Polynesian Secrets to Longevity: William Spitzenberg (Transcript)

Here is the full text of William Spitzenberg’s talk titled “Polynesian Secrets to Longevity” at TEDxPagoPago conference.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Ten years ago, I was diagnosed with hypertension and pre-diabetes. I was that morbidly obese Polynesian guy who enjoyed leisure time watching TV, eating burgers and fries for lunch, and deep-fried chicken with a heaping plate of white rice for dinner.

Now the fried chicken didn’t taste that good until you first rounded in a well-mixed bowl of mayo and ketchup. I used to think greens served at the buffet were for decorations.

Well, today I stand before you as a healthy no longer obese, slimmer stronger Polynesian guy with blood pressure — thank you — and blood sugar levels most would dream of having.

2018 study conducted by the American Samoa Department of Health showed that 93% of American Samoans are obese or overweight and over 50% live with diabetes or the onset of diabetes.

Non-communicable diseases account for over 70% of death here in American Samoa. There is no sugarcoating this: the obesity crisis among Polynesians are of epic proportions.

To find the true solution to this crisis, we must look to our ancestors for answers.

I am here today to share with you the Polynesian secrets of longevity, the cure for obesity that I’ve discovered studying our Polynesian ancestors. Following these secrets helped me lose over a hundred pounds of fat and helped me keep it off for over ten years.

Our Polynesian ancestors never suffered from obesity, diabetes, or any of the many ailments we now suffer from. When early explorers came to the Pacific Islands, they were in awe of not only the beauty of the islands but also the vibrantly healthy people that lived here.

Early explorer Charles Clarke said this: “They were the most beautiful race of people I ever beheld.

I did not observe a single remarkably thin or disagreeably obese but they were all in fine order and exquisitely proportioned.”

The German physician Dr. Ernst Dieffenbach said: “The men are tall, muscular and have well-proportioned frame, very rarely inclining to obesity. Their teeth are white, even, regular and last to old age.”

The things our ancestors did on a daily basis helped them stay slim and strong all year round for life, without ever worrying about going on a diet. Following their way is the secret to longevity and the cure to the obesity crisis that we’ve been searching for.

Our Polynesian ancestors used these, every single day to stay slim and strong for life. These five secrets will also help you reverse obesity for good.

So are you ready to learn these five secrets our ancestors used to be slim and strong for life? All right, let’s get started.

Polynesian Longevity Secret #1: YOU MUST RECREATE YOUR MIND WITH PRAYER AND MEDITATION EVERY SINGLE DAY

Our ancestors spent time every evening singing praises and offering Thanksgiving to their God during family [final otu]. Anyone coming late or skipping out on these family rituals would be severely punished. I know I’ve had my fair share of punishment going up.

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Monks and lasting civilizations have known the power of meditation for centuries. Science is just now catching up. Meditation is the fastest way to change your mind from its self-defeating beliefs that are keeping you stuck to new beliefs that will take you to where you truly want to go.

To change your body, you must first change your mind.

James Allen wrote in his classic leadership book called As a Man Thinketh:

“The body is the servant of the mind. At the command of glad and beautiful thoughts, it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty. Change of diet will not change or help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure foods.”

Earl Nightingale said:

“We are all self-made but only the successful will admit it.”

The most powerful way to change your mind is to spend time every single day in prayer and meditation. This will literally reprogram your mind for success guaranteed.

Have you been looking for a shortcut to weight loss success? This is it. Recreating your mind through daily meditation and prayer is a shortcut you’ve been looking for, for that slimmer stronger body.

Pray and meditate every single day for longevity, just like our ancestors.

Polynesian Longevity Secret #2: RECHARGE YOUR BODY WITH SLEEP EVERY SINGLE DAY.

The Samoan legend of Vaea and Apaula portrays the magical power of sleep. When Apaula approached Vaea’s brother Va’atausili for help, she was disappointed to find him as his crony figure merrily chasing butterflies on the beach. Va’atausili told Va’atausili not to worry but to wait a while, while he goes to sleep in the cave.

Va’atausili went to sleep a tiny little boy and came out of the cave a towering handsome giant.

