What is the most important machine in your life?
What do you consider to be the most important machine in your life: the car? Computer? Mobile phone? TV? Anything else? On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is it to you? Why? What are all the reasons that make you a 10 in your life?
If you think the car should be at the top of your list, how much time and money do you spend taking care of it? Do you use old fuel, consider checks a waste of time, ignore car washes, etc.? You probably have your own special rules for whatever machine you have.
Next question, do you treat and take care of your own body with the same amount of effort? For example:
What quality of fuel (food) do you give it? Do you give him an adequate supply of water? Do you skip boring routines like yearly checkups because there are other things you’d rather do? Do you keep doing what you’ve always done (too many calories without exercise) and expect to get different results? Do you expect the doctor to prescribe some “magic” pill to take when you’re sick, as long as no change in your regular activities is required? Do you avoid making new, healthy clothes because the old way is so comfortable?
We cannot exchange our old body for a new one; life doesn’t work that way. As Mickey Mantel once said, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.”
There has been a change in attitude in recent years. It’s rare to find magazine articles promoting the newest diet guaranteed to erase all the extra weight from holiday season indulgences or how to get ready to wear that new bikini to the beach.
We now recognize that diets, especially crash diets, are no longer acceptable. Lifestyle plans are the newest buzzwords. Sometimes it sounds like another variation on the one size fits all idea. It is not so simple!
Sure, the same basic principles are necessary: more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, lean protein, less sugar and fat, portion size control, exercise, exercise, and water instead of soda. Unfortunately, not enough attention is paid to the uniqueness of each person. We start from different bodies, jobs, family situations, personal and family backgrounds, likes and dislikes. Thank God, there is more than one way to get the desired results.
The biggest challenge is deciding how important we consider a healthy lifestyle and what we are willing to do to achieve it. Honesty is the first step. Whether we like what we see in the mirror or not, it was our past choices that brought us to this point. No one else can be blamed for force-feeding us junk food or tying us to a chair in front of the TV. And no one else can make decisions every day that lead to better health in our future!
Start by deciding how you want to look and feel. All the things that make life rich and pleasant (vigor, vitality, optimism, strength, absence of disease and infirmity) deserve first place. It may seem trivial, but having deep and meaningful reasons is critical to success.
You are the only person who can make lasting changes in your life. Acknowledge up front that it will take time. After all, no one goes from star athlete to flabby couch potato in a month or two, and it doesn’t work any faster the other way around.
A sudden drastic overhaul of everything in your life just won’t do! More can be achieved by making small changes, one small step at a time. Once the first few changes become habits you are comfortable with, you can be sure to move on to the next goals. Trust yourself and your ability to change. Very soon, you will have concrete evidence of progress.
What makes more sense: lose 15 pounds in a month but gain it back before the end of the year? Or avoid feeling like some kind of martyr, losing 4-6 pounds a month and not gaining it back for the rest of your life? Also remember, there is more than one way to exercise and find what you really like and enjoy doing.
Success lies in the united effort of mind, body and emotion. You may find that writing a personal journal that reports your before and after story is an excellent incentive to stay on track. Begin your book with photographs and the usual records of weight, measurements, health profile, and physical condition. It will feel good to add new data as you go. Statistics are necessary, but probably most important is the part of the journal that records your feelings about changing results.
What you experience along the way becomes as interesting as where you think you are going. Record the pleasure you find in discovering new flexibility when you stretch, the pleasure of finding foods that taste as good as they are good for you, the freedom to live without those annoying aches and pains, and of course, the new energy that lasts all day. time. The day. Every once in a while, look back and enjoy the progress you’ve made by taking one step at a time!
We can’t hand over our bodies to shiny new models, but we can feel and look younger than the calendar suggests. The important thing is to start taking care of our most precious machine: our own body. Picasso said this: “Only leave until tomorrow what you are willing to die without having done so.”
Enjoy the journey to a healthy and happy lifestyle!