megram - Index

megram - 55GTA - Index

There’s something about Mary
Mary, age 55, feels she is getting old too fast. She
gained 40 pounds in the past 10 years, has high blood
sugar and high blood pressure. She feels, she tells me,
100 years old.Her goals are to feel better about herself,
feel and be healthier, have more energy, lose weight
and gain back some youthfulness. She says she is NOT
over the hill yet. I agree with her 100 per cent: she can
turn her life around with a few well-placed, well-integrated
small changes to her lifestyle that deliver big
results.
Her previous attempts to get healthier and to lose
weight were to give herself a makeover:she attempted
to overhaul all her bad habits at once and give herself
a good kick in the behind by sticking to a rigid lowcalorie
diet and exercise program.The very structured
changes required a lot of discipline and didn’t last past
a few weeks,then Mary fell “off the wagon”and felt she
was back to square one, feeling guilty, defeated and
powerless to change.
So let’s adapt wellness and fitness actions to Mary
— rather than fit Mary’s life around a “perfect”
approach to wellness.What does Mary like or dislike?
What is she truly motivated to change? How can we
make small changes work for her?
Mary is busy with work and family: she works fulltime
and plans to retire in three years; she is a grandmother
to a two-year-old. She wants to live well and
she has fun retirement plans. Right now, she doesn’t
have much free time and she tends to sleep poorly.She
feels overwhelmed by the amount of weight she feels
she must lose;she doesn’t like to exercise in a gym but
feels okay about trying yoga. She eats little during the
day and tends to catch up in the evening.
How can Mary get to her goals?
The kick-in-the-behind approach never
works long term. Mary tried this approach with her
rigid diet and exercise program. After a few weeks, it
became overwhelming and she quit altogether, which
made her feel guilty — and defeated.Feeling guilty and
defeated doesn’t motivate you. Instead of taking good
care of yourself to produce positive results, you kick
yourself for not doing as much as you should and this
never works.
Strict diets and rigid, unrealistic exercise
programs don’t work either. Too many changes at
once can be overwhelming. It leads to “will-power
fatigue” and to cravings. Some people take this
approach,with a personal trainer and diet supervision;
September 2008 • 19 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
these work only as long as you are supervised (the fear
factor). In the long run, once you are no longer
watched, you revert back to your old favorites.
What can you do to make lasting changes to your
lifestyle? I have solutions that work much better,based
on self-care, self-respect and empowerment:
Changes that work best are changes that
truly fit what you want for yourself. You are the
best expert on your life:you have to be clear and truthful
with yourself. You will have the motivation to go
forward only if this is something you truly want.
The power of positive motivation: build on
success — not guilt, not fear, and certainly not
failure. When you feel successful,you feel good about
yourself — you are motivated to keep going. Measure
your small successes. It’s better to plan a 15-minute
walk four times a week and do it then to plan a 30minute
walk six times a week and not do it! It’s always
better to do a little bit of something than none at all!
The power of small changes: several small
changes can have a positive, powerful impact on
your health — they can deliver big results. For
instance, taking a 10-minute walk every day after dinner
is a small time investment, yet delivers big results.
You’ll be moving, improving your fitness level and
burning calories; you’ll be outdoors, in fresh air and
sunlight, replenishing vital energy; and you’ll be away
from snacks and television for a while. If you walk
with a fried or spouse, you’ll keep each other entertained
and motivated — and they will see the benefits
as well.This is a good deal.
The power of self-care: make your plan fit
your life (instead of making your life fit your
plan). You don’t like a rigid diet? So don’t follow one.
Make your diet what you want it to be by using a simple
scale. For instance, keep track of your food intake,
from very bad choices (loads of calories,sugar and bad
fats, no nutrients) to very good choices (lots of nutrients
with few calories).Keep a log of what you eat and
see which ones fall in your “bad” list and which ones
fall in the “good” list.Your goal should be to increase
the good choices.
The power of a progressive approach: make
small, progressive changes in several areas of
your life. Instead of focusing on two big things like
diet and exercise, focus on several small changes that
won’t feel as challenging: have fruit for dessert once a
day; convert from full-fat milk to two per cent milk in
your coffee; take a 15-minute walk four times a week;
play in the park with your grandkids once a week.