Yes, you can actually get that slim strong body you want by sleeping. Our Polynesian ancestors went to bed shortly after dusk and they woke up before dawn every single day. That is why they were healthy, slim and strong.

Getting eight hours of undisturbed sleep every single night is the only way you can recharge your body.

Along with so many other life-prolonging benefits, getting enough sleep increases your body’s ability to repair itself and build you that lean body you’ve always wanted.

Someone once said the future is shaped by your dreams, so stop wasting time and go to sleep. Get enough sleep every single day for longevity, just like our ancestors.

Polynesian Longevity Secret #3: HYDRATE YOUR BODY WITH WATER AND NIU EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Drinking enough water helps your body cleanse itself and provide needed fluids for proper organ functions. Without enough water, your body will have a hard time burning off body fat and processing toxins out of the body.

Our ancestors drank pristine water from mountain front springs and Niu fresh from the coconut tree.

Thank you to Sina and her Eel, we now enjoy this delicious Fountain of Youth just by drinking it. No wonder our ancestors referred to the Niu as The Tree of Life. I call the Niu the Polynesian sprite.

Water is life. Without it, illness and death will swiftly follow. Drink enough water and Niu every single day for longevity just like our ancestor.

I must caution you, though, stick to only water if your immune system is compromised.

Polynesian Longevity Secret #4: ENERGIZE YOUR BODY WITH LOW-CALORIE NUTRIENT-DENSE FOODS FROM NATURE EVERY SINGLE DAY.

The truth is we all love food. Unfortunately, the types of food we love to eat are the very foods that are causing obesity and the many diseases that we now suffer from. High fat meats and highly processed foods loaded with the addictive ingredients like sugar, oil, dairy, and alcohol are easily available at convenience stores located only a few yards away from homes in every village.

Cheaply priced processed foods now line the front aisle of every store that a kid with a dollar can have a field day with.

Climbing a tree for some fresh guava or some delicious cancer-fighting mangoes is no longer appealing to the obese child who’d rather walk a few yards to the convenience store to get his sugar fix overdose from candies and junk food before heading to school each morning.

Grabbing a soda and a bag of his favorite chips on the way to home from school is now the norm.

Times are different when I was a child. Back then, the sight of a single lollipop would make a kid act like it was Christmas all over again. Whoever was lucky enough to afford one had to share licking it with his friends until all the hard candy was gone.

So what is the solution to the food addiction that is literally killing our people? It’s quite simple really: eat the same way our ancestors ate. I teach a rule called no soda, no sugar, no oil, no dairy, no alcohol. Our ancestors never used these in their food and they did not have issues with obesity, no diabetes, and no heart disease.

Disease proof your life by following their way of eating. Their food came straight from the soil and the ocean to the dining table. And I found that the same way of eating can also reverse obesity and the ailments that come with it. It’s what I and others help use to become slim and strong for life.

That’s why I created the Polynesian diet. The closer you eat to the source, the better it is for the body. You need to energize your body with low-calorie nutrient-dense foods from nature, just like our ancestors.

I am a big proponent of eat local, buy local, grow local. Local produce is the best food for the body. Yes, taro is the Polynesian steroid. Eat wholesome food, all natural food every single day for longevity, just like our ancestors.

And Polynesian Longevity Secret #5: EXERCISE YOUR BODY FOR HEALTH AND VITALITY EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Your body was made to move and sweat. Adam was told in the garden that he needed to sweat to eat. Sorry, rolling down your window at the drive-through does not count as exercise.

30 minutes of vigorous movement each day is recommended for health and longevity. Daily activities like working in the plantation, spearfishing, climbing coconut trees, chasing wild boars and making a move for the family are great ways to get in your exercise for the day.

Oh wait, that’s how our ancestors got their workout in home. They really did have to sweat to eat. I think today we refer to these activities as life-threatening.

A kid climbs a coconut tree, Dad pulls him down and says, “What are you doing? Are you trying to commit suicide? Don’t you know you’d get killed by doing that? Let’s go McDonald’s and buy you a happy meal instead.”

Exercise has so many benefits aside from getting slimmer and stronger. Exercise boosts brainpower, oxygenates the body, strengthens your heart, clears your arteries, strengthens your bones, maintains mobilities. And it’s the most powerful stress reliever. Best of all, it’ll add more healthy years to your life.

