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Web Radio Today, the Faith and Fitness Podcast, Episode 26 -Skip Orem on Diseases & Baby Boomers, Fitness Apps, and Faith & Fitness
WEB RADIO TODAY, The Faith and Fitness Podcast
Faith, Diet, Exercise, Attitude, Positive Imagery, Music and Research
Mentioned on Episode 26 – Don’t Give Up by, Kyle Idleman
NOTE THE ABOVE SCHEDULE FOR THE REMAINING SEASON 1 EPISODES
Next Week Episode 27- October 30th, and Episode 29, the special Web Radio Today Christmas Guided Imagery Session on December 11th.
Web Radio Today Season 2 starts on Friday, January 15, 2021
FITNESS APPS AND DEVICES MENTIONED ON EPISODE 26
FIT BIT, APPLE WATCH, TIMEX, MY FITNESS PAL, LIFE LOG, BEST FITNESS APPS 20210
TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 26
Skip Orem (00:14):
Hey everybody. From Nashville, I’m Skip Orem and this is the Web Radio Today podcast. And thank you so much everybody for pushing the play button to listen to today’s episode, as we combine faith and fitness and fun, we mixed them all together to form the Web Radio Today podcast. And the Web Radio Today podcast is designed specifically for baby boomers, us older folks, in our ’60s and in our ’70s and beyond. We’re trying to stay healthy, we’re trying to stay active, stay fit, keep diseases away, and get rid of any diseases that might’ve come to pay us a visit. And some of that as we all know is a lot easier said than done. And unless you have a specific plan, and the Web Radio Today plan it involves faith, diet, exercise a positive attitude, guided imagery, music and research. We put those all together to form the Web Radio Today disease fighting and fitness model.
Skip Orem (01:22):
And that’s really what the Web Radio Today podcast is all about. This episode today it should go just about 30 to 45 minutes I guess, as long as I don’t start rambling on too much. By the way, this is episode 26, the October 23rd edition as season one of the Web Radio Today podcast it’s coming to an end. Only two more episodes to go. And I’ll talk with you more about that later today. Also today I want to spend a little time talking about what a nice target we make as baby boomers. What a nice target we make for so many different diseases. And we’ll talk today about how to keep ourselves from becoming a target. Many of you have asked me about fitness apps. Those apps that you can use on your phone, or even on your watch in some cases, are they really any good? Are they helpful in staying fit and fighting off diseases? Well, the answer is, if you want to use them, some are really good.
Skip Orem (02:31):
Fitness apps, coming up on today’s episode. And then also today I want to answer some listener feedback. Listener feedback which questions two specific things about the Web Radio Today podcast. First, why is faith an important part of staying healthy? What does it have to do with staying healthy? And then specifically, why do I focus this podcast only on the Christian faith? But want to talk with you about all that, and we’ll do that near the end of the episode today. But first, like we do on every episode, it’s time for a Web Radio Today mini workout. This is where we get up, we start moving in any way we can. And even if for some reason you can’t get up right now, you can still move in any way that you can, and increasing your heart rate just a bit, getting the blood flowing, burning a few calories.
Skip Orem (03:31):
Web Radio Today, one of the few podcasts that you can listen to, and still burn some calories while you’re listening. Okay everybody, it’s time to start moving. You can dance, sway, walk, run, cycle, climb stairs, whatever you want to do to get your body moving. The Web Radio Today mini workout for episode number 26 is underway.
Skip Orem (05:40):
All right everybody, you can slow down. I don’t want you to stop moving yet, because you need to take just a couple of more minutes to cool down. I get some listener emails and feedback asking me what fitness apps do I use or what fitness apps do I recommend? There are so many available right now, and they can help you to do anything from track your weight, track your diet, track your heart beats, your blood pressure.
Skip Orem (06:18 ):
And there are even a couple that can actually do an EKG. Today I’m going to talk about the ones that I have used, ones that I recommend. I use an iPhone. So most of the fitness apps that I’m currently using are available from Apple. But I think many of these same apps are also in Android form from Google
Play, and other places so that you can use them on other types of phones.
