Last post I talked about the "why" and today I'm going to talk about the "how".
How do you stay motivated to hit your goals and keep a steady routine of exercise and eating healthy?
Well I can't speak for everyone else, so I'm going to tell you how I got started and how I always kick myself in the butt when I'm slacking.
The simple answer is vanity.
There is no reason to sugarcoat it and in fact it's being honest about vanity that makes going to the gym that much easier.
I'm going to be very open and honest about this because I think people get the wrong side of a lot of these "transformation" stories. I wasn't obese. I was far from healthy, but I never got to that point where a doctor was telling me if I didn't loose weight I'd develop diabetes. I did have high blood pressure problems from stress, but my doctors never told me cardio alone could elevate that. It was all a talk about bad genetics.
The reason I started on my path to fitness was because I thought it would make my boyfriend at the time love me more. This is as plain as I can be on the matter.
I didn't feel good about myself, I was crazy self conscience and hated how I looked in everything I wore. I was ashamed to be with such a cute guy and feel so frumpy next to him. He NEVER said a word about my weight, never criticized me or told me I could lose a few pounds, but I felt he didn't love me as much because I wasn't as beautiful as I could be.
When I started my training with Terri Walsh she made me do something really important and that was admitting why I was there to train.
"To get healthy!" is what I spouted out and to a point that was very true, but it really wasn't the reason I was there.
I remember Terri looking at me and saying "Yeah ok, but why are you really here."
I didn't understand, wasn't wanting to be healthy enough? She forced me to think about it, she forced me to admit it and it was the most freeing thing that happened in my body breakthrough.
"You want to look cute in a pair of skinny jeans, that's why you're here." Terri said.
She was completely and totally right. I wanted to go into a clothing store and love everything I put on. I wanted to look in the mirror at a naked me and not completely cringe. I wanted to look good!
Terri taught me that vanity is probably the greatest motivator for keeping true to your fitness and eating. Mostly importantly that it's okay, vanity with discipline is not a bad thing!
Vanity is a large part of how my decisions are made. Do I want to binge eat or look amazing in a bathing suit? The answer isn't hard to come to when you look at things that way. I WANT a cute butt, I can forgo pizza for that and do a serious leg workout twice a week. That's why sticking to a plan is easy for me. I'm vain and open about it with myself.
Now health is a big part, but it's almost like the extra awesome bonus. I can't see my heart or my cholesterol. Someone can measure them with a machine and take my blood, but I can't look in the mirror and say "Damn my arteries are fantastic today!"
I can however look in the mirror at how flat my stomach is and how defined my shoulders are getting. Why do you think there are always so many mirrors at the gym? Don't kid yourself, those are not all for form... those are to gawk at progress to pump yourself up!
I don't have the highest self-esteem and that's how I've fallen unto scary places with making food a security blanket, but I've learned from that and now force myself to answer questions about my looks before I slip.
The sooner you admit to wanting to look awesome the easier it will be to stay looking awesome.
Take pictures of yourself often, it will force you to keep yourself in check and accountable!
Next stop for me is a full length mirror, it's been long enough I think I'm over my fear now.
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Inspiration from Your Equals
Tonight I got inspired to write a little bit about fitness progress. I realize I LOVE seeing people reach their goals. Something about it not only inspires me but makes me super happy.
I know a lot of women who see or compare themselves other women and instantly feel terrible (I think we all indulge in that pity part every now and then.) The thing is when I want a little boost I always find myself looking at pics of everyday women who have taken charge of their bodies and transformed themselves.
Before and after pics are a little bit of an addiction to me. I can get sucked into reading every story of every person's journey so easily! The thing is it never makes me hate my body or gets me down. I always feel a surge of confidence when I see how far others have come, especially people who've transformed even more then I have.
Seeing others and their progress always puts things into perspective for me. I find myself doing a little mental check list of my goals and asking myself if I'm on track. Also it helps me to stop myself from emotional eating and can even pump me up for my own workouts. I don't look to athletes as much as I look to my own peers!
