Monday, September 22, 2008
What I learned from my daughter
Friday evening as I was lacing up my shoes to go out for a short jog, my daughter stopped me and asked if she could come along. My first reaction was to say, "NO! I'm going too far, too fast" and she was understandably disappointed. I had to take a step back and ask, "Why on earth did I react that way?"
We are all "creatures of habit." The first step to changing your habits is to recognize they exist. This was a bad habit I had from my earlier, selfish days of training when it was about ME. I quickly recognized how wrong my reaction was, apologized, and said, "Sure, honey, let's do it." We set out together and jogged a short distance before she decided it was time to wrap up the run. This was her first time and I was proud of her. More powerful than any calorie we burned, of course, was the change for us to be together and spend that time. I escorted her home, we set a goal to go one block farther on our next run, and then I went and ran another 5K in preparation for my race next week.
Now we have an official "date" together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to jog. I plan on doing my regular workouts either first thing in the morning or AFTER we do our short jogs ... that is, until she starts going far enough that it becomes my "main" workout.
Part of living a healthy lifestyle is looking at opportunities to have fun while staying fit. This weekend was a celebration weekend for us, so we had a few "fun" meals out. I hadn't had a real "sit down breakfast" out in a long time, so we went to Cracker Barrel and I grabbed "Momma's French Toast" with blackberry fruit topping. The portion size was incredible - I can't believe I used to be able to wolf down the whole plate - so I shared some of my food with my wife and daughter and ate half of the portion they laid out before us.
Other little tips I applied this weekend were getting my hamburger out on a whole wheat bun, and splitting the fries with my daughter instead of having a full portion. When we get sweet tea, we use the 50/50 solution - instead of going to unsweet tea, we simply use half a glass of sweet and half a glass of unsweet. It's still sweet enough to enjoy, but we cut out half of the sugar and calories that way!
Yesterday was park day. The weather here in Atlanta was beautiful, so we drove to a local part that is about 5 miles away. We brought my daughter's scooter, a kite, and some cardboard boxes. There is a large, long slope that we can slide down and we had a blast racing down the slope. Next, she wanted to do loops on the sidewalk there on her scooter. It was a great workout for me, and suddenly I had a thought pop up.
The more I thought about it, the more excited I was.
After a few rounds on the scooter, I asked my daughter if she wanted to stay awhile with Mom. "Sure, Dad, why?"
There are a few "tricks" to creating successful goals.
"Honey, I'm going to jog home ... so I want to get a head start!"
Oh, that's great!
Now, jogging home would take me about 45 minutes, whereas the ride is 10 or 15 ... but it also gave me a great way to fit in some exercise and combine it with the fun our family was having together. More importantly, to my points above, while I haven't run 5 miles in months, I knew it was possible because I've done it before. The "point of no return" was simple: my ride would be leaving, and it was a one-way shot to home. I was committed to run, walk, or crawl my way back.
But what about inspiration?
My head start gave me that. Motivation may have put me out on that road jogging back to our home, but it was inspiration that kept me moving. You see, I was running with my back to the park, and my goal of arriving home in front of me. I had a head start but I had no clue when the girls were going to wrap up and leave the park. So, I knew at any moment, they would be driving behind me and passing me on their way back home.
And what more inspiration can a father have, than to set an example for his daughter and show perserverance even when the hills are steep and your legs feel like lead? So that drove me to be an inspiration to her when she rode by, and it was a pleasant surprise when I heard a shout from behind, "We LOVE YOU!" and then they passed by.
After that, inspiration was getting home as quickly as possible to spend the rest of the lovely weekend with them.
Hope you have a terrific week,
We are all "creatures of habit." The first step to changing your habits is to recognize they exist. This was a bad habit I had from my earlier, selfish days of training when it was about ME. I quickly recognized how wrong my reaction was, apologized, and said, "Sure, honey, let's do it." We set out together and jogged a short distance before she decided it was time to wrap up the run. This was her first time and I was proud of her. More powerful than any calorie we burned, of course, was the change for us to be together and spend that time. I escorted her home, we set a goal to go one block farther on our next run, and then I went and ran another 5K in preparation for my race next week.
Now we have an official "date" together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to jog. I plan on doing my regular workouts either first thing in the morning or AFTER we do our short jogs ... that is, until she starts going far enough that it becomes my "main" workout.
Part of living a healthy lifestyle is looking at opportunities to have fun while staying fit. This weekend was a celebration weekend for us, so we had a few "fun" meals out. I hadn't had a real "sit down breakfast" out in a long time, so we went to Cracker Barrel and I grabbed "Momma's French Toast" with blackberry fruit topping. The portion size was incredible - I can't believe I used to be able to wolf down the whole plate - so I shared some of my food with my wife and daughter and ate half of the portion they laid out before us.