Skip Orem (06:54):
I also use an Apple Watch now, but my progression for fitness apps, fitness app hardware, started with a Fitbit and then using just my phone, and then in the past year or so, I’ve gone to the Apple Watch.
Skip Orem (07:12):
However, way before all of that, I mean like back in the late ’70s, I used my trusty Timex chronograph watch to measure speed, and then I’d write down my distance and the time every day in my day-timer.
Skip Orem (07:28):
At our age right now most of us are not really interested in how fast we’re moving, like speed per mile. We’re more interested in heart rate, total exercise time and then maybe distance. Those other measures don’t really matter unless you’re trying to achieve some type of elite level of fitness, a lot of people still do that at our age, or training for a race or something like that. Our critical markers in terms of trying to fight off disease, stay healthy, stay fit, are number one, weight, number two, heart rate, number three, total exercise time, and then maybe number four, distance. All of that can be measured real easily with a standard bathroom scale, physically taking your pulse, and then noting the time on your watch. If you want to go with a fitness app, get a little more fancy. If you want to do all that with one device and not have to write anything down, then your first choice might be your phone and some of the fitness apps that I’m going to talk about.
Skip Orem (08:37):
If you want all of that information in a way that you can view it as you’re exercising, then I suggest that you look at some type of tracking device that you can wear on your wrist. And then if you’ve made a decision that you want to go with some kind of a wrist device, I’d make sure that it can measure your heart rate. If you’ve done any of our Web Radio Today interval training workouts, or listened to me talk about heart rate training, you know how heart rate measurement can help you know how effective your exercise is. That’s an easy measurement to do on your own by just checking your pulse. But it’s awkward to do while you’re exercising, because you really have to stop and take your pulse. And then you really have no record of heart rate changes as you exercise.
Skip Orem (09:33):
My recommendation is, if you’re going to invest in a wrist device, make sure that it measures your heart rate. Prices have come way down on these devices. The Fitbit wrist device comes in all types of price ranges, depending on what features you want and where you buy it. Just last year I switched from a Fitbit to an Apple Watch and I love it. It does everything. And the way it syncs with your iPhone is awesome. I end up with so much information about exercising, my diet, heart rates, blood pressure, the weather, and it tells me the time too. Like the Fitbit, the Apple Watches have different price ranges based on your features, but it’s going to be overall a little more expensive than the Fitbit. And then the other thing with Apple Watch is, that unless you invest in a really expensive Apple Watch with all the bells and the features and the cellular connection, you’re still going to have to have an iPhone.
Skip Orem (10:42):
And then with an Apple Watch, even starting with a refurbished model, Apple Watches are still priced above the Fitbit. If you’re an Apple user though, the Apple Watch it’s the gold standard in fitness trackers.
Skip Orem (10:58)
Let me mention, right now though with all of these devices that we’re talking about and then the apps that I’m going to be talking about, all of this tracking, all of this stuff can be done on your own. No investment needed. So whether it’s training equipment, shoes or fitness devices and apps, don’t ever everybody, don’t ever let cost be a reason not to exercise. Exercise is free. It requires no money. The
only investment is your time and your effort. Well, my plan was to talk about fitness apps, and we’ve spent a little time talking about hardware. So let’s get to that. A fitness app… Well, what it is, it’s an application that can be downloaded to your mobile device, your phone, and then used anywhere to help you get fit and to track your progress.
Skip Orem (11:54):
Fitness apps can be used on any type of phone, an iPhone or a phone with an Android operating system. So that covers most phones. And right now there are over 250,000 fitness apps out there. That then makes it kind of messy trying to figure out which ones to use. I recommend that you look at using four different types of apps. And yep, there are apps that can roll all of these types together in one app. First, you need to track your weight. So you need a weight tracker. This is simply an app to record your weight. You step on the scales, you record your weight into your phone, and then you have a record of your weight over time. Second is some type of app that will record and track your workout in real time, and then keep a record of your workouts over time. And then the third app is an app that can record and measure your blood pressure over time.
