"The first wealth is health." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
What does it mean to be fit? I’ve been thinking about this recently. There are tests that can be taken (VO2 max, BMI, waist to hip ratio, body fat anlaysis, 1.5 mile run, etc) - the list can go on and on. These can all be useful "tests" to help in determining your fitness level. But what qualifies as being fit?
I see it like a puzzle, with several pieces playing a part.
Nutrition
Nutrition plays a large role in determining how fit you are. This is one of the big factors in the puzzle. We are bombarded by food choices, and it can be very easy to make unfavorable ones. It’s a holiday weekend coming up here in the United States. One of those times when it’s easy to overeat. A splurge here and there is ok, just don’t let that become a habit. The key is to eat in moderation, and eat high quality real foods (vegetables, fruits, quality meats, and quality fats).
Cardio Vascular Fitness
Having a healthy heart comes in part from staying active. One great way to do this is through cardio-type exercises (running, walking, biking, swimming, interval training, etc). These types of exercises elevate your heart rate, which helps to strengthen your heart. They also help to burn calories from your body. Just remember that in addition to burning fat calories, this type of exercise also burns muscle.
Strength Training
Muscle-building exercises are another great way to build your fitness level. Having more muscle in your body will help to reduce the fat stores you have, and will also help to burn more of the calories you are eating. This is an important piece of the puzzle, and one that should not be overlooked.
Family History
Family history can play a role in the fitness puzzle as well. This is an area where someone from the medical field can best help assess the effects family history is having on your overall health and fitness levels.
These are some of the factors that play into determing how fit you are. No one test is going to give you a definitive answer, but they can help in assessing where you’re at.
The key is to remain active, and eat healthy. And don’t forget to consult a doctor or other qualified medical professional with more specifics into many of these areas. Living healthy feels great!
“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.” — Leo Buscaglia
With three kids, this one’s usually pretty easy for me. Someone wants to “play” something. And sometimes I resist. Maybe I want to rest, or I have work to do, or lawn cut, or a sink to fix, or … But, when I do play - it’s fun. Sometimes it’s relaxing play (a board game for example), and sometimes its active play (basketball game for example).
So, playing is fun, but what other benefits are there?
Be More Creative
Playing can make you think in new and creative ways. These creative skills apply not only to the games you play, but they roll over into other areas of your life. And that’s a good thing. You begin to think differently, and look at problems with a new set of lenses. You take risks during games, and you’ll be more willing to take risks in other areas of your life.
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” ~ Apple Computers
Increase Happiness
Playing games creates laughter, and happiness (usually). If you played a game of hide and seek, or played a game of Yahtzee, would you not finish up and be happier than when you started? There is great joy in playing with others, and laughing together. One thing I do with my daughter is play the basketball game of “around the world” - where you shoot baskets from different points on the court until someone has made all of them. To mix things up, I like to name the locations (give them a country name for instance), or make up a funny name for her (a movie character for instance). She gets into this, and remembers these for some time afterward - and it’s fun for both of us.
Reduce Stress
One more benefit of play is reduced stress. Most games that are played for fun are games that leave us with a lower stress level than when we started. During play, we can forget about the worries of the world that we have. Through the pleasure we get from play, stress is removed from our bodies. And with less stress in our lives, we’ll make better choices in other areas as well.
Increase Energy
Play a game, and you’ll feel energized. You might feel tired after a very active game, but you’ll still feel new energy in your body. The laughter and cameraderie will re-invigorate you. You’ll finish the game and be better suited to do the other things you have planned because of your increased energy levels.
Go out and play a game. Scrabble. Tag. Football. Ring around the rosie. Apples to Apples. Coloring book. Hopscotch. Monopoly. Paint by numbers. Ride the merry-go-round.
You’ll have fun, be more creative, and remove stress from your life! Sounds like a recipe for success.
"The best cure for the body is a quiet mind" — Napoleon Bonaparte
Silence - how often do we really have it? The sounds of cars passing by, or television, or MP3 players, or phone calls, or computers, or a dog, or a lawn mower, or whatever else we have in our life that makes sound. Rarely do we have the opportunity for true quiet moments.
