80-year-old man eats 15 bowls of rice a day, 'dessert' 15 balut eggs every meal
Although his health has declined due to old age, Mr. Phung Van Lu still eats 15 bowls of rice every day, sometimes adding 15 balut eggs if he craves them.
Just arriving at the alley entrance, I heard the powerful, solid "hey, hey" sound. Mr. Phung Van Lu (Dong Thai, Ba Vi), a small man, was practicing boxing in a cool yard with fragrant grapefruit, jackfruit, green tea... Every morning, he wakes up at 4:30, spends about 50 minutes sweeping the yard clean. After that, he practices qigong and health exercises for another 20 minutes and then goes to the kitchen to eat rice.
Seeing the tray of boiled meat and braised fish, the old man's eyes lit up with joy. At 80, he had reduced his eating, only 4-5 bowls of rice per meal. He ate whatever was available, even if it was just plain white rice, he mostly swallowed it. He called it his "combat" style, a lifestyle that had been with him for 10 years as a special forces soldier.
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At the age of 80, Mr. Lu confidently defeats any young man of a larger weight class who wrestles with him..Photo: Trong Nghia |
In the 1960s, when he first joined the army, Mr. Lu was naturally a big eater, so he was always the last one to stand up, after his comrades had put down their chopsticks 15-20 minutes before. "You have to eat with confidence, without any shyness, if you don't eat, the rice will spill," he said calmly.
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Mr. Lu left the army at the age of 28 and got married.Photo: Trong Nghia. |
"The sadder and hungrier my husband was, the more he ate. He believed that eating a lot would help him think more clearly and work more effectively. At the age of 30, he could eat up to 12 bowls per meal," said Pham Thi Ly (75 years old), Mr. Lu's wife.
Seeing her husband eat a lot, Mrs. Ly was both happy and worried. Other families had 5 people but only ate 4-5 cans of rice a day. But Mrs. Ly's family of 4 people had to eat 2-3 times that amount.
Every day from 3am to 7pm, after carrying rice and sowing rice seedlings for hire, Mr. Lu went to herd cows, teach reading, write certificates of merit, and parallel sentences for hire to earn extra income... When the children in the family saw that their father ate a lot, they were happy, each of them reduced their food intake a little so that their father could have a full stomach. Through the hunger, Mr. Lu and his wife were able to raise 2 children to be educated and have a stable family.
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Despite being hit by a bomb fragment in his thigh, Mr. Lu's body is still supple and flexible.Photo: Trong Nghia. |
"Even though he eats a lot, he always has principles. If he says he eats 6 bowls of rice, he means 6 bowls. 2-3 years ago, every day he carried exactly 500 kg of rice over a distance of 600 meters to sell," said Mr. Doan Van The (80 years old), Mr. Lu's in-law.
Mr. Lu affirmed, "To have such health, you must eat, sleep, and work on time. In particular, your spirit must always be carefree, your thoughts must always be good, and you must never stop working."
Mr. Phung Xuan Dung, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Dong Thai commune, said, "Mr. Lu is a successful businessman and is famous not only in the commune but also in Ba Vi district. The place where he contributed to land reclamation is now crowded with people in the area, always looking to his example to learn from."
