This morning I have been spending time catching up on articles and videos about…no shocker here… diet and exercise. Trust me that I get A LOT of them in my mail each day. From the most reputable sources like Weight Watchers and Dr. Oz, to lots of infomercials, I try to read and watch as many as I can. I love when I stumble upon something that makes a lot of sense, but honestly, for the most part, I get the most valuable information from my students, clients and all of YOU. I continue to believe the old but very sound advice that if something seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t. If losing weight was as easy as JUST eating this or JUST eliminating that, we would all be at our ideal weight.
Much more is learned through conversation and feedback from “real” people, experiencing real results. A conversation with my sister, Arlene, brought to my attention that for some, cutting back on coffee in general, not just caffeine, can certainly have some health benefits. I loved that this weekend we were both thinking about the possibilities of exercising as play, not work! I was impacted by what Carole said about how when she exercises too much she finds she is hungrier and eats more calories. Hence, finding just the right amount of exercise to be fit, but not famished, has worked for her. I am inspired by reading that Justin challenged himself to do 25 push-ups every hour, while at work. (I love that kind of stuff). In response to that I am challenging myself to swim over 100 laps this week…yesterday, 35! I am inspired by Jeff and Jon revisiting their tennis game (talk about having fun while getting fit and burning calories!). I am happy to hear Ken report that he is 2 weeks into his reunion with his treadmill and feeling better already and that Rita’s “mentee,” Barbara, has lost the first 11 pounds on her one year journey. Try putting 11 pounds of weights in a bag an carrying that around for a while to realize how much that is!!! Good job. The bar gets totally raised for me, when I watch 92 (and a half!) year old, Charlotte, get her body into positions that challenge even the youngest of us, but speaking to her for just a minute, it is clear that a positive attitude is EVERYTHING. I am elated to know that Kyle and Nicole put new bicycles at the top of their list of NEEDS for their new apartment, and are back to riding. I am equally elated when Derek calls and happens to be on his way home from the gym after a full day at the office.
So today, I dedicate my blog to YOU. You are the people that inspire me, to hopefully continue to inspire you. I don’t believe in “diets,” and I definitely don’t believe in miracles. I believe that weight loss is a math equation and that doesn’t always make it healthy. While you have to use up more calories that you take in each day, I think making wise choices and making sure that at least most of our calories are filled with nutrition is the HEALTHY way to lose weight while creating a lifestyle you can live with, hopefully for a really, really long time! I believe these things because of YOU.
Thank you for sharing your stories. Keep em coming!
**SilverSneakers YogaStretch at 11:30 today, at TFC.
