Monday, January 3, 2011

What is Healthy???




As people flood the gyms and attempt, once again, to kick off their new year's resolution to lose weight, I feel more motivated to educate people on what health is. At work, my coworker and I have started a WELLNESS CHALLENGE instead of a WEIGHTLOSS Challenge. The point is for people to track healthy behaviors for 6 weeks. Each person who participates, WINS. You get points by checking off your daily checklist. Each check = one point. On the daily list, there are tasks like drink 8 glasses of water, eat two fruits, eat three vegetables, engage in 10 minutes of activity (this is a great way to start if you are not already exercising), and take a moment to be thankful for what you have EACH DAY. Our mindset behind this is to help people learn healthy behaviors BEFORE they attempt to lose weight. We want people to reach a healthy weight and MAINTAIN it... Not lose it and gain it back.

While I am on my soap box: CARBOHYDRATES ARE NOT THE DEVIL. WEIGHT WATCHERS, SOUTH BEACH, and other popular diets can be used as tools, but they will not teach you to keep the weight off unless you change the way you view food (as fuel) and portion sizes.

I want people to realize that cleaning up your diet FREES you; it does not TRAP you. Our society is ADDICTED to junk food and ADDICTED to quick fixes.

So HEALTHY is not just a combination between weight and exercise; it is a lifestyle. Stress management, a healthy support system, and sleep are all ALSO a part of health and WEIGHTLOSS.

Speaking of HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS:
I have decided to learn golf. I want to exercise. My husband does not want to go to the gym. I like to run. Clay will NOT run. Clay will golf. I will learn to golf. Do you see my reasoning? I have realized that my own gym schedule will not be worth it in 10 years, unless I get to spend some of it with my husband. Sure, I will be healthy, but I want to be with Clay. Do not get me wrong, I really enjoy my workouts with girlfriends, or by myself in my zone ... but my husband is my best friend. I want to do things with HIM. If golfing with him leads to walking or stretching with him. FABULOUS. Maybe that will lead to doing some shoulder exercises to strengthen our swings... WHO KNOWS.


I am off to finish some cleaning, get in some strength training, and then maybe, JUST MAYBE, I might watch the bachelor. Every year I am disappointed in the human race; however, a preview I saw the other evening about this season sparked my interested. Have a good night!!!!

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