I love the feeling of energy that I get when I’m following lifestyle habits that are not only healthy but pleasurable and fun.
Following the dictates of so-called health experts that make life feel like you’re a prisoner waiting for parole is not fun. Some of the exercise, food regimens and thought processes I read about now are so extreme that you might as well be training to be a Navy SEAL. Unfortunately, a lot of us forget that we are also the experts about our own bodies, minds and spirits. Yes, it’s great to take in information and think about how it might increase your ability to enjoy life, but in the end it could be detrimental. There might be some things worth pondering when it comes to how you’re spending your time, effort and money on your health:
* How do you feel when you are in the middle of whatever exercise you do most regularly: as if you could happily continue doing it for as long as you like, or are you counting the seconds till it’s over? The medieval rack is a thing of the past; why bring it back?
* Do you often change your eating habits based on the latest “diet of the day” rather than seek out someone with credentials?
* Do you take vitamin or herbal supplements without really researching the medical effects they could have on your body? Would you take a prescription drug without the advice of a doctor?
* Do you find yourself telling people the content of your meals and how you shouldn’t have eaten as much as you did or that the ingredients will probably kill you? Really? Who cares? You might, but how many times do you think the people around you want to hear this litany?
* Do you ever think about what you’re thinking about? We have over 60,000 thoughts a day, and not all of them are based in realty!
* Do you feel bad when you see someone who is a “perfect specimen?” Does that intimidate you, inspire you, or simply enrage you with its unfairness?
* Do you find yourself discussing your attempts at exercising while you’re on the couch clutching your remote? Keep in mind that words are easy, but if you mean business you have to take action!
* Remember that you are in charge of your well being. This journey we call life requires the ability to make decisions predicated on common sense and logic. It also calls for a good sense of humor, so live and laugh at it all!
Author, humorist, PBS star and Fortune 500 trainer Loretta LaRoche lives in Plymouth. To share your pet peeves, questions or comments, write to The Humor Potential, 50 Court St., Plymouth, MA 02360. Email her, visit her website at www.stressed.com or call 800-998-2324.