I think it's a really fantastic way to look at fitness too. An athlete or anyone in a fitness magazine is paid to look amazing. Their whole life revolves on strict diet and exercise, they should look incredible! But the single mom, the overworked college student, the married couple that decides to motivate each other, these are the people I look to for most of my inspiration. These people have a life filled with all the complications and headaches we all face and they aren't paid to look awesome. I always find myself saying "If they can reach their goals so can I!"
My life will always be stressful. I'll probably always be operating on just not enough sleep. I'm almost always sore and yes I will always love chocolate, but these things don't have to be the reasons I can't take care of myself.
Fitness is a part of life, it shouldn't be viewed as a luxury. You don't need a fancy gym to workout and you don't need a nutritionist to eat clean whole foods. Sure you might need a motivation boost every now and then and for that I say look to all the other people out there who at one point said, "I'm done looking and feel terrible I'm changing." It's that simple and seriously always get's me going with a smile.
I know a lot of women who see or compare themselves other women and instantly feel terrible (I think we all indulge in that pity part every now and then.) The thing is when I want a little boost I always find myself looking at pics of everyday women who have taken charge of their bodies and transformed themselves.
Before and after pics are a little bit of an addiction to me. I can get sucked into reading every story of every person's journey so easily! The thing is it never makes me hate my body or gets me down. I always feel a surge of confidence when I see how far others have come, especially people who've transformed even more then I have.
Seeing others and their progress always puts things into perspective for me. I find myself doing a little mental check list of my goals and asking myself if I'm on track. Also it helps me to stop myself from emotional eating and can even pump me up for my own workouts. I don't look to athletes as much as I look to my own peers!
I think it's a really fantastic way to look at fitness too. An athlete or anyone in a fitness magazine is paid to look amazing. Their whole life revolves on strict diet and exercise, they should look incredible! But the single mom, the overworked college student, the married couple that decides to motivate each other, these are the people I look to for most of my inspiration. These people have a life filled with all the complications and headaches we all face and they aren't paid to look awesome. I always find myself saying "If they can reach their goals so can I!"
My life will always be stressful. I'll probably always be operating on just not enough sleep. I'm almost always sore and yes I will always love chocolate, but these things don't have to be the reasons I can't take care of myself.
Fitness is a part of life, it shouldn't be viewed as a luxury. You don't need a fancy gym to workout and you don't need a nutritionist to eat clean whole foods. Sure you might need a motivation boost every now and then and for that I say look to all the other people out there who at one point said, "I'm done looking and feel terrible I'm changing." It's that simple and seriously always get's me going with a smile.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
LiveFit Week 1 overview:: The important practice of will power
The start to my LiveFit training has been successful. Jamie has constructed the program to ease you in to completely changing the way you eat (and for some working out).
After my first week the biggest change for me is diet. Not with what I eat, but how frequently and how much. I can understand why this is only a 12 week program, I can't imagine eating with this frequency for the long term. I understand the concept of upping metabolism and confusing the body into using food as fuel in the most efficient way possible.
All I can say is LiveFit is not for the casual gym goer nor for someone who lacks discipline.
I'd go as far as saying I definitely wouldn't recommend even doing this program until you've trained yourself with just going to the gym on a regular basis and practiced eating a healthy 3 meals a day for at least a year. I can see the average person getting really flustered on this regimen, because I know it's already taxing for me.
I realized as I started this past week to even keep on top of my eating in conjunction with my work scheduled I'd have to cook as many meals in advance as possible. My life is mostly commuting and working so the kitchen doesn't factor in. I've dedicated my Saturdays to food planning and shopping and my Sundays to cooking.
This worked out really great last week and this week I should be solid until Thursday rolls around. I might have to get creative on Friday and hit the market again we'll see. I've taken a few of Jamie's recipes and modified them to fit my veggie diet and I'll say right now they've worked out fabulous.
