I’ll never forget the day I received a phone call from Happy Herald Newspaper informing me that they wanted to feature my work in their “Fitness Tips” column. This happened three and a half years ago, and I have been contributing what I hope has been informative, useful and inspiring content ever since. The fact that the publisher and her fantastic staff have never interfered with my writing style, and have always given me complete freedom to express my thoughts as I saw fit is something I will always appreciate… … and it is with a bit of sadness, mixed in with an abundance of gratitude, that I have decided that this needs to be my last contribution to this wonderful and upbeat newspaper. So on that note, I thought I’d share a couple of what I consider to be the most important aspects of health and fitness…. as highlighted over the last several years.
1 – Focus on Well-Being Rather than Weight Loss
When the desire for optimal health and conscious living becomes the goal, your body has no choice but to follow along with that intention. Whenever we force ourselves to do things to lose weight (like restricted diets and exercise routines we don’t connect with) we create a war within our minds. Instead, think of what it would feel like to really care about yourself. What foods would someone who loves themselves eat? What physical activities sound like fun to you?
The idea is to form a mental picture of what joy feels like in regard to health and fitness and then engage in behaviors that align with that vision. This way, you’ll not only look forward to eating right and exercising, but you’ll stick with it for a lifetime.
2 – Practice Exercise Safety
Healthy living offers numerous rewards on every level imaginable – especially when practiced from the aforementioned mentality. However, there are still some simple concepts that need to be acknowledged and respected in an effort to avoid unnecessary injury. I encourage you to be mindful when it comes to your well-being by becoming aware of how to intentionally follow a safe and structured exercise program. I have outlined how to do this my book A Simple Guide to Exercise Safety (What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You). It’s been a pleasure communicating with you over the years. Please feel free to stay in touch. Blessings.
