"I'd be happy if I lost 10 pounds." No greater lie has ever been spoken in the health world.
I'm guilty of thinking it. I'm guilty of trying it.
Happiness, and your reason for changing your diet, working out more, or doing anything health related can not be linked to weight loss. Not long term. What you do needs to be connected to three things.
- Your Family - Heart and Stroke Foundation has a "Creating Survivors" platform going right now. You need to be healthy to stick around for them. Family is a life long commitment.
- Your Health - Your health is your only valuable currency. Go to work sick and see how much you get done. The healthier you are the more of an asset to the world you can be. Eat, sleep, drink, exercise to improve health.
- Your Dream - My reason for staying healthy is simple. I want to get a TV show in Canada that shows me going city to city making small communities healthy and watching it spread across the nation. I also want to go on the Ellen show and spread a ton of joy and laughter. I stay healthy, and fit because I never know when an opportunity may come up. If you have a vision for your life, be healthy and ready to grab every opportunity.
Ten pounds is simple to lose. Really, it comes down to what are you willing to give up. I do four things in a week that if I changed I could really get lean. I eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich with cinnamon on it most Mondays at lunch, it's delicious. On Wednesdays a get a grande caramel macchiato in the afternoon usually an hour before I run. Thursdays my roommate and I watch Elementary and have some kind of snack, not healthy. Now the kicker: Every Saturday for the past 26 years I have gone to my best friend Joel's house and we get Slurpee's and five-cent candies and play video games for hours. To quote a song "these are a few of my favorite things." It represents about 2,500 calories a week, or three pounds of fat loss in a month.
I do all of these things knowingly, and for the simple fact that they are treats and they make me happy. I enjoy the fact that I live in a country and a time where food is available and in many cases, unbelievably delicious food. Still, there are a lot of things I won't eat, and I make a decision to say "no" to a lot of food. We just don't need the calories, ladies and gentlemen. Just because it's available, doesn't mean you should eat it.
Remember this -- we are highly evolved animals. When we started out on this planet there was no refrigeration, ability to preserve or refine for sweetness. There was no grocery store stocked with enough food to feed every person in a city. When we started here and our bodies learned to store fuel, it was based on having to work hard for just a little. We now live in a world where food is given to us. If we eat animals, we don't chase them down for a day, we go to the store and buy the tasty part. If you want grain, you don't have to wait to grow it or care for the land. You purchase it milled and baked into the bread you wanted.
The problem with the health of the nation right now -- and it has to change -- is that most people are completely unaware of the things that they do that are adding unhealthy weight to their body. I talk to dozens of people a day that can't understand why they are at the gym, and eating right and not losing weight. We simply consume to many calories. We need to make some simple changes.
- Get back to proper, small serving sizes
- Become aware of what we are eating daily -- treats and gifts. (The cupcake your co-worker gave you on their birthday counts as calories consumed.)
- Choose to cook our food, instead of buying precooked preserved food. When you put effort into anything, you appreciate it more. Let's start appreciating our food, instead of microwaving it.
Once we get that all back under control, then we will see the benefits of activity. Don't do it to lose 10 pounds, do it simply to better your life. The world needs to get away from appearance, and vanity. It doesn't motivate long enough to see lasting results.
Change your life for the energy, mental focus, longevity, health, immune function, disease prevention, and memories you can make. Not just for a number on the scale. Do this smart, and do this to last a lifetime.
We can make this a healthy nation again, and you can be proud of your health. Make changes one day at a time.
Check out these videos from my YouTube page. Feel free to join the movement towards getting back to a Healthy Nation, One Fit City at a time on Facebook. Or head over to my blog where I tell success stories and can set you up with a menu plan and nutrition ideas.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