Even this all this extra eating I have found that I'm getting the groove. I'm not always hungry and smaller amounts of food do satisfy me. Sometimes I do have to force myself to eat though. The first few days were the hardest as I'm not use to eating a full breakfast and then hitting the gym and then eating again.
Like I said the nutrition is going to be the hardest for me with this training, least right now. The workout routines are currently not as taxing as what I usually put myself through and I'm assuming that because the intensity will change as the weeks go on.
Today I tried to read ahead in the plan and I see I'm going to have to invest in a food scale and log. It's fine, but I can tell the reason this works will come down to a strict science in macronutrients and carb cycling. Something I've never done, but have read about. It's not a way of life, but I've committed myself to trying to follow this program as strict as possible.
I'm actually not trying to lose weight, I'm trying to gain. I know that sounds insane, but I wanted to see how much muscle I could gain and I know that I needed help with the nutrition part the most. Doing this program is really more about will power and discipline for me. I know that every now and again I need to force myself to uphold a certain code. There is something about resisting urge and training your mind in conjunction with training your body.
Will power is learned and if you never practice it you'll never be good at it. It's very much a skill and it's taken me quite a while to except that. Knowing you have control is very powerful, but you have to commit. I'm already feeling good about some things that happened this week that were intensely stressful and I did not falter. I did not comfort myself with bad food and drink.
Tomorrow will be day 10 of 84 and I'm feeling great. I'm confident I'll finish this week off just as strong and I'm looking forward to more intense workouts.
After my first week the biggest change for me is diet. Not with what I eat, but how frequently and how much. I can understand why this is only a 12 week program, I can't imagine eating with this frequency for the long term. I understand the concept of upping metabolism and confusing the body into using food as fuel in the most efficient way possible.
All I can say is LiveFit is not for the casual gym goer nor for someone who lacks discipline.
I'd go as far as saying I definitely wouldn't recommend even doing this program until you've trained yourself with just going to the gym on a regular basis and practiced eating a healthy 3 meals a day for at least a year. I can see the average person getting really flustered on this regimen, because I know it's already taxing for me.
I realized as I started this past week to even keep on top of my eating in conjunction with my work scheduled I'd have to cook as many meals in advance as possible. My life is mostly commuting and working so the kitchen doesn't factor in. I've dedicated my Saturdays to food planning and shopping and my Sundays to cooking.
This worked out really great last week and this week I should be solid until Thursday rolls around. I might have to get creative on Friday and hit the market again we'll see. I've taken a few of Jamie's recipes and modified them to fit my veggie diet and I'll say right now they've worked out fabulous.
Even this all this extra eating I have found that I'm getting the groove. I'm not always hungry and smaller amounts of food do satisfy me. Sometimes I do have to force myself to eat though. The first few days were the hardest as I'm not use to eating a full breakfast and then hitting the gym and then eating again.
Like I said the nutrition is going to be the hardest for me with this training, least right now. The workout routines are currently not as taxing as what I usually put myself through and I'm assuming that because the intensity will change as the weeks go on.
Today I tried to read ahead in the plan and I see I'm going to have to invest in a food scale and log. It's fine, but I can tell the reason this works will come down to a strict science in macronutrients and carb cycling. Something I've never done, but have read about. It's not a way of life, but I've committed myself to trying to follow this program as strict as possible.
I'm actually not trying to lose weight, I'm trying to gain. I know that sounds insane, but I wanted to see how much muscle I could gain and I know that I needed help with the nutrition part the most. Doing this program is really more about will power and discipline for me. I know that every now and again I need to force myself to uphold a certain code. There is something about resisting urge and training your mind in conjunction with training your body.
