Why is Your Health Important?

Why is improving your health important to you?

The question is simple enough, yet the answer isn't nearly as simple as it would seem. 

So, let me ask again.  Why is improving your health important to you?  The reason this question isn't as simple to answer as you might think is that it is too easy to answer this question in a very vague manner.  And an answer to a question as powerful and as important as this question MUST have a specific answer that resonates with each person.  Ergo, there is no one right answer but there are lots of wrong answers.  If everything goes right, by the end of this post I hope you are able to produce the answer that is right for you.

And if you do, it could change your life.

So, why is improving your health important to you?

The key to answering this question appropriately is to be as specific and personal as possible.  Why should this be so important?  Simple.  This answer is what you are going to use to provide you the inspiration that you need to make the changes necessary to improve your health.  If you don't have a good, specific, and personal reason to make improving your health important to you, it will be really easy to talk yourself out of getting out of bed an hour earlier to go for a run.  Or it will be easy to talk yourself out of taking the stairs instead of the elevator.  And when it comes to portion control, good luck not going back for seconds on dessert if you don't have a good enough reason not to.

Why is improving your health important to you?  Here are some examples of bad answers to this question that I hear a lot.  "To live longer."  "To feel better."  "To get more energy."  "To look better."  On the surface, these may seem like at least decent answers to the question.  But, are any of these answers good enough to hold yourself accountable on the days that you need it most?  I doubt it.

But what if you have a more specific answer to our omnipresent question?  Here are some examples of much more effective answers that will inspire you to stay dedicated to your routine.  "I'm hoping to start a family soon, and being healthy increases the odds of getting pregnant."  "I want to be able to see my son/daughter get married and start a family."  "I want to be around to see my grandchildren graduate high school."  "I want to be able to play with my grandkids."  Answers like these are even more powerful when you are able to put a loved one's name and face along with your reason to improve your health. 

Why is improving your health important to you?  The answer choices are many, but for each of us there are one or two answers that hit home more than any other.  The key to making lasting life changes is to find those answers, and use them as motivation on the days that need them.

If you're serious about improving your health, decide on your reason and get started today.  Need help coming up with a personal reason, or need advice on what steps to take to improve your health?  Check out my website or email me at denny@dkfitsolutions.com.

Let the Games Begin!

It's the first Saturday of the college football season, and all of a sudden everyone's a football fan. To prove my point, espn has been on for an unprecedented 4 straight hours today in the FOLK greenroom. Unbelievable, I know.

In honor of the new football season, many fans are returning to the fall tradition of tailgating and Saturday afternoon gatherings centered around watching your various teams play. While there is nothing wrong with this, make yourself aware that you can very easily undo an entire weeks worth of healthy decisions in one big afternoon blowout.

So, as you're digging into your second round of BBQ and waiting on the first big upset of the day, allow me to give you permission to not sit on the couch all day watching game after game. Going for a walk between the noon and afternoon games doesn't make you less of a fan. And honestly, there is only so much Lou Holtz and Mark May that one man can take per day. If there's some kids around, go toss the football for a few minutes. Just find something to do for those few moments when you are not missing any game action.

So hurry up! I'm not asking you to miss any plays from your favorite teams games, but do something good for your health today in the midst of watching something that's so good for our souls.

Hail to the Victors!

Why Wait?

When did Americans go from being a people who take action to a people who put off action? In all honesty, I've been known to put things off a time or two. And when it comes to our health, which probably should be the MOST important thing to most of us, we are especially guilty.

Case in point, how many times have you been planning to work out once you got home from work, only to get home and change your mind? Or how often do you hear someone say something to the effect of "I'm starting a new diet/workout program next week/month?" Why wait? Why put off improving our health until we get around to it?

The person that is willing to start now, and work with what they have, is going to see the best results. Maybe you have a shoulder that is bothering you or a knee that's flaring up. These issues may limit the amount of physical activity you can do, and may force you to think outside the box about what you can physically do, but they shouldn't be your excuse to just not do anything. Use this time when you are healing a certain body part to strengthen up some areas that you may not focus enough on. The time spent will jot be in vain, I promise you that.

