimes.  I like having a good business and doing good work.  There’s nothing wrong with financial gain and I wish it for everyone.  But again, there are two ways to be rich and one comes with a big downside if we aren’t careful.
 
Most of us can want less of the things we don’t need, the things that chain us down, and the things which aren’t wise to desire in the first place.  If we do this, our wealth increases instantly.  Unlike the stoics, I’m not asking you to eliminate desires. But I am asking you to desire what makes you happyjust like “the philosopher” - Aristotle taught 2500 years ago.  Sometimes, we need to change what we desire, we need to transform it into something better.  
 
Sure, you may one day make so much money that you finally feel “rich.” I hope you do.  But there is another way to be rich.  And how much is enough?  Most people never define it.  I like Clark Howard’s, Dave Ramsey’s and the Bible’s and ancient philosophy’s advice to stay out of personal debt.  Be wise, desire the right things, the things that really make you happy in the long run and learn to get by with less.  The two are not mutually exclusive.  You can make money but not let it become your sole identity, your primary focus of richness. One focus on being rich emphasizes external values and the other internal values, and internal values are time and time again the bulwark of a healthy and meaningful life.  You know and I know what we need to do.  
 
Why not start by being grateful, content, simplifying, and enjoying the simple pleasures in life?  Your wealth will explode!
 
There are two ways to be rich.   Be careful which one you pick.  

Read Next: Chaos and What You Can Do About It?

* This is part of a year-long weekly series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". 
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It may sound overly dramatic to say that nuts are one of life’s greatest treasures, but it’s true. They taste good, they’re easy to find, store well, and they’re good for you.  Most importantly, they are one of the best things to snack on.  Especially compared to all the terrible snacks they compete with, like potato chips, ritz crackers, granola bars, and so on.

Nuts are plant foods and contain protein and healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins and minerals, and are good for your cardiovascular system, and for your brain.  They contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (49–74% total fat), several B group vitamins (including folate), vitamin E, minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium and magnesium, antioxidant minerals (selenium, manganese and copper) plus other phytochemicals such as antioxidant compounds (flavonoids and resveratrol) and plant sterols.
 
A nut is a simple dry fruit with one or two seeds in which the ovary wall becomes very hard at maturity, and in which the seed fuses with the ovary wall.  My home state of Alabama is where George Washington Carver of Tuskegee developed over 300 uses for the peanut, which is technically a legume but often thought of as a nut, and was once only thought to be food for poor people but is now known to be very healthy.  
 
Here are some basic tips about how to get the most out of nuts.

• Try to eat a small handful of nuts every day.
• Nuts have many uses so put them on salads, cereals, or use them as a snack.
• Nuts are high in fat, and fat calories, so don’t go overboard.
• Opt for the unsalted and unsweetened nuts. High amounts of sodium and sugar can cancel out the many health benefits of nuts, which in their natural state are very low in sodium.  
• Think variety, since every nut is different mix it up to take in different vitamins and minerals.
• Seeds are often thought of as nuts, even though they aren't, but not to worry because they are good for you too.  
• Add nuts to a meal containing carbohydrates, because when nuts, (or any other healthy protein or fat) are consumed with carbs, the glycemic response is lowered, and there is less sugar and insulin produced.  An example would be putting almond butter or peanut butter on whole wheat bread as a snack. 

 
Specifically, nuts contain:

• Almonds: protein, calcium and vitamin E
• Brazil nuts: Fiber and selenium: just two Brazil nuts a day provides 100% RDI for selenium for an adult
• Cashews: iron
• Chestnuts: Fiber and vitamin C (although much vitamin C is lost during cooking)
• Hazelnuts: Fiber, potassium, folate, vitamin E
• Macadamias: highest in monounsaturated fats, thiamin and manganese
• Pecans: Fiber and antioxidants
• Pine nuts: Vitamin E and the arginine amino acid
• Pistachios: protein, potassium, plant sterols and the antioxidant resveratrol
• Walnuts: alpha linoleic acid: plant omega 3 and antioxidants

 
It seems like many things that taste good aren’t always good for us.  Part of the struggle is to acquire a taste for things that are healthy, which happens with time.  With nuts though, we can indulge and enjoy from day one.  They taste great, are filling, and they are one of the healthiest things you can eat. 
 
Read Next:  52 Weeks to Eating Better Than Ever: An Introduction
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A fantastic book was written back in 2008 called “The Blue Zones” about the people in the world who live the longest, each group living in what the author titled Blue Zones.  I highly recommend the book.  In it, the author profiles the reasons why these places are incubators of a long and healthy life.  Part of the discussion of course, revolves around food.  Perhaps not surprisingly, all these communities focus on a plant-based diet and eat small amounts of meat or none. What is surprising is how many other commonalities they share.  Again, I recommend reading the book yourself, if for no other reason than for the inspiration these places provide.  
 
Blue Zones profiles the following places:
 
Sardinia, Italy
Okinawa, Japan
Loma Linda, California
Nicoya, Costa Rica
Ikaria, Greece
 
When it comes to eating, these are some of the takeaways from the world’s healthiest places.
 
Eating Secrets of the Blue Zones

• Hara Hachi Bu is a Japanese expression which means “eat until you are 80% full”.  As the author mentions, if you’re not used to it, it takes about 15-20 times to get there, to the point where you feel like you can eat only to 80% full.  Especially if you’re accustomed to eating until you’re completely full or even stuffed like most Americans.  This is one reason Okinawans live on average about 10 years longer than we do, because they practice Hara Hachi Bu.  I know I’m guilty of this, getting hungry and then overeating and ending up feeling tired and sluggish after eating.

