Episode #108 Fitness Isn't Everything

Five Problems

• We often struggle to accomplish our fitness goals when we have an all-or-nothing mindset.
• Fitness alone is not the key to happiness, and we can be just as miserable at 300 pounds as we are at 150 pounds.
• In our modern society, it is far too easy to eat too much and move too little.
• We will not be able to reorient our lifelong relationship with food and fitness in a matter of days.
• The body we have today is the only body we will ever have; there are no returns, no do-overs, and no replacements.

Seven Principles

• The amount of effort required to make healthy choices decreases over time.
• We can choose to make healthy choices even when we feel unmotivated.
• We have the power to train ourselves to enjoy the foods we have never enjoyed before.
• Not every meal needs to be a celebration, and it is actually OK for lunches to be boring.
• Healthy choices in the physical dimension of life are often a stepping stone to healthy choices in every other dimension.
• Sometimes eating an unhealthy meal can actually help us accomplish an important goal.
• Although there are no shortcuts when it comes to fitness, community and mentorship may function as the fast-forward button.

Five Grocery Tips

• Chicken thighs, Minute rice, frozen vegetables (especially Birds Eye and Alexia brand), and pre-packaged salads are among the best staple foods.
• Beef jerky, RXBAR nutrition bars, Light + Fit Greek yogurt, mixed berries, apples, and bananas are among the best snacks.
• Greek yogurt can be mixed with sweeter yogurt to make it more palatable for picky eaters.
• When buying ice cream at the grocery store, choose smaller and pre-portioned varieties instead of the typical quart-sized containers.
• Consider purchasing individually-wrapped cookies and fun-sized candies; alternatively, separate family-sized sweets into individual baggies.

Three Practices

• Identify the purpose of each meal – to achieve fitness goals, to make memories, to satisfy hunger, etc. – so that each meal is placed in its proper context.
• Decide what you are going to eat 24 hours in advance of each meal so that you don’t have to rely on willpower alone to make healthy choices.
• Consider how you can adjust the environment of your home or workplace to ensure that healthy choices become more accessible and unhealthy choices become less accessible.