I love this heart full of vegetables because I love vegetables!
Yesterday a co-worker said, “I need an intervention! I have to go on a diet!” 60% of America is obese, the percentage of overweight children has doubled in the past 30 years. One third of the children in America today are considered overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese leads to all sorts of really negative health side effects. We have all heard the statistics, things are out of control! What can we do?? I don’t think she needs a diet but an intervention might make a difference!! I think that we have to think small then gradually larger – trying to change our own lives, then our families, friends and ultimately lives of strangers or larger groups.
We can’t diet we must eat healthfully all the time. We have to incorporate exercise into our daily life as routine. My opinion is echoed by numerous people, professionals, experts – many educated people have given this much thought. A diet might make a temporary change but unless you are wanting to yo-yo diet, you should probably skip the diet and move to an overall lifestyle change. Healthier foods, more veggies, more whole grains, more water, more movement, smaller portions, slower eating, exercise! We should be teaching our children all the basics of healthy living and include the tenets of lifetime fitness. (Further discourse on the mistakes of the our society choosing to focus on teaching so many team sports instead of lifetime fitness may eventually follow this missive!)
If we look at our weight as something to worry about we are looking at the wrong thing and worrying with no result. We shouldn’t be worrying at all instead we should be working towards first building fitness then maintaining it. A good fitness level leads to fewer health risks, fewer pains, less risk of injury. A good fitness level leads to more energy, more focus – feeling better! Enjoying our lives and our loved ones more fully and completely depends on our healthy lifestyles.
It’s one of those weird things that sounds so easy but is actually REALLY hard! A healthy lifestyle means eating super healthy all the time – super healthy means a crap ton of veggies and whole grains. Lay off the meat, dairy and SUGAR!! You can still eat birthday cake but only for birthdays! Minimize the intake of crap and you WILL feel better.
A healthy lifestyle also means exercise, continuous and sometimes vigorous movement. You have to find some type of movement that you enjoy and can repeat at least three times each week. Dancing? Walking? Swimming? Biking? What is your choice for movement? I find that mixing it up and doing various types of exercise is the best choice for me. Can’t wait for bicycle season this spring!
Other important aspects of a healthy lifestyle include emotional health and social health These are important and for the purposes of this little diatribe I will only mention self care. RELAX!! Take time for yourself!! This could be a spa treatment or a quiet moment with a good book.
I would like to help others motivate and energize towards a fitness goal. Perhaps this is a future career change? What would it take to get you moving? What will it take to keep you moving? It doesn’t have to be EVERYTHING at once!! Just make a start, drink more water. Eat less sugar. Choose something that you can focus on actually doing. My resolution was to live more healthfully – I think that the first time I had that resolution was a couple three years ago. I have been able to meet the small goals within this resolution now for several years because the cool thing is that increasing your healthy lifestyle can always be done. Each step towards healthy living you take will bring you closer to … the next step! Come with me!! Let’s get more fit!!
Denise!
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