Use Stealth Health

The principle is simple enough: Eat a variety of healthy foods, eat less junk, and exercise more. The question isn’t the principle. The question is How? I use Weber’s Law, which states that you can’t detect a difference in stimuli that is less than 10%. Have somebody lift a 50 and a 51 pound weight and they will have a hard time telling them apart. I use something more like a 1% difference, but I do so with wicked persistence. I begin by eating one, just one, more leaf of lettuce and one, and only one, less spoonful of ice cream. I take just one flight of stairs. When I have grown completely accustomed to this level of change, then I take the next baby step. When if I go nuts and eat a pint of chocolate chip? These things happen, but I know the difference between a blip and a trend. The pint of chocolate chip is a blip. The general trend is toward greater health. This approach has an added benefit in that I haven’t told everybody I’m on a health kick so when they see me down the pint of chocolate chip, I don’t feel embarrassed. I say to myself, tomorrow is another day and I’ll get back on track.