Will power is learned and if you never practice it you'll never be good at it. It's very much a skill and it's taken me quite a while to except that. Knowing you have control is very powerful, but you have to commit. I'm already feeling good about some things that happened this week that were intensely stressful and I did not falter. I did not comfort myself with bad food and drink.
Tomorrow will be day 10 of 84 and I'm feeling great. I'm confident I'll finish this week off just as strong and I'm looking forward to more intense workouts.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
No Excuses! Don't Get in Your Own Way...
Every morning my alarm goes off at 4:30 am and I'm tired. I have a buffer if I accidentally close my eyes for too long another alarm goes off at 4:45. It doesn't matter I'm always still tired.
The point is I get up anyway, no excuses.
I don't know anyone who springs forth from the bed all smiles and jazz hands. It's fairly impossible. Your body is trying to wake up, you're slightly disoriented probably colder then you want to be, your heart is warming up to a faster pulse.
Excuses no matter what they are, are self sabotage. You are only hurting yourself with every excuse you choose to give in to.
Before I got into a steady routine I made excuses all the time and it's soooo easy to do when you first start working out. You're sore all the time, probably really badly. You're not use to using the muscles and they pay you back. It's so easy to say "I'm too sore today" because you're sore everyday. I wasn't use to getting up early either, another easy out for my brain. I'd see the alarm and say "I'm too tired today," but I realized getting up that early I'd be tired everyday.
When I first started eating healthy there was loads of temptation. I never cared before about what I ate and now I felt I was being so good and deserve to have a "treat". Then I realized my food choices were not temporary. I choose to eat better for the rest of my life, I don't need reward for that.
Whatever it is that gets you excited about working out and eating right use it. Even if it seems stupid in retrospect.
Today I was crazy tired when I woke up, rain does that too me. For half a second I thought about going back to sleep, then I remembered I had a Bootcamp class with Terri and I wanted to see everyone in class.
I started taking classes because it forced me to get up and go somewhere. What's really great about starting with classes is your with a group of people about to go through the same thing you are. Once you get to know them you watch out of each other and get loads of encouragement. It's also a great change to anything I do by myself which keeps my routine fresh and exciting.
Other things I do to stay motivated:
Excuses never get anyone anywhere. They just make you ultimately feel guilty because you've let yourself down. I HATE feeling that way, it's worse then to stomachache I get from indulging in foods my body pretty much rejects now.
So if you think you could never ever get up early and hit the gym just know it took me many months of forcing myself, lying to myself, and feeling guilty before I just accepted going to bed at 10 pm and knowing I'd always be up before the sun.
The thing is it's totally worth it, everyday I wake up tired I work the limits of my body and mind and I end up in a shower that feels like the only reason I'm alive. Sleeping in isn't worth more then that feeling to me now.
So if you ever feel down and you just can't bring yourself to lace up those sneakers, just think about me at 4:30 am getting ready and feel good knowing someone is up sweating with you :)
The point is I get up anyway, no excuses.
I don't know anyone who springs forth from the bed all smiles and jazz hands. It's fairly impossible. Your body is trying to wake up, you're slightly disoriented probably colder then you want to be, your heart is warming up to a faster pulse.
Excuses no matter what they are, are self sabotage. You are only hurting yourself with every excuse you choose to give in to.
Before I got into a steady routine I made excuses all the time and it's soooo easy to do when you first start working out. You're sore all the time, probably really badly. You're not use to using the muscles and they pay you back. It's so easy to say "I'm too sore today" because you're sore everyday. I wasn't use to getting up early either, another easy out for my brain. I'd see the alarm and say "I'm too tired today," but I realized getting up that early I'd be tired everyday.
When I first started eating healthy there was loads of temptation. I never cared before about what I ate and now I felt I was being so good and deserve to have a "treat". Then I realized my food choices were not temporary. I choose to eat better for the rest of my life, I don't need reward for that.
Whatever it is that gets you excited about working out and eating right use it. Even if it seems stupid in retrospect.