Skip Orem (13:05):
And one other app… And that’s for those of you who are trying to stay on a very strict diet, that app would be some type of diet tracker. Here are my recommendations for what I think are the best, the most cost effective apps in each of those three areas. Now there are two apps that basically do it all as far as activity is concerned. Apple’s ActivityTracker app for the iPhone. And then if you’re using an Android device, the Lifelog is the app for you. These apps are going to track and store all the data that you need relative to exercise, weight and movement. Those are my two recommendations for all-in-one fitness apps. Apple’s ActivityTracker and Androids Lifelog. If for personal or for health reasons you need to track your diet, then you’re going to need a separate diet tracker app. The best for diet tracking and calorie counting is MyFitnessPal.
Skip Orem (14:08):
It is absolutely one of the most effective apps for tracking your food intake. It has a database of over 5 million foods and dishes that enables you to quickly log your meals. And MyFitnessPal is available for both iPhones and Android devices. It’s important everybody to track your weight and both of those all purpose apps will… Well, they’ll ask you to put your weight in and track it. But I want you to step on the scales once a week and measure and record your weight. Notice I didn’t say every day, not after a big meal, not after a really cool day with fewer calories and lots of exercising, no. Track your weight once a week at the same time. And whatever you are wearing or not wearing, make sure that it’s the same thing every week when you step on the scales.
Skip Orem (15:04):
Now the requirement for a weight tracking app are pretty simple. You’re going to manually put in your weight and then the app is going to keep records for you over time. Because weight tracking apps are so simple, I don’t really have a recommendation. It’s more about your preference for how you want your weight data displayed, what special charts and graphs you might want to see. If you’re trying to stay healthy and fit, you need to record and track your weight. Everything else on a weight tracking app is just bells and whistles. And if you want to just write your way down on the calendar, that’s fine too. For tracking your blood pressure, not measuring it, for tracking your blood pressure I recommend SmartBP. It’s available in both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. And I recommend that everybody our age
especially if you’re taking blood pressure medications or need to be concerned about your blood pressure, most of us at our age do, you should measure your blood pressure beyond just the regular doctor visits.
Skip Orem (16:17):
I usually take a two week period every three months or so, and measure my blood pressure three times a day, and then I do that every day for that two week period. I record all that data into the SmartBP app. Of course doing that requires a blood pressure machine. And there are some very inexpensive ones out there. By the way, blood pressure ranges seem to change once in a while. So check with your doctor about what the current range for your specific blood pressure should be. My blood pressure readings at the doctor’s office are never good because they’re actually off the charts. I have white coat fear. So what I do is I bring my little blood pressure machine with me for each six month checkup. And I make sure that my machine is calibrated with the doctor’s. So then when I get home and I get calmed down, I’ll get as true an accurate measure of my blood pressure on that machine as I need.
Skip Orem (17:20 ):
So that is my information on fitness apps. Well, with close to a quarter million fitness apps out there, give yourself a chance to look at them, have some fun and check them out. Most of them, many of them are free and they can really help to add some fun to your exercise and fitness program
.Skip Orem (17:52)
The battle plan that we are using on Web Radio Today is called the disease fighting and fitness model. It’s not just called the fitness model, it is the disease fighting and fitness model. The reason for that is we’re old. Yours truly and our listeners to this podcast are in their late ’50s or ’60s, ’70s and beyond. And the good news… Well, for all of us in those age groups, we’re living longer now than ever before. But as we live longer, as we age, we experience a much higher risk of chronic disease coming at us. Over 60% of older adults… I’m pretty sure that’s us, have two or more chronic conditions; heart disease, cancer, bronchitis and emphysema stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease.