Exercise every single day for longevity, just like our ancestors. Oh and you can eat your food knowing you’ve earned it.

To bring this home and make these five secrets more actionable, and easy to remember, I created a five-point system called your five daily deposits to your health accounts. If you apply each of the five daily deposits per day you score 5 points. 1 point per daily deposit.

At the end of the week on Sunday morning, if you score 30 points or more you will lose 2 pounds or more per week. Just like anyone who wishes to be rich would make deposits on a daily basis to their bank account, anyone who wishes to be healthy for life must make these five daily deposits to their health accounts every single day.

Did you know that if you deposited 5 dollars every day to a financial account with a modest 8% annual rate of return, in 10 years you’d have almost $30,000; in 20 years you’d have close to $90,000 and in 30 years you’ll have over $200,000.

Well here’s the kicker: if you’re my age and you live to be 90 years old, if you deposited just five dollars to that account every single day starting today by age 90, you’d become a millionaire.

Most of you are probably thinking: well I’m never going to live that long. The majority of people here on-island are dying before age 70 and I’d be lucky if I live to be 60.

Well, here’s the good news. If you start making these five daily deposits to your health account every single day, you will have a much better chance of seeing age 90 than you currently believe. Oh, and without having to wear any diapers.

It took me almost two years to lose over a hundred pounds when I started ten years ago. I always recommend you give yourself 12 months if you have a hundred pounds to lose. More time if you need to lose more.

Others who I’ve taught the same five daily deposit system for longevity have also seen amazing results. Melissa lost 75 pounds in 12 months. Myra lost 80 pounds in 12 months. Dr. Pham we know lost a hundred pounds in 12 months and a man Alex who’s been living this way for about 12 months also lost over 150 pounds.

So I couldn’t find any before photos of these guys but don’t they look great? Well, actually they look this way for life. No obesity, no diabetes, no heart disease and they live these five daily deposits every single day.

Thank you to our ancestors, most of them were centenarians. Longevity was the thing to look forward to those days. They should inspire us to live like they did and enjoy the many healthy years they enjoyed on these beautiful islands we call home.

Now, would the same thing happen to you as well if you did these five daily deposits every single day? Well, let’s play a little imaginary game and find out. Will you please close your eyes and imagine the following scenario?

It’s 2021, two years from now. You have been religiously doing these five daily deposits just like our ancestors every single day, what do you see in the mirror? Are you enjoying your new slimmer, stronger body, looking sexy in that to-die-for outfit? Is your significant other drooling over your new look? You betcha.

Now let’s fast forward to 2029. Ten years from now. You’ve been doing these five daily deposits every single day as it has become second nature to you as it did our ancestors. You’re feeling super grateful for the new healthy life you’ve been blessed with, the renewed vision of a longer healthier future, do you see yourself living longer than 90 years old now?

Of course. Of course. You can open your eyes.

Now that you know these five secrets our ancestors used to live long vibrant lives, all you need to do now is to take action and apply it to your own life every single day.

You’d be much more active, absolutely slim and strong and more importantly, super healthy from the inside out, just like our ancestors. You come from a heritage of slim, strong, good-looking centenarians.

Now let’s fast-forward to the 90 year-old you looking into the mirror and reminiscing about the amazing life you’ve lived so far.

Remember when that crazy guy William Spitzenberg told you in 2019, that you live to be 90 years old if you did those five dental deposits every single day like our ancestors, aren’t you glad you listened to him?

Look you’re still alive and kicking at age 90 and without having to wear any diapers. Amazing, isn’t it?

Oh, and aren’t you glad you also took his other advice and invested those $5 deposits every single day to your bank account, congratulations! You are now a super slim strong and sexy 90 year-old Polynesian millionaire.

Repeat after me: It’s possible. I can be a centenarian, just like my ancestors. Die young at 101 with 10 million in my bank account.

[inaudible]. God bless.

Disclaimer: Please do not look to this talk for medical advice. While some viewers might find advice provided in this talk to be helpful as a complementary approach, this talk only represents the speaker’s personal experiences with weight loss and health.

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