A New Approach

Have you ever wondered why so many struggle in great frustration with weight loss, getting in shape, and reaching their health and fitness goals? There are so many diet and exercise programs available today. If you spend any time on the internet or watching TV, you will be deluged with infomercials and ads offering the best plan money can buy to guarantee you will reach those noble health goals you have set. But so often the plan fails to deliver on its offering. Is this because the plan is ineffective or badly planned? I don’t think so. I also don’t think it’s because you’re lazy or undisciplined or doomed to fail. But I’d like to share with you what I do think.

My primary concern with so many structured, strict weight-loss programs is that they don’t seem to acknowledge the world in which we live. They’re not bad plans; many people have achieved tremendous fitness success following programs such as Weightwatchers, the Mediterranean Diet, the South Beach Diet, and many others. Thousands of dieters have maintained their success and have kept the excess weight off for years. However, so many others have tried one or more of these plans and have either experienced very little success or have done great for a while but eventually drifted away from the program and found themselves months later back where they started. If this has been your experience, I want to encourage you by asking two questions: Could it be a reality that for most individuals, strict diet plans are simply too unrealistic? Do you think you might have greater success achieving your fitness and weight loss goals if there were a stronger emphasis on increasing movement than on restricting food choices, while at the same time making common-sense, balanced nutritional choices? I believe so. My book and these blog posts will explore and promote this energizing and practical concept.

When considering any diet or nutrition plan, it is important to acknowledge that we live in a culture that values our food and our leisure. In this environment, we’re continuously bombarded with enticing, visually stimulating advertisements (coercions) in the media that urge us to enhance our lives by eating some delicious food which, more often than not, is quite unhealthy. It is also significant to recognize that most of us are extremely busy with our family and work commitments, social events, religious activities, and much more. And even though denial and strict nutrition may be the ideal, given the reality of our society, I believe a highly regimented program is far too often unrealistic and can actually prove to be detrimental for many.

I’d like to encourage you to take a different approach that taps into the concept of moderation paired with a reasonable, not overwhelming, level of discipline. The plan begins by acknowledging the realities of our everyday lives and asks the question, “How can I become healthier, more fit, and drop weight in a common-sense, realistic way that doesn’t call for radical, potentially unsustainable changes in my world?” If you are simply looking for some sensible ideas for eating smart and gradually increasing your movement (exercise) in a real world full of alluring temptations, these daily posts are for you.

In the next few weeks, we’ll explore the foundational principles on which I base my thoughts on fitness and health. Following these principles, I’ll present 102 practical exercise and nutritional practices to help you on your journey toward better health. These “life hacks” are organized into two categories:

• 51 Fitness and Exercise Life Implementations

• 51 Nutritional Life Implementations 

These Fitness and Exercise posts will offer a book-full of creative, fun, easy-to-implement exercise ideas. Though many dieters say they hate exercise and would much rather significantly adjust their eating habits to lose weight and get fit, I’ve found that this approach has proven to be ineffective in the long-term for many. The common aversion to exercise seems often to be based on a misguided perception that exercise has to equate to long distance runs or exhausting gym workouts surrounded by judgmental body builders. In light of this misconception, how about taking an approach that focuses on increasing activity in simple, easy-to-implement ways while making moderate adjustments in nutritional practices? These moderate eating adjustments will be presented as 51 commonsense suggestions and actions to slowly implement into your world. 

These posts won’t promote a specific plan to follow; they simply provide you with balanced, proven, practical ideas to incorporate into your life to help you along the road to better health. The primary concept undergirding these practices is this: By gradually implementing simple exercise practices and making small, regular eating adjustments, you will avoid the burnout that so often accompanies radical dietary changes. In avoiding this burnout, these new practices will hopefully become a part of your life and will lead to long-term fitness and successful weight loss.

And one more thing: I’ll be mixing into the blog posts an occasional original poem, general life concept, and a few random thoughts here and there. I hope you’ll tune in.