Five Steps Towards a Fit Life

In the past few weeks I have written about Nancy Brown, the 75 year old swimmer and coach who is still competing, having recently completed the One Mile Bay Swim Challenge as the oldest competitor of the day.  I have written about Ironman athletes Julie Dukes and Mark Facciani.  I have written about Eric Geyer who, though suffering from severe nerve problems in his feet, cycles throughout the country and the world, covering hundreds of miles at a time in some of the toughest terrains in the world.

But I want to be clear when I say these athletes are exceptional.  They have found a sport that they love and they have incorporated it into there lives.  In some cases they plan their workouts around their lives in others they have learned to plan their lives around there workouts. 

But the average Pasadena resident, while impressed with the efforts of these athletes is still trying to figure out how to get started on any fitness program and how to make it a habit without letting it take over their lives.

Many fitness magazines would like you to believe that it is easy.  I am here to tell you it is not.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t doable but it does mean that it takes planning and commitment.  It takes understanding why you are doing it and making that reason less about losing weight and more about being around to see your children and grandchildren grow up.

By following five steps, taking just one step and at a time, it can be done and once you have established a routine, it can be enjoyable.

1. Consult a doctor – You have probably heard this said before but it is true.  Consult a doctor before starting any fitness routine, not just to get the all clear but to find out what you are battling.  Are you borderline diabetic?  Do you have high cholesterol?  Do you weigh enough to be in the obese category? It is important to establish these things in the beginning because it is very easy to lie to ourselves, to convince ourselves that we are healthier than we actually are. After getting the answers you will be armed with the motivation to workout and the knowledge that it isn’t just a selfish desire to be fit but an actual need to become active in order to counteract the damage you have done to your body by living a sedentary life.
2. Pick an activity – This is the first thing I tell family and friends when they ask me about getting fit.  Don’t just decide to become a runner because Joe down the road does it. Instead, pick something that you will enjoy, something that will keep your interest and be a reward for leading a healthy lifestyle. The only condition here is that the activities you choose should include both a cardiovascular workout, such as walking, running, biking, or hiking and a strength building workout such as light weights a couple of times a week, Pilates or resistance bands.
3. Invite a friend or better yet a family member to join you – Twenty years ago when I got up off the couch and decided to get fit, my husband joined me.  These days our lives revolve around our fitness.  Our vacations are planned so that we can do the activities we enjoy.  I look back on the decision we made together to get fit and am so thankful that we both chose this path.  Not only was it easier to stay motivated in the beginning because we were doing it together but over the years it has given us a common bond.
4. Pick up the pace – When we first begin a fitness routine, it is about movement.  Getting up and getting active is the first step.  But to progress, we have to pick up the pace and work a little harder a couple of times a week.  This does not mean that every workout has to be a sweat-fest.  But once or a twice a week it feels good to work a little harder, burn a few extra calories and know that we are pushing ourselves.  Challenging ourselves, not only keeps it interesting but also helps our body to get stronger.
5. Change the way you think about food – This is the hard one.  After working out we are hungry, we want to reward ourselves and often it is with food.  The problem is, and this is a big problem for me, it is easy to forget that the exercise we are now doing requires fuel.  We have to begin thinking of the food we eat as fuel and remember that the type of fuel we put in will determine the effort we get out.  It isn’t easy.  It makes me a little crazy when people act like it is.  But with small steps we can begin to incorporate good eating habits into our daily lives.

In Pasadena, we are surrounded by amazing athletes.  While it can be inspiring and motivating to see the incredible feats these athletes are attempting week after week, it can also be discouraging.  We can look at them and think, “Well, I am never going to be able to do that, so why bother.” But the truth is that we don’t have to do that.  We don’t have to run marathons, swim the Bay or ride across the country to get fit.  We don’t have to change our whole lives to incorporate an hour of fitness into each day.  We just have to take one step, then another and another until, we make fitness and good nutrition a habit.