Daily Choices

You ready folks? I’m about to unleash on you a million-dollar secret. I’m going to tell you the easy way to get fit and stay fit. FOREVER!

Before I tell you what the secret IS, I’m going to tell you what it isn’t. It isn’t a pill. It isn’t a magic shake. It isn’t spending hours logging how many calories you burned doing your cardio in your “fat-burning zone.” It isn’t a machine, and it definitely isn’t the thighmaster.

The key to lifelong fitness is this: Make good choices daily. Make good choices minute-to-minute. Take your fitness and health goals one choice at a time.

Starting first thing in the morning, put your alarm far away from your bed. Once you’re out of bed, CHOOSE to stay out of bed and go to CrossFit. Once your done with CrossFit CHOOSE to eat a healthy breakfast. CHOOSE to say no to toaster strudels, pop-tarts, oatmeal, and toast. Say “yes” to eggs, sausage, ham, spinach, kale, strawberries.

At work CHOOSE to steer away from the doughnut/muffin/bagel tray. If people give you a hard time CHOOSE to stick up for your right to be healthy, politely telling them, “I’m choosing to stick to my fitness goals this year, and that is not part of them.” CHOOSE to walk away while they stare at you, dumbfounded that you are not joining their failed attempts at their own fitness goals. Remember, misery loves company, and if your coworkers can get you to fall off your Resolution bandwagon, they won’t feel so bad about falling off theirs. Cynical, but true!

At lunch, CHOOSE to eat a healthy veggie, protein and fat. You can even do this at Wendy’s people. Is Wendy’s my first choice? No, but you can make good choices and bad choices there too. CHOOSE the good choice.

After work, CHOOSE not to open that bottle of wine to relax. Instead, take a bath. Read a book. Talk to someone. Listen to music. CHOOSE not to eat dessert.

CHOOSE to go to bed at a decent hour. CHOOSE not to fall asleep in front of the tv.

We all have choices. The key to making good ones is making them one at a time. Before you know it, your good choices have become habits, and you will make those good choices subconsciously.

Parenting and Exercise

I’m going to shield myself with a thick skin before I hit “Publish” on this post.

You see, I’m going to talk about parenting. And I’m going to be critical. And what I have to say is going to ruffle some feathers. Too bad. Sometimes the truth hurts. Or is, at the very least, a little uncomfortable.

One of the most common excuses I hear from people for not exercising is that ” I don’t have the time.” This phrase is usually quickly followed by, “I want to spend time with my kids.” You see, when people use spending time with their children as an excuse, they think they’re safe from reproach. After all, who would call bullshit on someone spending time with their kids?

Me.

This is because I have a firm belief that 1) it is your parental obligation to stay fit so that you can be around for your children and 2) you can kill two birds with one stone: spend time with your children while working out.

Of course because I am a CrossFitter, I think that CrossFit is the best way to share an exercise session with your kids. But guess what? If CrossFit isn’t your cup of tea, then do SOMETHING ELSE! Get involved with krav maga or mountain biking or yoga. But start moving. Set a good example and set your children up for a lifetime of a healthy relationship with exercise and their bodies. 

Stop hiding behind your children and using them as an excuse to be lazy. When they hear you using them as an excuse to avoid exercise what message do you think you’re sending to them? That they are the reason you’re not healthy. And when you have a heart attack or are diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic, they are going to think it’s because of them. Trust me, kids are egocentric. Here’s what they’re little brains will hear: You have diabetes because you didn’t exercise + you didn’t exercise because of you kids = your kids caused your diabetes (or insert the appropriate illness here).

Even if your children manage to avoid internalizing blame for your illness, they will pay for your laziness in other ways. You won’t be able to practice playing ball with them and they won’t make the team. You can’t make it to their high school graduation because you’re too sick. Maybe you will be dead by the time they get married or have their first child. Perhaps you will be so helpless that you will need help with daily tasks, forcing your children to become your caregivers, perpetuating caregiver burnout of the sandwich generation. Any way you slice it, you’re going to leave a lasting, negative impression on your kids’ lives. 

What’s worse is that as your children grow older, they will follow in your footsteps. If nobody breaks the cycle, generations of your family will avoid exercise and fall into a life of disease and immobility, reliance on others and on medication to keep slogging through their life, the quality of which is questionable.  

So fulfill your parental obligation. Do your duty. Turn off the t.v., the xbox, the videogames and get involved in a sport or exercise regimen with your kids. Spend time with them while teaching them some healthy habits and set them up for success in the future.

 

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU!

Gladys is back attacking her goals for the new year. And as she left, she said to me, “Nothing’s going to change for me if I don’t get out of bed and get here!” Wise woman, that Gladys Hall is! 

She is right. Nothing will change by simply wishing for things to be different. You have to get in here and bust your butt. You have to sweat. You may have to bleed, and maybe there will be some tears. But at the end of the day you can look in the mirror and be proud of what you’ve accomplished. You beat the odds. You got one step closer to your goal.

So, set your alarm far away from your bed in the morning. Put your gym bag in your car so you don’t go home after work and get stuck on your couch. Do what you have to, but like Gladys said, nothing’s going to change if you don’t get here!