November 11, 2015
November 9. 2015
Peer Pressure vs. Teamwork
It’s a well-known fact that when we start out on our journey
of diet and exercise that there is an incredibly greater chance of success if
we have someone there to keep us accountable.
On those days when it’s hard to get motivated to get out there and do it
this is the person that calls you on it and makes you do it. Or when that extra helping of desert is just
screaming your name they remind you that no it’s not worth it, remember your
goals.
But for someone like me where the best way to get me to do
something is tell me not to and I definitely am not going to be pushed where is
the line between a good accountability partner and peer pressure? Or for someone on a diet how do you encourage
them to stick with it in a way that is not making them feel like they are being
judged? It’s a tricky line between
helpful and hurtful especially since these are areas that tap into our most
personal feelings about ourselves.
This is not a subject that is easily addressed like it would
be if the question were how many grams of protein you need in your diet. While the answer for that varies slightly it’s
still something that you can point to a certain study or textbook and go here
is your answer and here is why it’s so.
This is an incredibly more vague area of our lives and can even vary
from person to person. What might work
for me might be totally offensive to someone else.
It’s my belief that it comes down to the relationship that
you have with the person. This is the
starting point that you would need to develop in order to have the basis on
which to build the trust needed to be a good accountability partner. When you develop trust between yourself and
your partner it allows you to say things that might be borderline in their
ability to be offensive. My wife, for example,
and I have a close enough relationship that if I say something to her about
that extra piece of desert maybe not being the best idea she trusts me that it’s
out of love and caring for her and her goals not me judging her. This is saying a lot considering the “does
this dress make me look fat” question is the one that strikes terror into every
man’s heart! There is no right answer to
that question ladies don’t ask us.
Please ever! But I digress,
because we have built a foundation of trust we can be there for each other and
help each other reach our goals.
So what do you take from this today? No matter what your goals are in this area of
your life you are going to have greater success if you have someone there to
help you and hold you accountable. Find
that person and ask them to be there for you.
But make sure and start working right away on that friendship or
relationship at the same time so that you have it as a foundation to build
on. Who knows you might start out on a
path to a more active and healthy life and end up with the side benefit of a
better and closer relationship with your partner.
November 9. 2015
Why Be Active?
Why am I going to be active?
I guess when you are making the decision to start an active lifestyle
and all that goes along with it, this is the first question that you need to
ask yourself. Why put in the
effort? Why chose to go out and do
something active instead of curling up in front of the TV with some delicious
snacks and watch reruns of Family Guy.
Is there anything that I really gain in my mind by doing this?
For me I have always been active to some extent. Growing up we had plenty of time to run and
do things outside. All mom had to do was
blink and there would be a game of homerun derby going on in her front yard
filled with all the kids in the neighborhood!
The outdoors and being active was a natural part of my life growing
up. It was something that I enjoyed and
looked forward too.
But
then the inevitable happened, I grew up. Yes Peter Pan has it made
doesn’t he! But for the rest of us that marching of time
keeps going and our youth and the fun things that we took for granted
are
replaced. Now we are forced to focus on
work and the things that need fixing around the house. The kids need to
go somewhere and the wife
needs something picked up. The list goes
on and all of a sudden it’s time to go to bed because well it’s after
midnight
and six is going to come around way to soon.
Lost in the mix is that active and healthy lifestyle that I enjoyed as a
kid. That pure enjoyment and desire that
I felt to go outside and run just to run, to play just to play, to be
active!
I was forced to take a look at my life and make a decision
as to how I wanted to go forward. Did I
care enough about myself and those around me to take care of myself in a way
that would allow me to be around for the long run? This to me was the answer to the question of
why was I going to be active. So many of
the diseases and issues that we have in our society today are the direct result
of our lack of activity. They could have
been prevented not with some new miracle drug, but by something as simple as
walking and being active every day. Diabetes
runs in my family, did I want to succumb to it as something that was inevitable
or do the things that will help prevent it?
For me it was an easy choice. There are so many health benefits to being
active, many of which we will talk about on this blog and on this page. But in the end the simplest and more
important reason to be active is for those that you love. The ones who want you to be there with them
and doing things with them. Who want you
to see graduations, weddings, and grandkids.
If not for ourselves we owe it to those we love to take care of
ourselves and to live a healthy and active life.
Ben
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