Towards a Healthy Lifestyle: Mind & Spirit

In the first part of this series Towards a healthy lifestyle I mentioned the mind body spirit model of humanity. It is now time to handle Mind and Spirit the most important parts of a healthy lifestyle program, for if they are not handled correctly the entire project will fail. In short if your heart is not in it you won't do it.

Everyone has their own hurdles but here are a couple of things might help

A scientist called Ashby once invented a machine called the Homeostat, a bunch of interconnected variable resistors, capacitors and meters. If left alone it settled into a steady state where it either did nothing or cycled through a few states. If Ashby tried to change it it would try to settle back to a state indistinguishable from the previous state. O

The Homeostat illustrates the fact that Mind and Body resist change. This is important when you are trying to adopt a healthy lifestyle, so I will repeat it

MIND AND BODY RESIST CHANGE

If you eat less your body uses what you eat more efficiently in order to maintain its state. If you exercise and eat too little you weaken the immune system and the resulting infections stop you exercising.

This goes beck to the days when we left the trees to walk upright on the ground. It made sense for the body to store fat efficiently to handle the lean times and running, both as prey and predator gave plenty of exercise.

The mind also resists change. Suddenly you notice the desk needs dusting, a pile of papers you left for months needs sorting, the cat throws up and before you know it your exercise class is over and you did not even leave the house. You may even buy a 20 pound pack of Ice Cream without realising it. Your mind will make all the excuses it can to stop you exercising and take you off your diet.

First take your baselines and set reasonable intended end states for example

”Today (date) I XXXXXXX weigh 300 pounds, my waistline is 72 inches and my muscle to fat ratio is 10%. i,e 90% of my body is fat. I can not do a single push-up and can walk 25 yards before I am exhausted.

On this same day next year I will weigh 250 pounds, my waistline will be 45 inches and I will do 10 push-ups with ease, walk 500 yards without fatigue and my muscle to fat ration will be at least 25%.”

Note the phrasing. Not ”My Goal is ” but ”I will”. Do not allow the possibility of failure. Not also it covers Weight, Waist and Fitness. No concentrating on just one measure.

Set your own goals Write them down and put them where you can see them. On the fridge at eye level is a good place. Next to a picture of yourself as you are now. Naked. And a picture of yourself when you were thin and fit if you have one. Make sure they cannot be removed or obscured. Rewrite your goal every month keeping the end date the same.

Set a reward for yourself on or near the end date. If you are likely to cheat make sure someone else decides if you get the treat. Set yourself milestones and treat yourself when you achieve them

If you don't make the goal but get part way there congratulate yourself on getting part way and reset your goals for the next year.

If you have the money get a carpenter to make all the doors in your house narrower.

You will notice all sorts of reasons to abandon the effort to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Some will be valid, but these will be rare. Catching Flu is a good reason not to exercise, there may be emergencies that keep you away and you cannot expect a friend to change their wedding day because it falls on a day you are training at your sport.

Whenever you find you have missed an exercise class or fallen off your diet review whether it was a valid reason or just an excuse. Work is both a valid reason and an excuse. If doing a task would mean you would miss your exercise and it will wait for tomorrow let it wait till tomorrow. People in less skilled jobs have an advantage here. If the shift finishes at 7pm they can forget the job.

Sometimes resistance has deeper roots. Low self esteem can mean you do not feel you deserve to be healthy and sabotage yourself. Sometimes you may fear that your friends will say you have a secret lover. They probably won't even notice the change, but you do not need friends who gossip or say you are ”Mutton dressed as Lamb” or you should ”act your age”.

If you worry your spouse or partner will leave you if you change tell them your intentions and point out the advantages for them. If they are hostile to your change maybe you need a new partner.

If all your friends are fat and unhealthy you will be too. Cultivate those friends who have a healthy lifestyle, and maybe your other friends will change. Hanging around with negative people with an unhealthy lifestyle makes it harder to be healthier. Research has shown that one person changing their lifestyle can affect their friends and their friends friends.

I saw a picture of a guy who won the Tai Chi championships for the Double Axe form (Those things are heavy) at 91.

My first Aikido Teacher gave up competing in marathons at 70. He still took part. The Founder of Aikido died in his 80s and trained every day till the day before he died.

One of the most respected surfers in the world is 89 at the time I write this.

One of the great Caoperia masters of the twentieth century lived till over 90 and played for two hours each Sunday with no sign of fatigue.

Be like them.