HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT YOUR FITNESS TODAY?

Don’t you just love the holiday feasts? There are very few things I enjoy more than eating and drinking with reckless abandon over the holidays. When wine is freely flowing and the air is pregnant with temptation, it feels great to grab that extra scoop of cheesy potatoes. Or eat apple pie for breakfast. Don’t you think it’s proper to fully absorb the loving spoonfuls prepared by people we love? It’s only once a year, right? Here’s a seldom quoted truism: once we get past the age of 30, the average American gains one pound per year through age 70. Hmmm…how could one pound a year make that big of a difference? Let’s see, I weighed 148 pounds when I got married 25 years ago, and maintained that weight until I was about 30. Today, 18 years later the scandalous scale in my bathroom smirks “168 pounds” at me. 18 years, 20 pounds. Ouch. Maybe I didn’t notice because I think of myself as tall, dark and handsome?
Here's what 20 pounds in 18 years looks liker
When writing the book: What Really Works, Blending the Seven Fs for the Life You Imagine, Tim Schmidt and I discovered many inspiring Fitness stories. He wrote most of the Fitness chapter, and alas, he started working out more and eating less. Today, he certainly looks a lot more like Adonis tha
I do…he’s arrested the culturally-accepted one-pound-per-year thing. So, today I sit here pondering my options. Two days ago, most people made some sort of New Year’s Resolution — it’s no surprise that “I’m going to lose weight” is the most ridiculed cliché of the resolution ritual. The Today Show says so. I feel great…but do I have the character to arrest the slide? As God as my witness (and a couple thousand people who read this blog) I’m going to arrest the one pound a year accumulation this year. That means I will need to embrace the only thing that really works: commit to the Code RED lifestyle. To quote our own book: maintaining a fit and healthy body requires what we’ve dubbed “Code RED”: reduction, education, and discipline. As our survey research mounted, these three themes kept emerging as definitive success factors to fitness. For example, a recent major study provided one recipe for cutting your risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, or cancer by 78 percent. The recipe? Avoid smoking, exercise three to four days per week; maintain a body mass index less than thirty; and eat a diet favoring fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Hmm…I don’t recall many fruits, vegetables (without cheese) and whole grains over the holidays (unless Apple Pie counts.) I’m not a smoker, so that’s good. But I haven’t learned to enjoy exercise. Is that possible?

Good leaders look into the mirror, and accept the brutal realities (humilities?). And they take commit the time and effort to create positive change.

OK friends…unite! Let’s seize the day and arrest the one-pound-per-year blubberfest. I have to get better at my Fitness, because I’ve just agreed to become a columnist for Faith and Fitness Magazine! Seriously. How are you feeling about your Fitness today? Better yet, think about how we can help each other…send me a reply with your ideas and lets get started.