Go Big or Go Home. Or not?
Ah, the new year! The fresh start effect is in full display with countless of people proclaiming this is finally the year they take back their health. Seeing an influx of goal-setting strategies, it is also not uncommon for the wellness zealots and charlatans to come out of the woodwork claiming they have the secret to help you get there for only “fill in the blank” dollars and the namesake of your first-born child. As the kids say, “it’s giving” join our cult!
It has always made me bristle because there is not a one-size-fits-all formula for good health. The definition of good health isn’t even that simple. Rather, just as we are all individual, our definitions of good health and the path to achieve it are individual as well. Not only that, but let’s call out what exactly is at the root of these dogmatic wellness claims villainizing food groups, making you scared of bananas, plants, and seed oils. It’s people profiting off of desperation.
It’s no surprise that we all want a better, fitter body and I would argue that pursuing good health is always an admirable venture. But while the wolves are out in droves to convince you that the only way to get you what you want is their way, please listen to some sage advice. Going hard and extreme is a short-cut that often takes you even further away from the finish line than when you began. I get it though, I really do. A lot of people tend to relax a good bit around the holidays. They consume many more indulgences than they do any other time in the year. Kids are out of school. There are parties and family get-togethers galore. Bedtime is not nearly as rigid, so routine is difficult to maintain. We could call this an extreme of its own. Come the end of January, they feel gross and would do just about anything not to feel that way. Thus, they swing to the other extreme. Instead of just simply getting back on track with a reasonable diet and exercise program, they shell out their precious pennies on diet plans that eliminate whole food groups and require 15 hours a week in the gym.
What if, instead, you decided this was the year you actually did your health the biggest favor and you approached this whole thing with reason. What if, instead of a 48 hour fast, you just decided to not dip your hand in the candy jar seventeen times a day? What if, instead of no exercise, you simply parked your car a bit farther from your office? What if, instead of drinking a gallon of water a day when right now you drink no water minus what’s in your tea and coffee, you just started your day with a glass of water? What if, instead of eliminating whole food groups, you simply focused a bit more on protein and added some fibrous vegetables to your plate?
I’m certainly no doctor, nor am I dietician or trainer, but as a coach, the following are probably the most reasonable things any of us could focus on in the pursuit of better health.
Get 7-10 hours of sleep most of the time. The population of people who need less than this is incredibly small.
Drink enough water throughout the day so your urine is light yellow.
Eat food with ingredients you can pronounce. Hat tip to my RD friend Rebecca Turner for this simple formula for meal planning.
Lead with protein.
Add a fruit and/or veggie. Bonus points if you do both.
Let the chips (literal and/or figurative) fall where they may.
What’s neat about this formula is if you eat in this order, you’re usually so full and satiated at the end of the meal that you often don’t really want #3.
Exercise.
Strength train 2-3 times a week.
Being sore is an indication you overdid it. Exercise is meant to make you feel better at the end of it than when you began. 😉
Walk as often as you can.
Stretch as often as you can.
Get outside.
Just focusing on any one of these when you haven’t otherwise can illicit majorly positive benefits. They aren’t sexy, nor are they glamorous, but these pillars of a healthy lifestyle haven’t changed for the longest of time.
Instead of white knuckling through a total lifestyle overhaul, what if you just decided to find one or two things you could focus on until they became something you automatically did? What if you looked at your life and made a change to one thing that stood to make the biggest impact on your entire health? What if instead of going about this to get your results as fast as possible, you recognized your health is worth working on every day for the rest of your life? In other words, you’re worth working on every day for the rest of your life.