Diet, Exercise and Personal Choice
I wish I had the body I
had at age 20, the mind I had at 40, and the confidence I had at 60. But God has a sense of humor. So I have to try to pull all three together,
even as I can pick up the faint glimmer of my 70th birthday on the
horizon, and my 60th has been lost from sight due to the curvature of the
earth. This, my friends, is an uphill
battle, and yet, we fight on.
My personal opinion is that diet and exercise are like
volunteerism. To stick with any one of
them, you have to find one that you like.
There is no, “right” diet or, “right” form of exercise. The right one is the one that works for you.
We
have a solid handful of runners here at our park. They do their laps in heat and cold and run
(and earn medals) in a dozen races each year.
I wouldn’t run to catch a bus. On
the other hand I love getting in a quiet pool after the sun goes down, listen
to the wind rustling the palms and clip off a mile of none-stop freestyle. The point is to keep moving. So whether it is group sports (we play hours
of water volleyball at Sandpipers), solitary pursuits, dancing, yoga, working
out at the gym or on the treadmill at home, find the physical activity that you
can make yourself do, even on days you don’t want to work out, and go for
it. One hour/per week/per decade of age
is what I aim for.
The
same, “what works best is what works for me” attitude is true of diets. A diet should actually be a life style
approach to eating. If you are breathing
you know that fresh fruits and vegetables are better for you than chips, soda
pop and candy. Good nutrition in this
country is a choice, not a mystery. If
you eat high fat, high salt, high carbohydrate fast food on a daily basis you
deserve to be fat. Fast food is supposed
to be a rare convenience. To make it a
part of your daily diet is foolish, expensive and lazy—but we already know
that. There are also a few myths and
personal penchants that enter into dieting.
The difference between whole milk and skim milk is 3% butterfat. No one will convince me that milk is anything
but a perfect food. I drink whole milk,
use real butter and consider cheese a daily staple. I am an evolved omnivore and will not give up
meat. But I have developed a taste for
fish and other lean meats and don’t fry much any more. My husband and I do well on the Atkins
diet. I have friends who have had
amazing success on Weight Watchers. I do
know some vegans, but they are an unhealthy looking and joyless lot. But, again, the diet you stick with is the
one you should select.
You
notice, I am endorsing personal choice here, not governmental mandate. It is only the decisions one comes to on
one’s own that stick. Get the facts, pay
your money and make your choice. Oh, and
most important, don’t whine, complain, play the victim or sue somebody when
your choices turn out to be bad. Pain
is a good teacher and no one becomes more responsible by being
given an easy out. Choosing correctly makes someone
confident. Making a mistake makes people
cautious. A cautious, confident
citizenry sounds like a good thing to me.
Make
your own choices and keep the faith.
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