Skip Orem (18:43):
And then you throw in the fact that communicable diseases like COVID and the flu, you throw in the fact that those types of diseases affect older folks more and are much more deadly than when younger folks get sick, and then you look at the fact that many of us are under a lot of financial pressure to live day by day, and some of us are isolated and we get lonely. I am a positive guy. Positive thinking saved my life. I would not have beat cancer this year without my positive attitude. So here’s what I say about all those bleak statistics. Screw them. We are the baby boomers generation. We didn’t take crap when we were young and restless. No, we did not. We made things happen. The reason I do this podcast is a firmly believe that we have the power with God’s help, to prevent these disease from attacking us. And then to get ourselves in a position where we can beat them if they do come at us.
Skip Orem (19:44):
I talk about the seven elements of the Web Radio Today disease fighting and fitness model. I talk about them on every episode. People get tired of me listing them all the time. But if you put them together in a plan, and if you think about them and practice them every day, you’re going to have a longer, a fuller and a much more rewarding life. They’re so simple. Practice your faith, watch your diet, make sure that you’re exercising every day, keep that positive attitude, practice meditation or guided imagery, and make sure you keep music and arts in your life, and keep yourself aware of what’s going on in health an
medical news. Simple things that have been proven to work. And I’m not going to stop talking about
them. No, I’m not. I’m going to continue to break them down and talk with you every week about them.
Skip Orem (20:43):
Season two of this podcast, season two of Web Radio Today is starting in January. And wow! I have so much to talk with you about, how to help you with… I’m just so excited. I hope everybody that you’ll stay with Web Radio Today. You’ll tell your friends about the Web Radio Today podcast. I hope you’ll continue to visit our website frequently. That’s webradiotoday.com. But don’t push that stop button yet or that pause button yet, because we have a lot more to come on this episode. As I mentioned, we’re about to end season one. So I want to talk with you just for a minute or two about that. And then I’m going to answer some people who have been emailing me and wondering why I bog down this podcast talking about my faith.
Skip Orem (21:42):
I mentioned that after today’s podcast that there’ll be just two more episodes left in season one. The next episode is going to be next week, October 30th, and that’ll be episode 27. And then I’m going to take sort of a holiday break until December 11th, when we release episode 28. And episode 28 will be the last episode of season one. And it’s going to be a very special episode, designed to drop right in the middle of the Christmas holiday season.
Skip Orem (22:30)
The reason for that is because it will be a 30 minute guided positive imagery session, designed to give you a break from the holiday stress. And that 30 minute break then we’ll be there for you to use as many times as you want, during the holiday season. You can take that episode and play it whenever you want, as many times as you want to help you relax and get away from the holiday rush, all the activity and the stress. That’ll be the last episode of season one, episode 28, and it releases on Friday, December 11th. It’s a standalone 30 minute, guided positive imagery session.
Skip Orem (23:08):
And if you’re feeling stressed over the holidays, all you need to do is find a quiet, perhaps dark room, close the door, put your headphones on or your ear pods in and drift away for 30 minutes of guided imagery. And then that episode number 28 will be the last episode as I mentioned of season one.
Skip Orem (23:28):
Season two of Web Radio Today will begin on January 15th 2021. And that’s when we will get back at it again working the Web Radio Today disease fighting and fitness model. That schedule by the way is posted at webradiotoday.com.
Skip Orem (23:48):
There will be though several weeks between next week’s episode and the actual start of season two. I want to take a minute here to let you know how you can stay with us, and maybe help to bring some new listeners to the Web Radio Today podcast, during the next few weeks.
Skip Orem (24:07):
We have a Web Radio Today Facebook page. I’m going to make that inactive, and instead use my Skip’s Voice Facebook page to provide updates and information to our Web Radio Today listener. So if you want to follow Web Radio Today on Facebook, the best way to do that would be to follow my Skip’s
Voice Facebook page. And then of course everything about Web Radio Today, it’s located at webradiotoday.com on the web. If you started listening to Web Radio Today after the podcast got started earlier this year, November and December might be a good chance to go back and get caught up. Especially everybody, if you haven’t listened to those very early introductory episodes, I hope you’ll take the time to do that towards the end of this year. That’s episode 1, 2, 2B, 3 and 3B. I hope you’ll listen to them.
