One of my readers asked for a list of 10 steps to good health.
I provided it, but now I want to break each of these items down and
give you more useful details. So here’s step 6, living an active life.
I’ve said over and over that being healthy isn’t about temporary diets and month long workout plans. Being healthy and fit is about lifestyle. It’s about choosing to live your life in a healthy way. A healthy lifestyle means more than just being unhealthy most of the time and then trying to fix things during specific meal times and gym visits. It means every moment of every day you make the choice to be healthy. It can be big things or it can be little ones, but you always make the healthy choice.
I realized how important this was about a year after my health meltdown. Of all the things I learned, this is the only one that I implemented all at once rather than gradually. Simply put, once I realized what a healthy lifestyle meant, I just couldn’t live it gradually. In fact, this is the only piece of information that was a bit of sudden revelation instead of a gradual learning process.
Visions in the parking lot
It all happened one afternoon as I was arriving at the gym. I usually prefer to workout around lunchtime but this particular day I was arriving right before dinner. The gym parking lot was packed and there were very few spots. I found a spot at the far end of the parking lot but I decided to move and search for a better spot. That’s when it hit me. Here I am going to the gym in order to exercise and I’m going to spend an extra few minutes driving around just so I could avoid a bit of walking. Does that make sense? I was actually going to waste time (looking for a closer spot would have taken longer than walking in from the farther one) and money (gas) just to save myself a 60 second walk when I had come here specifically for a workout!
That was the key realization for me. It make me understand that if I wanted to be really healthy then I couldn’t just add a gym workout and change my eating habits a bit. Being healthy meant living healthy and it meant making choices like walking the extra 60 seconds rather than driving around looking for a closer parking spot.
What does it mean?
Living a healthy lifestyle and leading an active life means taking every opportunity to use your body. If you can walk rather than drive, do so. If you can take the stairs rather than the elevator, then do so. If you can get up and go talk to someone rather than calling them on the phone, then do so. If you’re sitting at your desk and you’re staring at your screen trying to figure out what else to write on your TPS report, why not pick up a water bottle and lift it a few times? If your dog needs to go outside then how about you go out there with it and play with him or walk him rather than take him to the dog park and watch him run around?
We make hundreds of choices every day and most of us choose to be inactive. We choose to spend money on gas and electricity rather than take the time and be healthy. Why not make a different choice? Every time you rely on a car, on an elevator, on an escalator or on a phone, remember that you are paying money in order to be unhealthy. Make the right choice and be active.
There are of course some exceptions. When we moved into our new apt. on the 4th floor, I certainly wasn’t going to try carrying the sofa up four flights of stairs. In the morning, I ride my bike to the train station but then ride the train most of the way. These are common sense to me. Riding my bike to work would take too much time. Carrying the sofa up the stairs would have been nearly impossible and carried a high risk of injury. So yes, there are times when you should take the elevator. But for every sofa that needs to go up to the 4th floor there is also someone driving around in the gym parking lot trying to save himself a sixty second walk on the way to his workout. That’s the choice that needs to change.
I’ve said over and over that being healthy isn’t about temporary diets and month long workout plans. Being healthy and fit is about lifestyle. It’s about choosing to live your life in a healthy way. A healthy lifestyle means more than just being unhealthy most of the time and then trying to fix things during specific meal times and gym visits. It means every moment of every day you make the choice to be healthy. It can be big things or it can be little ones, but you always make the healthy choice.
I realized how important this was about a year after my health meltdown. Of all the things I learned, this is the only one that I implemented all at once rather than gradually. Simply put, once I realized what a healthy lifestyle meant, I just couldn’t live it gradually. In fact, this is the only piece of information that was a bit of sudden revelation instead of a gradual learning process.
Visions in the parking lot
It all happened one afternoon as I was arriving at the gym. I usually prefer to workout around lunchtime but this particular day I was arriving right before dinner. The gym parking lot was packed and there were very few spots. I found a spot at the far end of the parking lot but I decided to move and search for a better spot. That’s when it hit me. Here I am going to the gym in order to exercise and I’m going to spend an extra few minutes driving around just so I could avoid a bit of walking. Does that make sense? I was actually going to waste time (looking for a closer spot would have taken longer than walking in from the farther one) and money (gas) just to save myself a 60 second walk when I had come here specifically for a workout!
That was the key realization for me. It make me understand that if I wanted to be really healthy then I couldn’t just add a gym workout and change my eating habits a bit. Being healthy meant living healthy and it meant making choices like walking the extra 60 seconds rather than driving around looking for a closer parking spot.
What does it mean?
Living a healthy lifestyle and leading an active life means taking every opportunity to use your body. If you can walk rather than drive, do so. If you can take the stairs rather than the elevator, then do so. If you can get up and go talk to someone rather than calling them on the phone, then do so. If you’re sitting at your desk and you’re staring at your screen trying to figure out what else to write on your TPS report, why not pick up a water bottle and lift it a few times? If your dog needs to go outside then how about you go out there with it and play with him or walk him rather than take him to the dog park and watch him run around?
We make hundreds of choices every day and most of us choose to be inactive. We choose to spend money on gas and electricity rather than take the time and be healthy. Why not make a different choice? Every time you rely on a car, on an elevator, on an escalator or on a phone, remember that you are paying money in order to be unhealthy. Make the right choice and be active.
There are of course some exceptions. When we moved into our new apt. on the 4th floor, I certainly wasn’t going to try carrying the sofa up four flights of stairs. In the morning, I ride my bike to the train station but then ride the train most of the way. These are common sense to me. Riding my bike to work would take too much time. Carrying the sofa up the stairs would have been nearly impossible and carried a high risk of injury. So yes, there are times when you should take the elevator. But for every sofa that needs to go up to the 4th floor there is also someone driving around in the gym parking lot trying to save himself a sixty second walk on the way to his workout. That’s the choice that needs to change.
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