With all the "noise" in our lives, we can become numb to what our bodies and minds are trying to tell us. We can’t hear what they are saying. So what are the effects of this? The effects are that we don’t really come to know and understand ourselves. We continue to go through life without actively, and truely, deciding the direction we want to go.
I had an experience to attend a retreat a couple of years ago. One of the most moving moments for me was during the first evening at the retreat, where we were to spend the evening in silence from evening through the next morning. What a great lesson in the power of silence. During this time, I was able to reflect upon my life, and really think about what mattered to me. As we discussed the weekend after it was over, this moment was the most powerful for me. This was powerful, because it had happened so rarely for me before this. And I was able to begin really knowing who I was.
But how often do we do this in our regular lives? We can caught up in our everday tasks, and pretty soon the day has turned into night, or Sunday into Saturday, or January into December. And we continue on, doing what we’ve always done, letting our lives be determined by others.
Find time to have quiet moments in your life. These are reflective times where you get to know yourself better. And in doing this, you will lead a more fulfilled life.
“More often in life, we end up regretting the chances in life that we had, but didn’t take them, than those chances that we took and wished we hadn’t.” - Anonymous
“It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.” — Eric Lindros
With three kids in many differnt sports and music programs, it seems there is always a practice of some sort to go to. Right now it’s baseball, softball, and piano.
This got me thinking about the value of practice - on several different angles.
Practice is for What?
What things do we (as adults) practice? What are we working at getting better at? And this isn’t just doing our job we’re paid to do. Usually this is the “game” situation. How are we practicing, when it doesn’t count? We need to spend time reading, taking classes, learning new things. Think about when you’ve tried something new - you’re probably excited, maybe taking a class, or learning how to do “it” on the side. You want to be good when it counts. But what happens after we become “good”? Does practice take a back seat? I think the answer is yes, often in can. But we must not become complacent in our practicing of the skills we have. The better we become at using these skills, the more we’ll be able to use these skills for good.
Do You Just Show Up?
So, you’re practicing? But is it productive practice? To get the most out of our practice, we need to make it quality time spent. This means we are fully engaged during our training time. Maybe we set aside a certain time of day (i.e. taking a class at the local community college). Or maybe we read a book, having a highlighter and notebook along. Or maybe we work on something with a group of people, with everyone contributing value to the group. The key here is that we’re not just at practice for the sake of practice. We’re there to get better at whatever it is that burns inside of us.
Make It Fun
If you’re not enjoying practice, then maybe you’re not enjoying the “game” either. Enjoy what you do, and practice will be as fun as the real thing. If it’s fun, you’re more likely to stick with it.
Apply What You’ve Learned
What good is practice if you go out afterward and just keep doing what you’ve always done? The key to practice is that you learn something and apply it. This is why we practice. We are working at getting better at what we do (or want to do).
This all reminds me of a couple of college courses I’ve had (several years ago!). If you think of the college course as the practice, then the real thing would be either the class tests, or applying what you’ve learned in real life situations. Some of these classes, I know I didn’t apply what I had learned, and the price I paid was poor grades on tests. At the time, I was happy to have passed. But in reality, what did I learn? Not a lot, and especially not a lot that would stay with me once I left that class. So, in that case, I had just showed up, had little fun, and couldn’t apply at all what I had learned. My practice in these classes, was of little practical use for me. How many times in our life does this happen? The key is to minimize (or eliminate) these. This is done by having fun at what we’re doing and learning. In turn, this leads to us wanting to learn more, and grow and improve. And that’s what practice is all about!
“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime. ” ~ Babe Ruth
It’s youth baseball season here right now. Last night brought two games at our household - for my older son (13) and younger son (9). On the one hand, both games ended in defeat. On the other hand, both boys each had what I felt was their best personal performance of the year. I came home excited by their performances, telling them it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. But, was that the right approach?
As a parent, I was most pleased that my children performed well for the team. And, I believe both boys felt they had performed well. But their view was more focused on the team. They were more upset about losing the game than on have a great personal game.
Taking this all into perspective, the kids had this one right. It is better to share in the victory of a team over the individual effort of one. That is not to say the indivual effort is not to be praised. The key, though, is to meld together individual performance for the betterment of the team.
