Helping Women Live Longer, Healthier, Happier Lives! |
The Journey Of A Thousand Miles by Geralyn Coopersmith When I was in grad school, I remember one of my professors saying that just a 20% increase in physical activity was associated with a 50% decrease in morbidity and mortality -- that blew me away!! In other words, just moving a little more than you did before decreases your risk of dying early from things like heart disease, stroke and Type II Diabetes. When it comes to getting physical -- a little does go a long way. It's really important to remember this, because I can't tell you the number of times that I've heard clients talk about making a shift towards a healthier lifestyle as if they were preparing to go into battle. They would describe these grand schemes for what they would do. Exist on wheat grass, run 5-miles a day every day, train for a marathon, lose 20 pounds in a month. In most cases it sounded really awful -- and unrealistic. No wonder they never got started. The fact of the matter is the true health and long-term wellness comes from the little things that you do every day. Not from huge things, but from the cumulative effect of small things. I'll give you a little example from my own life. Years ago I was training at a gym in NYC about 10 blocks (and 3 avenues over, for you Manhattanites) from my home. It was only a 15-20 minute stroll, but I would always cut it so close to the wire in the morning, that I would need to jump in a cab for the 3-min. $5 cab ride, just so I wouldn't be late for my client. Then one day in the spirit of saving an extra $100 a month that I was spending due to pure laziness on my part, I started leaving early enough to walk to work. And I really enjoyed it. Now, I already exercised a lot (I was personal training full-time) and was a healthy weight, but I did manage to lose about 3 pounds over the course of a few months, without meaning to, just by walking to and from work each day. It was a little thing. I didn't even work up a sweat. But it probably added an additional 200 calorie expenditure to my day...or 1000 calories a week. So, if you do that for 3 and half weeks and you've lost a pound. It was an effortless thing, not a major shift. But these are the kinds of things that stack up, either positively or negatively and result in good health or bad. Most people who are not in shape do not understand this. You talk to them about making better choices on a daily basis (in terms of both nutrition and physical activity) and they talk to you about all the conditions that will need to be in place for them to get healthy. Kids all away college, special planetary alignments, tons of lottery winnings (so they have plenty of free time and money to hire that Trainer To The Stars)...whatever...it's usually not a realistic situation that they are describing -- or one that's going to happen any time soon. Take this good friend of mine. She has been gaining weight steadily over the last few years. She is probably at least 20 pounds overweight now and she complains about it constantly. But when you talk to her about her health goals and taking better care of herself, she tells you that she is:
The list goes on and on...she has insured that she won't get in better shape because she believes that some idyllic world has to exist before she can begin. Hogwash!! Begin today. Start with something small. Just change one little thing and make it part of your every day. The Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu is credited with saying that, "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". But apparently (and my Mandarin is a little rusty here) the more literal translation is "the journey of a thousand miles begins from right where you stand". Ain't that the truth?! Disclaimer: The information contained in this
newsletter is not intended as a substitute for medical care. Not all exercises
are appropriate for all individuals. Please consult with your doctor before
beginning any exercise program. |
