So many of us are led to believe that in order to be healthy we must give up all the foods we love and exercise for hours on end to get the results we so long to see on the scale. But this mentality is very hard to maintain over a lifetime. Many of us find ourselves in the vicious cycle of good versus bad, however, I believe any time we are making the changes to move our health in the right direction, we are succeeding. Regardless of what the scale reads. This is why it is very important to allow ourselves the occasional ‘treat’ and to miss a workout when life just seems to get in the way. We can’t be 100% perfect, 100% of the time. It is and never will be realistic. Health is a state of mind not just what we do or don’t do to gain it. This is where integrating small steps into our plan allows us to meet our goals. A few days ago I received my weekly email newsletter from Harvard Medical School. As I was reading though it I was amazed to read for those who are not currently physically active, adding just of 20-30 minutes of daily exercise 3 times a week into your plan can cut your risk for heart disease in half. We are talking a 50% decline by doing an hour to an hour and a half of exercise EACH week. This is quite a return for your health with little time involvement. And you may just find that you have more energy, therefore you will look at adding more time or days to your workout. And if you can’t fit 20-30 minutes in all at once, consider breaking this down to 2-3 ten minutes pockets of activity. Studies have shown that these small bouts of activity are just as beneficial as one longer session. The goal is to build consistency. A study conducted by the American Institute of Cancer Research revealed that by adding just 5 or more servings of fruits and veggies into your diet per day can reduce cancer rates by up to 20%. This is very significant especially since cancers will be the number one killer of individuals in the world by the end of 2010. Even the United States Department of Health & Human Services recognizes that one way to better health is by incorporating small, doable steps into our every day lives. They have a fantastic website, SmallStep Adult and Teens that allows you to print off a list of small changes you can do every day to improve your health and fitness. While it is nice to have the freedom to eat well and exercise, we cannot become so hard on ourselves when we fall short of perfect. We need to forgive ourselves when we do stumble. As the old saying goes, “Aim for progression, not perfection.” Do you accept the moments when you are anything less than perfect and if not, how does it make you feel? Do these moments deter you from meeting your goals? Do you believe that small steps can lead to better health benefits even if you don’t see a change on the scale? |
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