As of this time of writing, I’m a 48 year old male, with a variety of life experiences and opinions when it comes to the things related to my health, my fitness, and my nutrition. I never really grew up in a sporting family, as our interests always leaned more towards the artsy side of life. Specifically music. But, as I grew older, I took more of an interest in physical activity and in general my health. There is a history of heart disease in my family. Specifically on the male side. It’s something that became acutely obvious to me about ten years ago, when my father passed away suddenly from cardiovascular disease. It’s not really a heart condition specifically, but more a disease of the arteries that lead to to the heart. Basically, they were clogged, and not enough blood was reaching the heart. When I say he died suddenly, I should be more specific, and say it was sudden to me and my siblings. I don’t really think it was sudden to him, as a number of stories came out afterwords that suggested he knew very well what path he was heading down. Specifically, some things he had told his doctor, and some books and articles he was saving and reading shortly before his death.
I suppose, the point I’m trying to make here, is that there were signs in his life that suggested his health was not as good as it should have been. What was even more unsettling to me, was that he didn’t seem to be interested in making the necessary healthy choices to take better care of himself, and extend his life. I will admit, that it did bother me, and it made me question a lot of things. Why would someone at that age (61) take their health for granted? Why would they consider the pleasure they got out of eating unhealthy foods more important than living a longer life? Didn’t they realize, that they had people in their lives (me for instance), and others that cared what happened to them. I do believe he would still be alive today, if he had listened to his doctors, and made some healthier lifestyle choices.
But, I suppose there’s no point in dwelling on the past, unless, you use that past to improve your life and the lives of those around you. And, I do beleive that after 48 years of living, 48 years of exercising, 48 years of eating all kinds of foods, and 48 years of just showing up every day, I think I’ve learned quite a few things about how to live a healthier and more fit life. There are a number of healthy rules or guidelines that work great for me. Here’s a few you may want to consider:
- Find a physical activity in your life that is fun. It can be a game, a fitness class, a specific workout, or just some sort of physical activity like walking or climbing. It doesn’t matter what it is, the key is that it has to be fun for you. It has to be something you want to rush off and do. If you have to mentally force yourself to get into the car and drive yourself to that Zumba class, then that’s not it. For me, it’s the game of squash. I love playing the game, and I’d do it every day if I could. It takes zero effort for me to drive down to the club and play squash for a few hours. Usually I can’t wait to get there, and it’s been like that for years for me.
- Find the healthy foods that you love to eat. There are quite literally hundreds or even thousands of healthy foods I like to eat, and just as many unhealthy foods that I love to eat. The problem is, that most of us are in the habit of eating the unhealthy ones. Usually because, they’re easier, they’re cheaper, and it’s a habit we’ve developed over the years. When I tried a certain fitness program (P90X) about a couple of years ago, I made one of the best decisions in my life. I decided to not only do the exercise routines with the program, but I also decided to follow the nutrition guide. There no arguing, that it was a pain in the ass at first. Trying to figure out what foods were the best, how many carbs they had, how much protein they had, and how much fats they had. I was getting pretty sick and tired of reading nutritional labels. But you know what, in the end it got easier. I eventually settled on a few healthy choices that worked for me. It took a bit of experimenting for that first month or so, but not it’s brain dead simple. I don’t even have to think about it.
- Find out what your unhealthy triggers are. There are certain activities, and times of day, are those that seem to make me the most vulnerable to sliding into unhealthy practices. Be it either bad food choices, and activities that prevent me from healthy living. I know all too well, what a few of those big triggers are for me. Beer is a big one. It’s like a gateway drug for me. Once I have a beer or two, then it’s like the “healthy choice” side of my brain goes to sleep. I start eating all kinds of crappy foods, especially pub grub that is usually readily available where ever beer is being sold. It even affects me the next day. Since beer is a depressant, I’m usually felling down the next day, so I’m far more likely to start eating foods that make me feel good. I know I’m an emotional eater (another trigger), and I instantly start looking for foods that make me feel good (hello sugar). Late night snacking is also a big one for me. So, to combat that one, I try to do all my workouts in the evening about an hour or two after supper. Which is when I would usually start snacking. Working out gets me out of the kitchen, away from food, and by the time I’m done I don’t feel hungry. Usually, I just feel too tired to do anything but have a shower and go to bed.
- Track your workouts somehow. If your lifting weights, then keep track of how much you can lift. If your running, then keep track of how far, and how much time it takes you. If your playing squash, keep track of who you beat, and how often. The point being, that if your eating and exercising on a regular basis then you should be seeing improvement. Seeing improvements is a reward onto itself. It feels good to know your getting stronger, faster, and more flexible.
- Form good habits and repeat them. We are all creatures of habit. Whether they be good habits or bad habits. The longer we do them, the more ingrained they become. The longer you eat healthy and exercise regularly, the easier it becomes. Days blend into weeks, weeks blend into months, months blend into years, and years blend into a lifetime of healthy and strong living.
- Eat to support your physical activity. If all continue to eat crap, but do some sort of physical activity, you will see some marginal improvement. But, you’ll never achieve your true potential. I firmly believe, that eating healthy is at least 50% of the battle. It can be just as hard as paying your wifes rhinoplasty cost, but when you get used to it becomes so simple, you’ll wonder why you haven’t always been doing it. Food is the fuel to your body and your physical activity. All your exercises, games, and workouts will be so much harder, if you put crap food into your body. Eventually, you will stop your physical activity, continue eating poorly, and become another unhealthy statistic.
When you feel better you live better. When I’m eating well and some sort of physical activity on a daily basis, I’m a better person. I excel in all aspects of my life. I’m a better employee, a better entrepreneur, a better father, a better husband, a happier person, and a joy and inspiration to be around. We are holistic beings. When one component of our lives and bodies falls apart, it affects all others. These machines we call bodies are remarkable things. They’re the only machine that get’s better the more we use it. Man made machines fall apart with use. Our bodies get stronger, faster, and more flexible the more we use them. Fuel your body, and get out there and move it. It’s what it was built to do.