Today I was crazy tired when I woke up, rain does that too me. For half a second I thought about going back to sleep, then I remembered I had a Bootcamp class with Terri and I wanted to see everyone in class.
I started taking classes because it forced me to get up and go somewhere. What's really great about starting with classes is your with a group of people about to go through the same thing you are. Once you get to know them you watch out of each other and get loads of encouragement. It's also a great change to anything I do by myself which keeps my routine fresh and exciting.
Other things I do to stay motivated:
- Get a new cute workout outfit (something that you feel great wearing even if you are sweating in it) I'm personally addicted to lululemon so it's sort of a treat to buy a whole outfit there. Totally worth the price because I love how it makes me look!
- Keep a workout journal. I use this to see the progress I'm making even if my eyes don't allow me to see it in the mirror. At the end of the month I also get measured, weighed and calipered.
- Doing my hardest exercise 1st! This not only helps me wake-up but I really feel accomplished even if I start feeling tired toward the end of my workout.
- Tuning in to how I feel while I exercise. I always feel amazing and I like to remind myself of it as much as I can so I don't forget why I'm getting up at 4:30!
- Tell myself I'm doing more then what most people do in a whole week. Sounds self-righteous but it's true. Terri and Keith use to tell me this all the time and it always gave me boost in performance.
- Trying on my bikini and lounging around the house (even when it's 16 degrees outside). There is nothing like the reminder of why you are doing what your doing - this works really great when I think I want to eating something really terrible!
- Talking to others about fitness. Believe it or not the more I talk about routines, goals and healthy recipes the more excited I get to do all the things I talked about. I've gone a whole day at work feeling tired and depressed and someone has asked me about my lifting, the second we started talking I was crazy pumped and hit the stack the second I got home.
- Putting my healthy food in fun containers - you just can't say no to raw broccoli and spinach in a happy dancing bunny container.
- Reading success stories of regular people. This might depress some people, but it really helps me. I see all these people who did what I'm doing now and it makes it feel obtainable. People that did something even harder then what I'm doing always inspires me to give my all!
- Being honest with myself. Excuses aren't cool but if I'm really that crazy beat I give myself a break. I think about why I want or don't want something and evaluate the situation. I'm human and I have other things happening in my life you can't be perfect 100% of the time.
Excuses never get anyone anywhere. They just make you ultimately feel guilty because you've let yourself down. I HATE feeling that way, it's worse then to stomachache I get from indulging in foods my body pretty much rejects now.
So if you think you could never ever get up early and hit the gym just know it took me many months of forcing myself, lying to myself, and feeling guilty before I just accepted going to bed at 10 pm and knowing I'd always be up before the sun.
The thing is it's totally worth it, everyday I wake up tired I work the limits of my body and mind and I end up in a shower that feels like the only reason I'm alive. Sleeping in isn't worth more then that feeling to me now.
So if you ever feel down and you just can't bring yourself to lace up those sneakers, just think about me at 4:30 am getting ready and feel good knowing someone is up sweating with you :)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Open Minded Goals - The Scale is NOT the End All be All
I want you all to know I am writing some posts about food. I haven't posted anything truly diet related yet because talking about food is complicated (not in general, just sometimes explaining it can be). I'm trying to be very thoughtful of the content of the posts so for right now they are still unfinished.
I mention this because I've gotten some inquires on my diet and I think it's just as important to talk about eating in general before going into what is working for me. So I just want to say, I'm in the process of writing some diet entries, just sit tight :)
************
Today's post is about goal setting.
Goals are something we use to measure success and failure in our lives. In fitness, however, as long as you are still participating, you really can't fail. It's the great thing about it. The only way you can fail at fitness goals is to stop being active.
That might sound strange, because most people's fitness goals are related to body image, which has stronger roots in nutrition. They think if they can't lose 10lbs in a month they've failed a fitness goal. Because of the instantaneous nature of everything in our lives, people will take time out the equation to reaching their accomplishments.
