Archive for May 28, 2009
Words To Work Out By
I’m loving The New York Times’ online Running Voices series, in which ordinary people share their thoughts on running. And by far, my favorite observation posted to the series’ comments section so far is this pearl by a viewer named Allison, who describes herself as going “from couch potato to runner:”
“Always remember that Dead Freakin’ Last is better than Did Not Finish which is way better than Did Not Start.”
Amen, sister!
Screw The Broccoli, Pass Me The Cheese Fries
File this under Stuff We Know But Don’t Want To Acknowledge: Recently published research finds that greater numbers of Americans are choosing not to follow a healthy lifestyle. It’s not that we don’t know how to eat and what to do, doctors at the Medical University Of South Carolina find. We just don’t wanna do it.
Investigators in the university’s Department of Family Medicine followed a large group of people in the U.S. from 1998 to 1994 and then from 2001 to 2006. (The research is published in the June issue of The American Journal of Medicine.) Their body masses and alcoholic intake went up, their exercise rate and fruit-and-veggie consumption went down. A lot.
So what does this mean for the rest of us? This is my take: I’m sure the people involved in this study didn’t just wake up one morning, decide they suddenly didn’t want to be healthy, skip the gym and order a calzone for breakfast. But when you let little things slide — you go a few days without making yourself sweat, you ask for extra dressing on your salad — it becomes even easier to let the big ones go, too. I’m a big believer that keeping yourself on the right path is all about little choices. I saw a quote recently that I just love:
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier
What small efforts are you going to make today? Post a comment and make your commitment for the whole world to see!
Haul Buns 