Skip Orem (25:08):
All of those episodes are right there on the podcast and show notes page at webradiotoday.com. And if you want to relisten to some other episodes, I might have a suggestion here for you. Most of the important segments of each episode, they’re broken out into what I call audio burst. And you can go to webradiotoday.com and just click on the audio burst page. There are about 40 audio bursts on that page, and most of them last less than 10 minutes. All of our interval training workouts, the Web Radio Today guided imagery sessions, they’re all right there on the audio burst page at webradiotoday.com. Literally everything we’ve talked about this season, has been broken out into short audio segments. That makes it easy for you because you don’t have to listen to anything other than what those particular segments are about.
Skip Orem (26:07 ):
Each of them, each of those audio bursts, they stand alone as good faith, fitness and fun segments. The other cool thing about the audio burst page and also those introductory episodes, they are perfect to recommend to friends who you might want to introduce to the Web Radio Today podcast. All the episodes, all the audio bursts are at webradiotoday.com. And you can also find Web Radio Today episodes available wherever you get your podcasts. And just one more note, earlier today I talked about loneliness being a health hazard for us older folks. I’m going to get into that in a lot of detail on next week’s episode, Web Radio Today episode 27, next Friday.
Skip Orem (27:13 ):
I get emails almost every week questioning the role of faith in this podcast. Why does faith need to be part of the Web Radio Today fitness model? Those people probably haven’t listened to the introductory episodes because if they had, they would know why faith is a part of the Web Radio Today podcast, and our special disease fighting and fitness model. And especially why faith is such an important part of this podcast. And then some of those emails question why I specifically deal with my Christian faith. Cancer attacked me in January. For a brief period of time there at the beginning, I was devastated. I lost all hope. I was scared. Four things got me through all of that, a medical team, my elite level of physical fitness, my wonderful wife, and most importantly, my knowledge that I was safe in God’s hands.
Skip Orem (28:34):
My faith, my Christian faith gave me so much comfort when I was battling cancer. That’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. But that cancer, the thing that came to destroy me, it brought me back to my Christian faith, back to Jesus, back to God. During that time I thought a lot about how I would live my life, if I was able to survive cancer. I knew I was going to spend more time with my family and loved ones, more time serving my church. And if that sounds like I was bargaining with God, well probably was. But it was more than just that though. I kept thinking that before all this happened, I kept thinking I have all this time. And then I was thinking that if I could continue to live my life, I could live it with so much more purpose
Skip Orem (29:27):
So I was going to go forward, win this battle or lose it, with a new plan for my life. And I also knew that I had a little bit of talent to perhaps help people with their health, while at the same time maybe saving a few souls. And that’s why the Web Radio Today podcast was born. If you want more detail about all that, go back and listen to those introductory episodes. And everybody, that’s the reason why my Christian faith will always be an important part of this podcast. And I know we have lost listeners because I focus so much on my Christian faith. However here’s the good news. We continue to gain more listeners because of our emphasis on the Christian faith. Many of you have started listening to Web Radio Today to this podcast, because you want to get and stay healthy. But you’re also here because of Jesus.
Skip Orem (30:29):
I’m so proud to say that our listener base is growing globally. In addition to our many listeners in the USA, this podcast, Web Radio Today, has listeners in Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, the UK, Thailand, South Africa. I don’t just know that because people email me from those places, I know it because we use some pretty sophisticated listener statistics and demographic tracking programs, to measure our reach. And I don’t know how many souls we have saved, maybe none, but I try every week. I’m a professional voiceover artist. And when I got this cancer, my future goals were to get well, live my life for Jesus, and help people find the same Christian peace I have.
Skip Orem (31:38)
And if I can use my fitness knowledge and experience to advise people on how to stay and get fit, stay healthy, fight off disease, that creates just an awesome opportunity to help people.
Skip Orem (28:37):
And I’m so happy to be doing that with the Web Radio Today podcast. I’ve been cured for now of this cancer. You see, Jesus not only saved my soul, he saved my life. I owe him everything, and so do you.
