-1-
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost…..I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

-2-
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

-3-
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit
My eyes are open
I know where I am
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

-4-
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it

-5-
I walk down another street.

I discovered this poem recently and it reminds me of how we go about making changes in our lives. In my work as a personal trainer, I talk frequently with clients who are trying to change their lives to be healthier, more fit, or just more in tune with their own bodies. It is a difficult thing to go through changes that require actions on our part that are unfamiliar or not likeable. For example, nutrition is often a place where people get stuck in terms of how to change old habits and form new ones. Food is a very tricky issue for many people and changing our habits around it are challenging. We know we want to eat a certain food, but it might not be the best thing for our body at that time. But, we often go through that process where we “pretend we don’t see” the pitfall of feeding our body something it does not need or is not good for it. And then we go into the phase of still eating that food with “eyes open” but knowing it’s not the right thing for us. Eventually, after we have learned to pay attention to how to fuel our bodies with the right foods, we are able to avoid the hole and then choose a different “street” altogether.

How long does this process take? Good question. We can’t change it overnight, we must go through these stages of adapting and truly understanding why we make certain decisions before we can consistently and successfully change our behaviors. As I approach the four year mark of when I first started my own process with changing my nutrition and exercise, I realize I’m still learning about how to avoid the holes in the street or how to walk down a new street. It’s paying attention to my actions and how I feel about them that helps me get closer to choosing a different street in a shorter amount of time.

What issue can you apply this poem to? Is it moving your body more? Is it how to fuel your body with the kinds of food it needs to get through your busy day? Is it working towards a goal that you’ve had forever but haven’t known how to achieve? Think about something that you want to change and then look at your resistance to that change. Because it takes awhile to make difficult changes (months, years, sometimes decades), be patient with yourself and realize that your process is just that, a process.

Which segment of the population do you think dies first? Here are your choices:

*Fit and Fat
*Fit and Not Fat
*Not Fit and Fat
*Not Fit and Not Fat

The first group to die is the “Fat and Not Fit” group*. Not surprisingly, lack of fitness can lead to many health problems that affect longevity—heart disease, obesity, and diabetes to name a few. The next group to die is the “Not Fat and Not Fit” group. The “Fit and Not Fat” and the “Fit and Fat” groups tie for third in terms of who dies next. So, the common denominator for longevity and well-being is….FITNESS.

Now, I know there are those of you who have the t-shirts and bumper stickers that say “Exercise right, eat right, die anyway” but being fit has many more benefits in addition to helping you live a longer life. The physical health benefits are numerous, among them: lower blood pressure, lower risk of heart disease, stronger bones and muscles. Additionally, exercise helps people sleep better, manage stress and depressive disorders more easily and keep their weights in a healthy range.

So, where do you start? First, it’s very important to realize that health and well-being are a result of a mixture of things. It’s not just going to the gym every day. It’s a combination of eating well, sleeping well, managing stress well, and exercising appropriately. It takes awhile to put that whole package together consistently, so the journey towards better health is definitely a continuum not a destination. Often people say to me that they’re willing to do the exercise part but can’t change their eating habits. Or, people are eating and exercising in healthy ways but maintain a level of stress in their lives that is unhealthy—they are chronically in relationships or jobs or situations that create stress that is severe enough to affect them physically. But, when you start to make changes in one area, often the other areas will follow over time. Keeping all of those areas in balance is tricky, but the result is worth it.

Start by examining these FOUR areas in your life:

1. Exercise—can you work in at least 20 minutes of exercise three times a week?
2. Nutrition—can you change just one meal in your day to be a little healthier?
3. Stress—can you say no to just one thing that might give you some time and space for yourself?
4. Sleep—can you try to get to bed before 10:30pm at least one night this week?

Paying attention to these four areas will lead you down the road to fitness. And fitness will help you live longer and feel better!

* Facts researched by Heart Zones USA

I’ve decided to start a blog to share some of the information that I have gathered from my own research and learning in my personal training work. So many of the issues that come up with my clients are ones that I have experienced both in my own journey to health as well as the journeys of most of my other clients. The one I’m going to write about today is about change and how people navigate making changes to their lifestyles in terms of health and wellness. A client recently gave me an excellent analogy regarding how change worked for her. She said that change in her fitness habits was like “turning an ocean liner.” It’s not a quick turn, in fact it takes slow and gradual movement against strong resistance. There are so many factors that affect how, when and why we are able to make changes to our lifestyles, and many of those factors are not easily overcome. I read about crash diets, boot camp-type workout regimes all the time, and I know that success occurs with some of these programs, but what about long term change? Having personally gone through a similar change over the last four years in the process of losing 45 pounds, I can tell you that permanent change in lifestyle does not happen overnight. Like turning an ocean liner, it takes steady progress towards the goal, but it’s not a swift transformation.

Some suggestions for helping yourself make those changes more gradually:

● Set reasonable goals for yourself. If you’re not exercising at all, don’t set up your first week of exercise by saying you need to go to the gym 5 days. Start small, but keep your eye on the big picture. You will be more successful if you feel like your goals are challenging, but attainable.

● Create a support system around the changes to your new life. Spend time with people who have similar goals and can support you as you work to change your life. Surround yourself with positive people who will be cheerleaders for you or be willing to go along the journey with you.

● Make it fun! Choose exercises, activities, and foods that are fun to you. Nobody wants to look ahead to a week of “I have to go the gym” and “I can’t eat that food.” For exercise, take walks with friends or dust off your bicycle and take a spin through the neighborhood. For nutrition, read about healthy ways to prepare food that seem appetizing—things you will actually want to eat!

Permanent change takes awhile to implement. Be patient with yourself as you travel through the different stages. You will have setbacks. That is all part of the process. Just keep your mind on your goals and make slow and steady progress towards them. You will be successful!