The Musical Fruit - Check Your Pulses

Okay, so…now that we’re getting older most everyone recognizes how quickly things change in their physiology! Right? (If you haven’t yet, you will!)

Example: Have you passed 40 yet? I don’t know how it was for you, but for me; one day, just after turning 40, I was working under the dashboard of a car sorting through a large wire bundle of fifteen or twenty different colored wires, having no issues at all. The next morning I went back to finish the job and thought I was having a stroke! The closer I looked, the less I could see. No only could I not see the wires clearly, but I was having difficulty distinguishing the colors. My doctor laughed at me when I called him. “You need to go see your optometrist,” he said. “You’re getting old!”

variety of pulses for a story on health benefits of pulses

3 Top Reasons You Should Be Eating More Pulses

Sadly, I found the same to be true about what I can and cannot eat. After 40, it seemed that everything I loved to eat added a few more millimeters to my belly every time I took a bite! Not only that, but a couple of slices of pizza and some wine after 6:00 pm, and I wasn’t going to sleep! My guts pitched a fit! So, as the years rolled by, more and more changed until I finally had to start looking for that “special diet” that would cure all of my ills and disorders.

Have you found yours? Would you share it with us, please? Kate and I have tried everything. We went through the “Whole-30,” the “Mediterranean,” the “Dash Diet,” and we subscribed to websites, bought books, talked to our doctors, walked our legs off, did sit-ups, treadmill, aerobics, and even tried praying about it, but the hips, the belly, and the restless nights continue.

So, Kate (my wife, you know, the one just a little shorter than me) is a genius. She is also an amazing cook. So, what she decided and I agreed with, was that we will dig out recipes that look tasty, appear to be healthy, low on calories (respectively), and that appear to be digestible. She prints out the recipe, makes the meal, and then we evaluate the results!

Eating a fair portion of whatever was made we ask ourselves: Do I feel like I just ate and entire loaf or bread? Does my belly feel angry with me? What about thundering-bowels (you know, that horrible gurgling, bubbling, churning noise that you hope that nobody else can hear, and they pretend to not)? When I go to bed, must I sleep on my back because the food-baby may be injured or I feel too uncomfortable having it hang to one side or the other? In other words, we are allowing the response to the meal dictate whether or not we will ever eat such again. In other words, we are making healthy choices (without drastically changing our diet), eating moderate portions, getting some exercise, reducing alcohol intake, and at the same time, still eating what we enjoy.

When this all began in mid 2023, I was at 201 lbs. My last weigh-in I was at 184 lbs. The AHA (American Heart Association) says I should be 174 lbs., but I am afraid that the wind will keep knocking me over.

So then why did I title this quip with “Check Your Pulses.” I did so because I never previously heard this term being used in regard to food. According to “SilverSneakers,” (an organization run by TIVITY HEALTH,

“With plant-based eating on trend, you may be hearing more lately about a food group called “pulses.” We’re not talking about your heartbeat — pulses are seeds of plants in the legume family. They include beans, chickpeas, lentils, and dried peas.” (Click the image above.)

In the article, Silver Sneakers provides (3) three solid reasons for enjoying more “PULSES” including: