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During my weight loss journey and often when people hear what I do “at my age” 
, I am asked how I can keep doing it. This question always catches me by surprise as I rarely have a conscious thought about not doing what I need to continue to reach for optimal health. A day wasted is a day lost.
Don’t get me wrong last week we helped some wonderful friends back and move their house. This was a 4 day project after work. Was a lot of lifting, stacking, packing, bending and all kinds of exercise. So after the first day, I didn’t do my morning workout for 3 days. I went to bed each night exhausted and feeling good about how well this old man humped all that stuff.
This morning I realized that my workouts are a lot like my life in general. I have come to realize over the years that life is lived in moments. Some moments are like the next rep of curling a dumbbell to my chin. If it is the first few reps it seems easy enough, but as the set nears completion, it will become harder for me to complete that set with the full number of reps. Now if I don’t increase the weight, it stays easy, but no progress is made.
- Image by Neeta Lind via Flickr
Life is that way isn’t? If we glide through it we get comfort zone results. We live from what is easy. There is little challenge, little growth and often no or very little progress. Kinda of boring don’t you think? That is where I used to survive from. It seemed like it was all I could do. Perhaps as you read this it is where you feel you are now as well. Well I have some good news for you, it isn’t that hard to get more from life.
When obesity limited my life, I had no energy, no motivation and struggled each day with pain, depression, and various concerns of my health. Had I given up I would have lived out my life in a much shorter time span. I would have allowed the doctors and the pharmacy to control how my body “survived” for the time I had left. I just had to make new choices and become more conscious that it really is about moment to moment living.
So ask yourself right now, what choices do I make in each moment to have a fuller, more fulfilled life. Notice I didn’t ask where you are now. I didn’t look for the reasons you got there, I asked what are you going to do to change it? I don’t believe in being stuck in the past, or what someone just said that hurt my feelings. I believe in the statement “If it is to be, it is up to me!” What say you?
Today my legs where killing me from the workout I gave them 2 days ago. The workout is designed to take the muscle to near failure and was one of the toughest leg workouts I have done in a long while. So I have a lot of lactic acid burning up my muscle. I thought a slow walk was a good idea.
Now normally I would have my Nike+ shoes and my Ipod Nano to record my mileage. Gotta get those miles logged so people can see I live what I preach. I am kidding, well kinda, I have to admit I like seeing the miles add up. But, when you really take a look at it, it really only matters that I am working on my health to continue the journey I started. So off I went for a slow, maybe painful walk to get some circulation going in my legs. No music. No measurement of time (how fast or slow I was going). Just a walk to feel better was all I was after.
It is a sunny day in Boise today. My walk during the day is almost always on the greenbelt and today was no exception. It was a sunny 88 degrees and humid. Little did I know that more than my legs were about to get restored.
- Image via Wikipedia
I looked around, there where all kinds of things to see and hear. First was the kayaker floating and bobbing along down the river. A reminder of things still on my “bucket list”, one day to take either a white water rafting trip or lean to kayak and venture the wild waters in Idaho. Then there was the man and his dog walking along the banks. This one took me back to the recent lost of my dear pet and friend that recently passed away after being with us for 20+ years.
I walked on as my legs started to free up a bit and each step seemed a bit lighter. I started thinking about some of the recent events in my life that needed quiet contemplation to come to some sort of decision. No music, no concern about a pace, just walking along the river on a hot summer day. As I searched my soul, that still quiet voice (note to self, you still have to get quiet to hear it) led me into the next steps and an inner knowing what to do next.
Getting ready to go around the bend I noticed the bike rider coming around the turn and waited in case he would go left instead of right. He actually stopped for me to cross and we exchanged smiles that acknowledged we where both courteous to each other’s journey. On across the old steel bridge, the boards creaked and bounced as I looked up and down the river noticing for the first time all week that the water level had changed and enjoy the flying cottonwoods as they floated through the air like angels guarding us along the way.
Image via Wikipedia
On to the home stretch, sun beating down and body getting warmer now as the sweat started to form on my brow. Half way and my walk would be done. I was almost sad for it to be over till I hear all the birds signing and I became lost in the harmony of their song. Be still they sang and enjoy the day. Each step, took me closer to my destination.
Last bridge and only a few yard to the door. As the real world approached I realized that the walk had done more for my health than getting the blood moving in my aching legs. It had renewed my spirit. It had reminded me of the sights and sounds of life being enjoyed around me. As the sweat poured down my brow it also reminded me of the days when I would have never thought of walking off those aches and pains of life that I had just been released from. And often never took the time to enjoy the sweet moments being active has to offer.