So why wait any longer? Start doing something. Anything. Do some stretching to loosen up your hips and low back. You'd be surprised how tightness in your core can cause problems in other parts of your body. Get in the pool for a good workout that places relatively little pounding stresses on any of your joints. The moving and swimming might actually alleviate some of your pain.

Just start doing something. Now.

Don't wait for the perfect time to start improving your health.

Because the perfect time will likely never get here.

Accept What You Can't Control

When you're setting out on your plan to improve your health, there are a number of inevitable obstacles that you will encounter along the way. The trick to making yourself healthier for the rest of your life, as opposed to for the first two weeks of whatever program you are trying, is to accept that your training plan has limits and don't let those limits get you down.

As an example, I am currently training to run my second ever half marathon. The race is coming up in just about a month, and I'm not nearly as ready as I want to be. One of the big reasons I'm not closer to ready is completely out of my control--the summer weather. I live in Florida, and to train for a long race you need to log many miles. There have been a few times I've set out from home hoping to get 8-10 miles in, only to walk in the door 2 hours later after finishing 5-6. The summer heat and humidity really takes a lot of energy out of me when I run, and as long as I live here that won't change. So, instead of giving up on trying to get a new PR in this race because it's too hot to train like I want to, I keep grinding out as many miles a day as I can, and make sure to rest for a couple of days before trying a long run. Tomorrow I'm shooting for at least 10, so hopefully the weather will be slightly cooler and my body will cooperate.

Another road block to a healthy lifestyle is our body's need for rest after physical activity. This rest comes in two forms, one taking days off and one sleeping enough at night. Sleeping close to 8 hours a night is important because that is when the body does most of it's tissue repair. Sleeping enough at night helps your muscles get stronger and allows for you to be able to exercise longer and at a higher intensity. And sometimes, you just need to take a day off from working out to allow your muscles to rest as well. On these off days, however, it is still important for you to make sure that you are engaging in some moderate activity, but nothing that forces your body to work too hard.

Family, kids, pets, and work are all other things that tend to get in our way occasionally as we work towards improving our overall health. If you learn how to mange these distractions, and how to overcome them and stay on the active path, there is no doubt that you will begin to see the physical changes that you are hoping for.

Just Do It

Face it folks, how many of us really look forward to working out every day?

This seemingly simple question isn't quite as superficial as it seems. Most active people, myself included, look forward to the IDEA of working out every day. We may look at a calendar and plan out our cardio and strength training days. Maybe you sign up for a yoga or pilates class as well.

Then, inevitably, the day of the workout gets here and it just seems like the last thing on Earth any of us would like to do.

So what do you do? Gut out a workout that you really have no desire to complete? Ideally, maybe. But maybe not. Doing the whole workout, when you have no desire to be there, can leave you with an awfully bad taste in your mouth. The kind of taste that might prevent you from hitting the gym or the pool or whatever you had planned the next time.

So should you just skip the workout entirely? Absolutely not.

Instead, you need to alter the workout but still do something. Maybe today you were supposed to do a P90x workout but you are just dragging. Well instead of ploy-x just do cardio x instead. Or instead of running take the dog and the kids for a longer walk than normal. If you're going to the gym, only do one or two sets of one or two exercises instead of your normal 4 sets of 6 exercises.

The key is to do something and listen to your body. Sometimes once you get started, your attitude will switch and you'll knock out the whole workout anyway. And sometimes your body is begging for a break of routine, but will respond positively to some light activity.

The trick to maintaining a healthy active lifestyle is to understand that to err and miss a workout is human. But to use one bad day or week as an excuse to quit working out is just that--quitting. You are literally giving up on yourself. And you deserve better from yourself than that.

So do a little something everyday, no matter how little that something is.