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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