Figmentations

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Greg Hayes from Live Fit Blog. In today’s guest post, Greg shares some great advice on the key ingredient needed to get healthy – advice that can easily be applied to making changes in all areas of our lives.

Note: Greg is one of the great people I’ve met through fellow blogger, Josh Hanagarne of World’s Strongest Librarian.  Josh is really building up a great network of like-minded readers (with an intriguing range of interests) via the openness of his blog, his guest blogging and commenting.

After reading this post, be sure to visit Live Fit Blog and World’s Strongest Librarian at any time for more (or just to say “hello”). We always enjoy reading any and all comments you’d like to share.

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Why Change? – A Guest Post by Greg Hayes

Most of us can probably agree that we should be paying more attention to our health.  Turn on the news at any given time of day, and you’re apt to hear someone debating this subject.  Inevitably, the discussion turns to obesity and its contribution to rising healthcare costs.

Seven years ago, I could have been their poster child.  By any metric, I was obese.  Not that I saw myself that way.

I’ve had several people ask me how I lost weight and got in shape.  To be honest, I think the more correct question should be “Why?”  A moment stands out clearly in my mind.  At 30-years old, I was visiting family when my Mother, a nurse, decided I looked “bad,” and she wanted to check my blood pressure.  It was high.

Very high.

I distinctly recall lying on the floor, with my feet propped on their sofa, thinking how ridiculous the situation was.  And more importantly, that if I continued down this path, I may not live to play with my grandchildren.  That was the day I decided to change.

Weight management and exercise are personal lifestyle decisions.  These are the choices we make every time we sit down at the dinner table, go to the snack machine, grab a soda, or skip a workout.  No one can force us to change those habits.  The currently proposed government schemes, taxes, and employer sponsored gym memberships can’t make us live a healthier lifestyle, either.  That decision must come from within.  It’s a conscious choice to avoid the largess of our society, and food is only one small part of that equation.

How to make that choice?

You’ll know you’re ready to change when you’ve found a reason that is more important than the indulgence of poor health.  Mine was my children.  For someone else, it may be different.  But if you’re really looking for the willpower, sit down with a pen and paper and list out all the things of value to you.  Write them down.  Consider them for a few days.  Think about how your current habits may conflict with those values.  This is where your motivation to change comes from.

There are a million ways to get fit and lose weight, and they’ll all work.  The hard part is finding the reason to change.

A friend who’s overweight recently asked me why he should change.  After all, there’s a pill to control his blood pressure and another for his diabetes.  Ditto for cholesterol.  And he’s right.  But those things will eventually take a toll on your body.  And, the earlier in life you begin taking them, the greater the price they may exact.  We joked back and forth a bit, but he’s not ready to change yet.  He knows it.  I know it.

But I sure hope that day comes.

About the author:  Greg Hayes writes Live Fit Blog, a blog with advice about living a balanced lifestyle, fitness, what it means to be a father, friend, husband, and much more.