My two cents on health and wellness.

I know a handful of folks right now trying to lose weight or adapt a healthy lifestyle.  It's interesting as I watch folks try to lose weight because as American's we make it so freaking difficult.  Have you ever thought about the fact that with the exception of some other Western cultures, most countries don't have such things such as diets or gyms.  So why do we make things so difficult?  Maybe because we are a country driven by entrepreneurship and capitalism?  While I've never written a book on dieting I would imagine it's a fruitful occupation.

Anyways, so I was thinking about all the crazy things I've been watching the folks I know do to try and lose weight.  Measuring their food, eating ridiculous things, and walking around like they are miserable.  Being a classic extremist myself I have spent years studying the subject of health and wellness and have even attempted some extreme measures myself.  Google the Candida diet or the Alkaline diet and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.  Needless to say I wasn't able to follow either one for more than a few days.  So what's the secret to all this nonsense anyways?  Well I'm no expert, but I'll give you my two cents.


1. Being healthy isn't another task to check of your list; it's a whole new way of thinking and living.


I will confess I really like self help books.  Embarrassing yes, but the truth of the matter is I love them because they tell me in ten steps or less how to change to what I want to fix.  Why do diet books reach the bestsellers list?  Well because secretly I think a lot more people out there want a step-by-step fix for their lives.  I understand, you all like self help books as much as I do.  Don't worry, there's no shame in it, I have a ten step process to help you fix that.  It only costs $9.99 plus shipping and handling.  Joking aside if your goal is to lose x number of pounds or finally have that beach body you've always wanted, well good luck.  In my experience thinking of myself with a six pack in my summer bathing suit hasn't been too helpful in getting me to the gym.  On the other hand, living a long life, being able to hike mountains, or winning my adult rec soccer games have been (I'm super competitive, so that is truly motivating).  So instead of thinking of how you would like to look or lusting after that pretty skinny girl you know, think about why you want to be healthy.  Maybe its so you can stay young and enjoy playing with your kids. Or maybe you have a physically demanding job and don't want to leave it everyday feeling as if you've been hit by a truck.  To stick with the irony of this post, step one is to choose to be healthy for reasons that really matter to you.


2. You don't need a gym membership to exercise.

I recently read somewhere that folks who have jobs that require them to be on their feet for 8 hours burn 500 more calories a day than those who work in cube land.  For my mathematically inclined friends, if you work five days a week that's 2,500 more calories a week!  You ever notice that people in Asia, Africa, etc. don't go to gyms, yet they are far healthier/smaller than our over-sized nation.  Why do you think that is?  I used to think they had treadmills hidden away in their huts, but it turns out they just get off their butts during the day.  They get up and walk to the grocery store or bike to work.  They don't get up in the morning to sit in a car to commute to work to then sit all day in front of a PC and then come home to a couch and a TV.  Be creative with how you exercise in the day.  I personally hate the gym and struggle to find time to do so.  Instead I joined a soccer team which doubles as social hour and have begun biking to work several days a week.  You have to go back and forth to work, why not use that time to exercise as well?

Here's some interesting sites stating how many calories are burned doing various activities.
- Biking (32-48 per mile depending on weight and speed): http://www.livestrong.com/article/135430-calories-burned-biking-one-mile
- Playing the drums (272 per hour): http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-burned-drums-a202
- Walking to a neighbor's house for social reasons (170 per hour): http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-burned-walking-neighbors-house-familys-a497

I can get really silly with this, but you catch my drift.

3. Eating healthy isn't always fun, so don't give yourself the option not to.

Beside the obvious advice to not buy junk food, rethink the way you shop.  For example, instead of going down all the aisles, start in the produce section.  I always start there and plan what I will eat based on what fruits and veggies look tasty.  The second way I trick myself each week is by bringing my lunch everyday to work.  There are plenty of days I'm super hungry around lunch and the last thing I want to eat is the salad in the fridge I made that morning.  The only thing that stops me from not eating that salad is the fact that I will have to throw it out unless I eat it because it's covered in avocados and I didn't cover them in lime juice before I left the house.  The good news is, usually by the time I finished eating my salad without lime juice I forget how much I didn't want to eat it and feel fantastic about the fact I didn't end up with the really greasy, not so great sandwich from the cafe down the street.  And for all you ladies or gents with those afternoon sweet cravings, instead of grabbing from your neighbors generously stocked candy bowl on their desk, keep plenty of fruit on hand.  I make myself a fruit smoothie almost everyday just so I don't binge on candy.

The blog is beginning to get exceptionally long, so I think I better wrap it up for now.  I have much more to say, so if anyone is interested I can write more.  But until then, be healthy.