This, of course, applies to all team sports. But in can apply in other areas as well. Think work teams, or teams of volunteers, or family “teams”. When we can get everyone on the team (no matter what kind of team we have) working together toward a common goal, with everyone putting forth their best effort, is when we have the greatest opportunity to have a great team effort. Maybe this results in a win (little league baseball), or maybe it results in a successful software implementation (work project), or maybe it results in a successful clean-up of a local park (volunteer project), or maybe it results in a great family vacation (family). In the end, how the team performs trumps individual performance. Invidual performance plays a factor in the team performance, but only if it is in alignment with the team.
So, in the activities that matter in our life, it is important that we strive to give our personal best. At that same time, however, it is equally important that our personal achievements are in alignment with the overall achievement of our team. It is then that we will experience the true success of these teams!
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” - Ancient Buddhist proverb
Two days ago I was riding my bike on the bike path near our house. The bike path travels through a mostly rural and wooded area. As I was riding, I saw a turkey standing on the path ahead of me. The turkey was on the opposite side of the path, and I assumed he would run into the field. Well, he must not have saw me until I was almost right beside him. And, instead of running into the field nearest him (and away from me), he chose to run back across the path right in front of me. This was the side from which he had approached the path just earlier. I just missed hitting him by less than a foot!
So, why do I bring this up? It got me thinking … how many times do we continue to go down the path (or road) we know because that’s what we’re “comfortable” with? And how many times could we try new roads in our life, and see where they take us? It’s easy to get caught up in doing what we’ve always done. There is a comfort level in knowing what to expect. But is that road taking you in the direction you want your life to go in?
It’s important that we take time to evaluate where we are going in life, and why we’re doing what we do. Spending the time to determine what we want and desire in life will lead to us having the life we desire. Sure, there will be times when we make mistakes, or when we go down a road that is really a dead end. Maybe (likely) we’ll decide later in our life that some of the roads we were going down no longer are directions we want to go. But in going down these new roads as we lead our life, we get to know ourselves better.
So, explore those new roads out there. You’ll find new things, and learn more about yourself in the process!
“Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.” ~ Cicero
Have you ever had a bad day? Or just don’t feel quite as chipper as you usually do? A sure-fire way to change this is … exercise!
Every time I exercise, I come away with a “high”. Oh, I might feel tired, beat up, and physically exhausted. But, my mental attitude is always “better” than it was before I exercised. A few days ago, I biked home from work in a strong headwind. By the time I arrived at home, I was tired and later than planned. But I still felt great about being out there, moving my body. I felt great even though I felt tired!
Exercise can take many forms. A walk around the block, football in the backyard, running a 5K race, strength training, playing tag, the list goes on and on. So, make some time to exercise every day. Mix it up, making some days more strenuous than others. Find things you like to do that will keep you active. And then get out there and do it. Your body and mind will be renewed!
” There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” — Roger Staubach
Effort: An exertion of strength or power, whether physical or mental, in performing an act or aiming at an object; more or less strenuous endeavor; struggle directed to the accomplishment of an object; as, an effort to scale a wall.
Are there some things you do that you’re not giving 100 percent of your effort? Of course there are. To go full out all the time would be difficult at best, and most likely disastrous.
Are there some things which matter greatly to you that you have not given 100 percent effort? Yes, there probably are. However, these things which matter to us are where we should be concentrating our effort.
Example: Last night I was working out. My health is something which I value very much (although I didn’t always). My workout last night consisted of resistance training, specifically deadlifts and squats. After having recently taken a couple of weeks off from any kind of workout, I have been using lighter weights than I had been in the past. Last night was no different. The other difference this time was that I decided to conciously also work on making sure my form was right on as well. During the process of the squat exercise (weight on my shoulders, lowering to a squat position and then rising back up) I realized that all the times in the past when I have been doing this exercise, I have not been going low enough into my squat. In fact, I was only going about 80 percent of the way, or essentially only giving an 80 percent effort. No wonder I was using heavier weights before. It was because the greatest effort comes from the lower you get into the squat position. So, all this time, I’ve been fooling myself in thinking I’m doing well, when really I’ve only been giving about 80 percent of the effort I should.
