Category Archives: Staying Fit

2011 Contest coming to an end. Now what?

From Eileen:  Well, the Fittest Loser contest is officially over for the year … although the winner won’t be announced until Wednesday. (The party is at 6:30 p.m. at John Barleycorn in Schaumburg).

 The big question, however, is will they be able to keep up the momentum when the spotlight ends? All of their trainers believe they will continue on their fitness journey, as you can read in the Daily Herald’s Health and Fitness section today.

Get going with your fitness pre-mortem!

From Joe:  In a prior post about candy jars in the office, I urged you to think seriously about the states of mind that characterized people who voiced opinions about whether or not candy jars were acceptable artifacts in an office setting. If you have already done that, you probably noticed that most commentators – no matter whether they approved or disapproved of such jars – framed the issue in moralistic terms: Candy jars are not a problem in themselves, they said.  Instead, the problem was in the people who lacked self-discipline, suffered from feelings of inferiority, had issues hanging on from their childhood or, as one commenter put it, need therapy. As far as I can see, this kind of moralistic discourse does nothing to address the practical concerns of people who are trying to devise lasting changes in life habits.

When is a Candy Jar Just a Jar?

From Joe:  Now that Mad Men has recreated the office life of the 1950s, even youngsters know that there was a time when smoking in the work environment was accepted as normal behavior. To signal hospitality, some workers kept jars of cigarettes or boxes of cigars on their desks to accommodate visitors to their office. The same thing was done at home to accommodate guests at parties. When smokers met on the street, they might offer each other a cigarette as a sign of friendship and acceptance. Then they would share the experience of taking the tobacco smoke into their bodies as they relaxed together in conversation. In short, smoking was more than normal behavior. It was actually a widely practiced social ritual.

Use the Part-of-Me Protocol to battle discouragement

From Joe: In several posts and a recent column, Gerry nicely illustrates how we fight ourselves when it comes to making serious personal changes. She started her training camp thinking that losing a few pounds would be a surmountable challenge, she says, only to find out that her new regimen was creating many daily problems that were far more complicated than she expected them to be.

 So what’s a person to do when a new regimen creates challenges that were never anticipated at its beginning?

Two important practical hints can be extracted from Gerry’s material.

Get those juices flowing

From Eileen:  And yet another good reason to exercise regularly … it gets your creative juices flowing.  A scientific study of 60 college students showed that 30 minutes of moderate exercise can increase one’s creativity for hours afterwards. Hours afterwards!

 If you don’t want to read the whole study, here’s a key finding:

Tweak Yourself To Reach Your Goals

From Joe:  How do you know if your journaling is an activity for self-indulgence or self-development? Perhaps the presence or absence of metrics in your writing provides a clue:

One of the reasons we might fail to achieve some of our goals is that we’re not always as objective about our progress as we could be, or sometimes we’re just stuck in a rut using the same approach that hasn’t really led us anywhere. That’s where the metrics come in. Having factual proofs of our progress (or lack of progress) can show us what adjustments need to be made.

Fight rising gas costs! Ride your bike

From Eileen: On the way to work this morning, I almost drove off the side of the road. Gas at $4.09 per gallon!  Boy, I knew it was going up, but there’s something about that $4 mark that makes it completely outrageous.

 Outrageous enough to do something about it? Outrageous enough to get me to stop driving everywhere?

 As the weather starts to get nicer, I am always gung-ho about getting outside in the fresh air .  I love to take walks in the nature center or take my bike for a spin in the forest preserve near my house. There’s something about being outside that really clears my head.

Hate the pounds, but love the people!

From Joe: Psychologist Norman R.F. Maier was a brilliant pioneer in his field: Technically creative and full of practical wisdom, his books and articles inspired several generations of students and practitioners.

 Maier sagely advised business executives to be simultaneously tough-minded and tender minded when they made decisions:

 “Be tough on the problems and the easy on the people!”

 Excellent shrewd advice for any leader to take!

 It’s also excellent advice for thinking about the problem of obesity.

 Tara Parker-Pope reports:

Are there moral and political reasons for cutting calories?

From Joe:  Many of the adults that surrounded me as I grew up needed worldly reasons to supplement the religious motives that inclined them to fast during Lent. So, in addition to wanting to follow the rituals of their church, they framed Lent as a time for losing some pounds that would improve their health or their appearance when beach season finally arrived in Chicago.

 Food writer Mark Bittman talks about his new experience of fasting for moral values:

Gadgets, apps and other good stuff

From Eileen:  Nothing gets me motivated more than a new exercise gadget. I hate to say it, but I love buying exercise stuff and, for some reason, this really works for me.

 Many years ago, I spent a lot of money on a treadmill and was worried sick that it would become a $2,600 dusty clothing rack. So I decided I would have to use it 1,300 times (at $2 per run) to make it worth my while. I kept track and, after about six years, I made it! I actually kept tabs on the number of times I hopped on board (a bit compulsive, I realize), but it really helped me keep going. And for $2 per use, it was worth it even if it eventually becomes a clothing rack. That’s my logic, anyway.