I hope in some small way this reaches one person and makes a difference in their life. It reminds them to take a moment and enjoy their walk. It doesn’t have to be for exercise. It doesn’t have to be around a park. It can be just for a brief moment when you hear the birds sing out to you or smell the fresh scent of the lilac trees as they send their scent through the air. Oh and that still small voice, it is always in waiting for when you take the time to listen. Be blessed and enjoy the journey!
Often I am surrounded by people who think I live such a naïve form of life. I have faith, I have hope and I am rarely concerned about my life in many ways these days. This was not always the case. If you have read this blog you often will hear me refer to the days before I lost my weight and changed the focus in my life.
I didn’t like the way I felt back then, but I still never gave up working on being excited about life and finding a way out. Struggle is tough! It sometimes takes all we have to keep going. Heck there are still some days at the end of the day I am glad that day is over. The good news though is even those days have something exciting happening and progress is made in some area of my life.
What’s the difference? I get to set the pace! I make the choices to stick to the plan I have or to take some time off from it. I had to laugh yesterday I was told that I sure have myself in a lot of areas. I work with clients, I am part of a team putting together a revolutionary life coaching plan, I do clinical hypnotherapy, have a full time IT position that put me on call, I watch what I eat and exercise, and recently have been asked to go back into ministry work. Sounds like a full plate. My response was that in one of my favorite life giving books I often read that if you are given talents you should use them or they may be taken away. In the same book it tells me to whom much is given, much is expected.
With all that said than I control my life with choices. I choose into my life to get all life has to offer. Diet and exercise take time and planning. So does being ill, it robs hope and joy along with time. Everything has a cost. I just look for the results rather than getting bogged down in the effort. It is more fun to be fit rather than struggling with carrying around all that extra weight. It was a small price to pay for the fullness of life I experience now.
Want control of your Life? Take it, plan it, work it, and live it. Start replacing disempowering thoughts with empowering thoughts. Learn to breath. Find out what faith and hope is again. Stop the excuses, stop the self abuse, and take one step at a time. Do it and keep going at it. Perfection is not the mantra here. It is all about the journey and what you learn along the way. After all whose life is it anyways?
Not sure where to start? Fill out a contact form and lets talk. No charge! Yeah, that is one more thing I do, help others to find a way to get started to enjoy their life. After all, to whom much has been given, much is expected.
I remember reading in an United Kingdom article over 2 years ago that Britain was looking into this. What the heck, how come it took 2 years for a warning come to the United States? I guess it had to travel by message in a bottle or something.
Now I have not been a fan of magic pill solutions that causes you to crap in your pants in oily ways to gross to imagine. But aren’t we supposed to be able to rely on the FDA to tell us about this stuff as soon as it is seen as an issue? Oh wait they aren’t telling us of the risks that 1 out of 25 could die from bariatric surgery either.
Well it just goes along the line of trusting the government to come up with a solution to the obesity crisis here as well. New studies just released that says that 28 out of 50 of the good ol’ USA just increased their obesity rates yet again.
Heck my own state of Idaho has gone over 25% of it’s population is now obese. Not just overweight mind you that makes the numbers go even higher. And all that I am hearing from the various committees on obesity is that it is a problem related to income, location, race etc. etc. No solutions for you being offered if you are broke or a member of various stereotypically lower income brackets. What a load of more brown stuff!
Common America, wake up and find your own answers. Obesity kills and your government is at best going to tax you while you die with it.
End rant!
I read several blogs a day. It appears that there are all kinds of things to blame our poor diets and weight gain on. What are people saying? We eat poorly because it is cheaper to eat badly. We use fast food because we are too busy to prepare meals that are nutritious and tasty for our families. There is no time to prepare a meal plan, do the shopping, and cook the meals.
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
When you add it all up here are some common truths. People feel the pressure to feed their families more nutritious foods, they just can’t find the time to do it. The next choice is to try and make the best choice they can in the drive-thru. They tell themselves that there is healthy and good choices they can make and still find some quality time to read to their kids. A fair trade-off for many parents.
I would like to present another option. How about looking at those fast food places and learning something from them? If the best they have to offer is a salad, how hard is it to put a salad together? My estimate, given the ingredients are sitting at your house is that you can do the salad faster than you can wait in line to pick it up at the drive-thru.
What if you planned for one of those fast meals as part of your shopping trip anyway? If you stop at the fast food place once a week or more, why not plan a “fast food” at home instead?
Let’s take an example from a discussion I had at work today. The discussion came when I uttered that corporation X’s fast food will kill you. Followed by the response, “Well Rick you know they have good food choices as well!” I responded with yes but those foods you can fix just as fast and cheaper at home. It was not well received to say the least. Most likely, it comes from my lack of tack when it comes to making excuses to abuse your health.