Other little tips I applied this weekend were getting my hamburger out on a whole wheat bun, and splitting the fries with my daughter instead of having a full portion. When we get sweet tea, we use the 50/50 solution - instead of going to unsweet tea, we simply use half a glass of sweet and half a glass of unsweet. It's still sweet enough to enjoy, but we cut out half of the sugar and calories that way!
Yesterday was park day. The weather here in Atlanta was beautiful, so we drove to a local part that is about 5 miles away. We brought my daughter's scooter, a kite, and some cardboard boxes. There is a large, long slope that we can slide down and we had a blast racing down the slope. Next, she wanted to do loops on the sidewalk there on her scooter. It was a great workout for me, and suddenly I had a thought pop up.
The more I thought about it, the more excited I was.
After a few rounds on the scooter, I asked my daughter if she wanted to stay awhile with Mom. "Sure, Dad, why?"
There are a few "tricks" to creating successful goals.
- Make sure the goal is obtainable ... maybe just a tad out of your comfort zone, but it's important that it CAN be done
- Make sure you've made a true decision/commitment to the goal. I talk about the different between motivation and inspiration - motivation can shrink or grow within us, but inspiration is bigger than who we are and always helps us through the tough times
- Finally, create a point of no return. That may mean advertising your goal to others, entering a competition, or otherwise.
"Honey, I'm going to jog home ... so I want to get a head start!"
Oh, that's great!
Now, jogging home would take me about 45 minutes, whereas the ride is 10 or 15 ... but it also gave me a great way to fit in some exercise and combine it with the fun our family was having together. More importantly, to my points above, while I haven't run 5 miles in months, I knew it was possible because I've done it before. The "point of no return" was simple: my ride would be leaving, and it was a one-way shot to home. I was committed to run, walk, or crawl my way back.
But what about inspiration?
My head start gave me that. Motivation may have put me out on that road jogging back to our home, but it was inspiration that kept me moving. You see, I was running with my back to the park, and my goal of arriving home in front of me. I had a head start but I had no clue when the girls were going to wrap up and leave the park. So, I knew at any moment, they would be driving behind me and passing me on their way back home.
And what more inspiration can a father have, than to set an example for his daughter and show perserverance even when the hills are steep and your legs feel like lead? So that drove me to be an inspiration to her when she rode by, and it was a pleasant surprise when I heard a shout from behind, "We LOVE YOU!" and then they passed by.
After that, inspiration was getting home as quickly as possible to spend the rest of the lovely weekend with them.
Hope you have a terrific week,
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Fat Tax?
Want to reduce risk of arthritis, heart attack and stroke?
Promising research recently suggested that following a vegan, gluten-free diet can significantly reduce the risk of arthritis, heart attack, and stroke. While vegetarian world was quick to embrace these recent findings, I wouldn't toss out the your lean protein just yet. One problem: "Only 58 percent of the people in the vegan, gluten-free group completed the study."
If you rewind, you'll find only 66 people were included in the study. 38 of them were put on the diet, which means only 22 finished ... not exactly a landslide, and not quite enough people to make the study very applicable to the population at large.
It gets back to one of my 5 Keys to Healthy Eating: enjoy what you eat!
Atkins Diet is back?
Oh, check this out — they've decided to copy "South Beach." How fun!
The Fat Tax
Thanks to a member of our forums for bringing this one up. If you are overweight, you might want to consider avoiding Alabama, where they are suggesting a fine to government employees for being overweight.
Have your own thoughts on this? Read mine and state yours right here.
Ditch the treadmill and hire a cup of Joe
I am a huge fan of coffee, but I just recently learned there is a brand to help us lose weight. That's right ... and the fancy name? "SlimBeans."
Warmly,
Promising research recently suggested that following a vegan, gluten-free diet can significantly reduce the risk of arthritis, heart attack, and stroke. While vegetarian world was quick to embrace these recent findings, I wouldn't toss out the your lean protein just yet. One problem: "Only 58 percent of the people in the vegan, gluten-free group completed the study."
If you rewind, you'll find only 66 people were included in the study. 38 of them were put on the diet, which means only 22 finished ... not exactly a landslide, and not quite enough people to make the study very applicable to the population at large.
It gets back to one of my 5 Keys to Healthy Eating: enjoy what you eat!
Atkins Diet is back?
Oh, check this out — they've decided to copy "South Beach." How fun!
The Fat Tax
Thanks to a member of our forums for bringing this one up. If you are overweight, you might want to consider avoiding Alabama, where they are suggesting a fine to government employees for being overweight.
Have your own thoughts on this? Read mine and state yours right here.
Ditch the treadmill and hire a cup of Joe
I am a huge fan of coffee, but I just recently learned there is a brand to help us lose weight. That's right ... and the fancy name? "SlimBeans."
Warmly,
Labels: atkins diet, coffee, diabetes, lose fat, vegan, vegetarian
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