Shape Up or Be Shaped
How Do You Want The Printout Of You To Look Like? 3-Minute Tip Sheet
A pretty printout of you takes an inside job—your wellness.
Metacardio®
Goodness in, goodness out. Garbage in…
In the past Covid pandemic, you’ve proven your capability to take on new routines. How about optimizing your adjustments to build a better version of yourself for life?
The option is yours to live life by chance or by choice.
Volunteer to be a victim
Or vow to be the victor.
Metacardio®
Your choice, I trust, is obvious. I also trust you will set solid goals. No wishful thinking. For example, if any of these apply to you, you will promise yourself:
I am going to weigh ___ pounds in ___ months.
I am going to walk ___,000 steps a day by ___ weeks.
I am going to get at least ___ hours of sleep, starting tonight.
You can fill in your numbers after reading the rest of this post.
Equally important, you won’t let how you go about it defeat your objectives. If it isn’t pleasurable and sensible, you won’t proceed or succeed for long, nor should you.
We are each hardwired differently. Yet, by installing some validated software of your choice and purposely hitting one click or keystroke at a time, you’ll see the printout you want. Sure, it’ll take some self-programming, but you’re already a pro at it since surviving Covid.
After this, there’ll be more suggestions on the ‘how’ in my posts to follow. They were gathered and validated by some 2000 of my patients and coworkers over 25 years in a clinic program, Healing Habits for a Happy, Healthy, Hassle-free Lifestyle for Life.
3-Minute Tip Sheet for Shaping Up
Blow Off Blow
Even if you don’t have a weight problem, sugar is still considered “the new cocaine” due to its addictiveness and health hazards. A can of soda contains up to 16 lumps of sugar, and many packaged juices are no better. In 2023, the World Health Organization banned artificial sweeteners for their cancer risks.
Water down your sweet drinks by about 1/10 to eventually less than 1/2, so gradually you can’t taste the difference. Use sparkling water if preferred. Take weeks or longer. You’ll end up with a lifetime of benefits.
This ‘deliberate dilution delusion’ will painlessly pull your sweet tooth as if with laughing gas. Sugary drinks often amount to 25% of total calorie intake. So, this move alone can lose you a pound a week, while giving you better long-term health.
Game Over Gut
You must like what you eat, especially if you’re overeating it. Going ‘cold turkey’ isn’t a hot idea. Nobody can stay on a diet if they don’t enjoy the taste. Instead, slowly trim all your food portions over time, from one bite to eventually one-quarter of it, so gradually that you hardly notice. Put away this small “startover” portion (not leftover) BEFORE you start eating.
If you need not lose the 1-2 pounds per week the above will bring, or if you get hungry between meals, do this. Try some palm-size (not palm-leaf-size) snacks from the tasty Mediterranean Menu. Sugary snacks make you even hungrier and very quickly. Fiber contents chew and nourish better and longer. Go nuts, literally.
If you want to lose weight, remember hunger is too strong a primal drive to overcome. So, never go too hungry, or you’ll lose the “hunger game” in a “hunger strike”. As your stomach shrinks with smaller portions over time, hunger vanishes. So will unhealthy gut fat.
From your tasty new finds on the Mediterranean Menu, swab them in for the less advisable old picks in your regular meals. Now, you can be both healthy and taste-satisfied. You have your health “kick” and eat it too.
In this way, you eat for the joy of life.
You’re not dieting for the fear of death.
Eliminate Exorbitant Exercise
Crowded gyms clear out by January 7. Many beginners push too hard, so they hit the wall, feel awful, and then quit. Walk, don’t run, yet—unless you’re already fit.
Do you have exercise limitations like time, gear, and ability? Actually, they can facilitate your design of an activity routine that’s more convenient and sustainable with less fanfare. Healthy 100-year-old Blue Zone people don’t “exercise”. They just habitually don’t idle. To produce a physical activity habit, big productions are counterproductive.
2 minutes/day of moderate movements can make you healthier.
Can’t spare the time? Really?
Maybe it’s time to reshape your priorities.
To meet the minimum gold standard takes only 20 minutes a day of moderate activity, like brisk walking, even house or garden work. Feel free to divide the 150 minutes/week into as many sessions as you need. Fitting it readily into the gaps of your locked schedule is the key. Got only one minute? Move for one minute.
Wait, What Weight?
Weight is not the only indicator of health. The Body Mass Index is useful in the extreme ends. If your BMI is under 20, it may be dangerous to lose any weight. If it’s closer to 40, see a doctor to check if you have health problems from it. Many serious ones are silent until it’s too late.
If you have poor health from being overweight, gradually losing 6% will gain you most of the health benefits. Dropping over 1-2 pounds a week is not so healthy or sustainable. Weight roller-coasting loses you muscle mass and regains you fluffy fat, plus other health harms. “Yoh, no yo-yo, y’all.”
Sleep Sufficiently
Inadequate sleep long-term is linked to bad mood, poor performance, and many illnesses, including dementia. Sleeping between 7-9 hours a day is essential for health and wellness. Also for losing weight—didn’t know you could sleep it off, huh? Sleep is a sound investment of your time!
"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.
If you can dream it, you can become it.”
– William Arthur Ward
Bonus Good Night Podcast
Enjoy these 2-3 minute delights before dreaming away.
(1) Do Dreams Come True?
(2) Common sense, uncommonly practiced
(3) Science of scoring hoops
(4) Dream performance
(5) Body-Mind-Spirit
(6) Your life’s dream
(7) Make your dream come true
This second stand-alone post is an easy jump-starter for a series called Healing Habits.
The top and bottom images above are curated from iStock with subscription.
Once again, this post nails it. "Walk, don't run" is not just an old Ventures song from the 60s, it's a Blue Zone mantra for longevity. Moderation ... and using our human tendencies in our favor ... this is a post to be read over and over again, until new sensible habits establish themselves.