Our bodies are not instant. It took your mother 9 months alone just to create you, changing yourself takes time too!
The other thing about body related fitness goals, specifically weight related ones, are they are temporary. No matter how long it takes you, once you've lost your X amount of weight you've reached that goal. What else is there? This is why once you start an exercise regiment it's important to be more open minded about your goals then just reaching a certain weight.
I had tunnel vision when I started my new lifestyle. The scale was all that mattered to me. I wasn't even thinking about all the other things I was accomplishing. Then once I started losing weight I realized the scale wasn't always parallel to how I felt. Most women would tell you 140lbs is huge, but here I was fitting into a size 4 pair of jeans that was loose in the waist!
I really started changing my fitness goals after I lost 20lbs. I realized body fat % was more important then what the scale said. I started wanting to be stronger and wanting to accomplish harder exercises.
The great thing about fitness is while you get healthier and stronger, you might be accomplishing feats you're not even aware of. Mostly because you don't know you can do them until you try!
Perfect example: I am not a runner, in fact I dislike it. I find it boring in comparison to forms of exercise and I've never been very good at it. When I first started to exercise I could maybe, on a good day, run non-stop at a decent pace for 10 mins. About a month ago I was really tired, it was a week where I had hit the gym once. That night when I got home I felt terrible, but was going to force my body to do some cardio. I stepped on the treadmill for the 1st time probably 5 months and was shocked. Not only could I run at almost 6 mph, I did it for 40 mins without stopping.
That is a goal I never had, but because of my training in general it's something I know I can do now.
This is probably the most exciting thing about fitness. You become less afraid. I've gained so much confidence just from training I'm less afraid to try new things. I started to want to try things I could never do.
When I meet people's who only fitness goal is to lose weight for a certain time of year or a special event I worry they won't keep it up. It's not like once you lose weight it's gone forever, keeping up with nutrition & exercise means you don't have to go through that grueling first month ever again. Your life will have ups & downs, but if you work to at least try to keep your body stable when nothing else in your life is, getting through those times will be so much less stressful.
So if you're thinking the only thing that matters to you right now is what the scale is it's ok. It's natural (especially for us ladies) to try to fit our bodies it to this perception of perfect. All I can tell you is that the scale does not tell you how far you can run, or how much weight you can curl. It doesn't tell you what size jeans you are fitting into or how healthy you are. So don't place all your hopes and dreams into it.
Every day you decided to take care of yourself, you are coming closer to being a person you may never imagined you could be. I know, I still amaze myself every day :)
I mention this because I've gotten some inquires on my diet and I think it's just as important to talk about eating in general before going into what is working for me. So I just want to say, I'm in the process of writing some diet entries, just sit tight :)
************
Today's post is about goal setting.
Goals are something we use to measure success and failure in our lives. In fitness, however, as long as you are still participating, you really can't fail. It's the great thing about it. The only way you can fail at fitness goals is to stop being active.
That might sound strange, because most people's fitness goals are related to body image, which has stronger roots in nutrition. They think if they can't lose 10lbs in a month they've failed a fitness goal. Because of the instantaneous nature of everything in our lives, people will take time out the equation to reaching their accomplishments.
Our bodies are not instant. It took your mother 9 months alone just to create you, changing yourself takes time too!
The other thing about body related fitness goals, specifically weight related ones, are they are temporary. No matter how long it takes you, once you've lost your X amount of weight you've reached that goal. What else is there? This is why once you start an exercise regiment it's important to be more open minded about your goals then just reaching a certain weight.
I had tunnel vision when I started my new lifestyle. The scale was all that mattered to me. I wasn't even thinking about all the other things I was accomplishing. Then once I started losing weight I realized the scale wasn't always parallel to how I felt. Most women would tell you 140lbs is huge, but here I was fitting into a size 4 pair of jeans that was loose in the waist!
