Ditch the diet & think of the bigger game

Ditch the diet & think of the bigger game

Ditch the diet & think of the bigger game OptiMum Health

More recently, I’ve been writing about why your hour here and there in the gym and dieting on weekdays just isn’t making a difference…. that to achieve good health for the long-term, you have to think of the bigger game.

What does that mean?

Think about the last time you decided to “get fit and lose weight”.

Chances are you implemented something NEW to achieve that by way of a ‘diet’ or new exercise regime.

All of your energy went into that diet or exercise regime….

Ditch the diet & think of the bigger game

This comment from Phil Richards is pretty hard hitting but it has a solid point behind it.

By focussing on something new to improve our health & wellbeing, we’re ignoring the other aspects in our lives that are contributing to our status.

At the end of the day you want a healthy life that you ENJOY, don’t you?

 

So, whether or not you are a gym go-er, bear with me for the sake of an example.

Let’s say that in your bid to ‘shape up for summer’, you’ve upped your exercise to an hour a day, 6 days a week.  You may well have increased the intensity of movement in that time as well.

So that’s 6 hour’s per week.

Each day has 24 hours.  Take out 7 hours a day (the MINIMUM sleep you need on average to contribute to good health…) and that gives you (24-7)x 7 = 119 available hours in a week.

You’re dedicating 6 of these to good quality movement.

That equates to 5% of your week.

So am I saying you need to add in more movement hours or work harder in those 6 hours.

NO.

I am saying what about the other 95% of your week????

A cool way to reduce that % is to get an extra 2 hour’s sleep per night….getting to bed at an earlier hour.  Giving your body chance to rest and recover from the day’s events
AND
making the most of those Growth Hormone surges that happen through the night to assist your body in capitalising on your exercise efforts.

In that other 95% of your week, 
– what are your stress levels like?
– are you drinking enough?
– what nutrients are you taking on board?
– are you eating more than you need?
– how much time is FUN?

Ditch the diet & think of the bigger game

 

Are we making ourselves miserable with the strive for perfection???

Who sets that standard anyway?

Is your “bigger game” just about the end result?  Is chasing that end result killing the fun in your routine?

 

Should it actually be about the journey?….your journey???

What do you think?

I’d really love to hear your views on this – drop me a line by clicking here.