And this happens in other areas of our (my) life as well. The key is to identify those things which matter the most to you. These are the areas you want to give 100 percent of your effort. If you give 80 percent (or 70, or so on), you’re still doing a good job. But to be really great, or really succeed, in those areas which are important to you — an 80 percent effort is mediocre. Going the extra mile, giving the extra effort, caring more deeply are the things that separate good from great.
So, you have to decide. Do you want to be good or great? Identify those things in your life that really matter, give your full effort, and move from good to great!
When are you most likely to spend the money you have (or wish you had)? You are most likely to spend when you go out. Sometimes you go out with the intention of "just looking". How many times do you end up getting something? Maybe you picked it up because it was on sale. Or because you think it is soooo cool. Or because it would make a great gift. We can usually justify our purchases. The question here, however, is instead "Are we buying a planned purchase?"
Planned purchases (groceries, for instance) are things we have planned for before we go out. Planned purchases are ok, because we’ve had time to think about what we need (or maybe want) and have a valid reason for purchasing ahead of time. A valid reason can be whatever is "valid" for you. Your valid and my valid may be different, and that’s ok. Just know that you’ve taken the time ahead of time to validate your purchase, instead of making it a spur of the moment purchase.
This can also apply to online purchases. Have you ever been looking for something online, and then just start to browse around? Maybe you’ve found something, again, that you really want — but it wasn’t planned. This is the same as going out without a plan. In this case, you’re just going out into cyberspace to do your shopping.
So, think about it the next time you go out. Are you going for with a purpose? Maybe the solution is to not go out at all. Stay home and save! Save up for something you really want or need.
“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The last couple of days in our “neck of the woods” have been rainy ones. And this got me to thinking about rain, and the growth that comes from it. The rain feeds the soil and all things that grow from it.
Our lives are like this. We grow when we have been “rained” on. Rain, in this case, would be all the things that come over us. Things like books we read, or conversations with old friends, or dialogs with new people, or classes taken at the local community college, or … the list can go on and on. Everything that we encounter is a chance for us to grow. Sometimes we grow intentionally (taking a course at a local school, for example) and sometimes we grow unintentionally (unplanned conversation with a colleague by the coffee machine, for example).
Unlike the plants and grass that grow naturally because of the rain, the growth we experience because of the “rain” we get isn’t always as natural or automatic. We need to intentionally look for the growth we can get from all of our “rain”. And when we do this, we’ll realize that the world is ours to learn and grow from.
What a great realization this is! Seeing the world and all of our interactions with it as opportunities for learning and growth gives you a limitless future! So, go out there, experience what the world has to offer, then learn and grow from it. And then … go out and share, and make this world a better place!
“Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats.” — Og Mandino
What are the brick walls you face? How do you handle them?
If everything were easy, what kind of joy would we really get? The obstacles we face help us. The help us by challenging us to think differently, or try something new, or work with new (and differnt) people, or change that perspective we have. If the brick wall we face is really worth it to us, then we’ll come out stronger for having tackled it. Sometimes the brick wall will win. But sometimes, we’ll conquer that brick wall. And in both cases, it’s a chance for us to learn and grow.
My son’s soccer team was losing pretty badly a couple of weeks ago. We quickly fell behind by several goals. The kids on the team started blaming each other. Some kids weren’t trying as hard as they could. As a coach, I was frustrated. Brick wall. At half time, we regrouped. We focused on what had went well, and talked about working together as a team and trusting everyone to play their positions. We played much better, everyone was having fun, and teamwork was evident. In the end we lost, but only by a two goals (after being down by many). So, the brick wall won. Or did it? We may not have conquered it. But, because of it, we became stronger as a team. And the next week we went on to have our best game of the season, playing with intensity, and really showing the teamwork we’ve been attempting to get to.
So, don’t view setbacks as failures. Consider them opportunities to learn. We can learn much from the brick walls we face. Embrace them! Welcome them! Grow from them!
July 3, 2008 
Posted in Health & Fitness 
6 Comments » 
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