 

• Eat less meat, and fewer animal products.  Again, and again and again, a plant-based diet is healthier.  You can eat meat, but prioritize fruits and vegetables over everything else.  There was a long-term study done called “The China Study” which proved that people who ate less meat and animal products overall, lived longer and had fewer health problems.  It’s not that you have to give it up completely, but cutting way back on animal products is helpful for a variety of reasons. One reason that most people lose weight on high protein diets is because they are getting a full feeling from the protein, but also because they are cutting out fried foods and high calorie sugary drinks.   It’s not because of some magical product of meat or protein.  Regulating blood sugar, cutting back calories, and eating to feel fuller requires only that you make wise choices, not that you go overboard on protein.  Try to eat meat only once per day. Protein requirements vary, depending on how active you are, but you more than likely eat plenty.  

 

• Eat sitting down and undistracted, like people in the blue zones do.  Often what we do, including eating junk food, we do unconsciously.  This is one of the main reasons we do things we don’t want to do. We’re sleepwalking through life. Take a minute, relax, and think about what you’re doing, that way you’ll make better decisions with food.  Eat with other people and make it a communal experience, not something to gorge on.  Don’t eat while driving, standing around, or doing something else.  Slow down, eat slower, and eat sitting down, and you will eat less overall, just like they do in the blue zones.   

 

• Bigger Meals in the First Part of the Day- I remember when I was growing up in a rural area there was a family I worked for in the summers, and they ate a huge lunch.  The older couple were very healthy for their age, and very active. Even though they didn’t officially live in a Blue Zone they were practicing one of the key tenets- eating bigger meals earlier in the day.  It makes sense if you think about it.  The bigger meal eaten earlier will give you time to burn it off. If you eat a big meal before bedtime, it won’t necessarily hurt you, but you will not be active afterwards.  Plus, eating a bigger meal earlier will decrease how much you eat the rest of the day. The Blue Zones eat bigger earlier, and decrease as the day goes on.  I think we should too.

 

• Remove Unhealthy Things from Site- One simple things that Blue Zone people do is not have junk food around.  Without the temptation to eat empty calories like cookies, ice cream, heavy crackers, and chips, you’ll be much less likely to make poor choices.  You can save the occasional desert or French fries for a special occasion, but keep the junk out of your house. 

 

• Make Food Look Bigger- This is huge.  Only in America, where everything is bigger, do we have huge plates, huge portions, and huge appetites.  Start making everything smaller by making the plate, and even the glass smaller.  Blue Zones eat on small plates, and eat a lot of vegetables, which take up a lot of space, and we should as well.

​The Blue Zones: The Final Word
 
I remember visiting Chania, Crete in Greece back a few years ago and being blown away at the healthy culture there. The neighbors are all close with each other, practicing a bonding and traditional Orthodox Christianity, they swim in the ocean in the morning, and eat a diet of fresh fish, tomatoes, plums, and all sorts of greens and feta cheese with olive oil and onions.  And they drink plenty of red wine, and eat together as families in the evenings.  I’m sure like any other place it has challenges, but I got to see firsthand why the Mediterranean diet and culture is one of the healthiest.  It wasn’t specifically mentioned in the Blue Zones book, but two other places nearby, Sardinia, Italy, and Ikaria, Greece were. 
 
Start a Movement.  Start Your Own Blue Zones.

Why should we not strive to create our own Blue Zone wherever we live?  Let’s build a culture of health, based around community and eating food that’s good for us. Let’s eat less and focus more on the culture of eating than gorging ourselves.  Let’s eat and drink with our neighbors and enjoy life.  Let’s throw out the junk food, and start a movement. There are too many fast food places, and not enough home-cooked meals in the US.  There is too much busyness, and not enough conscious eating in America.  There's too much mindless and overindulgent inebriation and not enough sober sipping of pleasurable communal wine.  There is too much hostility and not enough food-centered neighborliness in our country.  I believe we can change.  Let’s turn small town Georgia or Alabama, the heartland, Atlanta, Birmingham, Auburn, Nashville or wherever you live into Blue Zones too.  
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Read Next:  Raise Your Standards

* This is part of a year-long weekly series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". 

Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.

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3 Easy (but Hidden) Keys to Weight Control

Of course what you eat and how much of it are the most important things when it comes to weight control.  

But there are some simple things you can do repeatedly to keep from gaining weight over your lifetime.  Make these habits which you don’t even have to think about and they will make it so much easier to lose or maintain bodyweight.  I’ve already written about these things several times before, and they overlap with each other, but they’re worth repeating.

1. Eat a little bit of protein at every meal
2. Eat more fiber.
3. Eat things that are going to take a while to eat. 

 
A little bit of protein slows down the insulin response to whatever it is you’re eating.  The more you control your insulin and blood sugar, the healthier you’ll be.  Protein also provides crucial amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, and it will make you feel full, preventing you from eating more junk food and empty calories.  Eating fiber also fills you up, lowers cholesterol, and aids in elimination.  Fiber prevents weight gain and overeating.  Lastly, take your time eating.  Enjoy your meal, and the company if you have it.  Deliberately choose foods like lean meats, cucumbers, apples, pears, peppers, and broccoli, which take time to consume.  This will slow you down and trick your brain into thinking you ate more than you did. 
 
To control weight in the modern world, you need to pull out all the stops. 
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