26.2, 5k, or 400 Meters?

Yesterday At Walmart
Yesterday At Walmart

Are you crystal clear about why you do what you do?

Are you crystal clear about why you don’t do the things you do?

Most aren’t. It’s the difference between living “on purpose” or “going through the motions“.

Going through the motions doesn’t make a person bad, and it certainly doesn’t make a person thrive.

You have the opportunity to take a stand, for yourself, and live more on purpose than you ever have. Because if you don’t, it’s guaranteed that you will experience physical and psychological discomfort.

Not exercising feels rational and easy good at the time, but when you feel unhealthy, you realize you should exercise. There will never come a time when not exercising will suddenly bless you with good health.

Pre-Track Work?

Finland, August 2009
Finland, August 2009

Are you a storyteller?

No matter your answer, you are a storyteller. We all are.

We tell stories through our actions, by the things that we do, and don’t do.

For example, people who exercise and use greater self-control with their food choices, are going to appear healthier than those that do not. It’s simply a fact of life.

It’s like two gardeners. One spends a fair amount of time, each day, weeding, pruning, fertilizing and pest controlling. The other does not. Do I even need to ask, “Which garden will bear more fruit?”

Lane 8 is a metaphor for life. It appears Lane 8’s story may be picking back up where it left off last August, in Finland.

Fuel Your Healthy Body

Should We Buy Organic?
Should We Buy Organic?

All of us grow and develop over time.  And there’s sort of a bell curve to our life. We start out low on the chart and make upward progress, reaching our physical peak, typically, somewhere around 18-20 years old, and then begin a long, slow decline until death.

Exercise, of course, has proven benefits on all accounts. Diet on the other hand, is more obscure. There is no evidence, for example, that can scientifically claim organic foods will eliminate the types of disease commonly associated with processed and chemically raised food sources.

And yet organic foods claim to be significantly healthier for us. Yet they cost 50-300% more.

If all you do is consider eating more fruits and vegetables, than this Everyday Health list of the top ten fruits and veggies chemically grown will help you target the best ROI for your grocery dollars.

Both Men Have It

Track Stadiums Are Everywhere
Track Stadiums Are Everywhere

In yesterday’s post Michael Johnson interviewed Usain Bolt. Both men currently hold world records.

Both men did something no other human has ever accomplished.

And on closer inspection, we find that off the track, they are fun-loving, casual, “normal” human beings.

On the track, polar opposites.

  • Michael = laser-focused, and dead serious
  • Usain = casual, almost comical

Whatever your health goals are, there is no one “correct” way to pursue them. We all need to remind ourselves that in fact, there may be many approaches over our lifetime.

We can learn a lot by watching others.  Others can learn a lot by watching us.  Knowing this, do you consider yourself a health example or a health warning?

Bariatric Surgery

O Is For Obesity
O Is For Obesity

He did a cost benefits analysis to prove it would be cheaper to pay for his bariatric surgery than to let him continue on his path.

He lost 175 pounds, gained 25 back and has been holding steady for many years now. After they stapled his stomach, it went from the size of a football to the size of an egg.

We recently spent three days together and he assured me multiple times, he has no curtains on his johari window. And he also said he was addicted to food, after sharing that I had overcome an addiction.

What I couldn’t get out of my mind was the image of him carrying me piggyback. And not just across a small stream so my feet didn’t get wet, but carrying that 150 extra pounds every minute of every day.

Even when he was sleeping, or trying to, it would be like me lying on top of him – all 150 pounds.

He saved his own life.  He inspired me.  I count myself lucky to know the man.

We all have hard decisions to make. He did whatever it took.