I really started changing my fitness goals after I lost 20lbs. I realized body fat % was more important then what the scale said. I started wanting to be stronger and wanting to accomplish harder exercises.
The great thing about fitness is while you get healthier and stronger, you might be accomplishing feats you're not even aware of. Mostly because you don't know you can do them until you try!
Perfect example: I am not a runner, in fact I dislike it. I find it boring in comparison to forms of exercise and I've never been very good at it. When I first started to exercise I could maybe, on a good day, run non-stop at a decent pace for 10 mins. About a month ago I was really tired, it was a week where I had hit the gym once. That night when I got home I felt terrible, but was going to force my body to do some cardio. I stepped on the treadmill for the 1st time probably 5 months and was shocked. Not only could I run at almost 6 mph, I did it for 40 mins without stopping.
That is a goal I never had, but because of my training in general it's something I know I can do now.
This is probably the most exciting thing about fitness. You become less afraid. I've gained so much confidence just from training I'm less afraid to try new things. I started to want to try things I could never do.
When I meet people's who only fitness goal is to lose weight for a certain time of year or a special event I worry they won't keep it up. It's not like once you lose weight it's gone forever, keeping up with nutrition & exercise means you don't have to go through that grueling first month ever again. Your life will have ups & downs, but if you work to at least try to keep your body stable when nothing else in your life is, getting through those times will be so much less stressful.
So if you're thinking the only thing that matters to you right now is what the scale is it's ok. It's natural (especially for us ladies) to try to fit our bodies it to this perception of perfect. All I can tell you is that the scale does not tell you how far you can run, or how much weight you can curl. It doesn't tell you what size jeans you are fitting into or how healthy you are. So don't place all your hopes and dreams into it.
Every day you decided to take care of yourself, you are coming closer to being a person you may never imagined you could be. I know, I still amaze myself every day :)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Life & Taxes
Had my taxes done this weekend and it's time for a little venting.
I don't want to really bring in politics into this blog because that's not what it's about. That being said this is a blog about exercise, taking care of yourself, etc. and I think it's really strange that there are no incentives for Americans to be healthy.
I'd argue myself in saying, healthy means you live longer and you feel better physically and mentally. That should be enough of an incentive, but it also means you are less of burden on the rest of the nation. You won't have to see the doctor as much, or have as many tests done. The odds of you having to take tons of medicine are lowered because your body functions the way it's suppose to.
Americans being the most out of shape, overweight and sickly of the great nations you'd think the government would offer tax breaks to people who actually take care of themselves. You can write off anything medical, you can use pre-taxed money to pay for it using flex spending. Yet when it comes to gym memberships, training, classes, buying workout equipment (all which are an added expenses) there is no relief for being able to keep it up.
"But Diane you can't PROVE that because someone has a gym membership they are using it."
It's true. You can't prove that because a person buys the treadmill that they use it. Tons of people feel motivated at first and then the feeling dies out. Though if there was a way to measure physical fitness by a test, against yourself - say an end of the year physical to prove you're making improvements. I think a lot of people would be willing to do this for a nice write of on their taxes.
My job actually started something just like this for lowering the rate I have to pay on my insurance. I take a blood test once a year and if all my levels stay within a certain range OR improve I don't have to pay as much into my insurance for staying healthy. Also it's a good way to possibly catch something if I need to really be concerned. It's a simple blood test and it's totally optional. You don't have to do it and even if you do you aren't penalized if your don't improve.
I'm not into government controlling everything, but I think if you get write-offs for having children, or buying a house, or even being on tons of medication, you should also be rewarded for taking care of yourself. Taking care of yourself does effect others, you're setting a really great example to the people around you. I know many people that started changing their lifestyles once they saw the progress I was making (my mom included).
We talk about nutrition and our workout routines. We keep each other motivated. Exercise and good nutrition is contagious. Not for everyone, but the more people are against the community candy bowl the less it's likely to get filled. People don't want to be the only ones, it's a lot easier if they know others around them are also on their side.
