The Come Alive Project

Category: Exercise

  • Energy Bite 316 – Wellness vs. Illness

    “If you do not make time for your wellness, you will be
     forced to make time for your illness. . .     Read that again.”

    My wife found that quote on Facebook a couple of days ago and passed it on to me. I thought the topic would be appropriate for today’s message.

    There is one all important word in that quote that’s key to the entire statement. Can you guess what it is?

    I regularly hear people say “I just don’t have time to exercise. I know I should but there’s just no time in my day.” Is that a legitimate reason, or an excuse?

    If people really understood how important exercise, eating right, breathing well, and getting sleep were to keeping well, they would commit to doing it. I’m convinced that people don’t really understand.

    Illness, pain and other assorted maladies come from inflammation, poor immune response (often the two are the same), heart and lung problems, various cancers, digestive problems, diabetes, and so forth, and are often associated with lack of physical movement, poor nutrition, and lack of rest and sleep.

    Moderate exercise, healthy foods, deep abdominal breathing, and plenty  of rest and sleep are all part of a good Wellness Program. The best Wellness Programs include plenty of activities on the Mental and Emotional side that help keep you well, too. Mental imagery, meditation, rituals and your overall attitude in general contribute greatly to reduced stress and general well-being.

    But I haven’t mentioned the key word in that quotation. That keyword is . . .  “MAKE”. Maybe you don’t HAVE time during your ordinary day, but there are plenty of ways to MAKE time for healthy habits.

    For example, I am usually at the gym between 5:30 and 5:45 each morning. There is often a pretty full house by the time I get there. The gym opens at 5:00 AM and there are people waiting at the door to get in when the gym opens. Those people have MADE the time for Wellness and are finished their daily workout before most people have staggered out of bed.

    You don’t need a gym to exercise. You can exercise in your bedroom at home early in the morning or in the late afternoon or sporadically during the day or evening depending on your schedule. Yes, it would be nice to get up later but I believe that Wellness beats Illness all the time, and that people who are committed to their Wellness will continue to MAKE time to exercise nearly every day.

    When you are COMMITTED to your health and well being, it’s relatively easy to MAKE some time for exercise. When you’re not committed, then having time is not a factor. It doesn’t really matter to you, does it.

    So keep in mind that you may not HAVE time, but you can always MAKE time for Wellness. Remember, if you don’t MAKE the time for Wellness, then Illness will TAKE the time FROM YOU when it chooses to.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 280 – The Real Reason WHY?

    Exercise and Diet are not the end product.
    If not, what is    ?

    Look closely at most health and fitness websites and you will find they are promoting exercise programs or nutrition programs as the end product — an end unto itself. Most are either muscle building programs or pure weight loss programs. A few are some combination of the two. And that’s fine if your end goal is a lot of muscle or  quick weight loss. But as we’ll see, that’s probably not the end goal for most seniors.

    Chances are with those kinds of programs, one of two things will happen: 1. You get discouraged at your lack of progress and stop, or 2. You reach your goal and your mind tells you that now that you’ve reached it, you can stop. So you do. And your new muscles atrophy or the weight sneaks back on.

    Of course, nutrition is not a settled science. I am convinced that the diet industry thrives on confusion and once the science is really settled (I mean truly, honestly, unequivocally, totally settled), up will pop new authors, new theories, new programs and we will again spend our time and money searching for that everlasting quick fix that simply isn’t there.

    The goal of exercise and eating right is to recharge your personal battery,  your Energy Source, so you can continue living your life on your terms rather than living it dependent on someone or something else — on their terms.

     To continue to keep your physical batteries recharged, there are certain fundamental things you have to do. You must keep moving your body. You must fuel your body with high octane food, oxygen and fluids. You must get plenty of rest and sleep, consistent with your own, individual needs.

    And to keep your mental battery charged, you’ll need to add some meditation, visualization and affirmations into the mix, to tap into the energy of your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is a powerful tool that is used to fortify your mindset. A mindset of energetic self-empowerment is every bit as important for Seniors, as the physical side.

    While muscle building and “program” diets can be useful, the results they offer are either temporary muscles or a temporarily skinny body — not the long term health and fitness improvements that you are most likely striving for. True Health and Fitness is a long term lifestyle “practice”. It must become part of your personal identity.

    So it’s not the activity itself (diet and exercise), it is the benefits of the activity that really matter. The main benefit  for us, as seniors, is to enjoy our senior years with gusto and meaning, on our own terms, and with a fully charged battery at all times. That feeling of being fully alive as you age is the real end product. And to get there you must move and eat healthfully.

    Yes, you’ll like it when people notice your energy and appearance. You can’t help but enjoy feeling better that you have in years. Those are nice benefits too.

    I have a gym friend in his 70s. He is an avid skier. But he doesn’t ski to stay healthy and fit, he gets healthy and fit so he can continue to ski. He is living life on his terms because of what he does to take care of himself.

    In the final analysis, it’s the end result that counts — a long, healthy, happy and productive life, a life you are fully able to live on your own terms, with the energy and gusto of a live well lived.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 267 – Leg Strength for Beginners

    Your Legs are the First to Go. Do This Simple Movement and it Won’t Happen to You!

    In a recent article, I wrote about how, as we get older, our legs are often the first part of our body to show real weakness. Most of us tend to neglect our legs. We spend a lot of time plunked down on the couch watching TV or otherwise sitting down. As we get older, we don’t walk as much, we rarely run, and most seniors don’t do any special leg exercise.

    You can’t be in the flow of life with a weak body, and leg strength is a major part. Too many seniors are limited in what they can do because they lack the leg strength to move around a lot, or even spend much time standing. (more…)