This Segment:The Right Body in The Wrong Time.
We continue the discussion of making BEHAVIOR CHANGES, and why it is so difficult.
That realization came when I decided to get some term insurance to better protect my family. I figured a couple of hundred thousand dollars more would do. I went online and filled out a form for some term insurance. It was cheap!
A company rep called, and said they would send someone out to interview me.
They did.
I met him at the door.
He took one look at me, put a tape measure around my waist and said, "We'll be in touch."
True to his word, a few days later, I got a letter from the company telling me they declined to insure me.
Even this experience didn't really register, I was in denial (precontemplation).
But! A couple of days later my sister-in law stopped by. I opened the door wearing a favorite old terry cloth robe.
The Defining Moment!
SHE INNOCENTLY SAID, "Lou, are you playing Santa Claus this year?"
Wait! Santa is old and FAT! Hmmm...the truth HURT!
I went from the precontemplation to the planning and action phases in a hurry!
Only this time, a revelation came with it!
If I didn't change, the disastrous loss of my health was imminent!
I started with the internet. Anything and everything I needed and you need to make your chamge happen is there, and it's FREE!
It's important to point out here that the changes I made were done incrementally!
It wasn't easy, but now the driving force of knowing my health was at serious risk, carried me forward.
FOOD
Take a look at the link below. It's at the USDA (US Dept of Agriculture) website.The amount of information there is mind boggling! We're paying for it, so why not use it?
It is a wonderful resource http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/
YOU BITE IT, YOU WRITE IT!
I kept a food diary - It should be two weeks or more, (everything that passed my lips !)
I gradually replaced simple sugar and calorie dense foods with whole foods containing more fiber.
I started reading every food label.
More importantly, I started eating a LOT less commercially manufactured food.
I took the salt shaker off the table.
I began to learn from reading labels and that self-education process I mentioned earlier; just how much BAD stuff was in what I was eating. I got a sense of how many calories I was eating.
The food diary was a real eye opener! Like everyone else, I didn't think I was really eating THAT much! Just that knowledge alone makes you start to scale back what you eat and how much.
Need a food diary?
Go to : http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/tnrockyrun/feedme.htm
Presto! There it is. Just print it out!
Go to the food pyramid: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/tnrockyrun/feedme.htm
Make a copies of the food pyramid while you're there, and compare what's recommended to what you eat.
It's a good place to start. By the time you get to the final process, (the sixth decision making step), you'll be tweaking that food pyramid to suit you personally. One size does not fit all.
Just start writing down everything that goes in your mouth.
We do a lot of what's known as mindless eating. When you see what you eat written down, well, you'll be surprised!
Remember, there is no magic bullet,"special diet" or "clogged colon" cure!
You must take charge of your health!
During this process, you begin to feel in control. This is really important!
Instead of vague wishes to lose weight, or wasting your money on bogus pills or mail-order food, you are the one shaping the plan for yourself. That's why it works!
And, it costs nothing!
You're making a lifestyle behavior change. You HAVE to believe that NOT making the change will lead to really a bad outcome for you! If you don't think that, you'll be a short term success, with relapse waiting to happen.
A reminder here - we are not talking about losing weight, we're talking about being healthy!
I like to watch the TV show, Dancing With the Stars!
In 2007, former supermodel Paulina Porizkova was eliminated in the first round. I remember what her pro dance partner said about her, "She's deceptively unfit!"
But she looked good!
Being healthy is more than appearance or looking thin. Health is not the absence of disease, it's about having the strength and vitality to do the things you want, anytime you want, all your life.
So, now, if you are spending time each day learning about healthy food, and you are starting to take control of your eating, what about exercise?
With my new-found knowledge, I made up my own pre-breakfast yoga/strength routine and followed it every day (almost)
I began doing strength training.
Like food, exercise is best begun slowly and increased incrementally.
The failure scenario I described earlier, which I had done countless times, always resulting in re-gaining weight and being in poor physical condition, has to be avoided.
Start with the link here that takes you to the President's Council on Physical Fitness.
http://www.adultfitnesstest.org/
This is another wonderful free site that gets you into the action mode.
Here, I'd like to make a point. If you know you need to improve your physical self, and you've gone through the first three decision making phases, Precontemplation, Contemplation and Planning; up to now, it falls into the category of good intentions.
You CAN proceed to the Action phase and do it alone.
But, it would be like swimming an Olympic pool carrying a bowling ball-possible, but VERY difficult.
At this point, a good step for many people is to make an investment in your health and future with a premier establishment that employs qualified professional trainers; such as Body by Design Studio. (voted Best in Raleigh, 2009),
We'll talk about phase five, maintenance, and six, what I call permanent process.
Oh, and, the 7th phase, the one we don't LIKE to talk about.
At Body by Design Studio, you and your training professional form a team with one task in mind:
for you to meet your goals!
A qualified professional trainer will:
be results oriented,
have the knowledge to select only the exercises that work for you safely.
will allow you to make the most of your exercise time,
provide needed structure so that you don't get off track.
A qualified professional trainer knows fact from fiction and will not waste your time with fads.
When you get to the maintenance phase, you can, with confidence, go forward on your own, knowing that the resource is always there for you should you need a refresher.
So, let's recap to this point.
1. You have the right body, but it's in the wrong time.
2. Our Western lifestyle is dragging us down.
3. You have to get that "epiphany moment", the one that makes you realize that NOT to make serious changes in your lifestyle could result in a health catastrophe!
4. You think about, plan, and go into action by educating yourself and taking small incremental steps that breed success and let you realize you are the one in control.
For those interested enough to read this far, my picture, as I look today, will be in the next post.
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