If America was really seriously about getting people to be healthy, they'd stop trying to ban bad food and start rewarding for good behavior. We all have to make that choice and no one can force you not to eat Twinkies. The thing is I bet that sprig of asparagus would look a lot more appetizing with the notion that you'd be able to get something back from Uncle Sam.
People would know that actually using their gym membership wouldn't just benefit their bodies but their pocketbooks. This also helps out the private sector a lot. More people would be buying workout gear, paying trainers and participating local events. Also it would lower the count in the emergency rooms which hurts everyone in wallet.
All I'm saying is it's something the American government should think about. Michelle Obama is all for children's health, it's her cause so to speak. It shouldn't just be for children's health, but the health of all Americans. If it takes money to get people excited about being healthy it will only be the catalyst, once they realize how they feel and how great they look, they'll want to keep it up. Least in my perfect world :)
I don't want to really bring in politics into this blog because that's not what it's about. That being said this is a blog about exercise, taking care of yourself, etc. and I think it's really strange that there are no incentives for Americans to be healthy.
I'd argue myself in saying, healthy means you live longer and you feel better physically and mentally. That should be enough of an incentive, but it also means you are less of burden on the rest of the nation. You won't have to see the doctor as much, or have as many tests done. The odds of you having to take tons of medicine are lowered because your body functions the way it's suppose to.
Americans being the most out of shape, overweight and sickly of the great nations you'd think the government would offer tax breaks to people who actually take care of themselves. You can write off anything medical, you can use pre-taxed money to pay for it using flex spending. Yet when it comes to gym memberships, training, classes, buying workout equipment (all which are an added expenses) there is no relief for being able to keep it up.
"But Diane you can't PROVE that because someone has a gym membership they are using it."
It's true. You can't prove that because a person buys the treadmill that they use it. Tons of people feel motivated at first and then the feeling dies out. Though if there was a way to measure physical fitness by a test, against yourself - say an end of the year physical to prove you're making improvements. I think a lot of people would be willing to do this for a nice write of on their taxes.
My job actually started something just like this for lowering the rate I have to pay on my insurance. I take a blood test once a year and if all my levels stay within a certain range OR improve I don't have to pay as much into my insurance for staying healthy. Also it's a good way to possibly catch something if I need to really be concerned. It's a simple blood test and it's totally optional. You don't have to do it and even if you do you aren't penalized if your don't improve.
I'm not into government controlling everything, but I think if you get write-offs for having children, or buying a house, or even being on tons of medication, you should also be rewarded for taking care of yourself. Taking care of yourself does effect others, you're setting a really great example to the people around you. I know many people that started changing their lifestyles once they saw the progress I was making (my mom included).
We talk about nutrition and our workout routines. We keep each other motivated. Exercise and good nutrition is contagious. Not for everyone, but the more people are against the community candy bowl the less it's likely to get filled. People don't want to be the only ones, it's a lot easier if they know others around them are also on their side.
If America was really seriously about getting people to be healthy, they'd stop trying to ban bad food and start rewarding for good behavior. We all have to make that choice and no one can force you not to eat Twinkies. The thing is I bet that sprig of asparagus would look a lot more appetizing with the notion that you'd be able to get something back from Uncle Sam.
People would know that actually using their gym membership wouldn't just benefit their bodies but their pocketbooks. This also helps out the private sector a lot. More people would be buying workout gear, paying trainers and participating local events. Also it would lower the count in the emergency rooms which hurts everyone in wallet.
All I'm saying is it's something the American government should think about. Michelle Obama is all for children's health, it's her cause so to speak. It shouldn't just be for children's health, but the health of all Americans. If it takes money to get people excited about being healthy it will only be the catalyst, once they realize how they feel and how great they look, they'll want to keep it up. Least in my perfect world :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)