I was asked today what motivates me as far as fitness & weight loss. That’s a more complex question than people realize up front. I’m motivated by a lot of different things, past, present and future.
To start there are several articles, new links, studies, blogs and videos documenting that my generation is the first generation that is not going to outlive their children. We’ve heard it a million times. But think about this… my grandparents and great grandparents made their own baby formula with condensed milk and dark karo syrup, yet they weren’t tagged as the generation that better prepare to bury their own children! It’s a nightmare that no parent wants to think about let alone face.
So why is it my generation gets this “curse”?
A variety of reasons, all of them we can work every day to reverse. My generation is one of the first I can remember backwards that had children young. Our parents were one of the last generations that stayed at home so many of us were raised by two working adults. Staying home, cleaning and cooking for women (or men) was beginning to be a thing of the past. Women wanted to enter the workplace (but didn’t know what they were bargaining with). So some children growing up became latch key kids, or kids who let themselves in because their parents were gone. Quick fix meals, take out, drive through and box meals became staples for a lot of families. Not all of them mind you, but quite a few. If that wasn’t bad enough, portion sizes became larger, many people divorced which led to single parent homes and a lot of cutting corners. Local farmers and stores were getting crowded out by convenience stores where cutting cost often times comes with mass production, more processing and more filler foods – nutritional value dropped. At some point people stopped looking at nutritional labels altogether, or at least less often. People stopped educating themselves about what they put in their bodies and started leaving it to advertisers who put things like “Fat Free” on candy labels. Most people read “Fat free” and don’t think that means “No added fat/no fat” and instead think “This isn’t fat inducing”. Not to mention the introduction of things like high fructose corn syrup into our diets. [That's a topic for it's own post...]
Our health declined and our waistlines expanded, instead of taking a step back and looking what our fuel was, because who had time for that with a job, or two, car payments, house payments, kids & pets? Instead we became dependent on fixing the symptoms of our issues and not the cause. We complain of back aches, cramps, poor energy, headaches, etc and instead of looking at causes like a lack of sleep, poor nutrition and a lack of exercise as possible causes we turned to doctors to fix it so we could keep living our fast paced lives. Nutrition waned while prescriptions skyrocketed.
Beyond my parents generation, with mine we now oftentimes don’t have the option to stay at home and make sure the house, the groceries and everything else are taken care of. We’re in debt, and even if there isn’t any debt the cost of living is so high it isn’t even an option in many cases. The “sins of our parents” became ours and passed right on to our children. In some cases our parents were less available and we raised ourselves with the TV and TV dinners, or left overs.
My Motivation
My motivation comes from the following:
- My children.
- I refuse to be a statistic.
- I refuse to let the “sins of my parents” pass on to my children.
- I refuse to bury my children because of bad choices I make and bad habits I pass on.
- I refuse to become my parents – my father died at 55 (when I was 23) and my mother is morbidly obese or beyond.
- I refuse to let excuses stop me from being the best me I can be.
- I refuse to be overweight, tired, moody, depressed, etc from my weight.
There are a lot of things that have changed over the years – ingredients, social acceptance of fast food, nutritional advice, employment situations, portions sizes, portion distortion, changes in the way school systems are run and how their budget is going to be spent, and so much more.
We can either sit back and say “There’s nothing I can do.” or “One person can’t make the world change.” But that’s wrong. We can *all* do something. We can individually make small changes every day to be better, healthier people.
Small Changes
- Park farther from the store, mall, theater, etc.
- Eat more fresh, locally grown produce.
- Eat more organic fruits (the ones that matter – the general rule is if the peel is thick and you don’t intend to eat it, wash it and eat normal fruit/veggies. If you plan to eat the peel or it’s thin then go organic).
- Add 1,000 steps a day until you’re at 10,000 steps a day or more.
- Drink more water (and less soda, additives, etc).
- Stay active where you “huff and puff” at least 30 minutes to an hour a day.
- Cook with more fresh ingredients and less processed and boxed ingredients.
- Relax/meditate/zone out at least 10-15 minutes a day to refresh and relax your mind.
- Get adequate sleep – Aim for 6-8 hours.
- Listen to your body. Pain means you’re pushing it too hard. Learn to not only exercise but incorporate rest as well.
- Listen to 15 minutes a day or read 10 pages a day of personal development and motivational speakers.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff.
- Learn what you can control & change and let go of what you can’t.
- Educate yourself about what you are putting in your body.
- Learn to stop and smell the flowers!