Skip Orem (32:29)
There is this book… I’m going to link to it in the show notes for this episode and this audio burst, the book is called, Don’t Give Up. And it’s written by Kyle Idleman. And I recommend this book for anyone who’s going through any kind of struggle in their life right now. This passage from don’t give up, it’s so inspiring. It was so inspiring to me. It’s sort of based on Psalm 118. Think about this as you struggle, whether it’s with illness, with loss, family problems, or any of the other hardships and worry that might be in your life.
Skip Orem (33:20):
The battle is not yours. Whenever you feel like giving up or giving in, remember that your strength comes from God. Whenever you’re down and out and can’t seem to pick yourself up, remember your strength comes from God. Whenever you feel weak and overwhelmed, remember your strength comes from God. Don’t you dare give up, because God has amazing things in store for you. During your battle, the Lord will fight for you. During the trial, the Lord will strengthen you. During the test, the Lord will encourage you. You will be a winner. You are a part of a royal priesthood, and you’re at the head, not the tail. You shall prevail in this life. You will defeat the enemy and, you will inherit eternal life through Jesus Christ our savior.
Skip Orem (34:44 ):
Remember this, Jesus by his life and death on the cross and then his resurrection, he’s given you strength. He gives you forgiveness. He will give you peace. And he has given you a world without end, eternal life. Here’s the thing though everybody, you need to accept that gift. Jesus he knows your heart
Skip Orem (35:13)
He knows all the things good and bad that you’ve done in your life. And he knows God’s plan for you. And you know what? As bad as you’ve been, as lost as you are, as broken as you may be, Jesus he still loves you. His arms are reaching out to you. He wants to put those arms around you. He offers you total forgiveness.
Skip Orem (35:44)
He’s ready right now to offer you love. And listen to this, he’s right there to help you and to offer you that strength that you need to fight whatever battle you’re in right now. He can give you strength to fight all of life’s battles. And he wants to give you life without end. It’s yours if you want it.
Skip Orem (36:14):
If you’re a lapsed Christian like I was, you know what to do. Drop to your knees and ask him for forgiveness. He’ll forgive you and he will welcome you home.
Skip Orem (36:31)
If you don’t know Jesus, well, there are no forms to fill out, no tests to take, no fee required. All Jesus requires of you is your acceptance of his amazing free gift.
Skip Orem (36:56 )
The devil right now he’s telling you, “This sounds interesting. Maybe you really should think about this later. Investigate it. Study up on all this Jesus stuff. You might do that the next time that you have a lot of free time, nothing else important to do, maybe then you should start to think about this Jesus stuff.”
Skip Orem (37:22):
That’s the devil talking to you. Here’s the truth, you don’t have any time.
Skip Orem (37:31)
All you have is right now this minute, nothing else is guaranteed. To wait another minute, another hour, another day, that’s like rolling a dice. Things happen so quickly. You don’t know what’s around the corner. There is no time. If you’re already a Christian, you’ve been perhaps backsliding again like I was, ask Jesus to forgive you and give your life back to him.
Skip Orem (38:03 ):
If you don’t know Jesus, aren’t really clear about who he is, how he can strengthen you, give you forgiveness, give you peace and life everlasting, do this, please do this right now today. Regular listeners they know what I’m going to tell you to do. Here’s the drill.
Skip Orem (38:27)
Walk into any church. First person you meet, that person might be another church member or a secretary, a receptionist, might be the pastor. It might be the custodian. They’re cleaning things up. It doesn’t matter. Just tell that first person that you see there in that strange church, tell them you want to find Jesus.
Skip Orem (38:51)
You’ll put a smile on their face and you will be creating a moment that both of you will never forget. And that person, secretary, receptionist, church member, pastor, custodian, whoever it is, that person will help you find Jesus.
Skip Orem (39:15)
From Nashville for the Web Radio Today podcast, I’m Skip Orem. Bye everybody.