Tag Archives: diet

Want to feel better? Eat right and exercise! How hard is that to understand?

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Since the vast majority of people don’t read “Triathlete Magazine” I am going to pass on an article called Get Phit by Erin Beresini. Erin writes: “Ameica is terribly inactive. Acording to the Centers for Disease Control, 80 percent of us don’t get the recommended minimum of 2.5 hours of moderate physical activity and two muscle-strengthening sessions a week.” (Triathlete Magazine May 2017 p 26

Now for all those who spend most of their lives sitting around and griping about how lousy they feel, how everything is so messed up wah, wah, wah. You are the people who are going to be old, obese and infirm by age 50, if not younger, of course according to you it will be someone else’s fault and you will of course expect someone else to pay your massive medical bill for your diabetes, heart problems etc. You’re the ones who are quick to grouse on FaceBook, but you won’t do a thing for anyone including yourselves. Get off the sofa, turn off Oprah and or your computer, put some comfortable shoes on and go walk a mile or so. Get some elastic straps (any sporting goods store and very inexpensive) hook them on to something sturdy and do 20 minutes of resistance training. Really, really simple! In a few weeks you will be feeling a heckuva lot better and maybe you will avoid having to have me pay for your diabetes medication.

Erin writes: “Eight of the top 10 diseases in the United States are related to physical inactivity,’ including mental health, diabetes and heart disease, says Tom Cove, CEO and president of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.” Wow and all it takes is a little effort on your part. I was on my bike waiting for my GPS to boot up when this obese woman pulls in front of me in her car and starts laughing. Sure she takes a handful of pills everyday because she gets winded walking up a flight of stairs, but she thinks I’m funny looking in bike clothes. Maybe I am, but I think you’re kind of sad condemning yourself to a life of such misery and then laughing at others. Wow!

The point of Erin’s article is to set up a way for people to pay for their physical activity. OK, it does cost a little money, especially if you start to get a little serious about it. Fine, if the government were a little smarter about it, let you deduct the cost of running shoes, bike, health club, etc, you actually did something, the health crisis would disappear in rapid succession. We would not be paying billions for those who can’t control their food intake, who just can’t be bothered to get up and do something physical for even 20 minutes. “The PHIT Act would let individuals set aside up to $1,000 in pre-tax dollars and families up to $2,000, to spend on physical fitness related expenses…” Wow, could you imagine the immediate upgrade at your YM/YWCAs, Jewish Community Centers, etc? Tiny investment would make hundreds of millions notably more healthy. In the meantime you can do it on your own. I squirreled away money for about 6 months to buy a really nice race bike. It can be done.

Hey how about this,  Start thinking about what you eat. Start to go easy on the alcohol. Ditch the marijuana and other drugs (yea I know the ones out there who are trying to tell us that it’s actually good for you. Seriously? Why don’t you shut up and admit you have a problem). Get up twenty minutes earlier in the morning, go downstairs and use some straps, put on your comfy shoes and go outside. Get over your precious little dignity. I certainly don’t look that great working out, but anyone who has a clue knows what I’m doing and respects me for it. Even if I’m no one’s poster boy. You certainly aren’t in the least dignified being a hundred pounds over weight and unable to walk a flight of stairs. Chose the indignity of getting out there and exercising, I will have a lot more respect for you. Imagine, in a few weeks a few pounds lighter. You enable your body to activate the feel good hormones in your brain (dopamine, endorphins etc), you start having a positive outlook on life instead of all your whining on FaceBook, you avoid a lot of serious health risks and both you and I don’t have to pay a ridiculous amount of money for healthcare. Seriously think about it

Be the well-rounded person God gave you the opportunity to be

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Just finished my Saturday workout, usually consists of about an hour of weights or an hour plus of bike riding. Usually when it comes up in discussion, the other person will say something like, I wouldn’t do that, sounds like too much work, or I couldn’t bike 3 miles, and it’s not with an attitude of, “Gee maybe I should be in better shape and try to do something”. It’s more of an attitude on their part that they’re proud they don’t “waste” their time, what’s the point. As if they’re somehow smarter by not getting some genuine exercise.
A lot of people will also give me an attitude that if they can’t be a great athlete well what’s the point. I am by no means a “great”, good, even mediocre athlete. Any competitions I enter, I’m usually a “back of the packer”, but by the same token, I am keeping in shape, I am doing things that keep me in better physical condition. The big topics today are obesity, diabetes is an epidemic, stress, lethargy, depression, all things that a decent amount of exercise would greatly help. It’s getting to the point where I can’t go a day without meeting someone who is obviously over weight and tells me they have diabetes. They talk as if they have been somehow victimized and they should be able to do whatever they want with whatever they want. Furthermore, the things that people put in their bodies that are illegal and what do we as a society do? We continue to legalize marijuana. Seriously is there a doubt in anyone’s mind that the widespread use of illegal substances, not to mention a lot of the junk we consume isn’t resulting in damage to ourselves that we are passing on to our children? ADD the all encompassing answer to everyone’s inability to do anything (although just watch how rapt their attention is when they’re playing computer games or watching a movie they like). I’m sure that in a lot of circumstances autism that has also become widespread is a result of a lot of illicit drug use. I’m not trying to be cruel, but those same people who are always so concerned with their secular “truth”, sure find ways to distort the truth of the things they do that are just not responsible ways to act.
Cut to the chase, as we progress there will be more and more demand for medical attention for conditions that we could have controlled by taking just a little responsibility in our lives. Some reasonable exercise would do everyone a great deal of good.
And parents let’s cut the baloney, making sure your kid goes to baseball, soccer, games sorry, those are just not conditioning programs. Those programs are just not designed for children’s physical fitness. There is just way too much adult ego, vicarious living and need to maintain control. There’s just not enough ‘let’s get out there as kids, run until we drop, help each other, learn, on our own, to be part of a team and enjoy what should be the beginning of life long good habits.
Let’s help our kids develop good habits by being good examples and being out there with them doing real exercise. Sorry but a kid playing right field is never going to get their heart rate up to any level for any time that’s going to do him or her the least amount of good.
Don’t count on government or the medical institution to save you, and I think that realization is slowly beginning to dawn on people. But realizing it isn’t going to do you any good when you’re 55 years old, obese, diabetic and have messed up your joints by carrying around far too many pounds for your joints to support. I can certainly see a time coming that because the medical establishment is becoming so ill-equipped to deal with all of this, that they will stop even trying to treat those who have spent their lives chain-swilling twinkies. Or they will turn you away because you abused your body with drugs and now your children have serious problems because of it.
I know, I can hear it “I have the right! It’s my body, to…” yada, yada. Ya, not really. You certainly didn’t “make” your body, and for those who would use this line of discussion they haven’t done anything to make their body better, they’ve just abused it, poor diet, booze, drugs, irresponsible sex, lack of exercise. So you can’t say you’re responsible for caring and nurturing your body. you expect to abuse it and have someone else take care of you. That’s just not realistic. God gave you the capacity to have a remarkable body and life with it, if you abuse what God’s done for you. If you don’t work to make your body stronger and more able, you have abused the gift you’ve been given.
So take some responsibility now, come on down to First St Johns and learn good aerobic and strength building exercises. And while your there you might also avail yourself of the opportunity to strengthen your spiritual life. To become that well-rounded person that God gave you the capacity to be.