Finding The Perfect Time to Get in Shape
Written by Editor on August 7th, 2006 in fitness, personal training.
By Geralyn Coopersmith
“Life is what’s happening when you’re making other plans” ~John Lennon
I cannot tell you the number of women I know who have a “when…then”
mentality, particularly when it comes to their own health and well being. “When the kids start school…then I’ll start working out” or “when things aren’t so stressful…then I’ll start eating better”… or “when the weather gets nicer…then I’ll start that walking program”.
The list is endless.
Too many of us are waiting for the “perfect time” to get started. The time when all of our proverbial ducks are in a row…when we have fewer obligations and tons of time to just spend taking care of ourselves.
Get real!!
Think back on your life so far. For most of us, there has always been tons of stuff going on in our lives. From school, to work, to having a family, to juggling career and kids…its always something. The notion of a point in your life when time stands still so you can focus on yourself is a myth, particularly for a woman. If time were really standing that still, chances are you’d be pushing up daisies.
Meanwhile, for far too many of us life is going on and our health issues (both large and small) are getting worse and worse…leaving us more to fix things on the other end if that “perfect time” where to come around (which it won’t).
For example, being five pounds overweight isn’t that big of a problem to deal with — being 30 pounds overweight is.
Having “pre-hypertension” or “pre-diabetes” can often be fixed in a few weeks with some simple changes in diet and exercise. But having full-on hypertension and diabetes puts your very life at risk.
In addition to this “perfect time”myth, I believe there are two other faulty beliefs that keeping us from doing the that things we know we should do. One, we believe we still have plenty of time to fix things before they get totally out of control, so we procrastinate. And two, we believe that we have to make radical changes in order to be effective. Neither of which is true.
The fact of that matter is it is the very things we do from an early age which determine our health and overall quality of life over time.
One of the best illustrations of this was the famous Korean War Veterans study published back in 1953 in The Journal of the American Medical Association. In this research, Army doctors performed autopsies on 300 soldiers who died in the line of duty in the Korean War. When the doctors examined the coronary blood vessels (which supply blood to the heart) of these young men — 77% of them had evidence of major cardiovascular disease. This even though their average age was 22!!
Keep in mind that, “taking care of yourself” doesn’t have to mean surviving on tofu and wheat grass and running 5 miles a day. It’s always a good idea to avoid extremes. Extremes usually result in pendulum swings of one type or another. It’s a better idea to try and make simple changes that you can live with. Remember, every little bit counts, every action stacks up — until they result in huge changes in your well being over the long haul.
Think about it. What small changes could you make in your own life?
Think of some shifts that you could make which really wouldn’t be a big deal. Drinking more water, cutting down on fried foods, just having one glass of wine with dinner, doing 15-minutes of that yoga tape that’s been gathering dust on the book shelf, taking a 20 minute walk after dinner…whatever. Little things do mean a lot.
Still don’t believe me? Consider this…cutting out just 200 calories a day, the equivalent of one tablespoon of mayo on your sandwich (switch to light or use mustard) and 2 Oreos (that you ate out of sheer boredom while watching TV)…would equal about .5 a pound of weight loss a week
– or 20 pounds of weight loss in a year! And that’s nothing!!
The bottom line is there is never going to be a time when the world is going to come to a screeching halt so that you can start taking care of your health. First, accept that as a reality. Then look and see what it is that you CAN do in the here and now which will point you in a better direction. As Anthony Robbins would say when folks say, “but I can’t”…”I know you can’t, but if you could…what could you do?” Then decide commit and take action starting today. Because honestly, there has never been a more “perfect time”!
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Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist and a certified personal trainer with over sixteen years of professional experience. She is the author of the new book, Fit & Female: The Perfect Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan For Your Unique Body Type. For more information on women’s health issues, including: weight loss, exercise, motivation and developing a healthier body image, please visit http://www.geralyncoopersmith.com