40%…
That’s what I read on Yahoo! News the other day. By 2030 a staggering 40% of people in the US will be obese.
I don’t know about you, but that’s verging on insanity if you ask me.
There are those people out there that like to say that there’s nothing they can do about their weight, that they have big bones, that it’s in their genes.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. I just don’t buy it.
Everything I’ve learnt about health and exercise tells me that weight is a choice.
We don’t get fat by mistake.
Food doesn’t magically appear in our stomach.
And yet there are those people out there that act surprised at their weight despite their poor health regime.
There are two main things that determine our weight: the food we eat and the exercise we do.
Now when it comes to food we all know that it isn’t all created equal.
There’s the junk we shove into our mouths as kids (which I loved) and there’s that nutritious stuff that our mother was already trying to get us to eat.
On top of that we have to consider the portions we eat.
I remember years ago hearing an interview with someone who had just come out with the new super diet.
One thing stood out to me was he stated that white rice made you fat and people should change over to brown rice. Hearing that made me laugh as I had just come back from Japan where people eat rice daily, sometimes three times a day and yet were rail thin.
I’m not disputing the fact that brown rice may be healthier for you, but to simply blame white rice for weight gain and ignore the portions eaten is gross neglect.
When I first went to America two things shocked me:
- The size of the people
- The size of the food
Call me crazy but maybe the two have some connection?!
As for exercise, you’re either doing enough or you aren’t.
Now I know it’s not easy. Starting an exercise routine after a long break is tough…really tough especially the older we get.
Our muscles ache, our back feels stiff, we have trouble walking, we’re out of breath, and worst of all…we don’t magically transform into super models. All that work, that whole 30 minutes down the drain.
But we know better than to expect overnight results, don’t we?
If you’ve ever had a chance to watch any of those reality shows around weight loss or beauty transformation, you’ll know that it takes a serious commitment from all those involved.
To get into shape, or lose all the extra weight we’ve put on takes an entire lifestyle change.
But for those who stick with it, the results can be amazing. All one has to do is google “inspirational weight loss story” and you’ll find hundreds, if not thousands of people who have achieved success in shedding the extra pounds and revolutionizing their lives in the process.
Early last year I decided I needed to do something for my health, so I took up yoga as weight training was wearing on my body and felt that a change was needed.
This year I added a little Tai Chi to my morning trainings.
And last week, my family and I decided to take up Karate?! Three different forms of exercise but all with different effects.
- Yoga – to stretch my body and release stress
- Tai Chi – for peace of mind
- Karate – strength training
What we must understand is that it’s the combination of exercise and diet that allows us to lose weight effectively.
But to complete the perfect diet for success we need one to focus on one other area; the mental diet.
“Food for thought” isn’t just a cute phrase, but one that everyone who is interested in success should take to heart.
We all know junk food is bad for us, and yet we seem to forget that the food we feed our mind can potentially be more destructive.
Instead of our daily fill of celebrity gossip, why not fill up on inspirational stories of successful businessmen, thinkers, motivational speakers and the like?
Looking for some good books for your mental diet? Here are a few to get you started:
- Animal Farm
- The Magic of Thinking Big
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
- The 5 Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle
- Today Matters
- The Crash Course
- Scientific Advertising
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad
- The Millionaire Next Door
- The Power of Positive Thinking
- Ultimate Power
- The Science of Getting Rich
- Influence
- The Success Principles
- Secrets of Closing the Sale
- The Richest Man in Babylon
- The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
There’s finance, philosophy, money management, psychology, marketing, economics contained within the pages of these books which will give you a good foundation with which to build upon.
So there you have it, the perfect diet for success. DIET + EXERCISE + MENTAL DIET = SUCCESS.
Bon appetit.
Adrian Shepherd