So I did some homework. I picked a Bacon Ranch salad that averages price in said fast food place was between $4.87 to $4.99 depending on where in the country you find yourself under their golden arches. Adding the ingredients I found you could save $1.00 to $1.50 per serving fixing it on your own. So I had to take into account prep time. I used grated cheese, prepared salad mix, and copied the total ingredients of the salad and came up with less than 15 minutes to prepare. Oh and one more point it was much easier to find salad dressing that not only cut calories but was much healthier and tastier than offered.
- Image by size8jeans via Flickr
Results for diet, nutrition, weight loss or maintenance, was that it is just as easy and cheaper to eat right than to stop by the drive thru and tell yourself you are making better choices for your family. Eating better doesn’t take a degree in nutrition. It doesn’t take hours of preparation. It doesn’t take too much time to plan the meals. It just takes letting go of the excuses and making a small lifestyle choice to fuel your body for optimal health. Because when you look at the message we send our children and the message we send the food industry, we really are paying way too high of a price. It is time to stop blaming and start doing something about our health, diet and weight problems by taking a more personal look at our choices and how we are making them.
This morning looked like yet another rainy day in Boise, Idaho. I decided if I was going to get in my exercise today I had to either take the bike or walk. It looked like rain so I decided to walk while I could and get my exercise done on the way to work. Little did I know how enjoyable it would be.
Image via Wikipedia
When you don’t walk around your neighborhood much you miss things. These are things you might drive by every day but you just don’t really notice them. Sure you see the neighbor’s yard with the flowers and the gardens being started. But you miss something. You miss the smell of the flowers and the sound of the earth waking up in the early morning.
Image via Wikipedia
So on my 2.5 miles into work I enjoyed several flowers, animals and even some funny human behavior. Imagine watching a bike rider who with all the gear and gadgets it was obvious that they were riding for their health and the environment, however when you look at the see-thru pouch of their backpack you see a load of soda and junk food. I find it amusing that they would work so hard to keep in shape and fuel their body with junk. But everyone makes choices I just observe.
Another added benefit was how clear my mind was when I got to work. I enjoy the mornings as that is my most productive time of the day, but this morning was even better. My energy was ramped up as was my metabolism. It made for a great start to my day. I even made it to work 10 mins early even though the boss wasn’t here today to see it.
It wasn’t all roses but it was all interesting. There is a segment of the walk that goes through where many of our city’s homeless hang out for early morning coffee and donuts (yeah don’t get me started on food programs) but even this has it’s own sights, sounds and things to learn. I just keep walking and looking around to stay on task to get to work because there but by the grace would I be.
Lesson for the day everyone is I burned off over 300 calories on the way in. I felt great. I improved my body and my health. Better yet, I was reminded of how great the earth is during a time where all I hear is bad news and how we are destroying our planet. I got to enjoy the peace and solitude of walking and seeing all that has been created around me. I got more familiar with my neighborhood at a pace slow enough to enjoy an observe the beauty of life around me.
Peace of mind, exercise, and some lessons along the way. Not a bad way to start a day. What can you do for all of that? Share your ideas with us!
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I am reminded during Memorial day weekends of people that have come and gone in my life. I remember my grandfather that has passed from cancer and who fought in a World War only to came back with his faith challenged from the tragedies he saw. I still remember his questioning the existence of God and the stories he told me. I remember my dad who died of cancer yet lived the life of a proud Marine even though his service time led to a broken back and a life of pain. I remember my good friend Jim who fought with his weight and struggled with diabetes all his life only to swiftly die too young. I remember each one and what they taught me. They taught me freedom isn’t Free, it has to be fought for.
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Each one stood for the idea that if we want freedom’s in our life we have to go after them. We have to claw, fight, struggle and seek those freedoms. Many would offer easy solutions but dedication and work was needed to get out of life the things that many people take for granted. By nature we all seek the easy road, but by design only those things that become habit and purpose will stay with us. Our life choices will determine the outcome, not some cosmic spinning wheel of fate or luck.
This comes to our health as well. We have choices presented to us moment by moment. Eat this, don’t eat that. It is all choices that will determine our weight loss or weight gain. It will determine if our body will operate at optimal health or something less than. It is never just simple calories in versus calories out. There is no quick fix although there are choices that will take us where we want to be faster. But like all choices we have to make the ones that will take us where we want to go. It gets down to choosing health or illness. Freedom or something less.
So today I choose to keep fighting for health. Fighting to help others find it. Taking on a different battle but taking in on with everything I have. Why? Because I have a legacy of fighters in my life that taught me that “Freedom in any area of life is worth fighting for!” And I take nothing away from the battles and the struggles those very dear to me fought. Today like many days I still hear them say to fight the good fight no matter where you find your battle. Live life to the fullest and help those who would come along beside you. For many people died so that you might have those choices to make each day.
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